So I sat on the hard plastic chair, holding my husband’s hand and hoping for a miracle. I thought I was dreaming when the doctor told me Nathan was showing signs of improvement, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
‘When a person wakes up from a coma, they usually come round gradually. They may be very agitated and confused, to begin with, so don’t be alarmed if that happens,’ the doctor said.
Nathan was taken off the ventilator and was able to breathe unassisted for the first time since the accident. Even though he was taking baby steps, they were going in the right direction, and that was the most important thing. It was encouraging to see him following simple commands. As he began to regain consciousness, he seemed very confused by his surroundings, but thankfully he recognised me.
Nathan didn’t remember being in the accident. The doctor told me it was too soon to know if the rest of his memory had been affected.
Nathan was still very weak but continued to make good progress over the coming days, and when he was well enough to talk, he told me he’d felt me holding his hand. Before he woke up, he thought he’d been standing in a white room, like a doctor’s surgery, waiting for something to happen, but he didn’t know what. He’d heard things going on around him, but he’d been trapped in his body and was unable to move or speak. It had been a terrifying experience for all of us.
‘I love you, Gemma.’ Nathan clutched my hand and smiled at me. ‘I want us to stay together.’
Nathan’s words made me break down in tears. My husband still wanted to be with me despite everything I’d put him through.
‘Being in this accident has made me realise I should appreciate the gift that’s been given to me. Life is precious, Gemma, so none of us should take it for granted.’
I leant forward and kissed my husband on the lips.
Nathan looked into my eyes while holding on to my hand. ‘I can’t imagine my life without you and Luca in it. When I get out of here, we can go back to Spain if you like.’
‘I don’t think Alfie would be too happy about that.’
‘Don’t worry about Alfie. We’ll work something out with him.’ Nathan squeezed my hand before he held it up to his lips and kissed it.
Surviving his brush with death had obviously given Nathan a new zest for life, and while I had to admire his optimism, he was underestimating how difficult it would be to take Luca away from the Watsons. I didn’t want to upset Nathan, so I wasn’t going to point that out. He had enough on his plate at the moment and needed to concentrate on getting better.
I smiled at my husband to hide what was going on inside my head. Alfie was never going to sit back and allow us to skip off into the sunset with his son. The DNA test had confirmed he was Luca’s father, so he would insist he was part of our baby’s upbringing. The best I could hope for was that he didn’t fight me for full custody.
I’d have to put those thoughts out of my head before my mood darkened. Speculating on the result of a battle that hadn’t happened would cast a shadow over an otherwise perfect day. I had so much to be grateful for, not only was Nathan alive, he was also expected to make a full recovery. I thanked my lucky stars that we’d been given another chance to be together. I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity – life was for living.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Hannah Smith, my amazing editor. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you again.
Thank you to Vicky Joss and the team at Aria Fiction for all your hard work.
Thank you to the members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association for your words of wisdom and for welcoming me into the fold.
About the Author
STEPHANIE HARTE was born and raised in North West London.
She was educated at St Michael's Catholic Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school she trained in Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy at London College of Fashion.
She worked for many years as a Pharmaceutical Buyer for the NHS. Her career path led her to work for an international export company whose markets included The Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
Stephanie took up writing as a hobby and self-published two novels and two novellas before signing a contract in March 2019 with Aria Fiction.
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Tangled Lives Page 30
