A Wedding Disaster... Or Was It?

by Sheila Holmes

  Overkill! It was the only word Victoria could think of as she watched the procession.

  Eight bridesmaids, four junior bridesmaids (Victoria didn't know the name of even one of them), three flower girls (each with an assigned color of rose petals), two ring bearers (one of which fell down, began crying, and refused to walk another step until his mother came and snatched him up and walked him out of the church), two lavishly costumed trumpeters (one of which must have had allergies, because he began sneezing halfway through the trumpet duet and had to duck out a side door), and... the highlight... a soloist garbed in an angel costume, that stayed hidden in the choir loft until her turn to sing, at which time a spotlight shone down on her! Victoria did have to admit that her voice was magnificent, but even that was overshadowed by her halo falling off, making a clanging sound as it hit a seat first, then rebounding for a second clang onto the floor.

  "It's time! It's time!"

  Victoria jumped slightly when the wedding planner repeatedly poked her arm.

  "It's time?"

  "Yes, the music has been cued. Hear it? It's time. Where's your father?"

  Victoria saw him in the same location, talking with the same man. But now, they were both laughing, albeit quietly.

  "He's over there talking with that man."

  Taking her planning duties very seriously, the woman moved quickly and quietly to Victoria's father, took hold of his arm and pulled him toward Victoria. While they hurriedly walked, she could hear the planner telling him his duties: the walk, the transferring of her hand from his own to the groom's, saying "Her mother and I" when asked who was giving her to be married to this man, and the kiss given to Victoria on the cheek.

  How did I miss my entry music cue? I don't know... maybe because I've never heard this piece of music before in my life?! I told Mother how I know that Canon in D may be overdone at weddings, but it is what I've always wanted to hear at my nuptials.

  *****

  So fast... how could screams turn into turmoil and consume a room so fast?!

  She was only half way up the aisle when everyone heard the crack, looked toward the ceiling and saw the crystal chandelier and a generous portion of the ceiling diving down toward the best man, and saw Trevor launch himself under it to push him out of the way.

  When the screams subsided, there lay Trevor groaning and writhing as the chandelier lay on top of his leg, holding him immobile to the floor.

  The whole scene played out as though it were in slow motion. That's how it seemed to Victoria, as she watched helplessly.

  With a scream that spoke of true agony, Victoria broke free from her father and bolted toward her fallen groom.

  This was a tragic, tragic disaster... or was it?

  *****

  Chapter 27

  My email to KiirstiAan:

  Hi, Sweet Girl. I got here safely. Your cousin Lizbeth met me at the airport. She said Uncle Bill refused to leave Aunt Serena's side. He has his own bed in her hospital room.

  After she dropped me off at the hospital, Lizbeth left to pick up her kids from the babysitter's house, and take them home for homework help, baths, and dinner. She'll leave the kids home with John, come pick me up from the hospital around dinner time, take me to Uncle Bill's house to get the car, where I'll also pick up some of his personal items, and stop for a bite at a fast food drive-through on the way back to the hospital. I don't know if I'm staying the night at the hospital or driving back to Uncle Bill's.

  Aunt Serena is non-responsive, unless you loudly say her name. Then, she opens her eyes for just a moment, before closing them again. She has only spoken once in response to Uncle Bill. He was told to talk to her. So, he was telling her that she'd had a stroke. Her reply was, "What makes you think I had a stroke?" He answered her, but she closed her eyes again and hasn't regained consciousness again yet.

  I have no idea when I'll be coming home.

  I am exhausted! What is it about flying that makes a person so tired? I mean, you just sit there while the plane does all the work. Makes no sense, but I feel like I've run in a marathon.

  Knowing you, I'm sure you've already read the first part of the current story. Hold off on talking to me about your first reactions. I think I might be pretty much occupied for the next couple of days.

  Don't worry about your wedding plans. As I find any free time (maybe only at bedtime), I'll continue working on details. I've got everything I need with me.

  While I'm gone, Sweetie, ask your girls to act as bridesmaids. Make sure they know your dad is paying for their dresses. But, do tell them that they're responsible for their own shoes. (Don't tell them, of course, but you'll give them their necklace as a bridesmaid gift.) And, if I'm not being ridiculous, you might want to take them dress-shopping. Don't be afraid to go without me. You have wonderful taste, and I have complete faith in you. Keep in mind that since your dad is paying, you are the one that needs to be thrilled with the dresses. If you find something you like, go ahead and ask your daddy to go to the shop and pay for them. If you're feeling insecure at all, just email a picture of your "possibilities" on one of the girls. Or, if you decide on your own, just email the picture of that dress. (Alterations are being paid by him as well, in case I forgot earlier to tell you that.)

  For right now, that's all I can think of. I'll email you when anything else needs to be discussed or acted on.

  I love you, Cutie. Take good care of your daddy while I'm gone. I've already talked with him by phone since I've been gone, but check up on him, especially make sure he's eating, ok? Maybe give him a call and invite him to dinner (his treat, of course).

  Love in abundance.

  KiirstiAan's email reply to me:

  So glad you got there safely. Evan and I prayed together on the phone, plus we each prayed for your safety separately. God is so faithful, isn't He?

  I was reading in Proverbs again today. I'm really into the thirty-first chapter, about the virtuous woman. I am more aware of a person's character now more than ever. I think it must be because I want to be the best wife ever to Evan.

  Sleep well, Mommy!

  *****

  KiirstiAan's email to me:

  I hope you slept well last night, Mom. Evan and I not only prayed for Uncle Bill and Aunt Serena, but we also prayed that the Lord would re-fuel you during your rest last night and that you'd be ready for whatever today holds. I'm convinced Uncle Bill is leaning heavily on you, so you need strength.

  Yes, I read (first to myself, then to Evan) the first half of this current story. I remember when you told me about this wedding. You said you didn't know the couple, but that you were visiting Uncle Marc. The bride's mother is a neighbor of his, right? I think you said she told Uncle Marc and Aunt Lena to bring you and Daddy with them to the wedding. She said something about there being enough food at the reception to feed an army battalion.

  The only other thing I remember is that the groom had to go to the hospital and he and his bride never returned to the wedding or reception. In fact, I think you said they were still unmarried when the two of them left for the hospital.

  Let's see... You said everyone in the church was shooed outside quickly, and the best man came out just long enough to announce that the bride's family invited you to go on over to the reception location. So, you guys went to the reception. I can't remember anything else.

  Oh... I take that back. I do remember your quote. You said, "I heard the crack, but I've never heard a sound so loud and so scary in my life as when that chandelier hit the floor!"

  Now that is truly a wedding disaster! Wow, it stopped the wedding, hurt the groom, and required a reception dinner minus the wedding party. Not even married yet! That is so pitiful!

  Anyway, I made some spelling corrections, removed two sentences (you had written the same sentence twice in two different paragraphs), changed some awkward wording in a few places, and juxtaposed two paragraphs that flowed better afterward.

  JUXTAPOSED (did you notice the big word I us
ed?)... see what you got for the undergrad and Masters' degrees you paid for?! Pretty good deal, huh?!

  I won't even ask when we get the next installment. In fact, put it on hold. You have plenty on your plate right now. We can wait until you get home.

  I called and asked my bridal attendants... Roxanne, Mary, Connie, and Grace. I had already asked Tricia (who is still planning on doing the cake also). They all said yes. I've already booked an appointment at Andriana's Bridal for this Saturday. (They already know that their dresses will be some shade of blue.) We're all going to lunch, then bridesmaid-dress shopping. I'm so hoping you'll be home by then, but if not, I'll keep an eye out for a mother-of-the-bride dress as well.

  Just shoot me an email to let me know how Aunt Serena is doing. Tell them we're praying.

  G'night, Mommy!

  My email reply to KiirstiAan:

  * Aunt Serena is holding. Uncle Bill stays with her almost all the time at the hospital.

  * Glad to hear about your dress-shopping excursion with your girls. Thank you for keeping me in mind (the mother-of-the-bride dress). If you find something, great. If not, I'll go looking when I get back. Don't stress yourself.

  * I narrowed the wedding invitations down to two styles I thought you'd love.

  Go to weddinginvites.com. The two styles are items #449632 and #498355.

  I know you'll love both of them. Feel free to go ahead and choose. Email me your choice and I'll order them tomorrow. I'll have them sent home so they'll be ready to start filling out and addressing when I get back.

  * Today Uncle Bill insisted I stay at his house instead of sitting at the hospital. He said he'd call if there are any changes. I'm grateful. I'm just so tired.

  * I called your Aunt Lena to both give she and Uncle Marc an update on Aunt Serena and Uncle Bill and to ask for her help with the details of the rest of Victoria's and Trevor's wedding. She was really sweet to supply me with all the main things I needed. And, the truth is I had to fill in some blanks with what I assume happened. She would have told me, I'm sure, but I neglected to ask. But it's ok for me to do some creative writing on those parts, right?

  I'm going to rest and write some today. Actually, I've already got the story resolution partly done, but needed to fill in some blanks and finish it. Hopefully, I can email the last of this story to you either tonight or tomorrow morning.

  Continue to pray. Give your daddy a big hug and kiss for me. He calls me a couple times daily, but I miss him anyway.

  LUV U

  *****

  Chapter 28

  "Let me go!"

  "Victoria, you stay put," whispered her father, holding her arm tightly as they stood stationary midway up the wedding aisle.

  "Trevor's hurt, and I'm going to him!" she insisted. Wrenching his fingers from her arm, Victoria ran with purpose to the front of the church. By the time she reached the general area of the fallen chandelier and her beloved Trevor, already eight or nine men (all the groomsmen and several others) had circled around him and were desperately trying to lift the chandelier from Trevor's leg.

  Because she couldn't get any closer to him than the second of six steps up to the pulpit, she began talking to him in a rather frowned-upon decibel level in this church. She wanted to reassure both him and herself that he was going to be ok.

  "Trevor, are you in terrible pain?! Why are you holding your wrist like that?! Has anybody called 911?! How's your leg?! It's ok, Baby, the men almost have the chandelier off your leg. The ambulance will be here in a minute. I'm going to the hospital with you. I love you, Trev!" She knew her rambling was just that... rambling, but she couldn't seem to stop. She now began instructing the men gathered there trying to heave the crystal light fixture off Trevor's knee. "Guys, please hurry! He's really in pain. His knee is bleeding. Pastor Art, is he going to be all right?! Is his leg broken?! Can't you pull any harder?! Guys, hurry, something's wrong with his wrist, too!" Turning to the pews, she called for more men to join the crew. Two or more did run up to the pulpit to assist, although most of the guests were dashing down the aisles to exit the church. Understandably they felt vulnerable and frightened while still inside this building.

  Pastor Art, who had been one of the men trying to move this immovable object from Trevor's lower left extremity, stepped aside and allowed three other guests take his place. He walked down to Victoria, put his arm around her, led her back down the two steps and seated her on the front pew.

  As he patted her arm, he said, "Victoria, it's going to take them a few minutes to get this light off Trevor's leg. The ambulance has already been called... I hear their siren. They'll be here in a minute. You can ride with him in the ambulance, if they'll let you. If not, I'll drive you to the hospital. But right this minute what you and I do need to do is pray."

  Without waiting any longer, Pastor Art began, "Lord, this was something we never expected. And we're scared. But, we know you love Trevor even more than we do..." By this point in his fervent prayer, Victoria's parents, Trevor's parents and grandparents, all the bridal attendants, and any who were still in the church sanctuary joined in around the two of them. It was a small gathering, considering the number of wedding attendees.

  Pastor Art never stopped in his prayer. Although not one person in the small prayer group had their eyes closed, they were in total agreement with Pastor Art's petition. They were rotating their glances from Trevor to Victoria to Trevor to Victoria. They wanted to talk to the Lord about this, but they also wanted to emotionally cheer on the men who were still struggling to remove the stubborn chandelier from its landing zone.

  "Jesus," the pastor continued, "give strength to the men helping Trevor, bring the ambulance quickly, and give both Trevor and Victoria peace. It's in your name we pray. Amen."

  By the "Amen" of that group prayer, the chandelier was off Trevor, and had been deposited (actually it was dropped) by the bearers at another spot on the floor about five feet from Trevor. The sound of shattering crystals was so unexpected, that everyone in the sanctuary, including the men who had just dropped the chandelier, involuntarily took a deep shocked breath combined with an involuntary body jerk.

  Thinking that Trevor would sigh with relief, they were stunned when he now began a repeated yelping noise, somewhere between a scream and a groan. Apparently, when the chandelier was on his leg, after breaking the knee it at least kept everything in a static position that was a steady constant pain. Now, with the pressure gone, the pain was pulsating and excruciating.

  About five or six yelps later, the EMT workers arrived at Trevor's form and quickly jumped into action. While one was taking his vitals, another was splinting his leg, another was putting a strange balloon-looking contraption around his left wrist, and together they were consoling Trevor, reassuring him that they were going to take him right then to the hospital. One of the EMTs (a woman wearing a wedding ring), turned and saw Victoria sitting with a group of onlookers. She turned to the others and said that she was going to let the bride come in the ambulance with Trevor, which hopefully would keep both of them more calm.

  Apparently in horrendous pain, Trevor, who would never even take aspirin for a headache, begged them for something to relieve his pain. While they said they couldn't do that, they reassured him that they would be at the hospital within five minutes, and the attending doctor would give him something almost immediately.

  *****

  When wheeled into the emergency room, an orderly immediately took charge. Because all of Trevor's vital statistics and injury descriptions were electronically relayed while they were still in transit, there was nothing left for them to do, other than help the orderly transfer Trevor to a hospital gurney, while the female EMT told Victoria and Trevor not to worry, they'd be fixed up and on their way to their honeymoon venue in a very short while. Neither of them clarified to her that they had not yet taken their vows and were not yet married. The honeymoon was the least of their concerns right now.

  Thanking the EMTs and telling them go
odbye, Victoria looked past them to see three of her bridesmaids, Trevor's parents, and Pastor Art seated together in the waiting room. She waved to them and mouthed that she'd be back out to report on Trevor's condition as soon as she knew something.

  While they were walking down the hall to the exam room, Victoria slipped away for just a minute when she saw a restroom avail itself. Once inside, she dis-attached her tulle overskirt, threw the voluminous tulle layers over one arm and ran back out and into the exam room directly across the hall. She sure wished she could get rid of these wedding shoes. As beautiful as they were, she hated these three inch satin strappy heels. Her feet were killing her. If she were outdoors, she'd kick them off immediately and deposit them in the nearest trash can. The joyous fantasy of bare feet filled her mind for exactly three seconds before the reality of their situation re-took its rightful place in her thinking.

  Joining Trevor in the exam room, an RN was already working on him. She had already cut away both Trevor's left tuxedo pant leg and his left shirt- and tux sleeves, then placed his left hand in a hanging contraption that gripped each finger and left the hand suspended in mid-air. Having completed these major tasks, the nurse hooked Trevor's right arm up with an IV, which dripped clear fluid into his vein. Obviously it was not pain medication, because he continued moaning. Between what was obviously a broken leg and what appeared to be a broken wrist, Trevor was in horrific pain.

  Seeing no visible relief on Trevor's face, she asked the nurse if she could please give him something for the pain. She said one word, "Absolutely!" and disappeared from the room. While she was absent, Victoria patted his left shoulder and repeatedly told Trevor that she loved him and everything would be all right.