In a Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) (45 page)

She went into the small en-suite bathroom, left the hospital gown on the counter and splashed her face with cold water. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her as Stella picked up the towel with trembling hands. A couple of days ago she really hadn’t cared whether she lived or died, as shameful as that statement might sound. All she felt was guilt, because she hadn’t had the strength to fight – if not for herself, then for Helen.

A soft knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts, and as Stella opened it she saw the very reason she was determined to kick cancer’s ass. How could she not have realised how much she needed Max until now?

“Hey. Need some help?” he asked. Stella glanced at her mum, who was talking to a nurse at the other side of the room. Stepping back a little, she let Max in and closed the door behind him.

“Yeah, I could use some help.”

That simple statement was harder to say and even harder to mean, and it meant a lot to both of them. Max nodded and helped Stella to take her clothes off, folding them neatly in a pile on the counter. When she was left in her underwear, Stella turned to take the hospital gown and heard Max gasp heavily behind her. Turning her head over her shoulder to look at him, she saw him staring at her tattoo. Stella had completely forgotten about it, and the fact that Max didn’t know she’d added another symbol to it.

Max covered the distance between them in one swift movement and knelt behind Stella, touching her tattoo with his fingers.

“You added it?” he asked, his voice coming out a little breathless. “When?”

“Right after I came back. The day before I got the news that the cancer was back.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed all the symbols, paying special attention to the latest one – hope. He lingered on it for a few moments longer than on the rest, tracing it with the tip of his tongue. Stella realised that right here, at this moment, was the most inappropriate place to feel her desire for Max ignite in her whole body, but she couldn’t help it. Shivering violently, she grabbed the counter with both hands, trying to regain some control.

Max stood up behind her and met her eyes in the mirror over the sink. Stella knew the look he gave her all too well. He wanted her too. A sudden determination to survive and delight in that look for a long time to come overtook Stella and she grinned at him.

Max helped her put the gown on and enveloped her in his arms.

“You’re going to be fine,
tesoro
,” he murmured against her neck, and Stella felt tears threatening to make an appearance. Max pulled away, looked straight into her eyes and said, “I promise.”

She believed him.

*

Max couldn’t stand still. He paced around the waiting room, making everyone else anxious, but he couldn’t help it. The procedure shouldn’t take longer than an hour and it had been only ten minutes since Stella had walked away with the doctor. To Max it felt like ten days. Not knowing what was happening behind those closed doors was driving him insane.

The phone in his pocket rang and startled him, almost making him trip over. Getting a disapproving look from a nurse, he took it out of his pocket and walked towards the doors leading to the corridor.

“Hi, Lisa,” he said, after he’d picked up.

“Max! What’s going on? Is she in surgery?” He had texted her last night, telling her that they’d made up and that she’d be in surgery today.

“Yeah, she just went in.” He shoved his free hand through his hair and leaned against the wall, trying to calm down enough to have a normal conversation with Lisa.

“How are you holding up?” Her voice was gentle and concerned, and it drove him over the edge.

“I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.” He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, burying his face in the crook of his arm. Max needed to be strong for Stella, but talking to Lisa made him crumble.

“Max, it’s going to be OK; I know it. You and Stella are meant to be. Your story isn’t just a cruel joke, Max. It’s real and it’s what you both deserve. Life needs to make it up to you both, and I think that’s what’s happening.”

Only Lisa could say something like this, and that was one of the many reasons he loved her so much. They might fight, argue and annoy the hell out of each other, but Lisa was his friend and had helped him more times than he could count. Including this time.

When he didn’t say anything, because his vocal cords refused to work, she took the hint and continued,

“Mum and I have booked tickets to visit in two weeks. Don’t tell Stella; we want to surprise her.” If they’d already booked their flights, that meant there was no doubt in their minds that Stella was going to be fine. Max smiled, newly found strength blossoming in his chest.

“That’s good; she’ll like that,” he said.

“There’s another reason we’re both coming. I told Mum everything – she didn’t know about Stella’s cancer; nobody but Aunt Helen and I did. When she found out she immediately suggested we both get tested and see if one of us might be a donor match for Stella.”

Max froze in place. Why hadn’t he thought of that himself? His mind was so preoccupied with getting her back and convincing her to let him be with her again that he hadn’t even considered it.

“You can’t tell her, Max; she wouldn’t allow us to do it. There’s no point in arguing with her, because we’ve already set our minds on it. If one of us is a match, then we’re going to argue. Choose our battles, right?” Max heard the smile in Lisa’s voice and it gave him even more hope.

“I wanna get tested too,” he said.

“OK, you can do it with us. Just ... don’t get your hopes up too much, Max. Helen was tested when they first found the cancer and she isn’t a match, even though she’s Stella’s closest relative. There’s a strong possibility that none of us is a match.”

“We have to try.”

“I agree. I have to go now, but please text me as soon as you have an update.”

“I will. Thank you, Lisa. I didn’t know how much I needed to talk to you before you called.”

Max returned to the waiting room and found Helen sitting there, nervously tapping her foot. It was a strange thing to see, because Stella’s mother always looked so calm and collected. Seeing her anxious made Max’s heart speed up even more.

He sat next to her and she put her hand over his without saying anything.

What seemed like a century later, Stella’s doctor came through the double doors and, finding them with his eyes, headed straight in their direction.

“She’s fine,” he said, probably sensing that this should be the first thing he had to say. “Everything went well and I’m positive she’ll make good progress. She needs to rest for a few hours and if she feels OK afterwards, you can take her home. There are no side effects to this procedure, so she should be as good as new tomorrow. Bring her back for a check-up in a week’s time.” He gave them a mechanical smile and a nod, and turned to walk away. Helen’s hand shot up and grabbed his upper arm, stopping him.

“Thank you, Doctor.” She choked on the words and the moment he left, Helen buried her face in Max’s chest and sobbed.

The doctor had been right – Stella was as good as new the very next day. She was a little tired when they took her home after the procedure, but it was more from the anaesthesia than anything else. Max held her in his arms and she slept for the entire drive home. After Helen had cried all her pain out in the waiting room, she couldn’t stop smiling. She beamed at him every time she looked in the rear-view mirror and met his eyes.

The check-up a week later went well – the MRI scan showed that the tumours were less defined and beginning to diminish. The next appointment was in four weeks and it would show whether Stella would need another treatment.

Stella was pretty much back to her old self. Helen returned to work, leaving her in Max’s care. He couldn’t have been happier.

When Lisa and Niki showed up at her door, Stella was over the moon. Later, when they told her they’d all been tested for donor match – not so much. It turned out Niki was a perfect match for Stella, but she didn’t even want to hear about it. She refused to let her aunt risk her life, as she put it, to save hers. Besides, the chemosaturation treatment had given her great hope that she wouldn’t even need a donor. It all depended on the results of the next check-up in two weeks’ time.

In the end, to reach some kind of compromise, Niki made Stella promise that if at any point in the future she needed a transplant, she’d allow her to do it.

The results of the four-week check-up were incredible; the tumours were almost gone. Stella’s doctor was astonished; they’d never had such good results before.

After three more months, Stella was given the all-clear and was officially in remission.

“It’s all because of you, baby. You saved me,” said Stella, as she snuggled next to Max.

He’d craved to hear those words for so long.

The truth was, they’d saved each other.

Epilogue

12 years later

You know how they say when you’re in mortal danger your life flashes before your eyes? Well, it can also happen when you’re so happy you feel you might burst into millions of bright, sparkling pieces.

That’s how I feel right now.

Watching my wife fuss over our five-year-old son, because he fell and got a tiny scratch on his knee, makes me the happiest man alive.

Twelve years ago I could only dream of this life – and now I’m actually living it.

When Stella went into remission, we both applied to Kingston University and got accepted on our respective courses: me, Architecture; Stella, Interior Design. Three years later, we graduated with honours. I proposed to her that same day.

We got married in Beppe’s villa in Tuscany and moved permanently to Italy that same year. Securing a decent-rate mortgage, we bought one of the houses I had my eyes on and even though restoring it was difficult, tiresome and pushed us both to our limits, the end result was worth it. Selling it for a good profit, we immediately bought another one. Stella was an inseparable part of the whole process, dealing with permits, regulations, suppliers, builders, painters and decorators much better than I ever could. By the end of the project all the contractors were in love with her and would do anything she asked. I didn’t blame them.

With the money from the second house we bought two more – one for business and one for us. We fell in love with this amazing house not too far away from Beppe’s villa. It came with four acres of land, including the huge vineyard I’ve always wanted. It took us a long time to restore it and make it habitable, because we had to do it alongside the projects that paid the bills.

Stella got pregnant before the house was anywhere near ready. We lived in my house back then, and my mum was more than happy to have us there and to help with the baby. We named him Luca, after my dad. Stella suggested it and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Helen sold their house in London and, taking early retirement, relocated to Italy. She didn’t have anything left in the UK anymore and wanted to be with her daughter and her grandson. Initially she moved in with Niki, who desperately needed a partner to help her with the spa. It was growing quickly and Niki didn’t have the resources or the time to take care of everything on her own. Helen invested in it and was finally realising her dream of running her own business.

We moved into our dream house when Luca was three. Watching him run on the never-ending green lawn for the first time filled my heart with so much happiness I could barely breathe. Every night when I go to bed and hold Stella in my arms, and every morning when I wake up next to her, I count my blessings and thank every other-worldly force in the universe for what I have.

Stella still needs to go for regular check-ups every six months to make sure her cancer isn’t back, but I think she’s learned to accept that as a part of
our
life. I’ve never been more certain that we can overcome anything that life throws at us as long as we’re together.

Love at first sight is real. I saw it with Mum and Dad, with Stella and me, with Lisa and Gino and even with Beppe and Gia. My best friend has been in love with my sister ever since she gave him a pink plaster with orange dots when he was six.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say with all this is: when life gives you lemons, take out the salt and the shot-glasses and fill them up with tequila. Fight for what you really want and never, ever settle for anything less.

Don’t exist. Live.

Cheers
!

THE END

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I never intended to start writing this story. In fact, I sat down to write the final instalment of the Humanless series when, to pass the time while plotting, I browsed through images for cover art inspiration. The image on the ‘In a Heartbeat’ cover caught my eye and drew me in instantly. I couldn’t stop looking at it.

I bought it on the spot.

I knew it wouldn’t be the cover for the third Humanless book, but I also knew I had to have it as a book cover, eventually. And that’s when the story hit me. It was so sudden and unexpected that I got a headache. Those people, dialogues, scenes and settings filled my head and I needed to sit down and write it.

I wrote every chance I got. Even on Christmas. Even after an exhausting day. Even early in the morning before the alarm set off.