William felt a hand moving in his, he sat up and looked into a pair of sea green eyes. His prayers had been answered after all. He couldn't believe his eyes, could this be a dream? He pinched himself and knew then that it wasn't a dream.
William laid his head close to her's and smiled" I have been waiting for you princess to awake from your slumber."
Holly smiled and laced her fingers through his" exactly how long have I been asleep?"
William cracked a grin" well sleeping beauty, you have been sleeping for a month."
Holly's eyes got wide, " I missed our wedding day?"
William let out a loud bark of laughter," don't worry, I have been waiting for your lazy bum to wake up."
Holly went to move her arm to playfully swat at him, Holly grimaced" why do I fill so stiff and sore?"
William smiled" well Miss Campton, you have injured yourself tumbling down that ravine, don't you remember?"
Holly shook her head" no, I don't member anything, how did I tumble down into a ravine?"
William was a little worried," That story is for another day, I just want to make sure that you are okay. Since I have to get the doctor, and everyone will want to come in and see you. I would rather be the only one right now, but everyone else has got to have the good news."
Holly nodded" Please don't leave me, I know that this is silly but I want you to stay right here with me."
William chuckled" sweet heart I am not going any where, you can bet your last coin on that."
William let go of her hand and walked to the door, a maid was walking by and he signalled to her." I need the doctor now, and please send my family and Miss Campton's here immediately!"
The maid curtsied and ran down the corridor, William walked back to Holly's side. He sat in his spot and was bracing himself for what was going to happen. He decided to get them back for forcing him to take a bath. Which now he was happy about, since he didn't smell bad. He told Holly to close her eyes, and when everyone came into the room to yell Boo!
Since Holly loves a good joke, she went along with it just for the fun of it. She just had to keep a straight face long enough to pull it off. That was the only hard part, but she was up for the challenge. William was chuckling at her attempt to just lay there not moving, he was so happy that she was back.
Their family came running with worried expressions on their faces, they all crowded into the room. The Duke looked at his son" What's the emergency that the doctor had to be summoned?"
"BOO!" Holly opened her eyes with a wide smile across her face. Everyone jumped a mile into the air, Holly started to giggle. Martha and Anna screamed,Lindsay started to giggle" Holly, your awake!"
Everyone started to crowd around the bed to hug her and kiss her cheek. She loved having all of this attention, but she wanted it to be from William mostly. She had no clue on what had happened, but all she knew was that she still wanted to marry him.
William watched as everyone tried to talk all at once, he sat back and watched. Holly was beautiful as always matted hair and all. He tried to brush it as best as he could, but he was no ladies maid. He was so happy that he had his Holly back. Now they were going to start planning their future, a wedding is just what they needed.
Martha smiled" well since you are awake, we need to make sure that we can move you home as soon as we can."
Holly was trying to tell her that she wanted to stay right where she was, just so she could be close to William. But her mother wouldn't hear of it, since they were not married it would not do if she stayed. Now Holly was wishing that she would have put off them knowing she was awake from her coma. She wasn't ready to leave him yet, this was her home.
The Duchess was upset about her leaving also," Martha dear, maybe a couple of days might be better to move her. That way we can make sure she doesn't slip back in to a coma."
Martha shook her head" I know that you mean well and as soon as the doctor has confirmed that she is okay. We will have her moved to our estate, I have missed her so."
Anna frowned at loosing Holly, but could understand a mother's heart. Lindsay was sitting on the edge of the bed," Oh Holly, I am so happy that you are awake."
Holly smiled" me too, I have missed you even though I didn't realize that I have been here the whole time."
The Duchess and Martha were discussing that it was not fitting for William to be left in the room with Holly alone anymore. Martha was trying to be very assuring that they needed to move her back home. Holly was trying to refuse, she didn't want to leave William. Martha knew how the two young couple felt about each other, and that alone was her reasoning.
Martha and Anna were discussing it when the doctor came in to find an awake Holly. He saw that she was furrowing her brow. He didn't want anything to upset her, he needed to find out exactly what was causing her to worry. He couldn't have her upset, especially just after she just woke up from a coma.
"Everybody out of the room now! I need to examine my patient."
Everyone stopped in mid sentence, they stared at the intrusion. Once they discovered that it was the doctor they started to question him. He was not prepared to answer any questions at the time. So he just stared at them.
" Is Holly well enough to be moved back home?"
" Is Holly not well enough to be moved back home?"
"Is she capable of relapsing back into this coma again?"
" When will she be able to walk again?"
" Can she eat more than broth now?"
William watched as the doctor was surrounded by a crowd and pounded him with question after question. He looked at Holly who was frowning at all this mess, she looked like she was about to cry. He couldn't have her in tears, he was going to protect her with his life. If anyone upset her just the tiniest bit. They were going to be dealing with him. He stood up and shouted above everyone," WILL EVERYONE LEAVE THE ROOM NOW SO THE POOR MAN CAN MAKE SURE SHE IS WELL ENOUGH TO HANDLE LIFE!"
Everyone stopped and looked at William and then at Holly who was in tears. They saw that she was distraught from their being inconsiderate.They started to leave the room and walk into the sitting room that was so familiar to them. William bent down and kissed Holly on the forehead," I will be back, but the doctor needs to make sure that everything is fine with you."
Holly nodded," I wish you could stay, I don't want you to leave."
The doctor nodded at William" if she wishes for you to stay that is fine with me, besides you can handle that crowd with the answers. They ask to many questions for my taste."
Holly chuckled" I got scared for you there for a minute, they all scare me."
William and the doctor laughed at her, William smiled" They scare me to, can you imagine what it's going to be like on our wedding day?"
Holly blushed" I can't wait for our wedding day, but I want to make sure that I can walk down the isle without any problems this time."
William laughed" me too."
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
After the doctor looked Holly over from head to toe, he gave her a clean bill of health. Her leg was healing nicely, and the splints would be coming off in a week. She didn't seem to have any lasting effects from the coma, except one. She couldn't remember what had happened that night when she was kidnapped.
William and the doctor decided that they weren't going to tell her. Her brain was keeping that memory from her for a reason. The doctor listened to Holly as she told him why she was so sad at leaving the Ducal estate.
" You see doctor, I love William and he loves me, and when this happened to me we were getting married the next day. I want to be with him, I love my parents and my home with them. I just love William more, would it be wrong of me to have you lie to them so that I can stay a couple of days longer here?"
The doctor chuckled" I completely understand, I will give you an answer if you answer me."
William and Holly looked at him and nodded" yes, anything."
The doctor smiled" my question is exactly when are you going to get married now that you are all better. Well except your leg that is?"
William looked at Holly" Love, when would you like to get married?"
Holly shrugged her shoulders" When will I be able to walk again?"
The doctor scratched his head" Well that depends on you my dear."
Holly looked dumbfounded" It depends on me? exactly what do you mean by that?"
The doctor smiled" well the splints are coming off next week, and of course you have to consider that you have been laying asleep for a month. You are going to have to really work on getting your muscles back to being strong enough. There are certain exercises that you can do and it would give you two some time together. "
William looked at the doctor" So exactly how long are we looking at?"
The doctor looked at them both" I would say that if you work hard at these exercises each day. I would say about a month."
Holly groaned" really a month? That is to long to wait, what if I bounce back like I was before then?"
The doctor looked at her seriously" Miss Campton, if you can do that I will personally believe in miracles for the rest of my life."
Holly smiled, and looked at William" All we need is some prayers, and some more flowers. Because I am going to walk down that isle in three weeks time."
William chuckled" I think that we can do that, what do you think about that doctor?''
He chuckled " well I think I am going to remain a hopeful man on that one."
They all three laughed and the doctor walked to the door and turned to look at Holly. " I am going to give you a week more here, if I was you I would use your fiance there for your benefit."
They both smiled at the doctor and at each other, they were going to be together for a week longer. William was sure that Holly was going to be walking by the end of next week. He knew that she was going to be chasing him around the room faster than before.