Read CORAL - Forever (A Romance Trilogy, Book 3) for Free Online Page A

me,” he softly says.
    The door suddenly opens, we both look up at the same time
and see Malcolm walk through with Gladys right behind him, his whole body sags
with relief when he sees me.
    Gladys hasn’t looked up at me, which I’m glad of, it gives
me a second to study her...and she looks terrible! She looks like she’s dropped
a stone in weight and she’s so pale and gaunt, her eyes are all puffy and red
and she has deep, dark rings underneath them; she looks likes she’s aged ten
years!
    And for some strange reason – maybe the death of my
biological mother – I suddenly realise that Gladys is my Mom, she always has
been, always will be – She is everything a good mother should be, and in that
moment I know, I feel the fundamental shift – I don't want to call her Gladys
anymore – How strange!
    “Mom!” I choke. Gladys looks up and stares back at me in
disbelief – Oh Mom! – Our eyes reflect one another as we both start
crying, I cannot stop the tears from cascading down my cheeks.
    “Coral!” she wails and comes rushing over to me, knocking
Rob out of the way. Gladys leans down and tries to hug me as best she can. “I
thought I’d lost you,” she cries, gently stroking my cheek. Rob laughs, steps
over to the chair in the corner, sits down, pulls out a magazine and winks at
me.
    “I know, I’m sorry but I’m ok Mom,” I choke out and hug her
to me, we both cry some more – God I love this woman! “Mom, I’m ok,
don't cry,” I say trying to soothe her, so she’ll stop crying, which means I’ll
stop crying.
    She sits back up and sniffs several times. “Really Mom,
you’re worrying me, you look terrible,” I croak. Her bottom lip starts wobbling
again. She lifts her hand to her mouth and chokes back more tears. Then she
takes a deep steadying breath and pats my hand.
    “Oh darling, it’s so good to see you awake,” she chokes. “I’m
going to go clean myself up.”
    I smile up at her. “Ok.”
    She leans down and kisses my forehead, then scuttles of to
the en-suite bathroom. Malcolm comes over, sits on the edge of the bed, then
leans down and kisses my cheek.
    “Hello Coral.” He takes hold of my hand and squeezes it
tight between both of his; he looks really upset.
    “Hey Malcolm...” I say, tears falling down my cheeks again.
Malcolm picks up the box of tissues pulls several out, and taking me by
surprise again, he gently dabs the tears away – Oh...what a sweet thing to
do....
    I smile tentatively at him. “Gave us all a fright their
Coral,” he says smiling gently at me. “How are you holding up?” He softly asks.
    “I’m good,” I say smiling back at him – I really do like
him.
    “That’s good to hear,” he says his eyes glistening over – Oh
Malcolm, don't cry for me! Gladys comes back into the room, sits on the
other side of the bed, and takes my hand in hers.
    “How are you feeling sweetheart, are you in any pain?” she
asks patting my hand.
    “No, they’re keeping me pretty doped up,” I say taking a
deep breath and trying not to wince, it doesn’t feel too good when I breathe
deeply.
    “Ok darling,” she says.
    “Is Bob ok?” I ask, remembering what happened to him.
    “Yes dear, he’s doing fine. He wanted to come and see you
but I told him to rest a few more days, get his strength back.”
    “Good, that’s good,” I say. I start to choke up again,
seeing them both...knowing their wedding could have been and gone. “I’m so
sorry, to both of you. Tristan told me you cancelled the wedding, I’m so sorry,”
I sniff.
    “Don't be,” they both say. “Darling, it’s absolutely fine,”
Malcolm tries to assure me.
    “But you’ll have lost the deposit and’ – “Coral, get some
perspective,” Malcolm scolds – I shut the hell up, he doesn’t look happy. “You
nearly died,” he reminds me... ok that sounded like Tristan! “Getting
married has been the last thing on our minds. Seeing you healthy, and back on
your feet is our main