Saving Forever - Part 4

Saving Forever

Part 4

By

Lexy Timms

Copyright 2014 by Lexy Timms

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2014 by Lexy Timms

Cover design by: Book Cover by Design

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

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Book Trailer:
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SAVING FOREVER SERIES

SAVING FOREVER SERIES

Book One is FREE!

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Book Two:

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Book Three
:

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Book Four
:
B00OSPIESI

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This is Part 4 of a 5 book series

The Final Chapter

Book 1 of this series is FREE!

DESCRIPTION
:

When Dr. Elijah Bennet proposed to Charity, she said yes. There were doubts in the back of her mind but she understood one thing; she loved him and did not want to be without him. She believed they could handle any of the reservations or uncertainties she felt inside.

The complicated relationship with her father seemed to be traveling down a road she never believed they would ever find. Could they really be making amends?

As life begins to come full circle, the things Charity has so longed for seem within her reach. A life within the walls of the medical world, a husband, a family including her father, are all no longer a fleeting dream.

Just as everything begins to turn into the childhood fairy tale she has always dreamt about, complications arise and Charity’s hopes may be wrenched from her grasp.

How big do you dream? How much are you willing to risk for love?

* This is NOT erotica* This is a love story and a romance.

For mature readers only. There are sexual situations, but no graphic sex.

Chapter 1

Charity shifted on the hard oak bench, trying to not let the discomfort show on her face. Her stitches pulled against her skin and she resisted the urge to touch them. She played with the ring on her left finger, twirling it around so the diamond faced up. She checked her watch. It had only been five minutes since the last time she looked. A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Elijah leaned over toward her, at the same time lifting his arm to rest it lightly on her shoulders and along the back of the bench. “You okay?” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear.

She nodded and smiled. “Just bored,” she mouthed. She lied. She just didn’t want him to know her side ached and she needed to get up and move around. She could tough it out a little while longer.

Everything had changed because of
this
woman. Except unlike the others, Charity felt things had changed for the better instead of worse – until a week ago.

The eyebrow above his right eye rose in a questionable gesture. “What?” he mouthed back.

Someone behind them cleared their throat. Charity straightened and turned her attention back to the lawyer speaking to the judge. He droned on about instability and malicious intent. It all sounded like pomp and circumstance to her. She should be listening intently, concerned with the outcome, but all she wanted to do was move forward and not be here. Except she had to. So did Elijah. So did her father as well.

This
woman had taken a gun to the Diamond Gala of her father’s birthday and turned the weapon on Charity. She now sat straight in her chair, all prim and proper. An innocent smile plastered on her face. Laura was the nurse’s name. Charity had learned that while she lay healing on her hospital bed. The police had come in the day after surgery and questioned her on what had happened. Witnesses collaborated with Charity’s account of the evening and another nurse had come forward to share more information regarding Laura stalking both Charity and Elijah. The young policeman had assured her the woman was behind bars and would never hurt Charity again.

Now Laura sat in front of the judge dressed in innocent white clothes, her fading bleached blond hair was French braided and away from her face. Her natural red had begun to show through at her scalp. Charity didn’t want to look at the woman but she couldn’t stop herself from watching her. One moment Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie, the next Poison Ivy from Batman. Today the woman was playing her part perfectly.

Maybe she’s taken acting classes in the last few weeks.
Charity gave her head a slight shake and tried to listen to the lawyer. He stood recounting to the judge the events that had led up to the Diamond Gala. 

Elijah reached for her hand and squeezed it. “This is bullshit,” he muttered under his breath.

The judge banged his gavel calling for an hour recess for lunch. Charity stood and leaned to the side, trying to stretch the muscles between her ribs without harming her stitches. Silently she followed Elijah as they filed out of the courtroom and into the large foyer to wait for her father, Dr. Scott Thompson. Camera’s flashed and media personnel were told they needed to take their cameras outside of the building.

As they left grumbling, Charity’s father exited the courtroom. He looked tired and irritated. “Ridiculous.” He glared at the backs of the journalists, as if daring one of them to turn around and try to cop a photo.

Elijah pointed to her side. “I want to have a look.”

Charity playfully but intentionally slapped his hand away. “It’s fine. You saw it this morning.” She grinned wickedly, feeling her body warm as she thought about the two of them in his bed this morning. He had used the excuse of needing to check the injury closely and then had brought his lips from her ribs into the center of her abdomen and then trailed down lower…

“Charity!”

Her father’s exasperated voice brought her back to the present. She blinked and smiled, the heat from the moment earlier turning into embarrassed warmth on her face. “Yes, Dad?”

If he noticed anything he made no note of it. “Can I ask you a favor? Would you mind grabbing Elijah and I some lunch? Sorry to bother, but Gerritt, our attorney, wants to go over a few things about the hospital with Elijah and I. If it’s not too much trouble?” He glanced down at her left side by her heart.

She nearly laughed when her father’s stomach rumbled. At least she knew where she got that family trait from. “It’s fine. There’s a deli not far from here. I can grab you each a sub. Does it matter what kind?” She wished Elijah and her dad would stop worrying about her. She was fine. It was this stupid case and what did the attorney want to go over with just Elijah and her father?

“Nothing saucy,” her father said. “Maybe chicken or tuna?”

“Same here.” Elijah, holding his phone, leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips then he glanced back to his phone as he scrolled through his messages. “Hospital’s doing alright,” he said, his head still bent as he looked over his phone. “I have a major surgery scheduled for three. I can’t get anyone to fill in and I don’t want to cancel it again.”

“Just go,” Charity said, cutting off her father before he had a chance to speak. “You don’t need to be here twenty-four seven.”

Dr. Thompson shot her an annoyed glare.

She grinned. “I’ll get the food.” Charity turned to go as her father started talking to Elijah.
Probably a lecture about responsibility for her lucky fiancé.
She sighed as she stepped out of the courthouse building and into the warmth of the May sun. She did sympathize for her father. He had every right to feel agitated about the court preliminary trial. In the next day or possibly two, lawyers would be wrapping up the case and the verdict would be in.

She was nervous.

They all were.

All for different reasons.

This trial had nothing to do with what the devil-Laura-woman had done to her. Ironically, Charity had opted to settle out of court, requiring the woman seek psychiatric help, and there be a restraining order in place for her, Elijah and the hospital. Laura’s lawyer had agreed without much contest, so Charity had thought the issue was closed and they could move on… Start planning a wedding, for instance.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Laura didn’t go after her as per the agreement.

The crazy-woman had decided to sue the hospital for medical malpractice, citing Dr. Elijah Bennet had sexually harassed and assaulted her.