Page 68 of Without Pride and Prejudice
“Twelve hours? That’s all? You mean it was all a dream?”
“What was all a dream?” Dr. Taylor asked calmly while the nurses checked Monroe’s vitals.
She shook her head, her cheeks turning red. “Nothing.”
“Do you remember falling off the horse?” Dr. Taylor asked.
“Yes,” she croaked. “My throat is dry. Can I get something to drink? Like clean water with ice? Lots of ice,” she said as if she’d been missing it.
Clean water? Why would she specifyclean?I wondered.
“Of course.” Dr. Taylor chuckled.
One of the nurses darted off to get Monroe something to drink while the doctor continued to examine her. He had her squeeze his hand and tell him her name and date of birth. Dr. Taylor even had her recite the alphabet and count to one hundred, after she had something to drink, of course. Her mindand motor skills seemed to be in working order, though she still looked dazed.
When Dr. Taylor finished examining her, he pronounced, “You are a medical miracle, Ms. Wilde. With that said, I think it best if we run some additional tests later this morning and keep you here for a few more days for observation. I’m going to keep the catheter and IV in for now. I don’t want you to get up unsupervised, so we’ll have some food brought in for you. What would you like?”
“Anything,” she replied.
It surprised me she hadn’t balked at staying in the hospital. I thought for sure she’d want to get back to that blasted park so she could continue to live out herPride and Prejudicefantasies.
Dr. Taylor stood. “Very good. I’ll be back soon to check on you. If you need anything, press the nurse’s button.”
Monroe nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re a lucky woman.” The doctor walked off, shaking his head and muttering, “Never seen anything like this.”
As soon as Monroe and I were alone, I took up a chair at her bedside, immediately taking her hand. “How do you feel?”
“Fitz,” she breathed out. “I had the strangest ... dream, I guess, but it seemed so real. I didn’t know if I would ever wake up ... or make it back to reality. For a while, I thought I’d died or maybe gone toFantasy Island. You know that old show I made you watch with me once when you came to visit me?”
“I remember.” I caressed her hand, trying to calm her. She seemed upset.
“It seemed like I was gone for at least a few weeks. I can’t believe it’s only early Wednesday morning.”
I wanted to tell her how sorry I was and how I’d never been more frightened in my life, but she seemed to need to recount her time asleep.
“I know this sounds crazy, but I was in the actualPride and Prejudicestory as Elizabeth. And you were there, playing Mr. Darcy, but you were different. At first you left me because I said words likesexyand you accused me of talking about basket weaving.”
“Basket weaving?” I laughed.
“You know, the euphemism for sex?” She grinned.
“I understand,” I assured her, wishing we could talk more about basket weaving. Maybe later.
“Yeah, well, Mr. Darcy didn’t like it, or at least I don’t think he did, but then he asked me to dance at the Meryton assembly. Of course, I had to say yes, but I messed up the entire story, even though I tried really hard to be the best Elizabeth and not try to fix things.” She became more and more upset.
“Darling, it’s all right.”
“No, it’s not. Or at least it wasn’t. I was able to actually help everyone. Because of me, Bingley never left Jane. And I helped Mary play and sing better, which made Mr. Collins fall for her. Did you know Mr. Collins can sing?”
“Did you turnPride and Prejudiceinto a musical?” I teased her.
“Sort of. It was more like a wacky rom-com. TheWithout Pride and Prejudiceversion—you know, since I knew how the story went, but that’s not the point.”
“What is the point?” I was more than curious.
“The point is that I became the best Elizabeth ever. Lydia didn’t even fall for Mr. Wickham, although I think Caroline Bingley might have.” She smiled. “Maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part since Caroline looked and acted like Winnifred,” she grumbled her name. “She even tried to turn Mr. Darcy against me, but he gave me a kitten instead, who I named Duke, after you.”
