Something Beautiful
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Chapter 1
Katie Briggs emerged from her brother’s room in the
She stopped dead in her tracks seeking the source of the wistful voice. All she could see in the darkened room was a tall male patient clad in a white hospital gown. Katie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hi,” she automatically responded, then quickened her pace down the hall.
She puzzled over the unexpected behavior of the sad patient as she hurried to her car. For some odd reason she looked up to where his room was located. She was a little astonished to see him at the window. She wasn’t entirely sure but she thought she saw him wave. She pretended not to notice and quickly drove away.
Katie was especially fond of Matt, her oldest brother. His gallbladder had been removed two days ago after a near brush with death. She shuddered as she recalled all that had happened to him.
He had been in severe pain for a couple of days before he finally sought help at a local health clinic. His doctor there was unable to find the source of the pain and sent him to the hospital for a battery of tests. Matt was almost beside himself with the excruciating pain that wouldn’t go away. Day after day dragged by in the hospital without the tests revealing a possible cause for the pain. Katie spent every possible moment at Matt’s bedside. She began to feel like the hospital was her second home.
After the doctors ruled out all other possible causes of Matt’s pain, they decided he might have a diseased gallbladder despite the fact the ultrasound revealed no gallstones. Katie was there when the doctors discussed the situation with Matt. They admitted they didn’t know what was wrong but felt exploratory surgery was imperative. Matt was at the end of his rope and quickly agreed to it.
Matt and his family knew the surgery would not be the usual routine “band-aid” laparoscopy. When the surgeon opened him up, he discovered not only a badly diseased gallbladder but also peritonitis which had spread to the stomach cavity. The peritonitis had advanced to the life-threatening stage. Even now as Katie recalled it, a tremor rushed through her body.
After Matt was finally back in his room, he showed his family his incision, a 12” diagonal slit stapled together across his side and abdomen. Dr. Clayton, the surgeon, told them it had been a near thing. He looked at Matt’s incision, then said, “Matt, it’s a good thing we did the exploratory surgery. If we would have delayed surgery even one more day, you in all likelihood would not have made it. But don’t worry. You’re going to be just fine in time. You’ll probably need to stay here for about a week yet.”
Matt’s sad neighbor in the next room was watching for Katie’s arrival the next day. He knew without looking she had arrived. He had learned to recognize the faint jingle of her charm bracelet.
Against her better judgment, Katie stole a quick peek inside the darkened room. There he stood in his white hospital gown looking directly at her. He smiled hesitantly and wagged the fingers on his right hand. She was the only bright spot in his life. He liked everything about her…especially her slightly tilted nose and the way her brown hair swirled about her shoulders. He could see she was slender and that her eyes were as blue as the sky in the summertime. Judging by her daily visits to the patient in the room next to his, he wondered if that might be her husband. Somehow the thought of that only served to depress him even more than he was already depressed.
“Hi,” she blurted, amazed that it came rolling out of her mouth so easily. She hurried on to Matt’s room. He smiled at the puzzled frown which briefly crossed her forehead. He didn’t know what was bothering her but he was sure he was about to find out.
“Matt, who is that weird guy in the room next to you?”, she asked curiously.
“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious, I guess. He has taken to watching for m
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Aaron Murdock is a troubled man with many problems. The most pressing one concerns Gwen, his ex-wife, who kidnapped his two children and keeps them tucked away while collecting ransom payments to finance her fast-living lifestyle.
Amidst the chaos in Aaron's life, he finds his true love, Katie Briggs, while hospitalized after an emergency landing in
Gwen enjoys yanking Aaron around with repeated promises to exchange the children for ransom. She never keeps her promise until she strikes a deal with him to give her $1,000,000 in small bills in exchange for the children. Katie's four brothers get involved in helping Aaron to regain custody of his children. Gwen escapes the trap laid for her but pays a high price after a wild car chase.
While slowly recovering from severe injuries, she whiles away the time hatching up schemes for revenge. Her eyes glitter with evil as she considers how to put them into play. Aaron remains alert as he senses his ex-wife is 'out there' waiting to take revenge on him and his family. He has a difficult time making Katie and his father realize they are as vulnerable as himself. Gwen knows that any harm done to Katie or Aaron's father would utterly devastate him.
Gwen becomes furious when she learns that Aaron and Katie are to be married. She lies in wait outside the church. When Aaron and Katie are dashing to their car after the reception, she shoots Aaron. She escapes and then stalks him in the hospital, determined to absolutely kill him this time.
Despite Gwen's wickedness, there are those who will warm your heart and make you laugh. Ya gotta love those kids!
About the Author
Berniece Lovell has always had a fascination for stringing words together. This naturally led to the art of storytelling. She graduated from business college and was employed for many years by a prominent insurance company in the
The third one was the closest to her heart. That is why she chose to have it published first. She did a complete rewrite of "Something Beautiful" and has now decided this just might be her favorite.
One day several years ago it occurred to Berniece that no one had ever taken the trouble to write the Family History. So like the proverbial little red hen, she said, "I'll do it." It developed into a major undertaking but was well worth the effort. She published it in 1998 and does periodic updates. She also wrote a friend's Family History.
Many people believe that a novel is all fiction. This is not the case with Berniece's books. She writes what she knows about and says it is accurate to say that at least half of each book is based on real life experiences of both herself and others. She also believes in salting her books with humor.
She has many interests which are too numerous to list. As you may have guessed, she is a voracious reader. She always has a book with her regardless where she might be. She has traveled extensively and favors visiting foreign countries. She is passionate about the welfare of animals.
She makes her home in