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  “So…how are you?” Violet started the random conversation.

  “Better now that you’re awake,” you could hear the sincerity in his voice. “They said it was touch and go there for a while. Henry was sick with worry and well…so was I.” Jeremy confessed. “He loves you ya know…Henry I mean?”

  Violet thought that was a strange proclamation for Jeremy to make. Of course he loves her, he is her father. Why would Vivian think her own Father didn’t love her? Hmmmm….a puzzle.” Violet got it into her head that it wouldn’t hurt to sniff around and see what she could find out about the Thorne’s and what was troubling them. After all, she was going to be spending a lot of time with Henry and it wouldn’t hurt if she could mend their family before Vivian left this world. That was Violet, always empathizing. And that was the Violet the Council was afraid would get in the way of their very important mission.

  “Vivian, I can’t tell you how difficult it has been hoping and praying that you would wake up and everything would be as it was before…” Jeremy began to break down but quickly composed himself and finished his sentence, “before you got sick.” He looked into Violets eyes and when she looked back into his, she should see the love, the pure true love he had for the girl that was no longer there. The girl he knew as Vivian.

  Jeremy reached for her hand and continued speaking. “And now all of those prayers have been answered. Here you are…here we are and I am never going to let you out of my sight again,” he vowed as he embraced her.

  Suddenly, Violet was overwhelmed with strong feelings of sympathy that seemed to consume the entire vessel that she was now occupying. Violet realized just how difficult it was going to be for Jeremy knowing what she knew about the fate that was awaiting his beloved Vivian when this mission was over. She wondered how she was going to look into Jeremy’s sweet eyes and pretend that everything was going to be alright. She couldn’t…she wouldn’t!

  Jeremy was a tall young man, slender but muscular, with really handsome features. His hair was a deep chestnut brown that reflected all the radiance of his smile. His eyes were light like cinnamon sugar and were just as sweet. Violet could tell within minutes that Jeremy’s heart was an open book that was quite easy to read when it came to Vivian and the way he felt about her. It was easy to see why Vivian loved him and why she could feel her soul reaching out for him now.

  Jeremy reached over to the nightstand beside her bed and picked up and interesting looking device. “I felt so helpless when you didn’t wake up after the surgery,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t talk to you and I wanted to so bad. I wanted to reach you somehow to let you know I was here waiting for you to wake up. I bought this IPod for you and put all of your favorite songs on it. Every day after school I came here and put these earphones on you and played the entire playlist for hours. I know it sounds silly but I believed, knowing your passion for music that you could…that you would follow it back home to me, to all of us,” Jeremy professed.

  “Wow,” Violet thought to herself wondering if Vivian knew how very lucky she was to have so much love all around her. She wondered if she could feel it now. Violet’s attention quickly shifted to the device that was now sitting in Jeremy’s sweaty hand. She was very interested to hear what was on that little music box.

  “May I?” she pointed to the IPod and asked Jeremy to play the music for her.

  Jeremy moved his hands towards Violet’s face and softly whisked her hair back from her shoulders to place the small ear buds to her ears and pressed play. As he leaned in to her she noticed a light welcoming scent on Jeremy that was almost calming. She closed her eyes and breathed in for a brief moment, just to take in his wonderful scent that filled the air. Then she quickly let it out before Jeremy could see how much she was enjoying it.

  The IPod began to play the most beautiful melody with the sweetest harmonies in her head and she liked it very much. She smiled at Jeremy to let him know. Then Violet heard the smooth voice of Bruno Mars for the first time as he started to sing into her ears.

  “Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shinin. Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without tryin. She’s so beautiful and I tell her every day.” Violet looked to Jeremy knowing that he had played that song just for her…just to let her know what he couldn’t say. As beautiful as the music was, Violet had to stop. She felt like she was stealing a precious moment that did not belong to her, but to Vivian…Vivian and Jeremy!

  “I need to stop this,” she thought to herself, “but how?”

  While Violet hated that Jeremy’s time was cut short in this world with Vivian, she knew she could not let him be a distraction. Violet was here for one reason and one reason only and it was not about the two of them. Violet needed to get close to someone and that boy was not Jeremy, that boy was Carter Stone. So she did what she had to do, the only thing she could do. Violet looked into his sweet beautiful cinnamon eyes and said, “I’m sorry…Do I know you?”

  Chapter 3

  Backfired

  The light in my eyes was more than blinding. I was starting to rethink this genius plan of mine… memory loss. But what choice did I have? Doc said nothing, just moved his little light across my eyes telling me to follow it. I was quite sure he would find nothing, since I was faking the amnesia. Really? Enough with the light already I thought. I had to endure the scrutiny and it was no one’s fault but my own.

  Jeremy and Henry were waiting in the hall for Doc to finish the examination. No doubt Henry was sick with worry again. I felt horrible about that and about deceiving Jeremy but the worst part was delaying my release from the hospital. Apparently when you are in a coma for three weeks and you have sudden memory loss, there is cause for concern. I guess I didn’t think about the big picture and because of that lapse in judgment, Doc had ordered a whole battery of tests to find out what was happening with me. Great, just how I wanted to spend my afternoon; doing MRI’s, CT scans, and more blood work. Hooray!

  “Well, Doc said in a rather baffling voice, I don’t see anything that could explain this sudden block in memory, but we will know more after we run the tests.” He went to the door and asked Henry to step back inside the room. He explained that he had ordered a comprehensive evaluation to rule out possible causes of the memory loss. Dr. Goodwin asked me if I knew the man standing in the room and I responded immediately. “Yes, it is my father.” Doc continued with his cognitive tests, checking my knowledge of general information and I passed with flying colors. Then he asked Jeremy to come into the room and asked me again if I knew who he was. “God help me,” I thought to myself before responding. I pondered briefly for another moment and then said “he looks familiar, but I don’t think I know him. Should I?” The look on Jeremy’s face was one of blighted hope and I knew instantly I was responsible for that. I had to keep in mind that my feelings of empathy had to be put aside for the good of the mission. The only consolation for my guilt was that it was temporary, and soon Jeremy would have his Vivian back. There was some solace in that for me.

  Jeremy couldn’t stay after the second slam. He exited the room so no one would see him break down, especially his love, his Vivian. Henry and Doc joined him in the hall a few minutes later and discussed possible theories of the memory loss. Doc tried to explain, medically speaking, what some plausible scenarios might be and that they would know more after all of the tests came back. He stated that they would need to keep her a few more days for observation and he knew Vivian would not like it.

  Jeremy stood up fighting back his tears and said, “But I am the only thing she doesn’t remember, right? What would cause that? This doesn’t make any sense?”

  Doc put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and said, “We don’t know anything yet Jeremy. Just let us run some tests and I know we will have some answers for you. Hang in there son.” He patted his back, lowered his head, and then turned away. Doc approached his nurse, Ivy, and gave the order for the tests on Vivian. Henry talked Jeremy into sitting
with him in the family wait area. Henry watched as Jeremy placed his hands over his face and hung his head somberly to his chest. It broke Henry’s heart to see him like that after everything the kids have been through this past year.

  Henry put his hand on his shoulder and spoke lovingly. “Don’t worry son, Vivian will remember you…I’m sure of it! I know my daughter will fight until she finds her way back to you. You can count on that!” Henry said reassuringly.

  He looked up to Henry with tears in his eyes and replied, “She has to Mr. Thorne. I am nothing without her.” Henry grabbed Jeremy and gave him a tight, manly hug. The kind of hug that men, like Henry, are comfortable giving. His left hand wrapped around Jeremy’s shoulder, followed by two slaps on the back. The back slap is key to the manly hug. Somehow, slapping your fellow man makes the hug manlier and less awkward for men like Henry. He loved Jeremy like he was his own son.

  “I’m gonna check on Vivian if you don’t mind?” Henry said, uncomfortable with the emotions lingering in the hall.

  “Sure Mr. Thorne, go ahead. I’ll just wait out here,” Jeremy said realizing for the first time that he was not invited. He could tell Henry felt bad for not asking him to come into his daughter’s room. They both looked at each other, not really needing to state the obvious…he was now a stranger to Vivian.

  Knock Knock… “Vivian…you awake?” Henry slowly opened the door.

  “Yeah dad, come on in,” she said.

  “I’m so sorry about all of this?” Violet apologized for all of the convenient memory loss she created.

  “Don’t you apologize for anything Vivian!” Henry said sternly.

  “It’s not your fault sweetheart! Don’t you worry about anything.” Henry sat on the edge of her bed and pulled Violet in close to his chest. Henry smelled wonderful. He had a musky-fresh, pine scent that was unbelievably comforting to Violet. It was the smell of the great outdoors on Henry and Violet loved it.

  “Everything is gonna be alright my angel, I promise.” Henry was cradling his daughter in his arms.

  Henry just called me his angel. “How perfect a moment was this?” I thought. Then I realized that Vivian was not here to share this moment, this memory that I was stealing from her. “Why do I feel so completely selfish?” I screamed silently from inside my… Vivian’s body. I can feel so much love radiating from this man now as I lay cradled in his arms. It is so strange for me to have all of these wonderful and confusing feelings in this vessel. It feels so wrong now to be here invading her life and robbing her of all of these precious memories. Especially knowing that these are Vivian’s last few months here in this world. “How can I cheat her out of these moments? Does she feel it too?” she thought. “God I hope so, because this is what makes the human experience so magnificent. This feeling, right here, right now, with Henry. It doesn’t get any better than this. I could stay here in this moment forever.”

  “Dad?” I looked into his tired blue eyes now.

  “Yes, honey?” he answered.

  “When can I go home?” Violet asked.

  “Soon Vivian…very soon.” Henry tried to reassure her.

  Violet understood by his response that “soon” was not any time soon and the amnesia she created was about to backfire on her timeline for the mission. Gabriel would not be pleased. Violet kept wondering why Gabriel had not shown himself. She began to worry that something must have gone wrong when they jumped. This being Violet’s first mission, she wasn’t familiar with the “what comes next” and that was making her feel very uneasy.

  I pulled away from Henry and looked into his eyes. It was clear to see just how much of a toll Vivian being here had taken on him.

  “You need to go Daddy. Go home and get some rest.” I told him.

  “I’m not leaving you Vivian, not a chance.” He replied like a lion protecting its cub.

  “Yes, you are Daddy!” I scolded him.

  “You are going to go home, eat, and get a good night’s sleep. I promise you if you go, and only if you go, I will do the same.” I waited to see if he was going to take the deal on the table. I knew he couldn’t resist the idea since me resting was a necessity for him.

  “Vivian, you are not the one who’s supposed to be giving the orders around here you know?” Henry attempted to take charge back.

  “Yeah, I know…but you have looked after me for far too long, so now it’s my turn. Go home Daddy…please…for me?” Violet gave him a sweet pouty face and looked at him with those big beautiful eyes and all at once…Henry was like putty in her hands.

  Henry couldn’t resist the pouting face of his beautiful little girl and Violet was counting on that. She had studied their relationship in the meetings with the council while prepping for the possibility of going on the mission. The father-daughter relationship fascinated Violet. All aspects of it. Now she was living it, feeling it, as if it were her own, and it felt so very real to her.

  Violet could see why his daughter was irresistible to him. Vivian was truly stunning, aesthetically speaking. Her skin was flawless, pale and velvety smooth. Her light, ash brown hair glimmered in the light. It looked like silk cascading down past her shoulders, swirling around her. Her eyes were a rich sapphire blue, luminous and shining like a precious jewel. Her small nose seemed almost perfectly carved to fit her flawless face. Her lips were a soft shade of rose and when she smiled, she could light up an entire room. Yes Vivian was a beautiful creature, but the beauty within her was fading. Her soul was in jeopardy. There was darkness filling up inside of her and she was allowing that evil to grow. Once you open the door to such darkness, it swallows you whole!

  Reluctantly, Henry decided to follow his daughter’s orders and take the night off. He kissed her on the forehead, as he always did, and said he would return first thing in the morning. Vivian was relieved Henry was leaving. It was not that she didn’t enjoy every second she spent with him, but Violet had someone very important she needed to see. And that someone was her leader, her friend, Gabriel.

  Violet wondered how on earth she was going to contact him. This mission instruction manual did not come with the specifics on contacting Gabe, or perhaps Violet was so excited to be chosen that she didn’t pay close enough attention to the minor details of it all. In fact, many times during the mission briefings, Violet would become distracted. Once they showed photos of the subject Carter Stone, it was like she was hypnotized by him. There was a draw, a connection that was unexplainable to Violet and she told no one of her feelings. It made her fight hard to be part of this mission. It made her believe that coming to this world was her destiny. Now she was second guessing herself because here she was and Gabriel was nowhere to be found.

  “Think Violet” she said to herself. “How can you contact Gabriel? Hmmmmm…” then she whispered “Gabriel?” but nothing. She tried again, a little bit louder, “Umm Gabe?” Ok, well that wasn’t working? Violet looked around the room and noticed the IPod Jeremy had given to her after her surgery. Curious, she picked it up and put the earphones to her ears, but heard nothing. “Great,” she thought, “nothing is working for me today!” She began pushing all of the buttons on the IPod trying to get something, anything to happen. Violet thought that the contraption was more complicated than it looked for sure. Discouraged, she plopped on the bed, dropping the IPod beside her. Violet noticed the moon light coming in through the window and rolled over to look at the night sky when suddenly; music started blaring in her ears. Violet had accidently rolled on the IPod, apparently triggering it to play on full blast.

  “Oh my God!” she yelled and yanked the earphones out of her ears. Two nurses came running into Violets’ room in seconds.

  “Vivian? Are you ok?” they asked.

  “Oh yes, I am…I’m fine!” she tried to assure them.

  “What happened?” Ivy asked. “Why did you scream?”

  Feeling silly, Violet picked up the IPod still blaring it’s vibration through the room and held it up to the nurses. “Volume please?” The nu
rses both looked at each other in relief and turned the IPod down for Violet.

  “Gosh” the nurse said. “I thought every teenager knew how to work one of these now-a-days?”

  Nurse Ivy’s eyes darted back and forth between me and the other nurse Aida, before she cleared her throat with a loud “Um…Ummm”, as if to send her a message about the inappropriate comment! Of course I caught on right away that Aida had forgotten about my new condition. I played along acting perplexed by it all. My made-up “amnesia” seemed to be working quite nicely for me. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I mean, it came in handy for Jeremy and now my memory loss was a perfect excuse for me to not understand how in the world you work an IPod. Yep, just like I initially thought…genius!

  “Here,” Nurse Ivy directed Violet’s attention to the display screen, “this is your scroll button that allows you to select the songs you want to play.” “And this”, she stated emphatically, “is the volume control.” Violet looked to Nurse Ivy with blushed cheeks and responded, “I see.” Nurse Ivy picked up on her feelings almost immediately. She was a very compassionate woman and in tune with what all of her patients needed and what they were experiencing. Caring is not only something you witness, it’s a feeling, an emotion that Ivy possessed. It was her gift and she was sharing that gift with everyone in Weston County Hospital.

  “These things can be a little tricky to figure out kiddo,” Ivy said hoping Violet wouldn’t feel so embarrassed. “I always say technology is a wonderful thing, but sometimes difficult to become proficient at!” She tried to act as if she couldn’t figure out how to get back to the display screen. “There, it’s ready now. All you have to do is press play.” She handed the IPod back to Violet.

  “Thank you Ivy.” Violet gave her a small grin of appreciation.

  “If you need anything…I mean anything, you just press this button and I will be here lickety-split,” Ivy said.

  “I will, and sorry about the disruption,” Violet replied.