But it’s too late.

He agrees with the others: there is no hope. I won’t come out of this coma. The specialists think I’ll never awaken.

For the millionth time, I strain to move my hand, to flutter my eyelids, to force some kind of wheezing noise through my vocal cords, but nothing happens; there is only stillness and the ever-present atmosphere of resignation.

This is all so wrong!

“There’s nothing more we can do,” Dr. Lee says.

No! Oh no! Please don’t let me die…. I can hear you…. Don’t give up on me.

Call my family. Call Jack…. I’m sorry for all the mistakes I made, I’m sorry if I let anyone down, I’m sorry if I hurt anyone, but please, I’m too young to die. If I could change anything I would, but I can’t.

Now all I can do is remember….

Chapter 16

Damn it, this house should have been hers!

Elyse stripped off her clothes inside the once-commanding Queen Anne mansion mounted on the cliffs overlooking the bay, a place her mother had pointed out to her, a place that once was almost as regal as the Cahills’ mansion. As a child Elyse had gazed up at the ornate, arched Palladian windows, wide porches, and elaborate turrets and dreamed about what was hidden inside, what secrets the house built a century before held.

Now, she knew.

With her inheritance, she would finally be able to rent the place, and soon, if all went according to plan, it would be hers, and she would restore the deteriorating home to its once-regal grandeur.

It was all just a matter of time. And the clock was ticking.

She showered and found her favorite robe. This was the place she belonged, the place she secretly called home, the place no one knew about. The house had long been abandoned and was starting to show signs of neglect, which was a shame. She knew that at one time there were grand parties held here, and if she closed her eyes, she could hear the tinkling of stemware, the laughter, and the soft strains of music filling the hallways and staircases. In her mind’s eye she witnessed the dim, romantic glow of chandeliers that had been forever polished and gleaming. The grounds were manicured, the kitchen always gave off warm, mouth-watering odors, servants abounded.

And there would have been love….

Or…was she imagining it all? Sometimes she got caught up in her own fantasies…or did she?

But she was certain there would have been happiness and hope here, a warmth and security she’d never been allowed to feel.

And it’s where she belonged.

Her heart tore a bit for the time that never was, the life she hadn’t lived…or had she? Sometimes the memories of her past blurred a bit, which was disturbing. She relied on her sharp senses and her keen mind, but the past…It was something she didn’t like thinking about too much, and it wasn’t always crystal clear. Sometimes it was like the dripping glass chandeliers had grown dusty—blurred and indistinct in her mind. As if she were losing it. But she was far too young for anything as disturbing as dementia to be thwarting her. No way.

No, she was just overwrought.

Emotional.

That’s what being around Marla could do to people…push them to the brink of insanity.

Casting her dark thoughts aside, Elyse lit the fireplace in the bedroom, uncorked a bottle of wine, and waited as the clock in the hallway ticked off the minutes of her life, as the candles she’d set around the bed burned softly, as the gas fire hissed.

She glanced at the clock. For the smallest of moments she worried that he might cancel again.

What if it was really over?

What would she do then?

She felt suddenly tiny and alone…. All her life she’d been alone. Oh, sure there had been parents, but had they ever really talked to her, showed any interest? Only around their schedules. For two people who had claimed they’d badly wanted a child, they sure had proven themselves lacking in the parental-concern department.

Elyse hadn’t grown up poor, but she’d never had as much wealth as Cissy, nor the attention that Cissy had garnered just by being a Cahill.

Cissy. God, how had she gotten that stupid, little-girl name? She wondered how it had felt growing up in that huge mansion overlooking the city, never overhearing her parents squabble about money when they thought their darling daughter wasn’t listening. Cissy had been surrounded by parents and grandparents, a daughter of one of the most prestigious families in the entire Bay Area. At least that’s the way Elyse saw it. What little fortune her parents had managed to amass during their lifetimes didn’t hold a candle to the Cahill-Amhurst estate.