Chapter One
The young girl was in a coma.
Word spread throughout the community of the tragic car accident that killed the driver of the car she'd been in and sent her battered and broken to the intensive care unit of St. Louis Memorial hospital. The drunk driver who'd hit them broadside had walked away from the accident without a scratch.
All day long family and friends and colleagues had trickled into the hospital, bearing flowers she couldn't see and cards she couldn't read. Her parents and brother sat a constant vigil by her bedside, praying that she'd pull through.
It was this scene that Mara found herself looking in at with a look of mild distaste. She hadn't really wanted to come here, she barely knew the girl, Caitlin. She was a client, an aspiring signer, but Mara rarely dealt with her directly, instead farming her off on assistants. Her time was valuable and she only directly handled big time clients. A second rate semi-professional singer like Caitlin was definitely not big time.
But the firm had insisted for image's sake. She had to put on a concerned face and act like she cared. Well, might as well get this charade over with.
She ran a manicured hand over her glossy dark brown hair, checking her faint reflection in the small window of the hospital room door. Her large, dark onyx eyes stood out against her pale, porcelain skin. They were the most striking feature in her beautiful face. It may have been her long legs or slim, athletic figure that turned men's heads but it was her eyes that brought them to their knees.
She knocked softly and pushed her way in before anyone could answer.
"Hello," she said to the haggard looking older woman who must be Caitlin's mother. "I'm Mara, I'm Caitlin's PR agent. I'm so sorry for what's happened."
Caitlin's father rose to his feet, putting his hand out."Thank you so much for coming." He said. He was older than the mom, deep lines creased his face but under the red rimmed sorrow his eyes were kind and his voice genuinely grateful and welcoming.
Mara, shook his hand briskly and looked around for a space to put the flowers she'd brought.
"Oh, here, dear, let me take those, "Caitlin's mother said. She smiled tremulously at the bouquet of flowers. "Tiger lilies, those are Cat's favorite. How thoughtful of you."
Mara smiled back. Were they Caitlin's favorites? She didn't know. She'd merely grabbed the first flower arrangement she saw from the hospital gift shop on her way up to the room. "So….how is she?" she asked.
The younger, good looking man, he must be Caitlin's brother, she was way too plain to have such a gorgeous boyfriend, spoke up, "She's in bad shape. Both legs are broken, broken ribs, punctured lung, lacerated liver. And she's in a coma. They don't know when or if she'll come out of it."
Greeeaaaatttt. Mara thought sourly. Just what she needed, a dead client. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I could do?"
"Well," Caitlin's mother hesitated, "There is one thing, if you wouldn't mind." She glanced at her son who nodded.
"It looks like Cat may need a liver transplant," he said solemnly. "Her liver is so damaged that even if she pulls out of this coma, they don't know how long she'd be able to survive. The transplant lists are very long and with her other injuries she'd been marked as very low on the recipient list. "
Mara listened with growing dismay. What the hell were they asking her to do?
"We've all been tested for compatibility but unfortunately none of us are a match. We've been asking everyone who's come to visit if they wouldn't mind being tested," he must have seen the look on her face because he hurried on before she could say anything,"I know it's a huge thing to ask, and odds are you probably wouldn't be a match anyway but if you would be willing to have yourself tested, so we know if there are any alternatives."
Mara raised her eyebrows, her black eyes clearly telegraphing her thoughts of are you fucking kidding me?
"Uhm. Don't I need my liver to live?" she asked barely keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.
"It would be a partial liver transplant," Caitlin's father said softly, "From what I understand; both the donor and the recipient's livers will eventually grow back to full size, so you won't be giving up your liver permanently."
Mara resisted the urge to tap her expensive Jimmy Choos. These people were nuts. Did they honestly expect her to undergo major surgery for some girl she'd met a grand total of two times in her entire life?
"O..of course," she said, plastering a big, fake smile on her face, "I'd be happy to." Eh, what the hell. The odds of her being a match were one in a million and it was good PR. "Where do I sign up?"
"You can speak with the nurses outside. They'll direct you." Caitlin's brother said. Damn, he was good looking! She idly wondered if he had a girlfriend. Maybe he'd need a little comforting if his sister happened to bite it?
"OK, I'll ask," she assured them. "Well, I've got to go. I have an appointment this afternoon."
"Oh, thank you so much for coming by dear," Caitlin's mother said, giving her a big hug. Mara gingerly hugged the older woman back. "I'm so pleased to see Cat has such lovely friends. " She looked at Mara with tears glistening in her eyes.
"Oh, no problem," Mara said, extricating herself from the woman's embrace. Time to go; this was starting to get seriously depressing!
She quickly left the room, grimacing as she closed the door behind her. This is why she hated hospitals!
"Hi," she said, "I uhm, guess I need to be tested to see if I am a compatible match for a liver transplant?"
The nurse on duty smiled, "Why, of course. Thank you so much! That poor girl. Here, I'll get you the paperwork and you can take it down to the first floor. They'll get you right in."
"Greeaaat," Mara said as she accepted the piece of paper.
She took the elevator down to the first floor and followed the directions to the hospital's lab. She knocked on the door and opened it. The room was almost empty except for a tall man who stood with his back to her, rolling his sleeve down.
"Uhm, hello?" she said.
The man turned. Their eyes met and they both froze.
"Mara?" he said at last.
Mara blinked, for an instant wondering if she was seeing things. But he was still there.
"Randy," she said at last, "Hi, how are you?"
His handsome face broke into a wide smile as he walked toward her, arms wide open. She briefly stiffened as he hugged her, then relented and hugged him back. He felt thinner than when she'd last seen him and he had a scurf of a beard across his cheeks but his blue eyes and his smile were still the same.
"Hi! I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?" he said.
Mara pulled back from his arms and forced a smile.
"Randy, I've been good." She said, looking him up and down. He was thinner, but he looked good. He was fit and in shape and had that same lopsided smile he'd first charmed her with so long ago.
"Wow," he said, holding her out at arm's length, "You look great! Still gorgeous as always! Are you back in town?"
Mara smiled back. He still knew how to flatter a girl that was for sure. "No, I'm in town on business. A client of mine was just in a serious car accident. I've come down to see how she is."
Randy's expression sobered, "Do you mean Caitlin?" He asked.
Mara's perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised, "How did you know?" she asked.
Randy pushed his sleeve back up and showed her a bandage on the inside of her elbow. "That's why I'm here, to be tested to see if I'm compatible to give her part of my liver. She's my buddy's cousin. It's terrible what happened to her."
Mara nodded, "Yeah, bad luck," she replied. "I'm going to get tested too."
Randy's face broke into a pleased smile. She felt a little thrill run through her, ah, he still made her heart flutter. "That is so great of you." He said. "Wow, you are such a good person, you'd do something like that for a client. I always loved your good heart, Mara."
Mara suppressed an urge to roll her eyes.
And your sappiness always bored me to tears.
"Well, that's me." She said, "Little Miss Goody Two Shoes!"
"Hey!" Randy's eyes lit up, "How long are you going to be here? Maybe we can grab lunch or something?"
"Well…"Mara hesitated, "I'm actually supposed to fly back out tomorrow."
"OK," Randy said, "How about dinner, tonight? I'd love to catch up with you."
Mara hesitated, "I don't know, Randy…"
Randy's full lips turned down in the cute pout she remembered so well and he gave her his best puppy dog eyes, "Oh c'mon." he persuaded," Just a dinner. We don't have to go out, you can come to my place. I'll even cook for you? Please?"
Mara couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, all right!" she said.
"All right!" Randy said happily as he pulled a pen out of his pocket and jotted something down on a scrap of paper. "Here's my address and my phone number. See you about…seven?"
"Sure," Mara said slipping the scrap of paper into her pocket.
"Well, I've got to go," Randy said," But I'll see you later?"
"See you later!" Mara agreed.
Randy turned to go but then paused a moment, laying a hand on her arm. She looked up at him, slightly startled. His blue eyes were locked on hers, an indecipherable look in their depths.
"Mara, I'm really glad I ran into you." He said softly. She could feel the heat from his fingers sinking into the skin of her arm, "I've really missed you."
She smiled back at him, "Me too, Randy." She said.
Why the hell was she doing this? She wondered again as the technician strapped a rubber band tightly around her arm. She hated needles and there was no way in hell she was going to give anyone part of her liver, even if by some miracle she turned out to be a match.
Oh yeah, it made her look really good. And that equaled more clients and more clients equaled greater success as she climbed the corporate ladder at her firm. Being an agent to the would be stars meant there were certain charades you had to play.
When the procedure was finally over she emerged from the lab. There was no sign of Randy Orton. She took a deep breath and let it out in a gush. He was the last person she'd ever expected to run into but then she'd forgotten she was in his hometown. Seven years ago she'd met and dated and almost married Orton who was at that time a rising superstar in the WWE. Their breakup had been abrupt and ugly, their engagement ruined when he discovered she'd been sleeping with the vice-president of her public relations firm.
He'd packed his bags and left that night, preferring to live out of his car rather than spend a single extra minute with her. She'd apologized and pleaded for forgiveness but when the suitcases came out so did the ugly bitch that lurked inside of her. She told him good riddance, she was glad he'd found out (she wasn't) and that she'd only been looking for an excuse to break up with him anyway. He gave her a single pained look, told her goodbye and walked out of the door and her life.
The affair with the vice-president outlasted her engagement to Randy by a mere two weeks as he suddenly quit his job, or maybe he was fired. The last she'd heard of him was that his wife had left him, taken the kids and was in divorce court proceeding to bleed him dry of every cent he had.
As the years passed, she knew Randy eventually forgave her. Underneath the brass, WWE superstar exterior he had a heart of mush. She never tried to contact him again though. At first she was ashamed of what she'd done and how she'd lost him. Later, as she grew harder, she began to blame him for being boring, for being too trusting, for driving her into someone else's arms. Or so that's what she told herself.
As she was walking out of the hospital she saw two elderly women manning a table in the hospital lobby.
"Hello dear!" one of them called as she started to walk out.
"We're from the Association of Saint Joan. We run a battered woman's shelter and are looking for people to volunteer their time or money. Could we give you a pamphlet?"
Mara hardly even broke stride, "Sorry!"She called out over her shoulder, "Can't spare either!"
God, it irritated her to see people sitting around looking for handouts. Everywhere you turned it seemed someone else had their hand out, save the children, save the rain forests, donate to the SPCA. They needed to get off their asses and help themselves. No one had ever helped her to get where she was.
She got into her rental car, a shiny black Mercedes sedan and drove to the hotel. She was hot and tired and wanted a bath and a glass of wine.
The hotel lobby was empty as she walked up to the front desk. A young woman greeted her with a friendly smile.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
Mara looked at her and then did a double take, "Cat?" she said in shock. Except for her brown hair she was the spitting image of the young woman in a coma back at Saint Louis Memorial.
The young woman's smile faltered as she glanced at her computer screen, "Uhm, I'm sorry?"
Mara blinked her eyes hard and looked at her again. Wait, no, on second thought, this girl really didn't look like Caitlin after all. She had fuller lips, and bigger eyes which were blue instead of brown. This girl was fairly attractive whereas Caitlin looked like a cow chewing her cud.
"Oh, sorry, thought you were someone else. " Mara muttered under her breath.
She gave the clerk her name and soon had a room key and a bell hop carrying her bags up to her luxury suite. There was a cheerful fire in the fireplace. Once inside she called room service and ordered a bottle of white wine, make that two and started running a bath. She sighed as she sank into the luxurious bubbles with a glass of wine in her hand. Ah, this was exactly what she needed.
She soaked leisurely, sipping glass after glass of wine until the water was tepid and an entire bottle was empty. She pulled the stopped with her toe and let the water drain out as she stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself into a fluffy hotel robe.
She was carefully combing out her wet hair when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and frowned at the unfamiliar number.
"Hello?" She said.
"Hello, this is Saint Louis Memorial hospital calling. May I speak to Mara please?"
Caitlin was dead. Well, at least that meant she really could fly out of here tomorrow. Too bad, so sad but she had other fish to fry.
"Yes, it is," she said, preparing to sound sad and shocked as would be expected of her.
"This is Dr. Leonard Murry. We've analyzed the results of the compatibility test you so graciously had done this afternoon and we're pleased to tell you, you are a match!"
The wine glass slipped out of her fingers and fell to the rug, darkening the carpet where the wine spilled, "W-what?" she gasped.
"Yes!" The doctor said, mistaking her shock for happiness, "And also Caitlin has begun to show signs of emerging from her coma. So we would like to do the transplant as soon as possible. Miss?...Miss?"
Mara felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach, "no, "she heard herself say.
The doctor was taken aback, "are you having second thoughts, Miss? I completely understand but without a liver transplant, Caitlin may only have a few weeks to live!"
Mara stared at the phone in growing disgust and then pressed the 'end call' button and threw it across the room. It landed on the sofa, unharmed. What the hell!
After about thirty seconds, the phone began to ring again. She stared at it as if it were a venomous snake. When it finally stopped ringing, she snatched it up and turned it off.
NO WAY! Uh-uh! She shook her head. No one was going to cut her open. She was sorry for Caitlin, well, kind of, but she was going to have to get her liver from someone else.
She stumbled slightly as she walked over and picked up her wine glass. The room was spinning, maybe she'd had a wee bit too much to drink? She didn't worry about it as she opened the second bottle of wine and poured another glass. She was a grown woman and no one was going to tell her what to do and if they tried they could all kiss her ass.
Caitlin was just some little two bit wanna-be singer. Mara was an important person. She was making the right decision. As she slowly drank the wine, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. She sank back into the couch, closing her eyes. In a matter of minutes she was deeply asleep. She completely forgot about her date with Randy.
Her eyes flew open as something fell with a loud BANG! She sat straight up on the couch, wincing slightly as a dull throb of pain shot through her head. What was that? She looked around for the source of the noise but didn't see anything. The fire in the fireplace had guttered to low glowing coals. How long had she been asleep?
She looked at her watch. It was 11:30 pm. She'd been asleep for over five hours. Her eye fell on the empty wine bottle, no the two empty wine bottles. She made a ruefull face. More and more often she was finding herself drinking herself to a fitful sleep.
As she rubbed her face it occurred to her she was supposed to do something. What was it? Suddenly, she remembered her date with Randy. Oh crap. Well, maybe it was better that she hadn't gone. There was no good in stirring up old relationships. Besides, someone as good looking as Randy, she was sure he didn't have trouble getting dates.
She was looking through her purse for some asprin when the sound came again, not quite as loud this time but it was the same loud BANG!
She jumped and looked toward the door. Was this a joke? Was someone knocking?
"Who is it?" she asked in a voice that trembled slightly.
The knock came again BANG!
"Stop it!" she yelled.
She started for the hotel phone, meaning to call the front desk to complain when the door flew open. A huge gust of cold air came in blasting her in the face and sending her shivering beneath the robe.
A pale shape was standing in the door. It looked like a girl, but she was so white that Mara swore she could almost see right through her.
"W-who are you?" she demanded, "get out of here before I call the police!"
The shape made no reply as it slowly entered the room, seeming to drift upon the cold air. Mara backed away, clutching the neck of the robe closed.
"What do you want?" she cried.
The figure finally raised it head. Mara gasped. This time there was no mistake her semi homely face. It was Caitlin.
"You died!" Mara gasped.
The apparition slowly shook her head, "No, I am not who you think I am."
Mara swallowed, her hands trembling. What was going on? Was she really still asleep and dreaming? Was she drunk?
Caitlin drifted closer to her, looking sternly into her face, "I have come to you wearing the face of your guilt. You have led a shallow and purile life. It's time you face your own sins."
"What are you talking about?" Mara demanded, "I've never done anything, never broken any laws. I've just worked my ass off, clawed my way to the top and people resent me for it!"
"You think you owe nothing to those who helped you on your journey? And what have you ever done for anyone else except cause pain and heartache? "
"I've never!" Mara protested hotly.
"No, you've never shown any drop of kindness to your fellow human, "Caitlin agreed, "No charity, no mercy ever found home in the stony ground of your heart. Even this poor girl whose form I wear was nothing to you except a line on a page in a business ledger. You are headed toward a lonely life, to be unloved and unmourned."
Mara shook her head, "No, you're just a figment of my imagination. I've got to quit drinking…"
The ghostly girl continued, as if Mara hadn't spoken, "You will have but one chance to redeem yourself. Use it wisely. Heed my words or forever pay the price."
Mara closed her eyes, whispering to herself, "You are not real, you are not real! This is just a bad trip or something!" maybe if she said it enough times it would be true.
Caitlin didn't seem to be impressed, "You will be visited by three ghosts,…"
"More ghosts?" Mara gasped.
"Without their guidance you could never hope to find redemption. The first one will come when the clock strikes midnight."
"What are these 'ghosts' going to do to me?" Mara demanded.
"Expect the second when the clock strikes one," Caitlin said."And the third—"
"Yeah, yeah, when the clock strikes two." Mara finished for her. She'd opened her eyes again and saw the ghostly girl was floating backwards, away from her toward the window.
"Where are you going?" Mara asked, "What's going to happen?"
"That is up to you," The ghost intoned as she became fainter and fainter, Mara followed her to the window where she seemed to simple melt through it, and then she was gone. Mara threw the window open and looked outside. The night was calm, clear and quiet.
She sat heavily on the couch, rubbing a hand across her face. Was she going crazy? Her eye fell on the bottle of asprin. She took it, shook out three tablets, hesitated and then a fourth. She dumped them into her mouth and chewed grimly, making a face at the horrible bitter taste. She tossed the empty wine bottles in the trash, swearing to never drink again and went to the bedroom.
The surreal night finally came to a close as she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
