An unconscious Theresa feels herself being pulled into the dark and alarms from the machines monitoring her begin to sound... (Rating: PG13)

Chapter 6

Falling through the darkness, Theresa struggled against the hands covering her mouth and instantly they disappeared. Feeling relief that the mysterious hands with the angry voice attached were gone; she still felt terror at falling through the dark.

Ooof. Once again, she'd stop falling as quickly as she had started, and was now lying on something soft. "Well, at least it didn't hurt," she thought, and tried to calm herself. Lying still with her eyes closed, Theresa thought back trying to piece together what had happened.

"Before I started falling, Ethan and I were dancing at my prom. Ethan was just about to kiss me after telling me that he loved me…how did I get to the prom? That was years ago…wait a minute. I was falling. That's right! I was falling. Falling from where?" Theresa started to shiver as she remembered. "That voice…those hands…they were shaking me. I remember. They were shaking me…in the church cemetery. Owww, my head." Theresa winced in pain, but made herself remember. "I was wearing a wedding dress, and I was standing in the cemetery when the hands grabbed me by my shoulders and started shaking me. And that angry voice was yelling, "this was the last time" over and over.

"Wedding dress…why was I wearing it?" Theresa thought back further. "Wait, before that, I was lying dow, and I heard Mama and Luis. They were crying and said that they were going to 'make that guy pay.' And Fancy was saying something about 'not believing that he'd do this on their wedding day'…could it have been my wedding day? It must have been, but what happened? I can't remember! I'm so tired…". Frustration filled Theresa's soul.

"Well, I wonder where I am now." Stretching in the dark, her hand felt something smooth and soft all around her. Picking up some of the soft substance, it sifted quickly through her fingers. "It feels like sand at the beach…" she thought. "Sand at the beach…" Theresa's eyes flew open and she bolted to a sitting position. Slowly she looked around…

"There's the fire, just like I remember." Looking down, Theresa saw a diamond ring on her finger. "This is the ring Ethan gave me when we were engaged…and that's the red halter dress I was wearing the night we…made love on the beach…

"Hey" Ethan said in a soft voice, and Theresa turned to see him lying beside her, looking up at her with warm eyes.

"Hey" she answered back shyly.

"We're getting married today you know." he continued, sitting up to put his arms around her.

"I can hardly wait" Theresa said with a smile and settled back into his arms.

"Are you sorry that we technically didn't wait until our wedding day?" Ethan whispered.

"No" Theresa answered without hesitation. "Mama would have a fit though." she said with a chuckle, and Ethan had to agree with a smile.

"Then we just won't tell her." he said leaning forward for a kiss. "I love you, Theresa …."

As they kissed, Theresa sensed more than heard a strange presence. The tide rose rapidly and the wind started to blow… "Oh no! Not again!" she cried to herself just as the mysterious hands grabbed her and pulled her back into the dark…

"I love you Theresa." Ethan said quietly. He brushed his fingers one last time across her cheeks and left with Chad and Whitney for home. The ride to the B&B was very quiet, each person thinking about the day's events and what Eve had said…

"I don't know what happened in there" Eve began. "I've rerun every test, taken additional x-rays, run EKGs to check her heart…everything is normal."

Pilar sighed in relief, but Luis asked the thing on everyone's mind. "Then what is going on Eve? What are we going to do?"

"I don't know Luis. This is just as frustrating for me as it is for you, you know. If I can't find a problem, I can't fix it. And based on this" Eve said picking up Theresa's file, "there isn't a thing wrong. The only thing we can do is keep hoping and praying that Theresa wakes up soon. Until then, I'll keep doing research on my own and contact some specialists that might be able to shed some light on the situation. Theresa is getting the best of care, and we will call you immediately with any changes or if I find some more information, so go home and get some rest. I think we're all going to need it..."

Letting himself into his and Gwen's room, Ethan made another promise to Theresa. I won't let Jared get away with this sweetheart. He'll pay for hurting you if it's the last thing I ever do.

Back at home as well, Pilar, Luis, Miguel, and Paloma sat at their kitchen table, each one weary to the bone, but knowing they would never sleep.

"Mama? What's wrong? You look like you're a thousand miles away. Paloma asked.

"I was just thinking about your sister Mija. I can't believe I'm even thinking this way, but I was wondering if this wouldn't be a good time to look at Theresa's will?" Pilar remarked quietly

"Will?" Luis exclaimed incredulously. "Mama, Theresa is not dying!" and Miguel nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! We don't need to do that Mama. Julian is watching over the business for a couple of days, and Ethan and Gwen are watching Jane and Little Ethan. Everything will go back to normal as soon as Theresa wakes up. We don't need to worry about her will."

"I know all that, boys. But as much as I hate to think of it, we need to remember what Eve said. The longer Theresa stays unconscious the greater her chances of going into a coma. She hasn't regained consciousness in all these hours…what if she never does?" Pilar looked around the table at the drained faces of her children and her own eyes filled with tears. "We need to know what your sister's wishes are and what she has arranged in case…in case this doesn't end as we hope." she finished softly.

Luis, Miguel, and Paloma looked at each other. "You're right Mama." Luis said. "Maybe we should call Valerie and find out if she can set something up", and he left to use the phone. Tensely, the rest of the Lopez-Fitzgearlds waited for him to return, which he did faster than they thought.

"It's taken care of." Luis said. "Valerie will get a hold of Theresa's attorney and schedule an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. That way we can see Theresa in the morning and have a better idea what the situation is."

"OK, yeah. I'll be there."

"Who was that?" Gwen asked as Ethan hung up the phone with a puzzled look on his face.

"It was Valerie. She said that they are planning to look at Theresa's will with the lawyer tomorrow."

"Her will?" Gwen was surprised at this. "Is Theresa dying?" Gwen hoped she didn't sound too eager.

"No. Pilar just thought that in this situation, knowing Theresa's wishes might be helpful. You know…just in case." Ethan answered.

"Well, I guess." Gwen said. "But why does Valerie think you need to be there?"

"Apparently, there's something in the there that pertains to me." Ethan sat back in his chair and stared off into space and Gwen crossed her arms, a frown darkening her brow.

Something for Ethan in Theresa's will? What is that witch doing to ruin my life now?