Chapter 59

It was too early in the morning to be awake, yet there I was. Awake in Erik's arms, trying not to move and wake him. He really needed the rest. As well as what happened that night, he wasn't getting much sleep anyways due to working on his music. No matter what I told him or gave him to sleep (anything short of laudanum), he would not budge from his organ.

But that was the least of my worries that kept me up that night. I went over the past couple of weeks in my head, trying to figure out what was going on. Not only was I engaged, but a blackmailer went after me (who also turned out to be the biggest disappointment) and a new player had entered the field: Lyle. He gave me the worst vibes for other reasons than he was the circus owner that forced Erik to perform. Something about him didn't sit right with me at all, especially with the time that he showed up. It may have been just a coincidence, but there are no such things as coincidences anymore.

But how are all of the events of the past few weeks related? What was the angle being played at here? Are they even connected at all? Who killed Buquet if it wasn't LeChanco as the Black Rose and what motive did they have other than he was…well, let's not go there.

I rose from bed as quietly as I could as to not disturb Erik to get a glass of water. As I strode into the kitchen, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me. But that couldn't be possible…right?

When I went to take a drink, a noise from the entrance of the kitchen startled me. I whipped around to find in the walkway…Rose?!

"Hey, sis. Long time, no talk."

My legs gave out as I collapsed in the dark room, my glass of water shattering as it hit the floor before I followed suit.

0-0

More beeping.

I forced my eyes to open as I knew that beeping could only mean one thing: I was back in that hospital room.

I weakly looked around for any indication of Rose's – or anyone else's – presence. But how could that be? Rose is gone. How did she end up in Erik's lair?

I could find no sign of another person in the room, but I knew it hadn't been long since someone had been in there. There was a still-steaming cup of what I assumed to be coffee on the table beside the hospital bed I was currently laying in. Fresh flowers – red roses, how quaint – sat in the windowsill of the room, giving a hauntingly blood red splash to the bone white walls surrounding me.

I heard the door open and quickly shut my eyes. I knew that if anyone saw me awake that they would start asking questions that I definitely did not know the answers to.

The door closed behind the person, a long silence following the sound. Then a sigh – feminine?

"Oh, Mandy…"

Mom?

She sat in the chair by my bed, gently taking hold of my hand. It took all I had not to shed a tear. I've missed you so much, mommy…

"I don't know if you can hear me, honey, but please wake up. If not for me or your dad, then for Jackson." Jackson? "He is wracked with guilt. He thinks everything is his fault. Sound familiar?"

No, it wasn't his fault. But what if it was somehow his dead sister's? With how my life had been, I wouldn't have doubted that she had somehow came back from beyond the grave just to pull a prank on me. It would be so her…

"He's been here nearly every day, waiting for you to wake up. I can tell that it's taking a toll on him. All he can see is Rose, God rest her soul."

I couldn't help it – call it a reflex – but my hand tightened every so lightly around hers. I felt her warm hand around mine and nearly sobbed. I love you, mom…

With her shocked gasp, my consciousness faded yet again, darkness consuming my mind.

0-0

"Mandy?!"

I jolted awake, finding myself on the kitchen floor with Erik rushing to me. "What happened, love? Are you alright?"

He knelt beside me to help me sit up. "Yeah, I think I'm fine. But…the strangest…I don't know-"

He shushed me. "Don't try to talk, just take it easy. We don't know if you hit your head or not."

"My head is fine, Erik. I don't feel anything."

He picked me up bridal style from the floor and started towards the room. "You may not feel anything now, but that does not mean that you didn't harm yourself. Do you remember what happened?"

"I was getting a glass of water, then all of a sudden I heard a voice behind me."

Erik stopped dead in his tracks. "A voice? An intruder?"

I shook my head as I felt him stiffen. "No…it was Rose, I think."

After he started walking again and laid me in the bed, he realized who I was talking about. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming? How could that be possible?"

"I've barely been able to sleep all night, so I'm sure it wasn't a dream. Unless one of the mushrooms from dinner was hallucinogenic, she was standing in the kitchen with me."

Erik stood for a moment, contemplating what I had just told him. "But Rose is…not with us."

"I know! Which is making me so confused. After I saw her, I passed out and ended up back in the hospital bed in my time. My mom was there, Erik. She didn't know that I was awake in a sense, but she told me that Jackson has been there pretty much every day since I went out cold on stage and ended up here."

He stiffened again. "Jackson?"

I huffed. "My co-star from the musical we starred in. Rose was his sister."

It took him a moment to connect the dots. "He is thinking of his sister, then."

"I suppose. Mom said that he felt guilty. My theory is that he thinks I'll end up dying, too."

Erik nodded sullenly. "I can't fault him for worrying."

"But why would I be seeing Rose like that and then end up back in my time straight after? Why would I even be seeing Rose in the first place? It makes no sense."

"I do not know an answer to that," he began as he retrieved the covers from the foot of the bed. "Other than the fact that you have been under some severe stress the last few weeks, the closest answer would be your theory about the mushrooms."

"Then why couldn't I have seen a sparkly unicorn with a pot of gold instead?"

0-0

Mrs. Wigston called for the doctor, Mandy's hand still in her own. As the doctor and a nurse burst through the door, she told them, "She squeezed my hand! She squeezed it…"

The doctor made his way to her. "Ma'am, please calm down and have a seat-"

"What is it? Is she awake?"

Jackson was the next to come through the door. Mrs. Wigston sighed. "I don't know. I could have sworn that she squeezed my hand."

The doctor directed both her and Jackson out of the room towards the waiting area. "Please wait out here while I do an examination. I will let you know what is going on once I've finished."

This pacified Mrs. Wigston, but Jackson still looked back, seeing the doctor whisper something to the nurse as they both walked away from the room.

None of them had seen the tear that slowly dropped from Mandy's eye…