Chapter 18

After the wedding, Mark and Emily quickly settled into their married life. Mark never asked Emily who the fourth ghost was at the wedding, figuring that she would tell him if or when she was ready. They didn’t bother to go on a honeymoon because neither one cared and neither had the time. Kat and Brandon started dating officially and both were happy. During Thanksgiving Kat ate both with her family and with Brandon’s family. Before Kat went over to Brandon’s house for the first time; Mark sat Brandon down and explained things to him. If he ever hurt Kat, Mark would hunt him down and kill him. After Mark’s talk, Brandon was terrified and it didn’t get any better when Kat told Brandon a piece of her dad’s history.

Emily got to go deer hunting for her first time that fall and was rewarded with a nice buck which Kat mounted on the living room wall for her. Joining the many deer that she and Mark had mounted over the years. Emily would also hunt for squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons. On Black Friday Emily and Kat went shopping and had a wonderful time. They went everywhere and did everything they could. Kat made sure that she had gotten something nice for Brandon in addition to her regular shopping. Before Emily, Mark never really got into the holidays and never could wait until they were over. Now he felt much more like he did before his parents had died.

Two weeks before Christmas, Kat and a group of her friends from school decided to go to a big Christmas concert. Emily was a bit jealous because she had wanted to go as well, but at the last minute, had to go to work to cover for one of the other doctors who had gotten sick from bad seafood. She had wanted to go because Mark was away on a business trip and wasn’t due back until Sunday. Plus, she liked Christmas music. Kat and Emi hadn’t seen each other that afternoon because Emi had gone to work before Kat got home from school. Of course, they texted each other and Kat sent Emi pictures of the concert. She also told her when they left and were on their way home. Kat was very mature for a fifteen-year-old girl and Emi was glad for that because she didn’t know anything about raising a teen.

It was almost midnight, and Emily was looking forward to going home. It had been a very long day. Then a call came in, four teens had been in a serious traffic accident. Two of them were dead on the scene. The other two were on their way and were in critical condition. The driver of the vehicle that hit them head-on walked away without a scratch. He was arrested for DUI and at least two counts of manslaughter. Emily rushed to make sure that everything was ready. When the teens got there, Emily’s blood froze, one of the teens was Kat. Emily now went on autopilot, driven not only by her Navy training but also by her rapidly developing motherly instinct and the fear that she might lose everything. For not only did she now have an adopted daughter but she also held a secret that she wasn’t ready to reveal quite yet. She pushed her way to Kat’s stretcher and instantly could see that Kat most likely wouldn’t survive. Not only had Kat lost a lot of blood but she couldn’t move her legs. One of her arms had a bone coming out of it as well. As Emily started working on her, Kat started talking to her,

“Hi, mom. I’m so sorry for this. I’ve been wanting to visit you at work, just not like this.”

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for Kat.”

“I’m not going to make it will I?”

“You’ll be just fine Kat.”

“Thank you for trying to cheer me up, but we both know that I’m not going to live. Just please make sure that all my parts that can be donated are, and then donate the rest of me to science.”

“Kat shut up. I’ve seen people live with much worse injuries than you’ve got.”

That was a bald-faced lie on Emily’s part. Kat was hurt bad but Emily was trying to keep Kat’s spirits up as much as possible. As Kat was rolled into one of the operating rooms, Emily whispered to Kat,

“I’ve got something to tell you but you have to survive for me to tell you, deal Kat?”

“Yes. Mom I need to tell you that I love you. Can you tell Dad that I love him too?” said Kat weakly “Goodbye”

“Tell him yourself Kat for you’re NOT going to die on me.” Emily told her “Ok everyone let’s do this” Emi said to the rest of the staff.

“Kat we’re going to put you under now. I love you.”

What followed was by far the most stressful operation of Emily’s life. Kat had numerous internal injuries, a badly broken arm, and a damaged spine; although Emily thought that with work Kat would be able to go back to her normal life. About three hours in, disaster struck. Kat flat-lined. Emily, without thinking, vaulted up on top of Kat and started CPR, and ordered drugs put into the IV tubes while the paddles were charging.

Kat found herself in a house that was strange but at the same time familiar and she couldn’t figure that out. Walking out of what Kat figured was the kitchen was another teen about her age.

“Hello, Katelynn. How are you?”

“Who the fuck are you and where the bloody hell am I?”

“That’s not a nice way for you to stay hello to your aunt, is it dearie? As to where you are, I’m sure that you can figure that out.”

Kat squinted looking at the teen, “Aunt Susan? Is that you? If that’s you I guess that I’m dead then. As to where I am, this looks like the house from some of my dad’s old pictures.”

“Yep, I’m your aunt Susan, but please just Susie will work, and this is the house that your dad and I grew up in. As to being dead, that’s still up to you.”

“What do you mean “up to me” and why would my imagination give me a choice?” asked Kat warily