Zoey

I left Nora in her wheelchair on the patio while I went upstairs to get Carter. I needed his help getting her down to the beach. When I reached the top of the stairs, I saw him standing in the doorway of what I presumed was his bedroom.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

He turned and looked at me with a disapproving look and stepped inside the room.

“I’m fine. I thought you were taking Nora to the beach.”

“About that. I need your help. I can’t push the wheelchair in the sand and she’s too weak to walk, even with my help.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” he spoke in an irritated tone.

“Yeah. Okay,” I softly spoke and then went back downstairs.

A few moments later, Carter met us on the patio, picked up Nora from her wheelchair, and carried her down to where two chairs sat in the sand.

“When you’re ready to come back up, call me,” he spoke to her.

“Thank you, Carter.” She placed her hand on his arm. “You don’t want to stay with us?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

As soon as he walked away, I stared straight ahead at the blue ocean water, taking in the sounds of the waves hitting the shoreline.

“I feel bad for making him come here, but he needed to,” Nora spoke as she looked over at me.

“What do you mean? How long has it been?”

“Five years. He hasn’t been back here since Angelique and the baby died.”

“Why didn’t he sell it then?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I wouldn’t let him. The house is also in my name and I enjoy coming here. I know the memories are very painful for him, but he needs to face his pain and move on. He brought Angelique here to propose to her on this very beach just as the sun was setting. I’ll never forget that night he called me and told me she said yes. He was so excited.”

“I’m sure he was,” I spoke.

“I need to ask you something and I want the truth from you, Zoey.”

“Of course, Nora. What is it?”

“What did you mean when you told me you had a gift? That day you asked me about Angelique?”

I stared straight ahead at the ocean. A light breeze swept over my face before answering her question.

“I died when I was five years old, but it wasn’t my time, so they sent me back. When I woke up, I had an ability. The ability to see people who have passed on.”

 “So you’ve been to Heaven?”

“I have, and it’s the most beautiful and peaceful place.” I rested my hand on hers. “You have nothing to fear, Nora. I promise you.”

“I’m not afraid. Especially now that you’re here. You mentioned to me before that Carter’s energy is very dark. Is that also something you can see?”

“I can see people’s auras and his is very black, which makes sense with the way he lives his life.”

“He keeps his emotions and feelings tightly locked up inside him,” she spoke. “He won’t heal, Zoey, and now with what’s happening to me, he’ll be alone and that terrifies me. That is why I need your help.”

“Like I told you before, I can only try and help him if he wants to be helped.”

She gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

“If anyone can get through to him, you can. I know it. I can feel it.”

I gave her a tender smile as the light breeze swept across my face.

“Are you ready to come back inside?” Carter asked as he walked up behind us.

“Yes. I need to lie down,” Nora replied.

He picked her up from the chair, and carried her back to the house and into her bedroom. I followed behind and made sure she was comfortable.

“I’ve opened your window so you can hear the ocean,” Carter spoke.

“Thank you. If the two of you don’t mind, I’m going to go to sleep now.”

Carter and I left the room and headed to the kitchen.

“I put your bags in the room next to Nora’s,” he spoke. “There’s only four bedrooms, two downstairs and two upstairs. Sadie and I will be upstairs.”

“Okay. Thanks,” I spoke.

I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. Standing in front of the sink, I took a sip as I stared out the large window at the beautiful ocean view.

“It’s beautiful here. I can see why you bought it,” I spoke.

“Yeah, well, it will be going up for sale after—” He stopped.

I could feel his pain and anguish and I knew this house once held good memories for him, but he only saw them as bad ones. And as long as he stayed in this state, he would never live the life he was meant to live. I took in a deep breath.

“Memories are only bad because of the pain we let ourselves consume.”

“Excuse me?” he spoke.

“Nothing.” I shook my head.

“No! What did you mean by that?” He scowled as he approached me.

“I know how much it hurts you to be in this house and you’re only here because it’s Nora’s dying wish. But it doesn’t have to hurt, Mr. Grayson. Memories are a treasure and they were made with love. That’s what you need to remember. Embrace the memories here. Feel the good times and the love and remember what it’s like to live again.”

Anger consumed his eyes as he stared deeply into mine. I wasn’t turning away and I wasn’t letting him win. He needed to hear the words I had just spoken. Even if it meant that he would hate me even more than he already did.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” He pointed his finger at me. “Stay out of my fucking business and my life!” he spoke through gritted teeth before turning his back and storming out the patio door.

I inhaled a deep breath and went to check on Nora.

****

Sadie made a nice dinner, and when I went into Nora’s room to see if she was hungry, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Are you up to eating anything?” I asked as I walked over and placed my hand on hers.

“I just need some water,” she moaned.

I picked up the cup of water from the nightstand and brought the straw up to her mouth. The moment she took a sip, she started choking.

“It’s getting harder to swallow,” she whispered as she lay back down. “I’m getting weaker and the headaches are getting worse. I’ve done all my research and I know what you have to do now. Prepare Carter for it, please.” She looked at me as a tear fell from her eye.

“I will, but right now, I need to call the doctor. I’ll be right back.”

I walked out of her room and into mine. Grabbing the white piece of paper from my purse, I made a call to Doctor Sutton, who was the physician that Nora’s doctor back in New York assigned to her while she was here in California. He was fully aware of her condition and prescribed everything she needed.

“Sadie made dinner for us and you can’t be bothered to sit and eat it? I thought you were just checking on Nora,” he spoke in a nasty tone as he stood in the doorway of my room.

“I need to talk to you, Mr. Grayson.”

“You can talk to me at the dinner table.” He scowled as he walked away.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped into Nora’s room to check on her and she was sound asleep. Walking into the dining room, I took the seat across from Carter and placed the napkin in my lap.

“What do you need to discuss with me?” he asked.

“I made a call to Dr. Sutton and he will be stopping by in about an hour to examine Nora and bring some supplies for her.”

“Why?”

“She’s having trouble swallowing and her headaches are getting worse. She’s going to need to be hooked up to an IV for fluids from here on out and it will be easier to push her meds when she needs them.”

“How the fuck is she supposed to eat? Are you going to give her a feeding tube?”

“At this point, a feeding tube will only provide her with liquids her body no longer needs and that can cause her to swell, making her more uncomfortable.”

“So you’re going to let her starve to death? Is that what you’re telling me?” he shouted.

“Mr. Grayson, her body no longer needs the nutrition and she has no appetite. You’ve witnessed how she’s been eating the past couple of weeks. I’ll have Sadie make her some cream of wheat if she wants food, but to be honest, she’s not going to want anything. Now we just have to try and make her as comfortable as possible.”

He threw his napkin on the table, got up from his chair, and stormed out the patio door. I stood up and watched as he walked down to the beach. Sadie looked at me as I went to go after him.

“Don’t, Zoey. Let him be for a while. If you go out there now, you’ll only make it worse. He needs time to process what you just told him.”

“You’re right.” I sighed as I sat down, picked up my fork and began to eat.