Chapter 46

Remy's phone rang, interrupting the moment they were having. Goldie walked into her room and dropped her purse. With a sigh, Remy picked up the call, his face turning from delight to concern as he listened intently. Goldie looked up as she noticed his expression changing, it looked like all the colour had drained from his face.

"What's wrong, Remy?" Goldie asked, her eyes filled with worry.

Remy looked at her, his voice heavy with concern. "It's my mother. She had a really bad accident while running, and she's really hurt."

"I should go to her."

Remy murmured as he started to call for the waiter.

Goldie immediately grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'll come with you. We should leave now."

Remy hesitated, his mind racing. "But what about your specialist appointment? You don't have to come with me, you can stay behind while I leave."

"I'll understand." He added.

Goldie smiled warmly, but she had no plans to leave Remy alone. "I can always make another one. But family comes first. Let's go to your mom."

With gratitude in his eyes, Remy nodded. They hastily gathered their things as they made a move to leave the hotel as soon as possible. Remy mentioned something about booking a flight and Goldie booked it for them, they raced to the airport.

Her heart was racing as she silently hoped and prayed that Ellen was fine. Even though Remy wasn't saying much, she could see the worry on his face, the way he constantly lost awareness of his surroundings, he was worried about his mother. It wasn't hard to see.

They had to get to Ellen, fast too.

She just hoped that whatever illness Ellen had, she was able to heal easily.

....

Lily Parson carefully arranged the pillows on Nana's bed, fluffing them just the way Nana liked. Her mother had moved in a few days ago and she was relieved about the company. With her mother around needing her help, she had little time to think about her divorce. She glanced at her mother, who sat in a sofa next to the window. There was a framed photograph of Goldie in her hand. It was a photo of Goldie when she was around seven or eight. She had just lost a tooth or two then so she had a big toothy grin. Nana was looking at the picture with a small smile on her face. The room was filled with the soft, golden glow of the setting sun.

As she turned to leave the room to prepare dinner, Nana's voice, sober and worrisome, called her back. "Lily, my darling, can you stay here for a little while?"

Lily furrowed her brow, sensing that something was different today. She walked over to her mother, wondering why she had been awfully quiet lately. Ever since she had moved to her place, she would sit in front of the window in her room to watch the sunset or go to Goldie's room and nap in her bed. Lily had assumed it had something to do with Goldie, but as time went on, she suspected that it was something more. Especially with the long secretive phone calls her mother was constantly making to her sister Camilla and her husband Greg.

"What is it, Mom?"

Nana took a deep breath, her eyes filled with the weight of a long-held secret. "There's something I've been keeping from you, Lily, something I believe you should know." She paused, her voice shaking.

Lily's heart skipped a beat. She was right after all, something had been deeply bothering her mother, for a long time too.

"What are you talking about? What is going on?"

Nana reached out and took Lily's hand. Her hand was small in hers, there was a deep contrast between their hands, showing the difference in age. Nana's wrinkly pale hands compared to Lily's slim manicured hands. "I need you to listen, my dear. Listen and listen carefully to all I have to say. It's about your daughter."

Lily's face turned ashen. Her heart skipped a beat as she waited for the inevitable. When her mother had stopped mentioning the fact that Goldie was alive and her spirit was hovering around, she had been relieved, thinking that her mother had finally come to terms with Goldie's death. But the seriousness in her mother's voice told her a different story. That perhaps her mother hadn't really come to terms with the death of her grandchild. And her eyes filled with tears in anticipation of the words that were to come out of her mother's mouth.

"If you're going to tell me again that she's alive, I don't want to hear it. Goldie is dead. Just accept it like we all have."

Nana's grip on Lily's hand tightened, and she looked into her eyes with unwavering determination. The steeliness and confidence in her gaze made Lily pause for a moment to hear what she had to say. "No, Lily, she's not gone. If you would just please, please listen to what I have to say maybe, just maybe we can save her before it's too late."

Lily shook her head, still not convinced, but confused as to why her mother felt so strongly about the issue. And why she believed that Goldie needed 'saving' This wasn't the first time she had said such and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be the last.

"Once. Just this once, I will listen to you" she agreed.

Nana leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone. "Listen, my dear. I've never shared this with you before, but it's the truth. And I shouldn't have taken so long to tell you, but I feared you wouldn't believe me."

"But I really have no choice anymore. I cannot keep shielding you from the truth, you have to know. Fourteen years ago when Goldie came to spend an Easter holiday with me when you and Simon were in Aspen. There was a little accident with her"

Lily racked her head as she tried to remember the memory her mother was talking about. Then she remembered, she did, it was fourteen years ago.

"She fell really badly, she had no bruises but she wouldn't wake up. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with her, but she wouldn't wake up I was so scared.."

"You called me. You called me that day." Lily remembered and her mother nodded. She remembered when her mother had called and told her that she was in the hospital with Goldie who wouldn't wake up. Lily had almost died of anxiety. They tried to leave immediately, but bad weather had stopped them and their flight was delayed for hours on end.

"Yes! I did. I was so scared. But then, there was this nurse. She was really powerful and wise. She was the one who told me that there was something else wrong with Goldie and her soul was wandering around. She helped me, Lily. She helped me recover Goldie's soul back into her body."

Lily's disbelief turned to shock as she gazed at her mother, hanging on every word. "Mom, you're telling me that Goldie had somehow...left her body, and this witch nurse helped her return?"

Nana nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "Yes, darling. I just didn't know what to do but that nurse, she had powers beyond my understanding and I'm glad I put aside my pride and reservations and just trusted her. She performed a spell with some ancient bells and Goldie came back to her body. She was the one who gave Goldie that amulet, the one I tell her to never take off."

Lily sat down on the bed, as the memory of it all started coming to her. When they could finally leave Aspen, they arrived to meet a healthy Goldie, who didn't even have any memory of the accident ever happening. And there was a golden amulet around her neck, her mother had lied to her that a nun had given it to Goldie for protection. Goldie loved it so much she never took it off.

"Goldie never took it off when she was younger. She would wear it all the time"

Lily muttered.

Nana nodded.

"I made her promise every time I saw her never to take it off. I kept in touch with the witch over the years. She was the one who introduced me to the faith."

"What's the faith?"

Lily asked and Nana sighed.

"We'll get to all that it's a very long story."

Lily's mind reeled as she struggled to comprehend the incredible story. She wiped away her tears and held Nana's hand tightly, still wondering if she could ever believe the words that came out of her mother's mouth.

She looked up at her mother, heaving a heavy sigh.

"So you're saying Goldie is not dead?"

Nana raised her hand, the amulet was in it. Lily reached for it and held it in her hands. How often had she seen this amulet on her daughter's neck and not know what it really was for?

She remembered when Goldie would take it off, claiming it didn't match her outfit and leave it on the dresser.

Nana would see her without it and throw a huge fit, Goldie then started wearing it regularly again, because she claimed it gave her good luck sometimes. But she would still take it off on some days she didn't want to wear it.

"She wasn't wearing the amulet when she had the accident. This means her soul wasn't tethered to her body."

"She is alive Lily."