Eva interrupted Walt’s conversation with Sadie and Max, her transparent vision appearing in the middle of the room, sparkling light gently swirling around her as she fully materialized. Glitter rained down from the ceiling for a brief moment while she appeared to be standing in a spotlight.
“Walt, if you’re going to do this, you need to stop dillydallying. I’m hearing there’s a disgruntled new spirit roaming the halls of the hospital. He is not happy about being dead. If he stumbles across Clint’s body, there is no telling what he might do.”
“Would he even know something like that is possible?” Walt asked.
“It’s about survival, Walt. Sometimes that is instinctive. You need to hurry.”
Thirty-Five
Walt found Danielle still in the living room with Marie.
“Marie, can I speak to Danielle alone for a moment?” Walt asked. “Eva is in the parlor if you want to go in there.”
Marie glanced from Walt to Danielle, then back to Walt. She arched her brow and made a harrumph sound before disappearing.
“It has to be now,” Walt told Danielle when they were alone.
“When you asked Ian to leave Sadie for the night, I knew you were going to try. You’re really going to do this, aren’t you?”
“Before Clint made his offer, I imagined I could stay here indefinitely—let things continue as they are,” he told her. “But once Clint opened that door, I began seeing things differently. The more I considered it, the more I wanted it. Ironically, when Heather casually mentioned the possibility, I dismissed it. No, I take that back. I didn’t just dismiss it. The entire concept felt foreign and in some way repugnant.”
“It doesn’t now?”
“No. I wish I could explain, but I can’t find the adequate words to convey what I’m feeling. I just know this is something I need to do—or at least try.”
“And if he changes his mind at the last minute?”
Walt smiled sadly. “Then he changes his mind, and I accept the fact it’s truly time for me to be moving on in my journey.”
Danielle blinked, coating her lashes in unshed tears.
“If I don’t come back, be happy, Danielle.”
Walt vanished.
“Come back to me, Walt,” she whispered to the empty room, no longer fighting back the tears.
Danielle stood in the living room, tears running down her face, when she remembered Eva and Marie were probably still in the parlor.
“Why didn’t I think of it before?” Wiping tears from her face, she ran from the living room and found Eva and Marie sitting in the parlor.
“Quick,” she told them. “Go down to the hospital. Walt just left.”
“Yes, dear,” Marie said with a smile. “He just popped in and said goodbye.”
“You have to go with him. You need to make sure Clint doesn’t change his mind!” Danielle insisted.
Eva smiled sympathetically. “It doesn’t work that way, Danielle. Clint has the right to change his mind. That’s how it has to be, at least if Walt doesn’t wish to suffer future consequences when he gets back on our side again.”
“Yes, yes, I understand that. What I meant is watch and let me know what happens.”
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” Eva made no attempt to get up from her place on the sofa. Next to her Max slept soundly.
“Eva, I just need to know that when Clint finally wakes up, who will it be? Walt or Clint?”
“Or that other guy,” Marie interjected.
Danielle frowned at Marie. “What other guy?”
Eva shrugged. “A poor man passed away this afternoon. It was a simple procedure; I suspect there will be a lawsuit. He shouldn’t have died.”
“What are you talking about?” Danielle found herself about to hyperventilate. If Eva didn’t get her glittered self off the sofa and down to the hospital to see what was going on, Danielle would need to find a paper bag to breathe into.
“Eva was just telling me about the man who died during surgery today. He wasn’t pleased at the outcome, and if he happens across Clint’s uninhabited body, he might be compelled to jump in.”
Danielle groaned. “Please, Eva…Marie…one of you…before it’s over…go down to the hospital and watch so we’ll at least know who it really is when Clint finally wakes up.”
Eva smiled at Danielle. “I’ve done what the Universe asked of me, and now it’s up to Walt. Don’t worry, Danielle, because worry never solved anything.”
Danielle might have continued arguing with the two spirits, but they vanished the next moment.
Sadie, who was no longer napping on the sofa, was now curled up under the parlor window. At the spirits’ sudden departure, she lifted her head and let out a bark. Max continued to sleep.
Walt knew the hospital was where it had been during his lifetime. Technically, it was not the same hospital. That building had been torn down decades earlier and replaced with the modern one now standing in its place. For a moment he regretted leaving Marlow House so quickly, especially knowing he had a limited time in which to inhabit Clint’s body before he would be forced to continue on in his after-death journey.
He should have taken a moment to ask Danielle for directions to Clint’s hospital room. Walt couldn’t waste time looking for his cousin, and he wouldn’t be able to ask anyone for directions. Relief washed over him when he entered the front lobby and noticed a sign pointing the way to the intensive care unit. Knowing that was where Clint was, he continued on his way.
Walt discovered his cousin—spirit and body—in the third patient room in the ICU. Clint’s spirit-self sat on the chair next to the bed.
Clint looked up at him and smiled. “I guess this means you intend to accept my offer.”
“If you are still offering.” Walt moved closer to the hospital bed.
“I understand that I can change my mind. I don’t have to give my body to you.”
Walt nodded. “True. It has to be totally voluntary on your part.”
Clint smiled and leaned back in his chair. “And you came all this way knowing I could change my mind? Knowing you couldn’t return to Marlow House—to Danielle?”
“Why would you change your mind?” Walt asked. “You said yourself there was nothing more for you here.”
“True.” Clint nodded. “My life as Clint Marlow doesn’t offer me much. But a life as Walt Marlow—that’s different.”
“Walt Marlow is dead.”
Clint laughed. “Obviously. I’m just thinking of Danielle Boatman and all that money she’s inherited from you. The way she looks at you. The way you look at her. Some people have to choose between love and money…other people get both. I suppose I have to make a choice.”
Walt frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Love or money? What do I want most? Choose love and move on with Stephanie, or choose money and stay here as Walt Marlow?”
“Danielle would know it’s you and not me.”
“Are you so sure? I can be convincing.” Clint smiled.
“There are things you don’t know that I do.”
“You mean like, Walt, what is my favorite ice cream? What is my favorite color?”
Suppressing his anger, Walt muttered, “Something like that.”
“Often people suffer amnesia when waking up after a head wound and trauma. Who’s to say that won’t happen to me? If I wake up not knowing who I am, do you think Danielle will assume I’m not you? What do you think she would do?”
Danielle walked Sadie across the street without a flashlight. Overhead was less than a half moon. She hadn’t bothered calling Lily or Ian and letting them know she was coming. She could see their light on in the living room window, so she knew they were still up.
“I thought Walt wanted her to spend the night,” Lily asked when she opened the front door and Sadie ran into the house. Lily held the door open for Danielle, who followed the dog inside.
“He’s gone, Lily,” Danielle said dully.
>
After shutting the front door, Lily took a closer look at Danielle. She noticed her red-rimmed eyes and tear-streaked cheeks.
“Come, Ian is in the living room.” Lily grabbed Danielle by the arm and led her down the entry hall.
“Walt wanted you to leave Sadie so he could say goodbye,” Danielle told them after she greeted Ian. She and Lily sat side by side on the sofa while Ian remained in the chair facing them, Sadie now curled up by his feet.
“I suspected that’s why Walt wanted Sadie to stay,” Ian said.
“Why are you so sad?” Lily asked. “This is exciting! Goodness, you act like Walt’s leaving forever!”
“If Clint changes his mind, that’s exactly what will happen. I won’t see Walt again. Well, not until I die, anyway.”
Lily reached out to Danielle and clutched her hand. “Have faith, Dani. Have faith.”
After Danielle returned to Marlow House Friday evening, she stood in the middle of the entry hall and looked up the staircase. The house felt excruciatingly empty. She realized this was the first time she had ever been in the house without Walt.
“No, that’s not exactly true,” she reminded herself. She remembered the brief time after finding the Missing Thorndike when she believed Walt had moved on. Yet he hadn’t. Instead, he had made some sort of bargain with the Universe, allowing him to stay—at least until he left Marlow House again.
Emotionally exhausted, Danielle wandered through the rooms on the first floor, locking windows, any exterior doors, and turning off room lights. When she returned to the entry hall, the only visible light came from the night-lights plugged into random sockets throughout the first floor and a bit of moonlight slipping in the front window.
“Max?” Danielle called out.
There was no response.
“Max!” she shouted a little louder.
A moment later she heard a meow from the direction of the parlor. Looking that way, Danielle watched as Max sauntered leisurely toward her. When he reached her side, she leaned down and picked him up.
“This house feels so empty without him, Max.”
She wasn’t sure the cat understood, but he began to purr, making no effort to jump from her arms.
With a sigh, she continued to hold him while making her way up the staircase. Her left hand clutched the railing while her right hand held on tightly to the not so lightweight bundle of purring fur. Step by step, she made her way upstairs. Once on the second floor, she set Max on the landing and then went from room to room. Most of the lights were already out, yet she felt compelled to check each room.
Instead of going to her bedroom, she headed up the attic stairs, Max trailing behind her. The attic light was turned off, yet moonlight made its way through the attic window. Standing at the doorway, she looked in the darkened room. The silhouette of Walt’s spotting scope stood silently by the window. The attic, like the rest of the house, felt utterly abandoned.
Taking in a fortifying breath, she stepped into the attic. Max had already made his way into the room, not waiting for her, and had jumped up on the windowsill to look outside. His tail swished back and forth while he looked out into the night.
Danielle wandered to the sofa and sat down. For the first time since moving into Marlow House, she was a little afraid. The house seemed bigger somehow—emptier—and a little spooky.
Danielle began to laugh. “A normal person would be terrified living in a house with a ghost. But I find it scary living in a house without one.”
A few minutes later she stood up. “Come on, Max. Let’s go to bed.”
When Max made no effort to follow Danielle, she walked to the window, scooped him up in her arms, and took him with her. He mildly protested, but she refused to put him down. Normally, she would have let him wander the house at night, yet she didn’t want to be alone.
Once she entered her bedroom, she shut the door, locked it, and set Max on the floor. He let out a meow in protest, pawing on the door.
“Really, Max? You can’t just sleep in here with me tonight?”
Stubbornly, Max sat at the closed bedroom door, his front paws pounding it like a drum. With a sigh, Danielle acquiesced and opened the door slightly. Max slipped out into the dark hallway, his black tail swishing behind him.
Danielle closed the door again and locked it. She walked to her bed and pulled down her bedspread and then the top sheet and blanket. She climbed into the bed. Once under the covers, she scooted to the left side and then looked to the empty side of her bed. Whatever happened, she realized in that moment she would never again see Walt’s spirit—clad in a three-piece suit—lounging casually on the bed while they discussed the day’s events.
Danielle rolled over, her back to the empty side of the bed. Pulling herself into a fetal position and clutching a pillow, she began to cry.
Thirty-Six
Danielle woke Saturday morning to the sound of pawing on her bedroom door. Sitting up in bed, she wiped sleep from her eyes and yawned. The pawing continued. Stumbling out of bed, she made her way to the door and opened it. Max rushed into the room and leapt onto her mattress, making himself comfortable in the midst of her rumpled sheets and blankets.
Combing her fingers through her hair, she looked down at Max and shook her head. “Seriously? You ditch me all night, and now you expect to take over my bed?”
No meow came from Max. Instead, he started to groom himself.
Rolling her eyes, Danielle grabbed her cellphone from the nightstand and sat on the edge of her bed.
“You can stay there, Max. No one is in the house. Who’ll know that I didn’t make my bed this morning?” Danielle said as she dialed the hospital. A moment later someone answered, and she asked to be transferred to the ICU.
“I’m calling to find out if there is any change in one of your patients…Clint Marlow…Umm, I’m his sister…Yes, the one who visited him…Really? None?”
When Danielle got off the phone a few minutes later, she groaned and flopped back on the bed. Looking up to the ceiling, her head a few inches from the cat, she said, “Max, he’s still unconscious. Why isn’t he awake?”
While she still held her phone, it began to ring. Not bothering to sit back up, she answered the call. It was Lily.
“I thought he’d be awake,” Lily said after Danielle told her about the morning call with the hospital.
“I didn’t tell you last night, but Marie and Eva told me something rather unsettling.” Danielle sat up on the bed.
“What’s that?” Lily asked.
“Apparently someone died during surgery yesterday at the hospital, and his spirit was wandering the halls—very upset about being dead.”
“What’s this have to do with Walt?” Lily asked.
“If he got to Clint before Walt did, he might jump into the body like Tagg did poor Kent. That could explain why he hasn’t woken up.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If a spirit does something like that, they’re normally confused. Once in the body, he might not really understand what’s going on.”
“Dani, last night you were paranoid about Clint changing his mind, and this morning you seem convinced a complete stranger hijacked the body.”
“So?”
“So, I can’t believe how negative and paranoid you are being about all this. There could be countless reasons why Walt hasn’t woken up yet. And I say Walt because I have faith this is going to work. Walt deserves this second chance.”
“But, Lily—”
“No buts, Dani. Sadly, people die every day in hospitals, for one reason or another, and most of those folks aren’t too thrilled about being dead. And there are often comatose people in hospitals. But Eva told you it was very rare for a spirit to hijack a body. If that was the case, no one would be in comas for a very long time. There would be spirits lining up to jump on in.”
“It doesn’t work that way—”
“Maybe it doesn’t work that way exactly, but I’m not that far off, and rememb
er, I was once one of those wandering spirits misplaced from my body—and so was Chris—and neither of us got hijacked. Stop looking for the worst.”
Danielle groaned. “You’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be excited for the possibility, but I’m terrified I’ll never see Walt again—at least not in this world.”
“It’s because you’re in love with him, Dani.”
Danielle did not respond.
“Think positive, girl,” Lily went on. “Get yourself down to that hospital, and wake Walt up. If you’ll recall, I didn’t wake up until you were by my bedside cheering me on.”
“You’re right, Lily. You didn’t wake up immediately.”
Danielle could feel Lily’s grin through the phone.
“So you go down there, Dani, because Walt needs to come home.”
When Danielle walked into Clint’s hospital room forty minutes later, she didn’t detect any lingering spirits. Slowly approaching the bed, she looked down at the still body. She didn’t know if that was Walt—or had Walt’s spirit been forced to move on? Was it Clint’s spirit or the man who had died in the hospital who now inhabited the body? Or was it possible it was still an empty vessel and Clint was wandering elsewhere while Walt perhaps had not reached the hospital in time?
Danielle groaned at all the possibilities. Pulling the chair closer to the bed, she sat down and leaned toward the unconscious man.
“Walt, is that you?” Danielle whispered. “If it is, please wake up. It’s time to wake up.”
She glanced around the room. There was no sign of Clint. Is he with Stephanie now? she wondered. Or did Clint change his mind and reclaim his body?
The Ghost and the Doppelganger Page 23