What the Heart Knows (13 page)

Oliver’s body tensed as his breath became visible in a white cloud. Goo
se bumps broke out over his flesh
, and the mirror fogged.

“I know you’re here
,
Hannah.”

The lights flickered and
objects on the counter of the sink vibrated.  He clenched his fists, determined to stand his ground.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked.

“Did you know for the past two years I’ve walked around feeling like I was on
e
step away from jumping o
f
f the bridge
our car went over?
Do you really hate me that much?” 

His eyes widened as he watched writing appear on the mirror.
I stayed for you.

The thought of her living in t
he shadows,
siphoning energy from him like a leech gave him mixed emotions.  It had to be a lonely
,
miserable existence.  Just like the one he’d lived until he met Juni. His heart felt like it was being tugged in two different directions. Hannah was his first love, but Juni was his present.
How could he turn his back on one for the other when it was clear Hannah needed help
?

“I would never have asked you to do that
,
Hannah
,
” he whispered.

“What good could come from it?”

You forgot me because of her!
The angry scrawl made him shake his head.

“She had nothing to do with me moving on. I mourned you for two years.
The woman I knew
would never
put the person she loved most through this
.
” 

The mirror shattered, and Oliver jumped back, stunned.

“Hannah, you
have to
know I can’t let you take Juni’s body over. You had your time to live, this is hers.”

The temperature dipped even lower and he tensed as he waited for her retaliation. An image of her flickered into being and he backed up until the sink
behind him
blocked his path.

“Funny, you don’t look happy to see me.”

“Why wait until now to show yourself?”

“It takes a lot of power to
become
corporal
,
Oliver.” 

She looked like
a
sick version of herself. Her face was a little pale, her hair limp, and her green eyes were colder than he could ever remember seeing them.

“This is a chance for us to finally be together
,
Oli
.
D
on’t you want that?” 

Her face softened as she moved forward to cup his face.

“We could he happy again.
”

He closed his eyes against the si
gh
t she presented, pleading as she stared at him with wide
,
wounded green eyes.

“It would be a lie. You wouldn’t be
you. It’s
obvious being a ghost has warped your way of thinking.”

“No, the horror of living on the fringes has made me this way.”

She released him and he opened his eyes.

“With no one able to see me, I had a lot of time to think. You left me down there in that lake, but I still loved you. Letting you go was never an option. Then Juni came onto the scene with her big brown eyes, quirky personality, and my heart!  There was no way in hell I was going to let her have everything.”

“You wanted your organs to go to people who needed them Hannah—”

“Yes, my organs
,
not my whole life!”

He flinched at the sound of the mirror cracking further.

“It was so disgusting to watch you fawn all over yourself because Mary Sunshine showed you interest and a glass half full attitude.” 

She scowled.

“Pitiful.”

“Was I
supposed to pine for you for the rest of my life then?” he asked.

“Yes!”

His head began to throb, and he cried out as he clutched his skull.

“If I can’t have you nobody else can, so you might want to rethink your decision to keep me from taking over your little girlfriend.”

It grew silent and he glanced up to see her image f
lash
as warmth crept back into the bathroom.

“Looks like my time is up
.
I’ll see you soon
,
husband.”

Hannah flickered
once more, and
disappeared
.
Oliver slid down to the floor, drained. His body shook like a junkie’s
in the midst o
f withdrawal. 
It was f
itting seeing
as
how
his
bra
in
felt
scrambled like an egg.  He knew he needed to call Juni
,
and he would. As soon as he peeled himself off the floor, and wrapped his head around the fact that the ghost of his dead wife was trying to take over his new girlfriend’s body.  Oh, and that his girlfriend happened to receive his wife’s heart in a transplant on the night that she’d died. One in a million odds had never made a man unluckier.

One hour
,
and half a case of beer later
,
Juni was on her way
over to his house
. There was really no way to break
it
to her gently so he opted to go wi
th the straightforward method
.  He finished off the last of his beer, stood from the table and tossed the bottle into the trash when headlights shone through the front window.
Time to finish destroying what
’
s left of the new life
I’ve
created.

*
***

Juni
glanced up as the door opened and gave Oliver a tentative smile. His voice had sounded off on the phone.

“Hey, you okay?”

“No. I’m really not,
”
he said

He shook his head as he stepped back, and waved her inside.

“We should have this talk in the kitchen. I need something harder than beer, and I think you should have a drink.”

“Okay
.
” 

Juni arched an eyebrow as she followed
him
into the kitchen. She hadn’t seen him in a mood like this in a long time. Whatever he wanted to tell her was not good news.  A lump settled in her throat as she sat down at the kitchen table
. He poured
himself a
shot
glass of whiskey, grabbed a beer from the fridge
, and
came to sit across from her.  She popped the top o
f
f the beer
he handed her
and took a long draw as he tossed back his whiskey and refilled the glass.

Juni set the brown bottle on the table and spoke.

“Are you ready to tell me what’s going on?”

“I
know who the spirit is.”
            
“What?
How?
”

“I came home today and found your letter—”

“Wait, what letter?”
  She shook her head
,
lost. His words were running together, and he wasn’t making any sense.

“The one
we
sent out to thank your donor.”

“Why would you get that? Did they mix up the sender
’
s address with the recipient
’
s?”

“No.”

Oliver shook his head from side to side and cleared his throat.

“Hannah was your donor
,
Juniper.”

“
Hannah
,
your wife?”

He nodded once again, and her draw dropped as her heart began to race.

“You’re kidding me
,
right?”

“I’d never joke about something like this.”

Logically it all made sense
. Of
course Hannah would be angry
with
Oliver and determined to ruin their relationship.
God,
I
fe
e
l like a fucking thief!
She’d taken her heart and her husband. What wom
a
n wouldn’t turn vengeful after that? Her stomach plummeted as she glanced at Oliver. Was that why they had done everything backwards? The almost sex up against the building the night they met, and the instant kinship? Had Hannah
been possessing her even then
, or was there some part of
Hannah
left inside her hear
t that remembered her soul mate?
Either way made their relationship seemed based on a lie.
Her face heated as she recalled the dream about Oliver on the beach. That was a memory!   How deep did Hannah’s interference run?
Would their feelings change once they got rid of
her? Did Oliver
still want her now that he had the option of his wife returning to him?

Her face heated as questions she didn’t want to ask swirled around in her head.

“I want to see a picture of her.”

“What?” he asked.
            
“Hannah, I want to see a picture of her.”

Oliver pushed away from the table and rose, shaking his head as he walked out of the room.  He probably thought she was going off the deep end, but she had to know if this was the woman from her dream. When he returned a few moments later and handed her an 8x10 wedding photo
,
she gasped.

“This is the wom
an from my dreams.”
            
“From what dream?”

“The one I probably should have let
you
know about.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her.
Great, he was pissed.

“W
ith everything happening I didn’t want to add my nightmares on top of it. After you told me the truth about the accident I dreamed I was the woman in the passenger seat of the car, and just before I could drown this woman appeared like an angel. She told me she could save me, but she needed my permission to access that portion of my brain because we were in my dream. Jesus! I’m such an idiot. That was probably the opening she’d been looking for.”

“No, Madeline always said it was linked to your heart, and now that we know who it is we need to see her now.”

He stunned her when he stood, and held out his hand.

“
Tonight
?”

“She’s gotten stronger
,
Juni. I saw her today as clearly as I see you now, and she cracked my mirror.”

“How can she do that?”

“I don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t plan on waiting around to see what else she’s going to pull out of her bag of tricks.”

She nodded her agreement as they head
ed out the door. A tense quiet
crept up
and
she couldn’t help but think Hannah was getting exactly what she wanted. With every minute that ticked by a wedge was being driven between them.
How could she compete with a walking, talking, tangible memory of the woman he
’d
loved practically since puberty?

“You drive
.
I’ve had too much to drink.”

His voice was soft, and hoarse, and her heart ached for him. He’d come so close to ending his grieving process just to have the wound ripped open once more. 

“Okay,” she said.

She studied him
in her peripheral vision
as they made their way out of the house an
d to her car. His face was worn.
D
ark circles had begun to form under his eyes, and his porcelain skin appeared a shade lighter than usual. It was clear her dreams hadn’t been the only ones Hannah was visiting. Once they were in her car she turned on the radio to drown out the voices in her head. The revelation had brought a damn
lot
of doubt up. He couldn’t love her more than he loved Hannah, and at this point even if he
thought
he did it could be a lie. Life was a cruel bitch to give her everything she want
ed
and contaminate it. She snuck another glance at Oliver
,
who gazed out the window. He looked so much like the broken man she first met it brought tears to her eyes. It was his obvious
need
for joy that had her attracted her to him in the first place. Though she’d be the first to admit his looks and fit body didn’t hurt.  Her lips twitched upward as she thought of their journey.