Ripple Effect by Paul McCusker

Author:Paul McCusker [MCCUSKER, PAUL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780310856221
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

21

Waking up in a room that was like her own but really wasn’t put Elizabeth in the doldrums again. At least in the hospital she could consent to being Sarah without really having to be Sarah. But here in Sarah’s room — her room — she was face-to-face with reality. She couldn’t escape. This was her life now.

Dr. Waite had instructed her to go through her bedroom thoroughly. Get acquainted with it. See if anything triggered her memory; a blouse bought for a special occasion, a knick-knack from a friend, a borrowed book, a report card or school paper, letters, photos, emails or other files on her computer. The smallest, seemingly insignificant item could open up her mind to Sarah’s life. If nothing else, it was a way to make peace with who Sarah was as a means to unite the two people into one. How did Sarah decorate, what did she wear, where did she put things?

She turned on the computer, but was instantly thwarted when it asked for a password. She guessed at a couple, with no results, and gave up. So much for that.

A few moments in the closet convinced Elizabeth that Sarah didn’t have very good taste in clothes. Elizabeth didn’t like anything she saw.

Behind the clothes, Elizabeth found a box. She pulled it out and found the very things Dr. Waite had hoped she would find: keepsakes and paraphernalia of a life she didn’t know. A small stack of report cards from Sarah’s years at school. There were teacher’s comments, consistent over each passing grade: Sarah was — is — quite artistic, but her organizational skills are atrocious. She is an average student.

There were birthday cards and notes from friends and girlfriends. One card was from Rhonda, laughing over a bit of mischief she and Sarah had gotten into. Another card from Calvin pleaded with Sarah to forgive him for some unspecified offense.

She found a book of drawings, including half-finished sketches of horses and landscapes and a fairly good likeness of Rhonda. I’m pretty good, Elizabeth said to herself.

A small blue book, jammed with bank statements, caught her attention. Elizabeth was momentarily impressed that Sarah even had a bank account… then she discovered that the account had over fifty thousand dollars in it. “Wow,” Elizabeth gasped. Tucked into a pouch at the front of the book was a copy of a will. It was Sarah’s parents’ will, naming her as sole heir to all they owned, their insurance, everything — to the tune of more than seven hundred thousand dollars. “Wow!” she said again.

Elizabeth glanced through the pages and found a paragraph making it clear that she couldn’t touch the money until she was eighteen. Meanwhile, she was to be placed under the guardianship of the executor of the estate or whomever he designates. According to the will, the guardians get a generous allowance for taking care of her.

Typed into the blank line for her designated guardians was “Ted and Barbara Collins” — Calvin’s parents.

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