Family Garden Ch. 44

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It was with a hazy throbbing in her head that Charlene woke up again. The room was quiet and she could immediately tell that the nurses had covered her nudity. Tossing off the covers, she realized that someone was holding her hand. Shaking the hand off she demanded, "Who's there? Jason is that you?"

She knew as soon as she asked that it wasn't Jason. The hand was too small and soft, also, she had been on a business trip with Leon in Alaska. Was she still in Alaska, did anyone know she was here? Did anyone call Jason and let him know that she was safe?

"Good morning Charlene," The huskily sensual voice of her mother, Fornasia Korrapati, purred from a chair near her bed.

"Mom?!" She hissed in surprise.

"Yes honey." Confirmed a dark blur in the chair next to her.

"Why can't I see you? You're nothing but a blur," She asked worried that her vision was not clearing up, "Where is Jason? Where is Heather? Why aren't they here?"

"Calm down Honey," Fornasia said, her tone soothing, "and I will explain everything."

A nurse came in at that moment, and she watched the blur move around the room to her side opposite of her mother, "Good morning Miss Gabriella Korrapati, it is so nice to see you up and awake this morning!"

She gasped and put a hand to her chest, realizing what had happened. Her mother's hand squeezed hers, a silent command to keep quiet that she obeyed. When the nurse left Fornasia explained, "Charlene calm down, you're not in the 'Twilight Zone'. Yes your identity is not yours anymore, and as you know, the one you own now is not you, but this is all according to your own contingency plan."

"I...I know," She admitted as tears began running down her cheeks and she was suddenly wracked by great wheezing sobs.

"It's been six months Charlene," Her mother continued, "You were unconscious when I came and retrieved you. When I got you back to Seattle, I let your sisters know and they informed me of what you had done."

She looked up and tried to focus her eyes, but when her mother didn't come into focus she stopped and asked, "So you know about my contract with Randal, Donald, and Leon?"

"Yes I know," Fornasia confirmed.

"I'm so sorry mom," She apologized.

She could feel her mother shaking her head before answering, "I'm not the one you should apologize to."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she nodded. Of course, it was Jason and Heather she owed an apology to, not that they even knew she was missing.

"I must clarify one thing," Fornasia said as she leaned in close and took Charlene's hand in both her hands, "When I said your sisters informed me of what you had done, I didn't mean your contracted prostitution to your employers. I meant that I didn't know that you had involved your sisters in your attempt to cover your absence from Jason by having them be your identical stand-in's. As for your prostitution, I knew what you were doing from the very beginning."

"What?" She gasped.

"Your forged identity documents were brilliantly done by the way," Fornasia continued, "And presented us with an immediate plan of action from the very beginning. Per your own Will and Testament, Gabriella has stepped into your identity with assistance from Porsche, Sable, and Larissa. Larissa volunteered to step into your identity at work, with occasional assistance from Sable, and you are now Gabriella Evangeline Korrapati."

She shook her head and cried into her hands. She knew what was, was what had to be, but it broke her heart anyway. When she looked up from her hands, her crying halted momentarily, she asked the only question that mattered now, "Mom?"

"Yes Honey."

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

"Oh Honey," Fornasia crooned empathetically, "I'm sorry, no one knew for certain if you had brain damage or anything else. We could only wait and see if you would wake up first. The Doctor did say your eyes and optic nerve may have been damaged from being strangled so many times. You also had damage to your muscles and your carotid arteries. If you are ever choked again there is a chance you might die."

"So am I blind?" She asked her voice hiccupping as she tried to not start crying again.

"Yes," Fornasia answered.

"Mom," She cried into her mother's hands, "Momma, what am I going to do?"

"Charlene," Fornasia purred as she leaned in and kissed her daughter's hair, "My dear Charlene, I am sorry this happened to you. However, I will not call you Charlene ever again after today. From tomorrow on you are my first born daughter, Gabriella."

"But," She cried, "My husband! My daughter! My life!"

"Honey," Fornasia whispered as she squeezed her hands for her attention, "Your life as Charlene Galdren is over. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can figure out what to do next."