Free Pregnant In Prosperino by Carla Cassidy Page A

window onto the city where she had been living, as if by looking at the scenery she could somehow reclaim the memory of all the events that had brought her here years before.
    Some of her memories were still obscured by the darkness of amnesia, others had become crystal-clear, leaving her in a sort of shadowy transitional place between living her own life and somebody else’s.
    She stepped away from the window and instead walked over to the desk. She picked up the nameplate that read Dr. Martha Wilkes, and ran her fingers lightly over the etched golden letters.
    Had it not been for Dr. Wilkes, Meredith still might be living her life believing she was her twin sister, Patsy Portman. Now she knew the truth, that ten years ago her sister had run her car off the road and in the aftermath of that accident Patsy had stolen Meredith’slife, leaving Meredith to ten years of amnesia, nightmares and unanswered questions about herself.
    â€œI’m sorry to keep you waiting.” Dr. Wilkes swept into the room, an apologetic smile on her beautiful ebony face.
    â€œI didn’t mind waiting.” Meredith set the nameplate back on the desk, then took a seat on the settee that faced the desk.
    Dr. Wilkes joined her there rather than taking a seat behind her desk. “How are you feeling?” Her dark eyes radiated not only curiosity but also an empathy that Meredith found comforting.
    She frowned. “Excited…afraid…confused. Memories are coming faster and faster now, but there are still so many holes.”
    Dr. Wilkes nodded. “You’ve learned a lot about yourself in the last couple of weeks. The surprise visit from Rand and Emily opened up the floodgates of your memory.”
    Meredith smiled at thoughts of her oldest son and her sweet, adopted daughter Emily. At first, Meredith hadn’t recognized either of them, but as they talked to her, told her what they’d managed to piece together about the day of the car accident and the intervening years with Patsy acting as Meredith, Meredith’s memories had begun to emerge from the dark place where they had been hiding.
    Her first, strong memory had grown out of the nightmare she’d suffered for the past ten years. It was the nightmare of a little red-haired girl crying out to her. “Mommy, where are you? Help me. Please, help me,” the child in her dreams had cried.
    Meredith would awaken crying because she knew the child needed her, but she couldn’t remember who the child was. A grief almost too intense to bear would ache in her heart for days after one of those nightmares.
    Now the little girl had a name and the memories to go with the name. Sweet Emily. Meredith’s adopted daughter.
    â€œI’m sad, too,” Meredith said, although sad was too weak a word to describe what was in her heart. “My little sparrow Emily isn’t little anymore.”
    Instead of the little red-haired girl of her nightmares, Emily was now twenty years old with a mane of chestnut-red hair that framed her beautiful face. “I’ve missed so much—ten years…a decade…a lifetime. And what I keep wondering is what has Patsy managed to destroy in those years.”
    â€œYou’re talking about your relationship with Joe,” Dr. Wilkes said.
    Meredith nodded. Joe Colton. Her husband. Memories of him were still fuzzy. Until Rand and Emily’s visit to her, she hadn’t even known his name.
    What had survived through the amnesia was the memory of strong arms holding her, of a special man who had been her other half, her soul mate. He’d had no name, no face, but she’d had the memory of their love in her heart.
    Dr. Wilkes leaned forward and took Meredith’s hand in hers. “I can’t allay that fear for you, Meredith. When you decide that it’s time to go home and reclaim your life from your sister, you know there will be a period of adjustment for you and your family. There will be