Chapter 1

“There is an old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’ I think the saying stops before completing the thought. It should be, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it in a totally unexpected way and an unbelievably different form’.”

Dr. Joseph Covington said nothing as he continued to move his pen over the pad of paper he kept propped against the highest point of his bent knee as his long, lean leg rested across the top of his other leg. He looked far more comfortable than Davina felt. She shifted in her seat as she waited for him to say something, anything. If he didn’t soon she promised herself she’d reach over and grab that pen right from his boney hand.

When he finally uncrossed his legs, leaned forward to better focus on her and questioned whether she felt she’d gotten what she asked for, she was so elated to finally hear him speak that she didn’t bother to get upset by his question. It wasn’t until he asked her to reiterate on why she felt she’d gotten what she’d asked for that she blew a gasket.

“I’ve been here for the better part of an hour telling you just that and you want me to repeat it? I thought you were keeping notes. What have you been doing? Doodling?”

She lept from the sofa with the intention of seeing exactly what was on that pad of paper, but the good doctor sprang to life with the speed of a panther ready to pounce on his prey. He hugged the pad as if he was afraid of losing it as he stood with his narrow chest heaving, full cheeks flushed, and grey eyes bulging with emotion beneath his thick, black glasses. “I’ve had just about enough of your outbursts, young lady. It is not for you to decide or dictate how these sessions will go. If I choose to have you repeat your story one-hundred times, it is my prerogative.”

Her neatly shaped brows furrowed over watery violet eyes, and her full lips puckered together in disappointment beneath her straight Greek nose as she dropped back onto the sofa. She was completely mindless of what her disregard for her body weight of one-hundred- twenty-five-pounds plummeting onto the inner-springs of the seating with such force might do to them. She was so frustrated with him at that moment that she’d happily damage his entire office and feel justified in doing so. Was he even a real doctor? At this point, she had her doubts.

“Do you expect me to start at the beginning?” she asked with a sarcastic flair.

“Let’s remember why you’re here, shall we?” Dr. Covington said with a sneer. “Your antics have caused you to become a ward of this facility. Part of the procedure of re-habilitating you is for you to visit me once a week to discuss why you are here and see how we can adjust your behavior so that you can re-enter society. I’m aware that you don’t care for me and wish to be somewhere… anywhere else, but the fact of the matter is you’re stuck here. So, if you want to cease being required to visit my office, you will hold that tongue of yours and do as I ask.” He leaned forward to emphasize his words. “All that I ask. Otherwise, I might deem it necessary to meet more than once a week. Perhaps, daily?”

She sat back and glowered. How had it come to this? What happened to put her in such a position? Louella had finally found her golden reason to do away with her. It wasn’t death, but it might as well be. She knew, deep down, that her sister intended on keeping her here where she’d be out of the way and required to depend upon Louella as her proxy in all matters. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t remember beyond the last six months that brought her to being institutionalized.

She’d been accused of murdering a man she called T. J. The problem was that she couldn’t remember ever meeting this man and there was no body to prove that he’d been murdered. In fact, when she asked her lawyer, Edward Murry, Esq., to investigate the situation, but he informed her that it was impossible without his full name. Unfortunately, Davina’s paranoia over her sister’s prying eyes prevented her from entering it into her journal. All she had was a few photographs of herself with this very handsome man that Davina suspected were expertly photoshopped. Of course, Louella’s team of clever and crooked lawyers ran circles around poor Edward at every turn and they managed to expound upon the photos instead of the false name and lack of birth information. They even managed to produce an expert to testify that the pictures weren’t photoshopped, but were very real. Since the sim card that the pictures were on was produced, Davina had no recourse but to

accept their legitimacy.

How clever Louella was.

Because the accusations of murder were just that; accusations by a sibling who claimed to have met her lover and insisted that he mysteriously disappeared while in her company, she hadn’t been tried and sentenced. Not by a judge and jury, anyway. Her family had done it by committing her to a privately owned and operated mental institution. Although, those in charge cleverly labeled it a recovery house, it was nothing more than a prison for those whose wealthy families wanted to get someone out of the way… like Louella had done with her. In her brief stay, Davina had met more than one poor victim of such an act. One woman just completed her thirtieth year there. It seemed very few recovered in this state of the art recovery house.

It was her twin sister, Louella, and her band of lawyers who was behind having her committed. She’d been looking for a way to be rid of Davina since they turned twenty-one two years ago, and their inheritance came into effect. You’d think that splitting three million dollars plus the estate and vineyard would have been sufficient for Louella, but it wasn’t. Unlike Davina, who was generous to a fault, Louella wanted it all; lock, stock, and barrel. That meant finding a way to be free of Davina.

Short of killing her, this was the next

best thing. With Davina deemed unsound of mind, Louella gained power of attorney over her sister’s half of the inheritance. It was her goal to keep Davina in the hospital until she had the good sense to roll over and die. One of her methods was to make sure that she was treated by the ever so incompetent and easily bribed Dr. Covington. Between his diagnosis and the drugs that they pumped into Davina at a level that was just enough to make her seem out of it without seeming drugged, she was sure confident she’d managed to be free of her. Her sister had managed to find a doctor who was just as greedy and crooked as she was.

Where Louella had purposefully retained some of the most ruthless and conscience free lawyers she could find upon her twenty-first birthday to help her manage her inheritance, Davina had stayed with the old attorney her father used while alive. He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to her inheritance, but was worthless defending her sanity against the false accusations her sister’s lawyers peppered her with. It was like

sending a lamb to slaughter.

The fact that Louella had managed to convince her two aunts to support her claim that Davina was unstable didn’t help matters. Her aunts were loving souls who would never deliberately want to hurt either of their nieces. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t see through Louella’s façade whenever they were around. They believed her wicked twin to be a loving and caring angel instead of Satan in disguise as Davina depicted her to be. It was because of Davina’s mistake in trying to get them to see the truth – combined with her loss of memory for the last year- that they backed Louella with the idea of committing her for her own well-being.

It was all because she had no recollection of this guy. Nor could she remember the year of her life when she was supposedly with him. It didn’t help that as soon as her mind began to clear, they’d pump a pill down her or come at her with a needle, but it wasn’t the reason she couldn’t remember. Her memory lapse began long before that.

Realizing she had no choice, she, once again, told the good doctor the last recollection she had before she woke up in her room six months ago, naked and wet with no

recollection as to why.

Her sister claimed that she’d befriended a young man and things were getting serious with him to the point she expected an engagement to happen. If that was the case, wouldn’t she remember such a man? Not only couldn’t she remember him, but she couldn’t recall the year she’d supposedly spent in his company. It was as if she’d gone to sleep and awoken twelve months later.

The very last thing she remembered was taking a long walk through the vineyard. It was something she did often. It helped her to think and relax; as well as brought back memories of happier days before her mother and father had that terrible automobile accident that took their lives.

Dr. Covington scratched his chin as he waited for silence between them. After waiting long enough to give his words the best dramatic effect, he asked, “Why is it then, Davina, that you feel you’ve gotten what you’ve asked for. Did you want your parents dead?”

“I loved my parents. Don’t ever say that. I wanted to be free of my sister. With my parent’s gone, she’s out of control. She should be the one in here, not me.”

“Why is that?”

“She’s greedy. She’ll do anything to get it all. She wants everything

we’ve inherited. Her share and mine.” Davina smirked and gave a slight chuckle. “It’s embarrassing at times.”

“Your sister embarrasses you?”

“At times.” Davina looked at him quizzically.

“Didn’t I just say that?”

The timer went off just as he was about to reply. It was like a scene from a high school television show. He picked up his precious pad of paper and stood up abruptly. “That’s the bell. Time’s up. I’ll see you next week.”

With that, he hustled her out of his office and closed the door behind her.