Time: Present Day.

Location: HereAfter.

Carter felt devastated, somehow kind of lost, a lost soul in heaven.

This familiar stranger now sitting next to him, watching HIS movie - Amelia, his mother? How can that possibly be? His mind raced, Does that mean that Roger isn't my Dad, my real Dad anyway, no. . . no!

Lies, someone's lying to me. If it's true, everyone's been lying to me, all my life. All my life is a lie.

"It's true my dear Peter, er . . . I mean Carter. I wouldn't lie to you, I wouldn't have lied to you if I'd been given the chance," Amelia sobbed.

"What happened then?" Carter asked his . . . Mum. He was having trouble coming to grips with the fact that this beautiful girl of maybe twenty, was in fact the mother of this thirty year old whatever he was now, ghost? Spirit? Soul?

"I could try to explain, but that's Teacher's job. He is saying to me to tell you to watch the movie.

"And, yes, I know, it will become clear to me."

"Yes, Carter Cheval learns," Teacher's voice echoed through him.

Carter turned his attention back to the big screen. They were in an operating room. Peter's Dad, Don was wiping the perspiration from his brow. He finally pulled off the mask and said to himself, "I've done the best . . , all that I can do now, all any of us can do now is wait and see. The next forty eight hours are critical." He asked his assistant to finish up the suturing of Amelia's scalp. He took off his bloodied gloves, placed them in the hazard waste disposal and left to find Amelia's family.

As he came out to the waiting room Monique Cheval raced to him, a look of absolute dread on her face. "Is she?" she burst into tears, tears of joy and relief as Don smiled and said, "It's still early days but I think she's turned the corner. Her vital signs are good. Her colour is returning so I think her liver is functioning again, and I've been able to release the pressure build up in the brain. We need to monitor her for the next forty eight hours so she's in an induced coma now. We have to wait and see if the swelling in the brain subsides, then, when she wakes up, and in a week or so, we'll have to run a lot of tests of her liver, brain and neurological function to determine if there's been any permanent damage or not. But I'm hopeful she's going to be alright."

Amanda burst into the room, ran to Don and hugged him, "Thank you, thank you 'uncle' Don, you saved her. I know she's going to be alright now!"

Don said with Amanda wrapped around his neck, "Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, your little sister is still a very sick young lady and there's lots can go wrong but . . . "

She cut him off, "BUT, you don't understand us twins just know these things, she is going to be fine."

"That's funny, you always told me you were the older and wiser one, now you're twins!"

Don smiled and winked at Monique.

Amanda lorded, "Well I am a year older, by fifteen minutes at least. It's Amelia's the night owl. She had to wait till after midnight, not only that till after next year to come out!" She's always been a bit slow."

With that they all burst into laughter, tension releasing laughter and hugged each other, Oh oh Don thought, Here come the French kisses.

Chapter 16 - Family Lies.

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