THE DEVIL'S HANDMAIDEN DARK REALM SERIES BOOK 1

Chapter 2. SEALED

It had taken quite some time for Allesandra to convince the doctor to rerun all of Katrina's tests. But, given her remarkable improvement, he was finally able to get the approval he needed from the insurance company and ultimately agreed.

When he finally comes in to deliver the results several hours later, Allesandra does her best to act surprised. As she listens intently to him as he's going over the results and then when he's apologizing for putting her through everything, she tries to act like a normal mother reacting to such incredible news. But, the fact remains, she wasn't any ordinary mother. She knew the real truth and it was a very difficult task to pretend otherwise. She had done some acting in a school play or two, but she would admit she was no actress and she was worried it showed.

As he calmly explained how dumbfounded he was at the new test results, his only explanation to her was either human error or a miracle. She did her best to act accordingly through all of it and she even pretended to get very upset when he mentioned human error being a strong possibility. Regardless, Katrina was healthy and in full remission and the doctor was finally releasing her to go home, which was music to Allesandra's ears.

Once outside in the parking garage, Allesandra stops and squeezes Katrina tightly in her arms and kisses her on her forehead one last time before she can let go of her and strap her into her carseat. She finishes packing the car, climbs in and turns the key as tears immediately stream down her face. She is so overcome by emotion from the rollercoaster ride she has just stepped off of and it has left her both physically and mentally exhausted.

On the long drive home, it was all slowly, starting to sink in and everything that had just happened in the last few days felt surreal. At times, it even made her feel like she was losing touch with reality. But, all it took was a few horrifying flashbacks and she was jolted right back into reality, leaving no doubt in her mind that it was all very real.

Her next task was going to be a difficult one. She needed to start making plans to cram as much time as she could into the 3 short years she had left with Katrina. She had a lot of ideas. But, she also had to figure out where she was going to come up with all of the money she was going to need to pay for everything she wanted to do and to pay for all of their daily living expenses.

When she finally pulls into her assigned parking space and turns the car off, just the sight of her apartment building brings a sense of peace over her that she desperately needed to distract her from the financial woes she was just stressing about.

After a long walk from the car with her arms full, she approaches her front door and attempts to dig through her purse for her keys. She quickly becomes agitated when she can't find them and after several failed attempts, she calmly sets everything down and tries not to let her frustrations show. The last thing she wants to do is upset Katrina. She has been through so much these past few months. So, she takes a moment to collect herself, cradles Katrina in her arms a bit longer and lets the joyous feeling of holding her healthy daughter spread over her. It was at that very moment, she knew that everything was going to be ok, at least for the time being, anyway.

Once inside, she puts Katrina down and joyfully watches her run over to her favorite toys that she's been asking for and has missed badly. Allesandra then, takes a look around the tiny apartment that they have been calling home for the past 2 years and suddenly, she feels grateful for everything she has, down to the last dusty book on her very dusty bookshelf.

She was proud of herself. She had worked very hard to give Katrina a good life and after the nightmare of spending most of their time in emergency rooms and living in hospitals, they would finally have the chance to enjoy some of the little things that they have missed out on. Katrina had been diagnosed almost ten months ago and almost everything during that time was a blur to Allesandra. She had literally spent every waking moment worried about losing her daughter, with no time for anything else.

Allesandra had so many things she needed to do to prepare for her daughter's future without her. She had started to put a plan in motion and she knew it was important to stay focused on the next 3 years as if she would be leaving for a big trip soon, only this trip would be permanent.

It was not going to be easy leaving Katrina behind either. Just the thought of that, terrified her. But, it gave her comfort knowing that at least she'd be alive and would have a life to live. Now, all she hoped for was that she'd have a long, happy one. Alessandra had made the ultimate sacrifice to make sure that she would.

A loud knock at the door, startles Allesandra and zaps her back to reality. When she opens the door, her sister is standing there grinning and yells out to her.

"Hey! You are home! Look at Auntie Rachel's big girl over there. Come here, you!"

She gives Allesandra a quick hug and runs over and sweeps Katrina up into her arms and squeezes her tightly while she spins around and around with her.

"Careful Rach," Allesandra calls out behind her. "She just got out of the hospital. Don't overdo it."

"Geez sis, she's fine! She's more than fine. She's our little miracle girl and we have to celebrate a little don't we?"

"Of course," Allesandra quickly responds, but let's just not rush things, ok? We still have to take things slow for awhile."

"Of course sis and Auntie Rachel is going to be right here to help. I took a few weeks off and I'm here at your beckoned call. First things first, we need to spruce this place up a bit, open some windows and get some fresh air circulating in here. It's dusty and stagnant from being all closed up for so long. After that, I'll run to the grocery store and I'll fix us a great big dinner. I'll bet you're both so sick of hospital food that you could use a good home cooked meal!"

"If you're cooking, can we really call it good Rach?"

"Very funny Allesandra, ha, ha, ha! After all that time away, I see you didn't lose your sense of humor!"

Under her breath, Allesandra sarcastically responds, "Yeah, lost my soul but kept my sense of humor, some trade."

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