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"I was maddened Just maddened Here ere on our way home at last and she was beyond my reach But the worst neas that she was sick! Too sick perhaps to even handle the computer!

" 'Rowan, listen, has she been sick all along? Has she been protecting me from it?¡¯

"There was a long silence, and then she said in her characteristic straightforward fashion, 'Yes, Quinn, I'd say that's what she's been doing But I think you knew that when you left You knew she was undergoing a continuous treatment She's been at various plateaus But she's never really rallied ¡¯

"I gasped I didn't know if it was audible

" 'I've got to see her when I come home,' I said

" 'We'll arrange it,' she responded, 'as soon as it's possible But it can't be ri

ght away ¡¯

" 'Can you give her my love?' I asked 'Can you tell her I called? Can you tell her I've sent her letters?¡¯

" 'Yes, that I will do tonight,' she said, 'when I see her And tomorrow and the day after ¡¯

" 'Oh, thank you, Rowan, God love you, Rowan Please, please tell her how much I love her ¡¯

" 'Quinn, there's so me 'I know Michael's said it to you Let ot Mona to stop doing things that hurt her You made her happy ¡¯

" 'Rowan, you're frighteningit sound past tense ¡¯

" 'I'm sorry I didn't mean it to sound that way,' she said 'Ithis time she's been deeply and totally in love with you She's been writing to you, or talking to you by phone, instead of fighting us She asks about you all the time ¡¯

"I felt the chills co her? Had I fallen so in love with the letters and phone calls of Ophelia Immortal that I lost Mona herself?

" 'Thank you, Rowan,' I said 'Thank you always ' There were so many more questions I wanted to ask, but I didn't dare to try it I was so afraid