Voices Within

By Anna DeMattio

"Voices Within" is a gripping novel filled with romance and suspense. Imagine waking up in a hospital – alone, afraid, and confused. This is what happens to a woman named Kara. In this enthralling story, she must piece her life back together as she searches for answers. Filled with unpredictability and marvelous storytelling, this is a must-read work of fiction that offers genre blending entertainment.

Kara has everything you can ask for in life. Living the dream, she is successful and has a wonderful boyfriend. The only problem is that she experiences crippling headaches from time to time. There is no rhyme or reason why…. One day she passes out and wakes up in a hospital with people who know her, but she does not know them. Get ready to embark on a heart-racing journey with Kara as she seeks to find comfort through the truth!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667842486

Book preview

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Voices Within

©2022 Anna DeMattio

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Print ISBN: 978-1-66784-247-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66784-248-6

Contents

acknowledgments

chapter 1

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

chapter 7

chapter 8

chapter 9

chapter 10

chapter 11

chapter 12

chapter 13

chapter 14

chapter 15

chapter 16

chapter 17

chapter 18

chapter 19

chapter 20

chapter 21

chapter 22

chapter 23

acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my mom Lucille. Without her support in believing in me, and her typing skills it never would of happened.

Thank you to Don and Jan for putting me back on track, to keep doing what I love.

Thanks to Holly for retyping and getting my book where it needed to go.

chapter 1

"Listen to what I’m saying, Kara, you have got to get these designs out by the end of the week or we will lose production" Joe told Kara.

Joe, have I ever let you down before; it will be done. Stop worrying I always meet my dead lines.

No, you haven’t let me down yet. But, you were never in love before either. Your work was everything until Connor came along.

Joe, don’t tell me you’re jealous.

I’m too old to be jealous. A 75-year-old man has no business being jealous of a 27-year-old woman. I mean it Kara, have the finished drawings on my desk by the end of the week. Understand!

Yes, Joe I sighed.

Don’t be yessing me to death with that patronizing attitude of yours, Missy. I remind you to respect your elders, he shouts, as he slams the office door shut. Kara starts laughing. The intercom rings and Jackie her receptionist says, you have a call on line 1. It’s you know who.

Thank you, Jackie and hold all calls please.

You know who, as in Connor. Jackie started saying that, because if our boss was anywhere in hearing distance, he’d have a fit. So at least, if he is, it keeps him guessing.

Hi, Connor.

Hi, yourself, how’s the rat race?

As usual, Joe’s on my case about finishing up the designs by the end of the week or else.

Is he still blaming me? Connor asks.

Absolutely, I say, and we both laugh.

Well, will you have everything completed by the end of the week?

Of course. I’ll be working on them some more as soon as we’re done talking.

Are we still on for dinner tonight? Connor asks.

Depends, Kara responds.

On what, asks Connor.

On whether you’re taking me out to an expensive restaurant or to your home where you’re cooking dinner.

Connor laughs to himself. The last time he took her to dinner, it was to his house where he cooked a wonderful three-course meal all by himself. That should have indicated a problem right there, I did it by himself. How hard could cooking be? he remembers, just follow the recipes, no problem, Right? Well, nothing seemed to go according to my plan. I made homemade onion soup which had absolutely no taste; You would think all the onions I put in would give it flavor but it just tasted like warm water. The filet mignon was no better .It was too tough to eat. I thought this piece of meat was supposed to be the most- tender of any other cuts of beef, but it wasn’t. Alright if I’m being honest I might have made it a little too well done. Then came dessert .Ever hear three strikes you’re out, this was it. It was called a strange name, called flan. In the picture from the recipe book it looked delicious. It was supposed to be a baked Spanish custard with caramel sauce. Instead it was more like a watery Jell-O, which was not what I was going for.

When we finished eating our meal, it was to die for, and I mean literally. Kara tried to be nice and she did sample everything. I’ll give her that much and she even managed to keep a straight face. I have to give her credit. Needless to say, I suggested to Kara, if she didn’t like what I made, we could always order in. She jumped on that. I said. I was obviously not that good of a cook. She looked me straight in the eye and said, Not that good. Honey, you haven’t even come close to good," as she burst out laughing. That’s what I love about Kara. She is completely honest, even if it hurts.

Hello, hello, Connor, are you still there?

Yes, I’m here just reminiscing about our last dinner at my place.

I wouldn’t do that, Connor; it will give you nightmares during the day.

Ha ha, very funny. But in answer to your question, I will be taking you out to a fancy dinner at drum roll please you ready? Yes tell me already. The very exclusive Clementine’s.

You were able to get reservations to Clementine’s? I don’t believe it.

Being a professional football player does have its perks, Honey.

Not to mention being number one and winning the Super Bowl, Kara says.

Yeah, that doesn’t hurt either, he says.

"Okay, Kara, so I’ll pick you up around 7:00 p.m. Reservations are for 7:30. That should give us plenty of time. Okay, he stopped talking for a few seconds and said now, Kara - -

Yes, she asked.

Get to work.

Yes, sir.

There is that attitude again, Connor says.

You know, Connor you are just like Joe, she laughs and hangs up the phone. Get to work indeed. As I start sketching, Jackie walks into my office, and she asks, Well, is he taking you out?

Yes, to Clementine’s.

Clementine’s, really, this could be the real thing then.

What are you talking about? Kara asks.

He’s going to pop the question.

Why would you think that?

Come on, Kara, he is taking you to the top restaurant in Boston. Even the rich and famous have problems getting a reservation, that’s how exclusive that place is. This has to be the night. You’ve been with him for almost six months now. He has to pop the question soon.

Whoa, if the question you mean is will you marry me? You my friend are crazy. We never even talked about getting married.

No, he doesn’t have to do anything,

It’s just dinner. Now get out of here. I have work to do.

I’m going, Jackie responds, but, I still say this might be it.

She walks out, shutting the door. Kara sits back on her chair looking around her office thinking not about work as usual, but about Connor. Could he be thinking about asking her to marry him tonight? No, that’s ridiculous. I would know wouldn’t I.? It would be wonderful, though marrying someone like Connor, a professional athlete, tall, dark, and gorgeous, every girl’s dream. But I need to stop daydreaming and get back to these designs, or this company’s Exquisite Designs will go under right along with my career, and I’ve worked too hard and come too far to see that happen. I could never let Joe down. He gave me a chance right out of college. Said he saw my potential when he came to a show that was put on by the school to showcase all the students work. Five years later, I’m head of Exquisite Designs, which is rated the best designing firm around, and it’s all because of Joe. Not to be too modest, I am also a fabulous designer.

I finally left work about 5:30 p.m., and amazingly enough I even got quite a bit accomplished in between daydreaming about Connor. I got into my car, a black suburban my baby nevertheless. It rides great and I feel 100% protected on the road. It’s real big and can fit like seven people or clothes which is why I bought such a big vehicle. Also god forbid I was in an accident chances are I wouldn’t be hurt too bad. I pull out onto the main street. As usual Boston traffic is horrendous at this time. Rush hour took me a good hour to get home to Mulberry Commons, a beautiful town house that I brought a few years ago. It has three bedrooms, three baths, about 4500 square feet. I love wood especially oak, which this condo has throughout the whole house. Let’s not forget all the luxuries I think every woman should have. Sauna, whirlpool tub with lots of Jets to soak in, and tons of closets to store all my designs. I also have a 2 car garage. I have exactly half an hour to get ready. It’s 6:30 p.m. and Connor said he’d pick me up by 7:00 p.m. Better hurry.

I enter my bedroom and head over to my vanity. As I am putting on my makeup I start to get this throbbing pain in my head. I start rubbing my temples hoping the pain will go away. This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten these headaches. They’ve been coming and going for months now. Sometimes I hear voices calling me to come back. I’ve been assuming they are just stress headaches. I have been under a lot of stress at work lately, but maybe I should make an appointment to see the doctor or at least get a prescription to make them go away. Aspirin just doesn’t seem to work. I finish my makeup and head to my closet to see what I’m going to wear.

Clementine’s is a very exclusive place. So, I have to dress the part. I pick out a black sleeveless dress with spaghetti straps, which makes an X in the back and also has a small slit on the bottom, with a V-shape in the front, just showing enough but not too much cleavage. This will be perfect. It’s actually one of my own designs, an original, and no one else has it. I wanted something no one else