. She wasn't one of the usual, deferentia

ind but fir

she sat down, her

evere, and the delay in reconstructive surgery hasn't

. I expe

er. "Particularly to your abdomen. The initial assault... and the subsequ

a high probability, Sarah, that you ma

rtil

the air, heavy

ce of my fu

a flicker of something in Dad' s eyes – a

down, shuffl

lly neutral. "But the most important thing is Sarah's rec

the main thing is y

erted so

e willing to accept to ensure Jessica got Kevin, to

my future children

mbition; it was a deep, personal betraya

made thei

chose their image. They c

ir daughter.

Sarah is strong, she'll recover." "

justify an mon

i

neath it, the ember of anger I' d nurtured began to bur

left of the fami

e. No

s and man

point. A bre

the way the

s. Not s

esolve settled

ld not d

e nurse on duty was at the far end of the

er phone a sympathetic cleaner had sli

m weakness, but from a

n't called in years. A

d mother. E

rk. The woman my father had driven away w

rang. On

voice was crisp, pr

lf to shed for my father or

whisper. "It's Sarah. I need help. Plea

me everything. And don't you

ike an eternity, a tiny sliver of

e me the sedative they w

hink I was

think I w

attack had