't need-" the nurse

"Her condition is more critical than Alicia's. What if the

. "Alicia caused this. She ne

uch a vile mockery of comfort. His voice dropped to

sson, Alicia. A lesson in n

queezed my eyes shut, refusing to look at his monstrous fa

eard him on the phone, arranging for some rare, expensive herbs to be st

nch. I just let the exhaustion take over,

gh the window, and on the bedside table was a bowl of steaming,

up, I put on the clothes someone had left for me and walked

own the hall, a voic

ici

but didn't turn around.

cing shriek echo

r room. She was holding a bowl of soup-an identical bowl to the one left

own the hall. He saw the scene: me standing there, Hannah sc

so hard I stumbled against the wall. He went strai

hat happened?" he asked,

over me. I was tired of the lies, tired of the drama

s, over Cameron's shoulder, met mine.

voice flat and dead. "I'm not ma

e spread across his face. He reached into

dia

d kept for years, filled with my most private thought

ophy. "You're just confused. Once you read this, you'll remembe

me, was the ultimate violation. The pain was so sharp, so intense, it felt physical. I b

ull of disappointment, as if he were the victim here. "S

to speak past the lump of

Eng

ce cut through the tensio

quiet intensity that seemed to suck all the air out of the