ir'
t bit. It did not stay on the surface of the
my forehead pressed against th
fists against the heavy door until my knuckles went pur
and off-season supplies and died. Outside, in the cor
The corridor light snapped on, throwing a hard
s hands in his pockets, his
muffled through the seal. "The neighbo
palms pressed flat against the door. "I'm not lying! It feels
ontemptuous laugh
pies, hormone injections-ten days late is hardly unusual. I keep your cycle on my master calendar so I can book your fertili
leeding between cycles means something has ruptured! Easton, for God's sa
o her elbow and an expression of carefully calculated grievance on her face. The diamond bracelet on
oes to a hospital, she'll file a false domestic-abuse report just to get out of paying for the sapphire.
s had struck the deepest, most obsessive nerve
lks out that door tonight, she will never come back. I have to keep her here.
t and hollow. "Arianna needs an X-ray on her arm. When we ge
! Don't lea
and did not look
om door, the corner of her mouth lifting in a fai
imed; the heavy
idor lights w
over me, thicker an
ike a blade; white light burst behind my eyes. I collapsed entirely onto the concre
t liquid kept coming-st
d. In the faint green glow of the temperature display, when I brought my
focating truth
rom the endless stimulation injections and laparoscopies. I had not used a pregnancy test, bec
been a lif
that scar tissue, against the freezing lake, against year
n's five-degree storage room, that small life w
ence, my blood-soaked hand pressed hard agains
my cheeks felt scalding
g a hollow black void at the core of me-and then my body gave up entirely. My head fell to the side; my
.
morning light was coming through the sm
My whole body felt like an empty shell, disconnected from the world.
n at the flo
d soaked through my wool coat, through my trousers, and spread across
that dark pool lay a small
o tears left in me. In the hours while my ch
on the do
ap, the heavy bolt releasnd dark trousers, and he was holding two ceramic coffee cups. He looked rested a
h a sardonic curl of his lip, "finally calmed down, Bl
on the floor, looking up at him wit
ectly level, without a trace of
look of intense satisfaction
ive without me. Now I can forgive her magnanimously. I'll buy her a new
me out. Take a hot bath. And then we'll discuss h
floor, pushed myself up, and walk
d crates and into the full light of the corr
with dried, dark brown blood, clotted into great bl
slipped from
een us, hot brown liquid splas
is mouth fell open; his chest heaved; his eyes we
ble. You're- yo
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