Prologue
“How could you do this to her? I always knew something was wrong. I knew your friends were trouble.”
I can’t move. Why can’t I move?
“I didn’t mean to. Mom, you have to believe me. It was an accident. She followed us to a meeting and—”
“Stop. Just stop. I can’t deal with this right now.”
Dark. It’s all so dark.
“Kendrick, keep applying pressure to the wound for me. I’ll be right back. Tom should be here any minute.”
“Mom, I… I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Kendrick, now!”
A door closes.
“Are you fucking kidding me? We don’t have time for this. Winter needs help now.”
Haze.
Haze is here.
“Shut up, Adams. You’re not helping.”
“I thought your mom was a nurse.”
“She is, but she was a doctor first. She went to nursing school when she lost her first patient.”
“Wow, years of studies to change your mind right when you get the job? Wish we all had that luxury.”
That’s Will.
“Maria was loaded then. She’d just gotten her inheritance.”
“Now’s not the time for a biography, dickheads.”
Haze’s voice… it’s filled with fear.
“Why does she need her friend if she’s a doctor, too?”
“It’s not him we need, idiot. It’s his clinic.”
It hurts. Everything hurts.
“Why did we let him stay again?”
“I knew this was a bad idea. She needs proper care.”
“And what do you suggest, Haze, huh? That we bring her to the hospital? Don’t you think that’s the first place they’ll look? Not to mention, people will want to know what happened to her and we can’t answer those questions. We’re lucky Maria’s friend can treat her.”
The door opens.
“Get out of his way. Let him do his job.”
Maria.
“As soon as she’s treated, you’re gone, you hear me? You’re out of her life for good.”
“Are you deaf, East side? I told you I’m not fucking leaving until I know she’s okay.”
Footsteps…
A sigh…
Then complete darkness.
1
New Beginning
I’ve heard my aunt’s voice a lot in my life. I could pick it out in a crowded room without the slightest hesitation. I’d recognize it anywhere. How could I forget the voice of the mother I never had?