These Things Hidden. Heather Gudenkauf

Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу These Things Hidden - Heather Gudenkauf страница 15

These Things Hidden - Heather  Gudenkauf

Скачать книгу

one like Brynn, should have had to shoulder. I prayed that for her sake she didn’t tell anyone she had helped me through the delivery. There was no reason why we should both get in trouble for what really was my own fault. As I carefully slid into the back of the police car, I could hear Brynn’s awful cries.

      I haven’t spoken to or seen Brynn since.

      I ended up fainting in the police car, so our first stop was the hospital, where I got thirty stitches and spent the next three days hooked up to an IV full of antibiotics. The way the nurses and the doctors looked at me while I was in the hospital was new. Everyone took adequate care of me; they were all too professional to do anything else. But there were no gentle touches, no cool hands laid against my hot forehead, no plumping up of pillows. Just anger and disgust. Fear. My parents’ original shock at me being led away by the police was replaced with outrage. “Ridiculous,” my mother hissed when the detective who came to the hospital to interview me asked if I was the one who threw the baby in the river. I didn’t say anything.

      “Allison,” my mother said, “tell them it’s all a big mistake.” Still I didn’t say anything. The officer asked me why there was a black bag full of bloody sheets stuffed into the garbage can in our garage. I didn’t answer. She asked me how I came to be nearly ripped in half, my breasts swollen and leaking milk.

      “Allison. Tell them you didn’t do this,” my father ordered.

      Finally, I spoke. “I think I need a lawyer.”

      The detective shrugged her shoulders. “That’s probably a good idea. We found the placenta.” I swallowed hard and looked down at my hands. They were puffy and swollen; they didn’t look like they belonged to me. “Inside a pillow case at the bottom of a trash bag.” She turned to look at my father. “In your trash can. Call your lawyer.” As she was leaving my hospital room, she turned back to me and said softly, “Did she cry, Allison? Did your baby cry when you threw her in the water?”

      “Get out!” my mother screeched, so unlike her usual composed, proper self. “Get out of here, you have no right. You have no right to come in here and accuse and upset us like this!”

      “Huh,” the detective said, nodding in my direction as she moved toward the door. “She doesn’t look so upset.”

      Charm

      Gus is fading quickly. “Where’s the baby?” he asks Charm when she comes home from the hospital.

      “He’s safe,” she reassures him. “Remember, he’s with that nice family now? They are taking good care of him.”

      Charm hears a rap at the front door. She lifts the pot of mashed potatoes from the stove top and goes to the door. Jane stands on the front steps, her black hair pulled back in a ponytail, carrying her bag of tricks, as she calls it.

      “Hey, how’re you doing?” she asks as she steps into the house. “Fall is in the air.” She shivers slightly and Charm takes her coat from her.

      “I know, and it’s only the end of August. We’re doing fine,” Charm responds. “Gus is in the other room watching television.”

      “Ah, food for the mind.” She smiles.

      Charm shrugs. “It helps pass the time.”

      “How’s he doing?” Jane asks, her tone turning serious.

      “He’s okay. Some days are better than others.”

      “How about you? How’s school going? Are you juggling everything okay? It’s a lot of responsibility for a twenty-one-year-old to be going to school and taking care of an old man.”

      “Hey, don’t call Gus old, it will hurt his feelings. We’re doing just fine,” Charm says, stiffening a little. She knows where Jane is heading with this. Jane brings up the subject of a hospital or skilled care facility nearly every time she comes to the house. “I call him three times a day and check up on him at lunch.”

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RmDRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMyBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTI6MDU6MjMgMTU6MTk6MjQAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAAB//8AAKACAAQAAAABAAAB9KADAAQAAAAB AAAC/wAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABhNAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABoAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A0Z0gcQEpfxOic/RbHgEoJ14lYLMzrrfa4V1tNljtGtHJPPtU Wsc+t1jRNbI3OHA3fQ/z4VjpxYzPx3PcGtD5LnGGjR30nFNW6cHIZsZW7dRta3Rx2m3fo9792zd+ aiACLv8Ae/5keIIQmm1tYsLYYQHB0jVpO0Oid30vaoljg1ryDsduDTGh2xv2/wBXcrOQAcbHLGsc WUgFwcN4cbbXels3/nNsb/g1Ow1GizEa4TjBr6n7m7XkezL9P6P896nrM97/AFPQR4R36A/4XzKa 5xclsk16CRO5p1aNzx9P6TWqPp2AMlv86Jr41E7NP7fsRSxv2GtoLSW32OI0kAsoa1236X0q3Kb3 NDcIBtby1kPLiSWn1rHw7a9uz2P3+9Kh5aA/9FSIY1+57Qw7659RsgbYOx27cfzXe1MzHvcXtawu dWQH6j2knY0Ek/nP9is7muy+oase17bvT3OAa/ddW9ga7fXu3MG/2vQ2GltOZXYxrmxWPRa8DcBa 1z2VP92/YxHhH/S/5vF/VU1i0hxa8FrmmHNIggjlp/qpcn4I+U7de+1zxaLnGxtjYEh2vvZ9Kqxv 0H1uQQQdBomnQkKWDtukJJQB3kpIJf/Q2cehrq7bXya6GsJaDBc55FdbN35rfznp3Ma6kubQWQ4D 1Gl5bEH2O3l7d/8AaVrGAa1wcN7LGhljCYkaPbDvzXseNzHqbhW2k0VNdBeLC55BPta5gb7Wt/fX Pmca3A0N6a8TNTXfjVMyqqw32PFJc2T/AIQMdZ7vpfnpxTWXZO5kihjnsEkaixlQ3bT7vbYrO5u6 u17Cbag0DX2u9P8AmnWNjd7Ybv2u/SfyFCsNb6u9pd6zDWSCAdXNs36h35zEDkjfTUk7fL+6qmsa KbMZ91bTW+lzRawnc0tslrLK3O/SN97dtlbt6V+KxmPVY2nSylj327jo9znNI9Mn6LtiO4tbU6ut pDXEOeXGS4tnYNNrWsZucoXursZXLHB9VTamu3CDBLt5bt3fn/Q3ojJGjtfD2/Sv9H0/uKpC/GDs VltRLniv1L6++zc9gvr/AHq2bf07f8F/OfQTsroOXi0xDL/Q3iSf50M9Qh30vz/apOscx1NlJdXb jtDWvBBMhz37hp/wuzYmdkN+2VZQqawVOrcKmGG/o9vtZ9L02O2/9bTxKBr/AAb008UI8lrKHOx3 VkXh0vkmGNI3MrA/wj3MO99v0P8AR/vpxit+w/aBPqBwLh29J5dTW/8ArevX/mWVpWXNfV6djSfT J+z2AjexpO70H+3bdS2f0f8Aof8AB/o/0akMses87XHHfWaTRu4ZtbWza7bt3scxlu/0/po3Cz2O g/q/1j/dUjfTWMWq0D9I+y1rjJ4Z6e32/R/wqLXjUvzMSktIZeKfUEnm0DeWu/N+l7UMW1/Z/RuD i1jzYyxpDXAuDW2NIeHMc1+xjv5CEesYlGXXkuIIpczZUwzpWA2uvfH8n3vSjRI0v5b0/wAdSS1m 3ZNXouLSY3FwcJjdqXeG1JZx6iwNJppcWD898Mb/AJ30Ukfbnvwn8P5f8xT/AP/R6qpp2iR2CD1B uRVi5eVXcWCnGe+usNYR6jG2W+o82Me53+CZ6avVN9jdOw/IgZracnEvxRkV1+sx9Tny1xaHg1v9 m9nv9y5yNCcTIAxscVx4/Tevp9TNL5TW9GteHVoXWZdPTKs31yS5mMXtcxh91llDbXM2V7tr6rrG bP8AtpWbMzFG/c41lloxzW8bXeo4NfVWGn6XqVvbY130PT/tp34frdOrwm5DSWCki5rQ6W0urfW7 0xZ

Скачать книгу