His Abuse, Her Undoing, His End

thing I sa

father-in-law, Mr. Scott, was lying in the middle of it. H

caught in

to swim. My hemophobia, a lifelong curse, made

hed in my mind, just as

e twisted in rage, a baseball bat in his hands. The memory, or premonition,

I wouldn't

Andrew' s name. I scrolled past 911. My finger stopped on E

on, took a deep, shaky

you? I tried to call Andre

t' s wrong? You

"He fell. There' s so much blood, Ethan. I don' t

e. I' m five minutes away. D

ok at the scene and immediately went to work on his uncle, his movements professional and urgent. He didn't even que

cent lights and the smell of antiseptic. A nurse

ve the pressure on his brain. We need

wide with manufactured pani

e dialing. Ethan stood right beside me, his expres

ice was slurred, annoyed. "What

sounded in the b

ling just enough. "He' s at the hospital. He fell, h

e? You' re making up stories about my dad to g

ease, this i

I' m busy. Deal with it you

ne wen

her mouth open. Ethan' s face w

to voicemail. I tried again. Voicemai

have dialed has

attered wife. The nurse' s expression softened from shock to p