Reclaiming Life, Finding Love

urv

necrotic venom from causing permanent, disfiguring damage. The crash had cau

four. Dr. Reed sat by my bedside to deliver the news, her exp

le. "It' s aggressive. But there are treatment options. Aggressive ones. Chem

a week in the hospital, recovering from the crash and the bite. Dr. Reed was a constant, reassu

ital wasn' t

on a break, the door to my room c

you," she said with a triumpha

y ribs was a sharp reminder of my we

looked at Liam. "Go on, ba

e wasn' t holding a drawing this ti

mumbled, not look

nt, my heart ached. Maybe h

e "tr

g my face and chest, soaking the fresh bandages on my rib

his mother, a wide grin

sy boy," she said, hugging him tightly. "You see, Etha

using to let anyone but me clean the wound. I remembered holding him, whispering that he was the bravest boy in the world, his s

d, my voice hoarse. "I know you hate me.

vanishing in an instant. The old, deep-seate

he bed. "You ask me why? You ruined my l

u everything! This house, this life...

Ben away! He loved me! We were going to be together, and you poisoned him against me! You locked

tely alien to my own memory, that for a second,

had a turbulent, passionate romance that ended when he took a scholarship to study

eat, to leave her bed. I was just her friend then, the quiet, depe

t could have launched my career. I let the deadline pass. I stayed. I cooked for her, talked to her

p deepened into something more. I thought

leading. "Ben left you. He broke your heart. I stayed.

eming disbelief. It was the most terrifying thing

thological liar! Ben would never have left me! You intercepted his letters!

reframed my sacrifice as a cage, my love as a prison. And she ha

crime. And I was now paying the price for a sin I never committed. The car crash, the spi