Page 45 of Fearless Sinner

“My pleasure.”

He leaves us and I look back at Mom, who is smiling at me. Just seeing her looking at me like that makes everything better. I feel so much lighter knowing that she doesn’t have to worry about the house or the restaurant. And I’ll make sure she never will.

Now I just have to save her health.

I understood why Dr. Chase suggested we stay with Mom twenty minutes at a time the moment our first twenty minutes were up.

Mom got tired and struggled to stay awake. I feared we’d worn her out, but the nurse who came by assured us that was normal.

We left, and two hours later when we came back Mom woke up and seemed more like herself.

We continued that schedule until nightfall when visiting hours ended. Then Roxanne went off to meet her boyfriend and I headed home.

I know we’re not out of the woods yet but I feel hopeful now that Mom’s awake.

She asked me about Nate. When I told her I wasn’t with him anymore she looked like her youth had returned to her.

I wasn’t going to tell her the gory details about him anyway, but on seeing how relieved she looked, I kept my information to the bare minimum. I could see she suspected there was more to tell, though.

When she got onto the subject of Harlan, Mom teared up so badly it looked like it physically hurt her to talk about him.

She was able to confirm that the bastard was with her when she had the heart attack. They were arguing about the loan and how much he stole when she experienced chest pains and collapsed on the floor crying. Then the bastard left her to die.

I’ve never felt more like killing someone than when I heard that. That’s saying something given all I’ve been through with Nate.

Roxanne and I both tried to comfort her but what can you really tell someone to make something like that okay?

At least it made her happy to know I took care of the debt. Of course, she wanted to know how, and I told her we’d talk about that another time.

Dr. Chase said to keep everything positive as much as possible.

Being released from the debt was the most positive news I had to share. It was a significant weight off Mom’s shoulders.

Now I’m on my way home.

It’s funny. I feel like I’ve reset time back to days ago when I first got back to New York and trimmed down some of the worries.

I’m just praying next week is even better and then I can get back on track to where I want to be.

I owe April a phone call. I’ve had so much happen to me just this week I could be another case study.

My taxi pulls up outside the house, and I pay and exit the car. Tiredness weighs down on me the moment I’m inside the house. I’m going straight to bed. I’m not even going to eat. The most I may have is some water.

I plan to spend all day at the hospital again tomorrow. I want to spend every second I can with my mom to make up for the time we lost.

I head upstairs and notice that my bedroom door is open. I swear I left it closed this morning. I’ve been leaving it closed in case Harlan comes by when I’m out. Roxanne changed the locks on the front door but a man like him can always find a way in.

I was probably so excited this morning about Mom being awake that I forgot to close it.

I step inside the room and instantly see that I’m wrong.

I did leave my door closed, but the mafia boss sitting in my window bay opened it.

The shock of seeing him closes my throat and I freeze at the door.

I try to make myself move but icy tendrils of trepidation have me frozen to the spot like a statue.

In the sliver of moonlight, Cillian looks like an avenging angel and blends in with the shadows.

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