Page 52 of I Will Mend You

“Allergic to?—”

I let my eyes roll to the back of my head and make my body tremble and convulse. My breath comes in noisy gasps, and I foam at the mouth.

“Amy?” Grunt’s hands close in around my shoulders.

Flailing my limbs, I arch my back, contorting my body into unnatural positions. Grunt yells through his mask, but I drown out his shouts with so much guttural choking that I bring up a mouthful of oatmeal. It trickles down the side of my face, adding to the performance. When Xero places a hand on my shoulder, I force my body to go limp.

“Shit!” Grunt bellows.

I hold my breath and play dead. Grunt places trembling fingers beneath my nostrils. After a few seconds of sensingnothing, he presses his fingers into the side of my neck, missing the pulse point by inches.

“No, no, no, no...” he wails, his voice rising with panic.

“Keep it up,” Xero says.

Grunt scrambles off his knees, his heavy footsteps thundering to the door. Exhaling, I wait for a count of five after he exits before I’m on my feet.

I have to time my next move perfectly. Screwing this up will mean getting a more diligent babysitter, like Seth.

TWENTY-THREE

Sunday July 25, 2010

Things have gone from bad to worse. Yesterday, Lyle came to visit with the girls and a tray of hot chocolates. The baby was doing well, and we were talking about being discharged. When I asked to speak to Lyle alone about finding a new nanny, he sent the girls to the waiting room to sit with Charlotte.

Knowing he’d brought her along was like a punch to the gut. We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of how I ended up with anaphylactic shock, yet he’s allowing that woman around my children?

I told him my fears about Charlotte and that I wanted her out of my house. Lyle looked at me like I hadn’t changed from the battered wife who was still in denial and needed saving from Giorgi.

It hurt so badly to be dismissed like that and for Lyle to interpret my distrust for delusion. I ALWAYS knew I needed to leave Giorgi, from the moment I discovered he was in the mafia. The trouble was that I had no one to trust. It took so long for meto accept Lyle’s help because I was convinced he would betray me to my psycho husband.

No amount of platitudes can convince me that Charlotte isn’t a threat, but Lyle refuses to see it. What kind of nanny cozies up to the husband? One who wants him for herself. I was becoming so stressed that Lyle didn’t understand the threat she posed that I told him to leave—him and his poisoned hot chocolate. He looked so wounded when he left that I spent the night tossing and turning.

The next morning, my urine test showed elevated protein levels. My BP also rose. Now I have preeclampsia. I don’t know if it’s due to stress or if there was something in the hot chocolate, but this is the second time Charlotte has been around something I’ve consumed that’s messed with my health.

I can kiss goodbye to going home. This diagnosis means new medication, more tests, and I won’t be discharged until after a c-section. I asked if I could at least have a natural birth, but the ob-gyn explained that this is the safest option for me and the baby.

Lyle isn’t answering his cell. Or the landline. Charlotte is probably pouring poison into his ear and doing God knows what to my girls. I can’t remember the last time I was so isolated, trapped, or frightened.

I worry, both for myself and the baby.

If I had a mother, brother, or siblings, I would call them for help and damn the consequences, but I didn’t stay at a foster home long enough to make any connections. I only have Lyle. Giorgi might be dead, but I can’t contact his mother because I still stabbed the Salentino family in the back.

I keep calling Dr. Forster, but the number keeps going to voicemail. Even my shrink is tired of my paranoia. The only thing I can do is practice meditation, calm my thoughts, and focus on staying healthy for my children.

And of course, accept food or beverages from only the hospital staff.

TWENTY-FOUR

XERO

I arrive at Helsing Island airport later that evening in full disguise. Even though the investors’ reception is tomorrow evening, I need to be in the Hotel Royale, ready to capture Father the moment he arrives with Dolly for the meet and greet.

Depending on whether he intends to share his companion with the investors, he might even bring Amethyst. I’ll need to be careful with capturing her to make sure I have the right twin. Both are his victims, but one has devolved into a creature so twisted and hateful that she would wish trauma on her own sister.

Reverend Thomas will arrive at Helsing Island tomorrow, as instructed, with Camila watching his back. By the time he steps into the drinks reception, he’ll have enough tech in his orifices to qualify him as a cyborg.

Helsing is an island nestled within an archipelago off the coast of New York, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and the Long Island Sound to the north. It’s renowned for its status as a nature preserve and the site of a prestigious private academy.

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