Page 123 of I Am Sin

“Ma’am, she’s clearly not in any distress.” The doctor smiles. “You probably didn’t even need to come in.”

“But she’s just a baby. Only two.”

“So she’s still in diapers?”

“Yes.”

“Then all you need to do is check her bowel movements. If the button doesn’t pass in the next two days, see your pediatrician.”

“I’d feel better if we did an X-ray.”

“It’s contraindicated, ma’am. There’s no reason to put you or your daughter through that.”

Mommy cocks her head. “It’s just taking a picture. You’re not putting herthroughanything.”

“There’s no reason to do an X-ray and expose your daughter to that kind of radiation when it’s not necessary.” The doctor sets Griffin down on the exam table. “I looked down her throat. The button has clearly passed down to her stomach. She would be in obvious distress otherwise.”

Mommy stomps her foot on the floor. “I am her mother, and I want the X-ray.”

The doctor sighs. “I can’t guarantee that your insurance will cover it, ma’am, because it’s contraindicated.”

“I don’t care. I want the X-ray.” Then she looks down at me. “This is all your fault, Dragon. All your fault.”

I was six.

I forgot about that until now.

My parents were loving other than that time.

My mother apologized to me later, after we got the X-rays, which showed the plastic button had descended all the way down Griffin’s esophagus and was beginning its journey into her stomach.

A day later, my mother found it in her diaper.

But that was the beginning of the end.

Even though my parents continued to be loving, I see it now.

That was the beginning of it being all my fault.

ChapterThirty-Seven

Diana

“Did you hear me?”

Dragon looks lost in thought. He’s looking at me but not looking at me. It’s like he’s looking right through me and seeing something else.

“Do I have to repeat myself? If you want to leave, do it on your own. I’m not throwing you out of here.”

Then his eyes go wide, and I see the fire within them.

They’re laced with sadness but also with something that seems overpowering to him.

And it’s overpowering to me as well.

A storm is raging inside Dragon Locke, and I’ve only begun to comprehend it. I should step away. I should be the one to kick him out. I may not be equipped to handle the tornado that’s cycling inside him.

But my God… Something in him calls to me.

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