Page 114 of Irreversible

“Are you taking care of them?”

Hesitating, he nods slowly. “Of course.” Then he reroutes back to our current predicament. “Is this where they kept you? In this…cage?”

I shake my head. “No, I had a room. A mattress, toiletries. Books. I was a product, so they treated me as such.”

He looks up at me. “A product?”

“My eggs. They were taking my eggs for some underground surrogacy business.”

“They told you that?”

“No. I figured it out.” I lick my dry lips. “After two years, it was easy to put the pieces together.”

Wild eyes gaze back at me. “Are there others? Like that man in the chair?”

“Yes. Many men and women have come and gone. Killed, I’m assuming. I guess I was the lucky one.”

“Jesus.” His head falls forward, shaking from side to side. “This is a nightmare.”

“It’s been my nightmare for a long time,” I tell him. “I’m sorry it’s become yours.”

Jasper doesn’t respond for a while, but I’m too frazzled to count the seconds. Time spins in clipped movements. A blur. At least a minute or more passes before he blows out a breath and drops back to his butt, crossing his legs. “We’re going to get out of here. I promise. I won’t let you go again.”

Tears sting and chafe. If I’ve learned anything in this place, it’s that promises are destined to die here. They hold no weight and have no wings. A promise is nothing but a doomed whisper in the dark.

But hope was the only thing that kept me going, so I won’t take that from him. “Yes,” I reply, brokenly. “We’re going to get out of here.”

A sad smile pulls on his lips, unable to reach his eyes. He extends a hand through the opening. Slowly, painfully, I reach back. Our fingers dangle a few feet away, a mountain between us. Too far apart to touch.

Jasper exhales a shaky breath. “I missed you,” he says, his arm stretched out. “So much.”

Little rivers glide down my cheeks. I curl my fingers in and pull my arm back, sagging forward against the bars. “I missed you, too.”

I imagine a life outside of this place.

A new life.

Difficult, at first. An uphill climb.

Butlife, nonetheless.

A real bed to sleep in. My husband by my side, his strong arms curled around me. A ceiling fan spinning overhead, lulling me away to kinder dreams.

Allison—I can’t wait to hug her, to see her pretty face, to stroke my fingers through her dark-red hair and tell her how much I’ve missed our talks and laughter-filled sleepovers.

My mother—I need to hear her voice, feel her arms around me. She’s my comfort. My home.

Even my pet tarantula seeps into my thoughts. My quirky little arachnid, always a steadfast friend.

Jasper.

Delving back into married life won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it. We can get through anything together. We promised each other that as we stood beneath a floral arch, our smiles glimmering in the midday sun. White tulle and lace fluttered in the breeze as sacred vows warmed us with unconditional love.

And yet…

The ghost of someone else compromises the sweetness.

The man behind the wall.

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