Page 6 of Unwell
‘Who?’
‘Mama and Pops.’
My brow creased as I placed a hand over hers where it rested on her stomach. ‘Where did they take them?’
Tears tipped down her beautifully freckled cheeks as she shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
God damn, it wouldn’t have surprised me if she sprouted wings and flew out of the window and right up to heaven. Bar the swell of her belly. She looked every bit angelic.
Robert cleared his throat from the doorway, and I straightened, brushing my dress with my hands. Ginny flinched and stared at the floor. Shit. I lost any footing I might have gained in easing her in.
Scowling at Robert, I shooed him off.
He looked from Ginny to me, his brows knitting as though he wanted me to follow like a good little wife. After a dark glower, he turned and walked off.
‘Sorry about that. My husband works here too.’ I smiled, hoping it came across conspiratorial. ‘Like most men, he thinks he can order me around.’
Ginny gnawed at her lower lip again. ‘Will you be back tomorrow?’
‘I will.’
Heavy silence descended on the car, making the triphome as dismal as the morning’s journey. Not that I minded. The abandoned woman filled my head.
I needed to figure out why she was at Wellard, and try to do the impossible. To get her out of there before she gave birth.
My own babies might never come to fruition, but I could help protect hers.
I hoped…
FOUR
GINNY
The sun baked against my upturned face as I sat on the swing, its half-rotten base digging into my rear.
Before, I might have complained, but I was thankful for the moment of normality. Only a select few patients got to have time outside in the overgrown garden, so Nurse Nancy told me, and she’d gotten me on the list.
Larry told me they only gave us time outdoors to have something else to punish us with. If they didn’t give us anything, there was nothing to take away. I looked to my left, squinting against the brightness to see if I could spot Larry’s hulking form. Instead, Nurse Nancy walked toward me, clutching a book in her hands. If ever I’d met a woman who needed to let loose,it was her. She was wound tighter than a cord round a sheep’s balls.
‘Ginny,’ she cooed, acting like I was eleven instead of the nineteen years that I was. ‘I brought you a little something to pass the time.’
Her hands trembled a little as she held out the book, glancing over her shoulder and stiffening as her doctor husband passed by. With increased fervour, she thrust the book at me before withdrawing a step.
‘What’s this for?’ I asked, turning the book over.
‘It’s an adventure book. I thought it might help you escape a bit. Even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time.’ Nancy chewed on her lip, looking nervous. Why did she care what I thought? She was the one who could walk out of there anytime she pleased.
‘Well, thank you, Ma’am.’ I gave her a smile that made her stop biting her lip to reciprocate. A shudder stole over me as I glanced past Nancy, only to see her husband walking toward us. Keeping my eyes on my feet, I tried to make myself small. Unnoticeable. It was the only way I could see to stay afloat at Wellard. Attracting attention led to torture. Heck, probably to worse things than torture.
In my week at the Asylum, I’d seen multiple people dragged off screaming and crying, and returning looking like their souls had fled the carcass of their bodies in a way to preserve their minds.
If their minds weren’t already lost.
Her husband’s grip was too tight on Nancy’s upper arm as he pulled her away from me, and I saw hershrivel at the touch. Not the way Mama reacted to Pop. No, she’d always leaned into him, not away.
The doctor looked back over his shoulder at me, and I folded in on myself, averting my eyes from their moment.
Leaves danced in the afternoon breeze, my aged swing rocking beneath me. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the scents of the outdoors. Dry dirt and twisted bark. The nurse’s faint lemon smell from the hand lotion she reapplied multiple times a day. Brittle greenery and the burning stink coming from the kitchens. I’d call it food, but from what I’d tasted so far, it would be too kind.
