ex

id when I got home

mbed in plastic, a white specter

dn't

significant for the crater G

ling like a death rattle in the silent

wing scissors

g through silk and lace w

i

n

e

the long train that had trailed beh

s nothing but a pile of expensive white rags sca

't sto

pped t

down the

d swept every bottle of his

purgin

t, his presence, and his lie o

re mattress, staring at the wall, w

as l

tie, looking for all the world like the weary

hen he saw the dr

ng in confusion rather than guilt.

ard me, reachi

ard I nearly fe

t," I

d was a

is hand hoveri

that felt like slime. "Is this about the bank? Henderson c

rical

ht I was

table alternative who would beli

standing up and mo

of impatience maski

eached into his jacket pocke

the pen scratching harshly aga

me. "Go buy yourself something nice. Replace the

d at th

fifty thous

e price of

ost of six yea

my silence before I e

ixes it?" I asked

ing. "Stop being dramatic, Alex. I have

hone

split second, his eyes softened i

oving the check onto the dr

midn

. "Oh, and by the way, Eliana might stop by tomorrow to s

alke

nd watched his car pul

urn toward

e upscale district

sea hit

t just e

a wave of sickness that sent

ere was nothing left, my body shak

he cold tiles,

I rea

iod wa

week

d, so busy with the t

cabinet und

m when we were trying, back when I

led as I unwra

ing felt longer than the

ped it

ink l

iti

the plastic st

ba

e child of a man who c

rently in bed wit

d to kick me out

aug

sound that echoed i

cruel sen

d walked to t

ight on top of the broken g

favorite shirts from the h