Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“That night, something happened. Something I’ve always been ashamed of, and I’ve never been able to say it to anyone. I tried erasing it from my mind. I think that was one of the reasons I never fought the addiction and just went with it. Even when I suspected that someone was responsible for getting me addicted before I even knew I was on something, I didn’t look too deep into it because, in the back of my mind, it was what I deserved. That night….”
“Stop, Rye. You don’t have to say anymore. I think I know where you’re going with this.” There were tears in her eyes, and that hurt me more than the memory of my lost innocence.
“Really?” How could she know? Her mom had always been there watching over her, never allowing her to stray too far from her upbringing and the values they held so dear. I see that now, the reason she was so against us being together once I started messing up. What I once hated about the woman I now admired. She was a great protector of my girl, and for that, I should thank her instead of the resentment I so often felt.
“Yes, you’re saying that Mary Hudson wasn’t the only one who harmed you in that way.” I could only nod my head, too ashamed to look at her. Why did I think I could do this? Now my dark secret was out, and I could never take back the words. For the rest of my life, she’s going to know this about me.
“You poor boy, you poor, poor boy. Come here.” She pulled my head down to her chest and rocked me back and forth like a child, and I almost wept at her acceptance. She’d made something that could’ve been my worst nightmare into something very different.
There was no accusation, no censure in her voice, just loving kindness and acceptance. She wouldn’t use this against me, of this I was certain. But was it fair to burden her with this as well? To have her carry this around with me, for me? I guess being in love makes you think about those things, but it sure felt good to finally share it with someone and who better than my life mate?
Chapter 57
*Janie*
“Why can’t I have my phone? Aren’t you people done figuring out that it’s fine yet?” It’s been days since I heard anything from the outside or was allowed to contact anyone, and I was beginning to think that I’d been kidnapped and no one else knew where I was. It’s not normal, is it? That no one came to check on me, and no one called?
I wouldn’t say the staff has been deplorable, but they’re not very accommodating. My every demand has been ignored, and the food here sucks. I’m not dead, whatever the case may be, so I don’t see why I can’t have what I want for dinner. Is this how they really treat people in hospitals? “And why are my hands still tied?”
This new bitch wasn’t as talkative as the one with the camera; it’s like she couldn’t even hear me though she was right there in the room with me. And the doctors, what’s up with them speaking to me as if I had lost my mind?
I felt a sudden fear in my chest as I looked around the room for the millionth time. No one talks to me here, I can scream and scream, and they don’t even flinch, not even when they’re just a few feet away from me in the same room. “What’s going on? What is this place?”
“Ms. Andrews, we’ve told you, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been poisoned with some kind of toxin that the doctors are still trying to figure out. Until we do, you cannot leave, and no one may come in except for the medical staff who has been trained to handle such things.”
“Stop calling me that. My name is Sumner, Mrs. Ryder Sumner.”
“If you say so, dear.”
There she goes again, talking like a damn robot; even that little smile she gave me at the end was creepy as hell. And what the hell does she mean ‘if I say so’? It is so; I’m Ryder’s wife and have been for five years.
Five years, oh no. There was something about that number that made me nervous, but I can’t for the life of me remember why. I’ve been gripped with fear for all the days that I’ve been here, days that have now started running together until I’ve lost count of exactly how long it has been since I was brought here. There was something very strange about this place, something that didn’t seem quite right.
“I want to go to the bathroom. Untie my hands.” I tugged at the restraints to no avail. “I’m not going to scratch at my face. Come on.” It had been days since I’d had the urge, and yet they refused to release my arms.