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The wo "Put hiht, don’t you know I love you? I won’t have anyone over again, I proive him to ing the shirt left there, waiting to be s look of triu him under his other arm He reached out to touch the woman, to stroke her face The man was so fixated on her bowed head that he didn’t see the skillet she’d pulled off a nearby low shelf, not until she stood and swung it up in a clean arc toward his face

The baby fell to the floor and I rushed toward hi flesh and bone drowned out by his hysterical tears I turned his soft weight over and picked him up There was a cut at the corner of his lips, where one of his new teeth had caught the tender skin It was bleeding profusely, but the boy stilled and quieted, looking up intotears His thumb slid into his mouth as I tried to wipe the blood away He didn’t start bawling again until he saw the wo down to pick him up and clutch hied me away from the man’s prone form on the floor, the mess of his blood on the black-and-white checkered tile He shuddered and coughed and we only moved faster, toward the door She swiped her purse off the counter, then doubled back for the keys when she realized they’d fallen out

The door led to a garage, and the light that flooded the cramped, dark space dissolved the memory once and for all

I surfaced at the exact , choking on the flood of air that filled it I rolled ontointo as s minutes before fear released its claws from me

The small, breathy sobs I heard weren’tfor the source

Cole sat at the edge of thetoThe section of the mirror in front of him was a spiderweb of cracks, stained with blood I forcedstep toward hiht hand to his chest, ignoring the way it bled onto his shirt I walked to the towel rack and returned with a s his hand towardto the touch as he shook

"Fuck," he breathed out "I’m sorry--we shouldn’t do this anymore Fuck"

"Okay," I said softly, and stayed anyway

I was in the bathroo from my shohen I heard Chubs’s voice carry down the hallway With one last glance toonafter him

He spun on his heel, clearly relieved "There you are You ht-hour drive to Gold Beach and the idiots want to do it in one day"

"They found a truck to carry the supplies?" I asked

"Yeah, which you would have discovered for yourself, had you made an appearance at breakfast--ah, sorry, that caht, but I’ will be all right, but I’m afraid you’ll punch ed all day "Was Vi okay about going?"