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"I’ll go check on your roo you need," herfroood hands with Sister Aquinas"

"Okay," Elle said, too relieved to have a place to stay for the ti much at the moment "I’ll see you soon"

Her mother kissed her on the forehead

"Thank you" The tords came out of Elle’sot the the past few yearsten years"

"Twenty-six years," her h "Okay, twenty-six years But yeah, I appreciate it, Mom Sister John, I mean Sorry"

Her mother cupped her face and looked her in the eyes

"Everyfor the past three years I’ve woken up and prayed the same prayer Do you want to knohat that prayer is?"

"What?" Elle asked, even though she was certain she didn’t want to know

"Dear God, please don’t let today be the day he finally kills her"

Once more her mother kissed her on the forehead and then hurried away before Elle could say another word

So turned in Elle’s heart, turned like a knob on a telescope For the first tih the eyepiece of her ht had cohter she didn’t understand in love with a powerful, dangerous man twice her size who couldn’ther first And every day she feared he would go too far and kill her only child Every time her mother looked at Elle, that’s what she saw For one second, Elle saw it, too

"Behind the curtain," Sister Aquinas said "I’ll be right there"

Dazed by her vision, Elle did as told, walking behind the curtain and sitting numbly on the hospital cot