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JACK HELD MOM IN his arms and kicked the hospital door open “My wife needs help”

The woman at the front desk looked horrified as she raised up out of her cushy chair “You can’t—”

“I’oddamn California resident,” Jack said “Get a doctor”

“But—”

“Now,” Jack said in a voice so dangerous even Loreda felt a flash of fear

The woman called for a doctor

While they waited, blood dripped onto the clean floor Ant saw it and started to cry Loreda pulled him close

A man in white bustled toward them, flanked by a nurse in a starched uniform

“Gunshot in the abdoh the sentence and Loreda saw his fear It heightened her own

The doctor called for help and withinrushed away from them

Jack pulled Ant close, held him Loreda moved in to be with them Jack’s arm circled her

All Loreda could think about was how mean she’d been to her mom For years There was so much to say now, to undo She wanted to tell her mother how much she loved and adrew up Why hadn’t she said it all before?

Loreda wiped her tears, butfor Ant She prayed for the first time in years Please, God, save her

I can’t live without my mom

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