Page 78 of I Will Mend You
But it’s no use. The last time she switched to berserker mode, I had to restrain her to the bed. This time, tying her up might shatter her mind beyond repair.
Her body convulses against mine as if my touch burns. The screams magnify, becoming more panicked and desperate. Her heart thrashes against my chest like a trapped animal, erratic and violent.
“Xero?” the operative at the back door yells over her screams. “Need help?”
“Stand back,” I grit out and carry her kicking, screaming, and thrashing body out of the bus and onto the road.
Cold fear flushes through my veins, and my mind dredges up everything Jynxson said about her being a sleeper agent. As I stumble into the trees with her, I can’t help but wonder if this is why her mother kept her drugged.
The Lolitas from our facility were never so volatile, but we only saw them for a short time. Whatever drugs they dosed her with must have changed her temperament, making her a possible time bomb.
I trudge through the forest, her wailing making the birds take flight. We reach the edge of the bank, and her screams drown out the crashing waves. I carry her across the ramp leading to our catamaran.
Her gut-wrenching screeches startle the skeleton crew, who stare at her through wide eyes as I take her into the vessel’s interior, where her cries echo through the hallways.
“It’s me, Amethyst.” My voice breaks. “You’re safe.”
A door bursts open, and Isabel rushes out with a syringe. “Bring her here.”
I hesitate, my arms still wrapped around her struggling form. “What’s in that?”
“A sedative.” Her face hardens the way it does when she’s ready for a fight.
My mind races. “Won’t it react with whatever they gave her at the asylum?”
Before my sister can even reply, urgent footsteps charge behind us and an operative bursts into view. “Explosion at the asylum. Two men down!”
My stomach drops like an anchor.
Jynxson.
FORTY-ONE
Wednesday August 12, 2010
We’ve just returned from the ER, where I spent hours with Heath. I managed to free his head from the crib without causing major damage, but they’re keeping him overnight for observation.
Amy hasn’t spoken a word since I woke up screaming. The shock of seeing her baby brother on the brink of death shook her to the core. She clung to me while I dialed 911 and quaked at the doorway when I let in the paramedics.
The ride to the hospital was excruciating. Heath’s wails echoed in the ambulance, every cry a sharp dagger to my heart. I tried to be strong for Amy, but I couldn’t hold back my tears. My hands shook so much I could barely sign Heath’s admittance papers.
Amy continues to be haunted by the specter of Charlotte. Every time a blonde nurse came close, she would squeeze my hand so tightly that her fingernails almost drew blood.
I tried calling Lyle, but he’s in a spot with poor reception. He left a message, saying he’s consulting an attorney to stop ThreeFates’ from sending Dolly home while she’s still a danger to others.
He’s staying at a nearby bed-and-breakfast, refusing to sign any paperwork with the institution until he’s satisfied Dolly will be in safe hands. All these sacrifices he’s making for the family squeeze my heart. He’s been like this from the beginning.
Neither Amy nor I could sleep that night, with Heath’s health hanging in the balance. I clung to my little girl, staring into the empty cot, wondering how an entire baby’s head could slip through such a narrow space.
As if Amy was reading my mind, she told me that Charlotte’s ghost did this to Heath because she wants retribution. A life for a life. As much as I wanted to dismiss Amy’s words as the imaginings of a traumatized child, I couldn’t help the chill that ran down my spine.
I told her it was nonsense. There’s no such thing as ghosts, but Amy insists she saw what she saw.
As the sun rose, I drifted in and out of sleep, thinking about how to help Amy without incriminating the family for Charlotte’s murder. I looked it up online. Doctor-patient confidentiality only applies when the patient isn’t a threat to themselves and others.
A little girl talking about sacrificing a baby to appease the woman her twin sister killed and whose murder her father covered up, will attract a horde of police. They won’t just throw Amy in an institution. They’ll imprison Lyle and me, then Heath will be left alone, a ward of the state.
Foster care is a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially not my own flesh and blood. He’ll grow up among a succession of strangers, not knowing he once had a loving family.