- 12.
I woke up in a hospital room.
I blinked, realizing it wasn’t a dream.
When I sat up in bed, Emily spoke.
“Ethan, how are you feeling?”
I was speechless.
I really didn’t deserve a good life.
Everything with Maya was just a dream. Now
that I was awake, I had to go back to the
dark. I sat there, not saying anything.
Emily waited, but I didn’t speak. She slowly
came over and sat on the edge of the bed,
Г
“Don’t touch me,” I said, my voice hoarse.
“I feel like throwing up when you touch me.‘
Emily froze, her eyes filled with tears.
Emily Lancaster never showed me anything
like that.
11
“Ethan, I didn’t know they really…”
I turned to look at her face in the moonlight.
It was filled with regret.
“You didn’t know?
“No, you knew. You know what they do to
people who can’t pay back loans. You knew,
didn’t you?”
<
“Yeah, you knew, and you didn’t do anything
because you wanted to see it happen. You let
Jake control you.”
Emily bit her lip.
“Ethan, I’m sorry. Can we start over?”
My leg ached.
“When I went to see Grandpa, he was already
really sick. The doctor said he needed surgery
right away. But I didn’t have the money. I
called my parents, but they didn’t pick up.‘
“I called you, and you said I was just trying to
bother you.”
“I crawled between their legs, and they threw
three hundred dollars in my face. They said a
L
“I begged and begged, but I couldn’t get the
money. And Grandpa died in the hospital. I
didn’t have money for the funeral, so I
borrowed it, and I thought I could pay it
back.”
“I used the money for the funeral. But they
came for it too soon.”
“I could have run, I could have hidden. But
they said they’d dig up Grandpa’s grave.”
“I didn’t know what to do. And I put my faith
in you, Emily.”
My voice was soft.
“That was the worst decision I ever made.”
“Because of what you did, I suffered for
く
“I ate food like a dog, acted like a dog,
chained up like a dog, and that was the easy
part.”
I threw back the covers, got out of bed,
turned on the light, and stood in front of
Emily, pulling up my pants leg.
The holes hadn’t healed.
“Scary, isn’t it, Emily?”
I squatted and looked up at her.
“Take a good look at me.”
“You know how much this hurts?”
Emily looked away, wiping her eyes, and ran
to the door
L
“Let me go.”
I stayed where I was.
Emily grabbed the doorknob, avoiding the
question.
“Ethan, you need to heal. We have a
chance…”
She stopped, realizing that was the wrong
thing to say.
“Just rest.”
