Hidden Thorns (Delphin City Book 1)

Chapter Fifteen

10th November 2009

She’s hooked to so many of them. Her tiny frame looks even smaller in that big hospital bed. If she was awake now, she’d be so mad. They cut her hair. It used to almost reach her knees before, now it’s barely shoulder length.
My Isabelle. Those green eyes that darken when she’s mad and light up when she’s happy are closed. I wonder if they’ll ever open again. And even if they do, if she’ll ever walk again.

‘You’re here. Of course you’re here.’
Pauline stands at the door, looking at our daughter with pure hatred. She’s refused to set foot in the hospital room since they brought her here.
‘You should be with Ethan.’
‘I was with Ethan earlier.’
‘You spend too much time with her.’ Her voice has taken on that petulant, accusing tone that I despise. ‘She’s the cause of everything. If she hadn’t been so stubborn...’
‘If you hadn’t been spiteful enough to leave a nine yr old to walk seven miles to the house in the scorching sun, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.’
‘So now it’s my fault?’
I refuse to reply. ‘I wasn’t actually leaving, I was just walking Sophia.’
‘Liar.’ One word, but I utter it with all the venom I’ve been holding back since the unfortunate day I said I do.
She blanches, and would probably have said something scathing in reply if a nurse hadn’t run at full speed towards the end of the hallway. There’s only one door there, and the patient is... it clicks in her brain just as it does in mine, and then we both run towards him. Ethan.