The Nurse by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Dark Season Books
Published: 2016-07-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alice - Twenty years ago

“What if you don't come back tomorrow?” Father asks as I drop the used syringe into a plastic bag. “What if they just decide to lock you up for killing that boy? Will I be left here to rot?”

“It's a review hearing,” I reply, feeling a flutter of fear in my chest. “Their job is to make a recommendation based on -”

“So they're the ones who'll tell the cops to arrest you for murder?”

I flinch as soon as I hear that word.

“Or whatever they call it,” he continues. “Manslaughter? Is that how they describe gross incompetence these days? I don't suppose it matters much, the poor little boy's dead anyway. And all because you couldn't be bothered to give him the right pills.”

“The review hearing will -”

“They'll throw the book at you,” he sneers, “and rightly so. I hope you don't come back, I hope they take you away in chains.” He sniffs as he tries to sit up, although he quickly lets out a gasp of pain. “You're a terrible nurse. You don't have the mind for it. You're too floaty and easily distracted. I knew it right from the start, right from the day you said you were going to train for it, but your brother persuaded me to let you try. I shouldn't have listened to him, but I suppose I wanted to do the right thing. I knew you were too dumb.”

Taking the bag around the bed, I drop it into the bin.

“When he takes over this house,” he mutters, “it'll be a proper place again. With a family.”

“When he...” I pause for a moment, trying to make sense of what I just heard. “I thought Malcolm -”

“I'm leaving the house to him,” he continues. “What'd be the point in letting you stay here, anyway? It's not you'll ever have a family of your own. What man would want you?”

“But I thought -”

“You've lived here rent-free for long enough,” he adds. “I told Malcolm the other day when he came to visit. It's not right, him and his family being in that little apartment when there's this old place needing a family. Maybe he'll rent the apartment to you, if you're lucky.”

“He never said anything about taking over the house,” I stammer. “He said -”

“That's why you're looking after me, isn't it?” he sneers. “I finally worked out why you're pretending to give a crap about me. You figured you'd wipe my arse for a few months until I keel over, and then I'd give you the house out of sheer gratitude. Well bugger that for a laugh, my girl, because it's not happening. Anyway, it's not like you'll need the place. Pretty soon you'll be rotting in jail for murder or manslaughter.”

“I should get you something to eat,” I whisper, turning and hurrying to the door, only to stop as soon as I see the little boy watching me from the landing. “I...”

His gaze is darker than ever. It's almost as if he knows my future.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.