The Truth We Tell by Nikki Lee Taylor

Author:Nikki Lee Taylor [Taylor, Nikki Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Three

SOPHIE

Poppy is stable. The blood transfusion worked, for now, but we’re not out of the woods. If we start the chemo, I have ten days to find Harlow, prove she didn’t kill her friend and convince her to help save my daughter’s life. If I don’t, Poppy could slip back into a critical condition at any time.

I lean against the door and watch my daughter sleeping. I’m facing the biggest challenge of my life and with Bastian at the FBI, I’m in this all on my own. I take a sip of coffee from a paper cup and let it warm me. There was a time, not so long ago, when I could barely leave the house without being heavily medicated. Without the support of my lovely Miss Molly and a handful of anti-anxiety meds, panic would almost always get the better of me. Our walks were short, and my recovery was long. There are times even now that I still struggle with the creeping sensation that something inside me isn’t quite right. When my stomach clutches and my vision blurs. When a quiet voice whispers that something terrible is about to happen, something out of my control that will pick me up and carry me away in its devilish embrace. But I’m stronger now. I’ve learned to control the physicality of my condition. My mind, on the other hand, remains huddled in the dark, forever shackled to my failures.

The drive, if I choose to make it, to the prison will take about three hours each way. That’s another day I will need to be away from Poppy.

As I think about making the trip to see Lacy, my mind travels back to the day she tried to kidnap the children. I had been so desperate to meet Harlow and Harry just to know if they bore any resemblance to Josh, or if they carried Bastian and my features. I had been a mother without a child, longing for the simple act of seeing them, just to know that somewhere out there they existed. By bringing them to my house that afternoon, even though she knew the truth about Bastian and me, Madelyn-May offered the kindest gesture I have ever been privileged to receive. When they drove away and I saw Lacy following in the car behind, I had no choice. They were in danger and despite my shortcomings and panic attacks, the right thing to do was try and help. That afternoon, Harlow, just like Harry, was Madelyn-May’s child, not mine, but it didn’t stop me from trying to save her.

As I stand here now, gazing at my sick child, I realize nothing has changed. Madelyn-May for all her faults and failures gave me something I didn’t deserve that day. As a mother, she understood my pain and did what she could to take it away. Right now, my child is in trouble, but so is hers. We are both mothers and our daughters are in dire need of saving.

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