When We Fall by Valentine Marquita

Author:Valentine, Marquita [Valentine, Marquita]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Take the Fall
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2015-12-07T08:00:00+00:00

Piper

The women’s shelter is quiet tonight. It’s also full, which means I won’t have to check anyone in tonight.

I hear a door open and close. My heart pounds in my chest.

Standing up, I walk to the doorway of my office and peer out. “Hello?”

No one answers me. Why would they? And, I remind myself that the night watchman, a woman, is patrolling the house.

As I turn around, there’s a light knock on my door and I almost jump out of my skin. “God bless America,” I scream.

“My sister used to say that a lot. I don’t think she meant for God to bless anything.”

A woman cautiously steps into my office, but I barely recognize her. The swelling has gone down on her face, so her eye can open, but it’s shot through with blood and her lip is still split. Her cheeks are puffy, while the bruises around her neck have faded slightly.

“Evangeline?” I whisper.

She nods. “I hope you don’t mind that I stopped by.” Evangeline holds herself so still, too still. “I can come back another time.”

“No. I’m glad—happy to see you again,” I say, then start gesturing at the chair. “Want to have a seat? I can make you some tea or coffee. Whatever you want.”

Evangeline inches forward and scoots to the left, leaning against the wall. “I only want to talk.”

“Sure.” I have no idea what the procedure is for this and I begin to panic. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I trigger a flashback or…what if I’m breaking the rules by having her in my office in the first place? “About w-what?”

Her good eye narrows at me. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“Y-you want to go?” I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. “I d-don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Ginger keeps saying that, but I thought I had a choice.”

I nod emphatically. “You do. You really do.”

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.