Chapter 4.Elsie. Two months laterI wake before my alarm.A nausea sits in my chest like a stone, spreading slowly through my jaw, fingertips, the backs of my knees. I lie still for a moment, letting my body decide how badly it wants me to move.Eventually, I get up and kneel on the cold tile floor of the bathroom, throwing up into the water closet. I tell myself it’s from stress. That the headaches and sleepless nights were from stress, although it’s been two months of cold tile floors. Two months of brushing my teeth twice every morning to scrub out the taste of bile. Two months of Mom standing in doorways, watching.I take the test from the package, fumbling with the wrapper like it’s made of knives. My hands are shaking, but I try to steady them against the edge of the sink. I close my eyes for a moment, imagining the worst and the impossible, and then I follow the instructions, holding the stick just right, peeing on it and waiting.The seconds stretch.I count tiles on the fl
Zuletzt aktualisiert : 2026-03-10 Mehr lesen