Library

Home / After My Mother's Cure Killed Me / Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Lahat ng Kabanata ng After My Mother's Cure Killed Me: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

10 Kabanata

Chapter 1

My spirit did not fade. Instead, I drifted toward the cheers rising from a seaside restaurant and saw my mother and my younger sister, Vivian Ashford, seated by the window.A grilled steak, seafood salad, and two glasses of chilled blueberry juice sat on the table.My mother held her knife and fork, but she made no move to cut the steak in front of her.She looked at that frosted glass of blueberry juice, and something soft flickered across her eyes."Iris used to love this."My mother murmured under her breath."When she isn't having one of her episodes or making trouble, she's actually a very bright girl."She had straight A’s and glowing recommendation letters for her college applications."I drifted to her side, my eyes burning with tears."Mom..."Vivian's voice was soft and sweet. She propped her chin on her hand and swung her legs back and forth."Mom, should we go help her? She really did look like she was in pain...""Leave her alone!" My mother's eyes hardened instantly, and

Chapter 2

The year I turned twelve, the illness struck for the first time.My family drained their savings, sold my father's beloved black stretch limousine, and moved out of our house with its yard and apple tree.Because my father took so much time off to bring me to appointments, his company's cash flow also collapsed.Overdue bill notices stuffed our mailbox month after month."If every cent goes into this bottomless pit, what happens to Vivian? How are we supposed to live?" my mother sobbed one night, her face buried in her hands.My parents would sit across from each other at the dining table and argue past midnight over a single medical bill.My illness had dragged the entire family into ruin.In the midsummer of the year I turned fourteen, Vivian was preparing to audition for American Ballet Theatre's youth company.But I brushed against the ultraviolet sterilizing lamp in the living room and ended up rolling on the floor in pain.My mother rushed down from upstairs and held on to me.As

Chapter 3

My mother stepped into an upscale drugstore, scanned the shelves at length before settling on a pricey emergency repair cream.At checkout, the clerk gave her a friendly smile."Is this for someone in your family, ma'am? This wine-scented repair cream is very effective on severe sunburn."My mother paid by card and scoffed. "I have an older daughter at home who's nothing but trouble. Stubborn as anything. I'll slather some on her later so she can't say I don't care about her."Her phone rang. It was Mr. Smith, the camp leader.My mother answered, her tone becoming polite and composed again. "Good afternoon, Mr. Smith."The voice on the other end was anxious."I'm very sorry to bother you. Iris wasn't there at roll call. A student said the last place anyone saw her was the rocky beach to the south. Would you like us to send security out to look for her?"My mother glanced at the clock on the wall.Three hours had passed since she left me on that sand.She frowned, her grip tightening in

Chapter 4

But she had barely taken two steps when Vivian rushed over and grabbed her arm."Mom, if you go after her now, she'll think you've caved in again!"The desensitization treatment we finally started will all have been for nothing!"Vivian clung to her arm."Do you want her spending her whole life as a vampire who can't come out in daylight and drags the family down with her?"You go soft every single time, and that's why she has no shame about holding us hostage with her illness!"Wait a little longer. It'll be dark soon and she'll come back on her own."My mother went rigid where she stood.She looked out the window.The sun really had dropped toward the west.Images of the chaos that followed my flare-ups flashed through her mind. The flicker of pity she had felt was quickly smothered by irritation.She slammed the tuna sandwich back onto the table."You're right."I can't keep indulging her. She needs to learn a lesson she'll remember."I crouched by the coffee table, watching my moth

Chapter 5

The flashlight shook with her trembling hand, passing over broken shells, dark water stains, and scraps of clothing scattered on the sand.The fear on my mother's face froze for a moment before twisting into a sneer.It was as if she had finally seized on the answer she needed to reassure herself."I knew you were out here putting on a show!"She strode over."How much longer are you going to lie there?"Get up and eat, then go back to camp and apologize to your sister!"She threw the paper bag containing the tuna sandwich onto the ground.The dark shape didn't move at all.An acrid stench rode the sea breeze—sickly sweet and metallic, mingled with the smell of burnt flesh.My mother covered her nose without thinking.The flashlight beam moved down and lit a wide patch of dark red that had already soaked into the white sand.Beach flies crawled all over it.My mother's heart skipped a beat.But she immediately crushed the surge of dread."Iris, you stole ketchup from the restaurant aga

Chapter 6

My mother's screaming brought the security staff in the distance running.Floodlights swept across the desolate rocky beach.The harsh light fell across the body and illuminated the terror on my mother's face.But she seemed to feel none of it.She knelt in the blood, unscrewed the repair cream with shaking hands, and smoothed the milky cream onto my face."It's all right. Iris is all right."Mom bought medicine. It won't hurt once I put this on."But that ruined skin couldn't take being touched at all.The moment the cream went on, a patch of skin came away under her finger, showing the raw red underneath.My mother's eyes went red instantly."How can this be happening? Why isn't it working!"White ointment mixed with dark blood and smeared across her hands and sleeves.She called my name over and over, as though if she were only loud enough she could call me back out of death."Iris, wake up!"Mom was wrong. Mom will never make you go out in the sun again!"She gathered the rigid bod

Chapter 7

The Coast Guard sealed off the scene quickly.My mother and Vivian were taken into the camp's temporary office for questioning.The air conditioning in that office blasted on high, and a dehumidifier hummed non‑stop in the corner.That was the kind of room I used to love most.But now I could only drift below the ceiling and watch as the harsh white light left them nowhere to hide.Before long a detective came in with a preliminary autopsy report."Iris Ashford died from a severe acute photosensitivity reaction."He set the report on the table."After her protection was removed, her skin was exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation, causing second- to third-degree burns across most of her body."That ultimately caused her heart and kidneys to fail."The detective stared at my mother, his tone icy."Dying this way is almost the same as being burned alive."Mrs. Ashford, why did you tear the sun-protective clothing off a critically ill patient and abandon her on a beach at noon?"My moth

Chapter 8

While mother and daughter hurled accusations back and forth, the office door swung open.My father, Daniel Ashford, who had been working abroad to cover my crushing medical bills, burst into the room, exhausted from the journey.He was out of breath, his eyes red, a manila envelope clenched in one hand."Where's Iris?"Where is my Iris!"When my mother saw him, she scrambled toward him like a drowning person grabbing driftwood."Daniel, help me!"Iris didn't make it. She's left us..."My father looked down at her blood-soaked clothes.The unmistakable, cloying stench of death twisted his features in an instant.He grabbed her by the collar with enough force to lift her off the floor."What do you mean she didn't make it? Why did the police tell me you left her out in the sun?"My mother cried so hard she couldn't get out a full sentence.On the flight back, my father had been checking the message from the research center over and over.He had thought that if he could just bring that re

Chapter 9

My father didn't stop her.Nothing remained in his eyes but bone-deep hatred.Then he turned his head and looked at Vivian, huddled in the corner.The footage had laid everything bare. He knew exactly who had pulled my mother away at the final moment."Ever since you were little, you've taken your sister's things and worn her clothes, and I never held it against you."My father closed in on her step by step."But why did you have to cut off her last chance to live?"Vivian was so frightened she tried to crawl under the desk."Dad, I was wrong!"I really didn't know she would die!"I'm your only daughter now. You can't hit me!"My father grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out from under the desk."Only daughter?"Every time your sister had an episode and pounded her head against the wall in agony, what were you doing? Complaining that she was disrupting your dance practice!"And while she lay dying on that beach, what were you doing? Drinking iced blueberry juice with this poisonou

Chapter 10

Vivian clawed at my mother's clothes like a woman possessed."Why did you ever give birth to her?"Why did you bring her to camp?"Give me back my ballet!"Give me back my life!"My mother offered no resistance.She sat numbly on the sofa, letting the glass carve bloody gashes across her face.Her once-shrewd, proud eyes were now clouded and empty. She clutched the gray shawl I had knitted and repeated the same words again and again."That's my good girl, Iris. Mom will take you home."There's sun outside."Mom will hold the umbrella for you."I floated near the ceiling and watched the farce with cold detachment.My mother had genuinely lost her mind.She remembered neither the police questions nor my father's condemnation.She clung to the belief that I was still hiding somewhere in the shade, waiting for her to take me home.She was committed to a locked psychiatric facility outside the city.After my funeral, my father sold the beach house for far less than it was worth.On the day

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status