“They said I was bad.”
I closed my eyes for half a second.
Adam’s voice came sharply through the phone.
“Natalie, what’s happening?”
“I found her.”
“Is she okay?”
“No.”
I wrapped my jacket around Lizzy and carried her downstairs.
When we passed the living room, she turned her face away from the photographs.
At the broken side door, she began trembling.
“Don’t take me back,” she whispered.
I held her closer.
“No one is taking you back tonight.”
She looked up at me as though she needed to see whether I meant it.
“We’re getting you help,” I said.
The hospital staff moved quickly when they saw her.
A nurse brought a wheelchair, but Lizzy would not release my hand, so I walked beside her while she was taken into an examination room.
Bright lights replaced the darkness of the closet.
A warm blanket replaced my wet jacket.
