“I
thought
she
shot
you.”
It
was
all
that
would
come
out.
“We’re
going
to
be
fine.
Your
sister
aimed
the
gun
at
your
father,
but
she
couldn’t
go
through
with
it.
She
shot
the
ceiling
and
ran
downstairs.”
My
mother
was
crying
so
badly
that
she
couldn’t
continue
speaking.
My
father
pulled
her
into
his
arms
and
just
held
her.
Shooting
pain
sent
me
to
my
knees.
It
was
the
last
thing
that
I
could
remember
before
waking
up
in
the
hospital.
Chapter
26
I
can’t
lose
you.
Waking
up
in
a
hospital
room
and
remembering
how
you
got
there
isn’t
exactly
a
peaceful
thing
to
go
through.
It
took
me
a
few
seconds
to
focus
on
the
room.
My
parents
were
in
a
chair
together
and
they
were
asleep.
It
was
so
good
to
see
that
they
were
there
with
me.
Just
imagining
a
life
without
them
in
it
would
be
difficult.
They’d
never
be
able
to
meet
their…my
baby.
I
sat
up
and
looked
around
again,
noticing
that
I
had
an
IV
sticking
in
my
arm.
A
clear
drip
was
being
administered
and
I
was
desperate
to
know
what
was
going
on.
“Mom?”
My
voice
was
raspy.
It
felt
so
dry,
like
I
hadn’t
drank
anything
in
days.
She
stirred
and
rushed
over
to
the
bedside.
“Willow,
are
you
okay?
Are
you
in
any
pain?
Oh
my
God,
this
is
all
my
fault.
How
could
I
have
not
known?”
She
started
crying
and
buried
her
head
into
my
father’s
chest.
I
shook
my
head,
but
placed
my
hands
on
my
stomach.
Fear
overwhelmed
me
when
I
thought
about
my
baby.
I
tried
to
sit
up
straight
in
the
bed,
but
my
mother
kept
me
still.
“Mom,
I…”
“The
baby
is
fine,
Willow.
Stosh’s
parents
called
us
from
the
hospital.
They
were
so
worried
about
you.
We
ran
the
tests
ourselves
and
did
a
sonogram.”
She
lifted
up
the
picture
that
happened
to
be
in
her
hand.
“I
never
would
have
forgiven
myself
if
something
bad
would
have
happened
to
you
or
your
child.
We
had
no
idea
that
Ivy
was
capable
of
such
horrible
things.”
I
grabbed
her
hand.
“Mom,
the
pain
was
horrible.
I
was
sure
I
was
having
a
miscarriage.
You’re
sure
everything’s
okay?”
“You
went
through
something
traumatic
and
were
injured
from
fighting.
I
would
imagine
the
pain
would
be
unbearable.
I
can
assure
you
that
the
baby
is
fine.
It
is
still
so
small
and
well
protected.
Fetuses
can
be
so
resilient.
Women
have
fallen
down
stairs
and
even
been
in
accidents
and
still
carried
to
term.
Hang
on
a
minute
and
I’ll
prove
it
to
you.”
She
stood
up
and
messed
with
the
monitor
above
my
head.
A
thumping
sound
got
louder.
It
sounded
like
a
heartbeat,
but
was
much
faster.
“What
is
that?”
“That’s
your
baby.
Their
hearts
beat
faster
than
ours.
We
were
afraid
it
would
be
too
early
to
hear.”
“I’m
around
nine
to
ten
weeks.
I
was
four
or
five
weeks
when
I
found
out.
At
first
I
didn’t
know
what
I
was
going
to
do.
You
and
dad
thought
I
purposely
had
an
affair
with
Stosh.
You
couldn’t
have
known
that
it
was
all
some
scheme
of
Ivy’s
to
steal
my
baby.”
She
started
to
turn
the
volume
back
down.
“No!
Please
keep
it
on.”
I
wanted
to
hear
it’s
little
heart
beating.
It
made
me
think
of
Stosh
and
how
we
were
finally
going
to
be
a
family.
She
smiled
and
kissed
my
forehead.
“You
should
rest.”
“I
can’t
rest.
I
want
to
know
about
Stosh.
I
watched
him
get
shot.”
I
rubbed
my
stomach.
“He
has
to
be
okay.
We
have
to
be
together.
He
wants
this
baby
more
than
anything.
We
want
to
be
a
family.”
She
looked
over
at
my
father
and
then
back
to
me.
“He’s
in
surgery.
The
bullet
became
lodged
and
they
are
working
to
get
it
out.”
I
started
to
cry,
becoming
frantic.
“Is
he
going
to
die?
He
can’t…I
mean,
he
has
to
be
okay.
We
can
finally
be
together.
He
has
to
be
alright.”
I
was
crying
so
badly
that
the
words
were
hard
to
get
out.
I
put
my
hands
over
my
face
and
bawled.
My
heart
rate
rapidly
increased
and
my
father
stood
up
and
came
to
my
bedside.
“Sweetheart,
you
have
to
relax.
Worrying
isn’t
going
to
help
him
get
better.
You
have
to
stay
positive.”
I
hated
him
talking
to
me
like
I
was
one
of
his
patients.
I
looked
at
both
of
them
and
felt
myself
dying
inside.
Not
knowing
Stosh’s
fate
was
killing
me.
I
couldn’t
raise
a
baby
without
him.
He
promised
to
be
with
me.
He
told
me
that
nothing
could
keep
us
apart
again.
“Ivy!
Where
is
she?”
I
couldn’t
remember
anything.
“Tell
me
they
got
her.”
“Your
sister
was
taken
into
custody.
Her
accomplice
didn’t
make
it.
She
isn’t
going
to
hurt
you
anymore,
Willow.
We
promise
you
that.”
I
could
see
the
pain
in
my
father’s
eyes.
They
were
so
disappointed.
Who
could
blame
them?
Their
own
daughter
had
planned
to
murder
her
entire
family
for
money
and
a
baby
that
wasn’t
hers.
What
kind
of
human
being
could
be
that
cold?
My
mother
patted
my
leg.
“She’s
being
held
at
the
county
detention
center
until
her
arraignment.
When
we
know
where
they
are
going
to
send
her,
your
father
is
having
her
evaluated
by
someone
he
works
with.
Even
if
your
sister
would
ever
get
out
of
jail,
she’s
going
to
be
put
away
in
an
institution
for
a
very
long
time.
After
talking
to
Stosh’s
parents,
we
have
a
better
idea
of
everything
that’s
been
going
on.
We’re
really
sorry
that
we
didn’t
believe
you.
We
just
never
thought
your
sister
would
be
capable
of
such
madness.”
“She
wanted
you
dead.
In
fact,
she
wanted
us
all
dead.
I
never
had
any
idea
how
she
felt
about
me.
I
trusted
her
and
all
along
she’s
been
trying
to
ruin
my
life.”
My
mother
ran
her
hand
through
my
hair.
“Will
you
ever
forgive
us?”
I
wanted
to
tell
them
that
I
was
still
angry;
that
nothing
they
said
or
did
could
make
me
forget
that
they’d
turned
their
backs
on
me,
but
I
just
couldn’t.
All
I
cared
about
was
Stosh
and
our
baby.
“I’m
not
mad
at
you
guys.
We
were
all
a
part
of
Ivy’s
scheme.
None
of
us
could
have
known
she
was
capable
of
such
horrible
things.”
“Can
we
get
you
anything?”
She
asked.
“I
need
Stosh.
Please,
can
you
just
find
out
if
he’s
okay?
I
need
to
know,
Mom.
I
need
to
hear
his
voice.
I
can’t
rest
until
I
know
he’s
going
to
be
fine.”
She
looked
over
at
my
father.
“We
can
go
make
some
phone
calls.
Are
you
going
to
be
okay
here
by
yourself?
I’m
so
worried
about
you.”
I
nodded.
“I’ll
be
fine
as
soon
as
I
know
he’s
okay.”
I
rubbed
my
abdomen
again.
“We
need
to
know.”
“You
really
love
him
don’t
you?”
“I’ve
loved
him
since
the
day
he
first
walked
into
my
life.
I
was
just
too
afraid
to
tell
him.
Ivy
took
advantage
of
that
and
kept
us
apart.
She
told
him
I
wasn’t
interested
and
seduced
him
into
thinking
they
slept
together
after
prom.
You
read
the
diary.
You
know
the
truth.”
I
wiped
my
eyes
again.
“I
can’t
lose
him,
Mom.
I
just
can’t,
not
after
everything
we’ve
been
through
to
be
together.”
When
my
parents
walked
out
of
the
room,
I
felt
myself
losing
control
of
my
emotions.
My
life
had
been
threatened.
My
unborn
child’s
life
had
been
threatened
and
their
father
had
been
shot.
My
sister
was
still
ruining
our
lives,
even
from
behind
bars.
While
Stosh
fought
to
stay
alive,
she
was
probably
sitting
in
a
cell
gloating
about
her
accomplishments.
I
imagined
bursting
into
the
lock
up
room
and
shooting
her
for
the
hell
of
it.
She
made
me
sick
and,
for
the
first
time,
I
accepted
that
she
was
no
longer
my
sister.
I
didn’t
care
if
she
was
sick
in
the
head.
There
were
just
some
things
in
life
that
couldn’t
be
forgiven.
I’d
never
forgive
her
for
ripping
out
my
heart
and
threatening
my
life
and
the
people
that
I
loved.
When
my
parents
didn’t
come
back
right
away,
I
knew
something
had
to
be
wrong.
They
didn’t
want
to
burden
you
with
bad
news.