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Isabel
September
19thBirthday
Richmond, Virginia
“Sir.Sir! You can’t come in here!”
Isabel Steele rolled her head so she could bury her face in the pillow. She hurt so bad, she would have curled into a ball to ease the pain in her belly, but even moving hurt, so she stayed still.
If she had the energy, she would have told the well-meaning medical staff not to bother.Nobodytold Wilson Steele what he could and couldn’t do, where he could and couldn’t go.
“I’m going to speak to my daughternow.”
She barely controlled a flinch at the whip that was her father’s voice.
Then she forgot all about him as pain tore through her abdomen, arcing up through her spine, then down through her thighs. She tried not to scream, but the pain was too severe and her cries shattered the taut silence of the room.
“Here,” a soft voice said and she opened bleary eyes to look at the kind nurse who’d been with her almost since the moment they wheeled her onto the floor. “Squeeze my hand.”
Behind her, she could hear Wilson berating the staff and demanding to speak to her.
“He ... ” She stopped and licked her lips. She was so thirsty. It felt like it had beendayssince she’d had anything to drink. “He won’t leave. You can’t make him.”
The nurse’s eyes glinted against light brown skin, almost like golden coins in their brightness. Leaning in, the woman lowered her voice, but the intensity never wavered. “Honey, I know all about who your dad is. But he’s met his match. Don’t worry.”
Isabel wanted to believe that. But that last time she’d believed in anything, it had led her straight into hell.
“You should all be careful,” she said, pitching her voice low even though the voices behind her were too loud for anybody but Tamika, the nurse with the bright eyes and warm smile, to hear. “He’s dangerous.”
“I know, baby. But nobody pushes Dr. Viv around. Trust me.” She brushed Isabel’s hair back. “Is there anybodyyouwant here? Anybody you’d like me to call?”
Isabel thought of a warm smile, a boy with laughing blue-green eyes who’d told her he loved the second day after they’d met. Another pain seized her, but this time it was in her heart and nothing, not even the drugs they pumped into her system to help with the contractions, could help.
She wished they’d just drug her heavily enough to knock her out. It wasn’t like it mattered. The tests already showed that the fetus was dead. A pregnancy that had been forced on her, just like too many other things. Now it was ending and the dead baby was another casualty of her father’s cruelty. Couldn’t she have the respite of unconsciousness for a little while?
But she’d asked twice, and had been told no twice. She wouldn’t ask again.
Aware the kind-eyed nurse was still watching her, and patiently waiting, Isabel shook her head. “No,” she said softly. “There’s nobody. I don’t have anybody.”
