Chapter 55: Hostage, Part 15

James

And now, for the first time, I push the door, quiet as I can, looking in.

Mitch is there, a pad on her lap, sketching. She sits by Charlotte; sleeping, so pale.

No, not pale; pallid.

What they did to you...

But she's clean and warm and comfortable. And by the side of the bed, within touching distance, also sleeping...

Cara...

My daughter...

And in a chair by the window, a hawk-eyed nurse.

What's been happening?

Mitch smiles, holding up her pad: a half-drawn sketch, in pastels, of mother and baby. Then she looks me up and down, pulling a face.

?

I mouth silently. "What?"

She nods me to the mirror and I see myself.

Oh, My God...

Even though I changed, brushed my hair, I can't let Charlotte wake up to see me like this. Or Cara...