“Hey,” a voice said.
Katie looked up. It was Tess.
“How’s Ramsey doing?” Katie asked.
“He fell asleep. I helped. Told the nurse he was having some pain but wouldn’t admit it and that he needed to be calmed down. Was hoping they’d give him the Demerol in pill form so I could swipe it, but it was a shot of something, so…” She shrugged.
Katie smiled.
“That was pretty amazing, you talking her into giving up the gun,” Tess said.
Katie gave her a second smile and then sighed.
“You want a soda? I want one. Let’s go see what they have.”
“I’m good,” Katie said.
Tess frowned.
“But I’ll come with you to get one.”
The frown disappeared. “Thanks.”
They headed to the end of the hall to the stairwell and started down it.
“So what happens now?” Tess asked somewhere between the second and first floors.
“I have no idea,” Katie admitted.
“Do you think they’ll be okay? Bitsy and Misty. I mean, how does one recover from shit like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s fucked up.”
“That it is.”
Nothing else was said, the two eventually finding the cafeteria, which was closed but had a row of vending machines.
Headlines
From the Champaign-Urbana Online Journal, April 22, 2017
Ninth Body Found Buried on College Professor’s Property
From the Daily Happenings: A Local Girl’s Thoughts blog, April 24, 2017
No Charges Yet—DA Needs to Get Off Her Ass!
From the Daily Happenings: A Local Girl’s Thoughts blog, April 25, 2017
DA Feels Psychotic Daughter of Psychotic Serial Killer Is a Victim!
From the Daily Happenings: A Local Girl’s Thoughts Facebook page, April 26, 2017
Share If You Feel Misty *Last Name Censored by FB Guidelines* Should Be in Jail
Summer 2017
“Honey, wake up.”
Misty opened her eyes, confused.
“We have to go,” Crystal said, right hand shaking her awake.
“Go?” Misty asked, rubbing at her eyes.
“Downstairs,” Crystal said. “We have another test they want to do.”
“Nooo,” Misty whined, hand gently covering her inner arm, which had turned yellow from the repeated needle pricks the other day. “They promised they were all done.”
“It’s okay. Today there will be no needles. They’re just going to put some gel on your tummy and then rub it.”
“Oh?”
“And then afterwards we can get you some yummy soup and some juice, and then if you’re feeling up to it, you can go back to the children’s home. I think I overheard someone say that tonight there was going to be a movie in the activity room.”
Misty shook her head.
She didn’t like the activity room.
The others were mean to her.
Especially Nancy.
She was the worst.
But Barb was bad too.
And Chris.
And Britney.
And Suzi.
They all were.
She wanted Bitsy.
But Bitsy wasn’t here.
She had been at the hospital after Misty had woken up. They had even been in the same room together. But then one day some people had taken Bitsy to meet some other people, and she had never come back. Misty hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.
“Speaking of your tummy, how does it feel this morning?” Crystal asked.
“It’s okay,” Misty said, caressing it.
“No more throwing up?”
“No.”
“That’s good,” Crystal said with a smile and then guided her from the bed toward the wheelchair that was waiting.
“Can I walk?”
“If you feel up to it.”
“I do.”
“Okay.”
Not much else was said as they headed down the hallway toward the elevator.
Crystal held her hand during this.
It was not a friendly grip, its firmness contradicting the rosy smile she always presented when taking Misty to the various rooms where they did the tests. The nurse with the needle the other day had been the same way, and Misty had a feeling all the pricks had been on purpose rather than misses. Crystal had told her that was nonsense and it was sometimes difficult to get at a vein to draw blood, especially when someone had skinny arms like hers, but Misty didn’t believe her.
“Can I see?” Misty asked.
The two ignored her.
“Please?” Misty asked.
One looked at her for a moment and then went back to looking at the screen.
The other didn’t acknowledge her at all, simply kept holding the device against her tummy, the gooey gel they had put down cold but not painful like the needles had been.
The soup was cold by the time they brought it to her and didn’t have any crackers, but the juice was good. She drank that while considering what to do with the soup. A part of her wanted to throw it on Crystal when she came back, but then she realized that since it was cold, it wouldn’t hurt her, just make her messy. That wasn’t worth whatever punishment they would deliver. Instead, she drank it quickly because it was gross when cold and then moved her tray away and looked for the TV clicker.
They didn’t have Netflix or Amazon here, but sometimes there were other things to watch, which was good.
Today there wasn’t.
And she didn’t have a book to read.
She had asked for one, but no one would bring any. They didn’t come out and say no, but they gave answers that made her realize it wouldn’t happen.
Seconds ticked by.
She put a hand on her belly, fingers trying to see if she could feel the baby kicking.
She couldn’t.
She would ask Dr. Samantha how long it would take before she could feel such things. Dr. Samantha was nice and would tell her, though then she would also likely start asking about her daddy and if he had touched her down there.
He hadn’t, but it seemed like Dr. Samantha never believed her.
None of them did.
The only one that ever touched her down there was Bitsy.
But could the baby really be hers?
They had only been pretending that she was a daddy. It hadn’t been real. But maybe that didn’t matter.
She would have to ask Dr. Samantha about that as well.
Headlines
From the East River Times, August 26, 2017
Parents of 2002 Kidnapping Victim Seek Custody of Granddaughter
From the Smith’s Grove Post, September 2, 2017
Pregnant? Unnamed Staff Worker’s Shocking Claim
From the LGBT Online, September 27, 2017
Opinion: Parents of “Bitsy Cole” Are Exploiting Daughter on Talk Show Circuit
From the St. Louis Chronicle, September 30, 2017
Online Harassment of Kidnapping Victim Following Talk Show Appearances Continues Amid Gender Identity Confusion
From the Daily Happenings: A Local Girl’s Thoughts blog, October 1, 2017
Put Some Pants on HIM!
About the Author
William Malmborg is the author of Jimmy, Text Message, Nikki's Secret, Dark Harvest, Blind Eye, Santa Took Them, Crystal Creek and Daddy’s Little Girl.
For more information
[email protected]
-inline-share-buttons">share
Daddy's Little Girl Page 23