in

inutes were the l

m. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, a sterile, indifferent w

was paranoid, broken, a woman dri

finish th

my belly, feeling the gentle curve of my five-month bump. The baby

silently. I'm sorry I

e lab door

his face pale and grim. In all the years I'd known him, I'd never seen that expr

ice came out

ted his eyes.

oice low and hoarse. "

"The primary compound is a drug that shouldn't b

me hit me like

ears, drowning ou

that could cause severe complications in pregnancy. It co

have no choice but to end the pregnancy myself. He would get what he wanted, and he would

uld be spotl

h. Every morning, he had handed m

h went out

t, the sound of a soul ripping in two. The lab report fluttered down beside me,

there. Minutes. Hours. The w

the tears stopped.

eet. But at the center of it, something was hard

st the cold floor. My arms held my weight. I ro

port again. The drug n

drug that required a prescription,

ew how to build a case that would stand up in cour

p the report. My hands w

phone. And I