[COMPLETED] When down on her luck, Abby Redding lands a position as the personal assistant for wealthy businessman Alex Carter, her first assignment is to fix up his new cabin in a remote town.
Things don't go as planned when an unsolved murder and...
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White light blinded her. Operating tools hitting the metal pan they had been picked up from felt like symbols crashing in her ears.
"She's awake!" a female voice cried.
"No need to panic. We used a local anesthetic. She'll be fine," a calmer voice answered.
Where am I?
Abby's eyes settled on a man wearing blue scrubs and a facemask who she quickly identified as a doctor.
Okay, I'm in the hospital. How? Why?
She took another look at the doctor hoping her memories of what landed her in the hospital would return. A sheen of perspiration covered the exposed bit of his forehead as he continued focusing on her arm.
She could hear her heartbeat quickening on the monitor attached to her body. Hospitals always meant nurses with judging eyes and social workers with statements like, "Tell me again. How did you get those double black eyes and broken ribs?"
They didn't really care. It was their job to ask. To report. Abby was tired of the judgment. If she had truly felt strong enough to leave Bryce, she would have. She knew that deep in her gut just as she knew that choosing to stay with Bryce would eventually be the death of her.
"Don't panic," the calm voice told her. "We're almost done stitching your arm. You have a nasty cut but you'll be as good as new in just a bit."
Flashes of Bryce illuminated in her mind; disappearing as quickly as they came. Bryce yelling at her. Bryce shoving her. Bryce angry at her.
"Bryce?" she whispered, her tongue flexing across her bottom lip, tasting blood.
"Do we need to inform the officer outside?" the nurse asked.
"Let's allow the police to do their job after we've done ours," the doctor said as he continued to work on her arm.
What happened to Bryce?
Abby couldn't help but wonder if Bryce was locked up again for hurting her. She tried to remember what had set him off this time but couldn't. Everything was a blur.
Later, she would awaken to a pair of detectives waiting for her to answer questions. She remembered apologizing to them and asking them to be lenient with Bryce. She remembered the look they shared before one of them asked her if she recalled what had happened the night before.
"You really don't remember any of it?" the detective asked, disbelief evident in his voice.
Abby shook her head only to have him frown and jot some notes down in a black pad he was carrying. The other detective cleared his throat and broke the news to her.
Bryce was gone and she had killed him.
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