PART 37: HE UNCOVERED A TRUTH

Sky lay on the center bed of the Infirmary, Zoë on the side one. Mal had never assisted in surgery on a pregnant woman before, and would be happy to die never doing it again. Doesn’t take much to dislodge a kid that young, but fortunately Sky had not miscarried.

Still shaking from the experience, Mal sat on the countertop that had become the second bed, setting Zoë’s feet on his lap, so she could still lie stretched. Mal hadn’t gotten her to speak more than a few words since bringing her home, but he could see in her eyes it was more than being taken that plagued her. She absently tugged a strand of her hair, staring at Sky, her shoulders slumped with the weight of her guilt. She felt stupid for running away; she felt responsible for Sky’s injury. All things that were normal, and shouldn’t be discouraged; teenagers are allowed to make mistakes. The one thing he did discourage was that she felt unforgivable. That, he wouldn’t stand for.

“Those girls,” Zoë croaked, her voice a welcome reprieve. It was the first time she had spoken voluntarily, and not in direct response to a health-related question. Mal handed her the cup of tea he’d been nursing and she drank carefully.

“We saw to them,” Mal assured. “Were they what you went lookin’ for?”

Zoë had yet to be specific as to why she ran away, and Mal had yet to push. But if she was talking, he could probe. Little Zoë didn’t seem to hear, her eyes drifting closed, then open again, as if sleep was about to overtake her. Mal stroked her feet unconsciously but when Zoë shuddered, he immediately stopped, worried that he’d triggered an unbearable memory. Simon had assured him that she had not been physically assaulted, but still… verbal threats can echo through a girl’s memory just as resonant.

“I didn’t deserve this,” she moaned, her eyes squeezing shut.

“Zo, no one deserves bein’ treated like chattel. That’s what all them letter’s you been writin’ are all about.”

Zoë shook her head, her face collapsing darkly. “I mea