Chapter 8 - Sarah WakesSarah opened her eyes beneath the pale ICU lights.
Mark was beside her immediately.
"Sarah?"
Her lips moved.
"Mark?"
He grabbed her hand.
"I'm here."
She looked around.
"Where am I?"
"The hospital."
She tried to remember.
Then her expression changed.
"My mother."
Mark went silent.
Sarah saw it.
"What happened?"
Mark swallowed.
He couldn't soften the truth.
"Your mother was poisoning you."
Sarah stared at him.
The machines continued their quiet rhythm.
"No."
"Sarah..."
"No."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"She wouldn't."
"She did."
Mark told her about the note.
The bottle.
Lily.
The police.
The basement.
Sarah covered her face.
For years, her mother had been the person she trusted most.
The woman who held her when her father died.
The woman who taught her how to cook.
The woman who stayed beside her through childbirth.
And now Sarah realized that some of those memories might have contained another reality.
"What did I do wrong?" she whispered.
Mark leaned forward.
"Nothing."
"My own mother hated me."
"No."
He held her hand tighter.
"She wanted control. That's not the same thing as you being unworthy."
Sarah cried silently.
Then she whispered:
"I want Lily."
"You'll see her."
"When?"
"As soon as the doctors say it's safe."
Sarah closed her eyes.
May you like
For the first time in months, she felt something unfamiliar.
Hope.
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