Read Online Angel City by Jon Steele - Free Book Online Page B

That’s what made her feel she was still losing her mind—what was left of it, anyway. She talked to her doctor about it. He told her the depth of her trauma had altered her memory of events. Rewritten them into a scenario that made it easier for her to accept. The doctor told her it would be best to just let go of them. Better for her, better for the child growing within her body.
    Katherine sipped her tea, laughed to herself.
    â€œAnd wasn’t he just the little surprise?”
    Max Taylor.
    Not Maxwell, no middle name, just Max. Six pounds, four ounces of screaming joy. Katherine took one look at him and called him Max, thinking the gooey runt was going to need all the help he could get. She sipped her tea and the memories continued to play through her mind like a film.
    It wasn’t till she got to Grover’s Mill that she even realized she was pregnant. And not just a little pregnant, but four and a half months’ worth of pregnant. At first, she thought she’d been putting on weight from the medications her doctors had prescribed, not to mention her appetite suddenly knowing no bounds. Then came the morning she stepped from the shower and saw herself in the mirror.
    â€œWait a minute—no way in hell is
that thing
my butt.”
    The more she studied her body, her breasts and her hips, the more she tried to remember the last time she had a period. She couldn’t.
    â€œOh. My. God.”
    She threw on a robe, stormed out of the bathroom, and marched down the hall for a
what the fuck?
session with Officer Jannsen.
    â€œAnne!”
    Officer Jannsen ran up the stairs, her sidearm drawn, ready to fire.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    â€œYou know damn well what’s wrong.”
    Officer Jannsen holstered her weapon, leaned against the wall.
    â€œSomeone move the kitchen table again?”
    â€œFuck the kitchen table.”
    â€œAll right then, what’s the problem?”
    â€œProblem? What could possibly be a problem? Everything’s just so fucking fine. By the way, when were you planning to tell me about
this
?” Katherine said, pointing to her belly.
    Officer Jannsen led Katherine to her room and sat her on the bed.
    â€œYou were brutalized, Katherine. You suffered severe mental and emotional trauma.”
    â€œYeah, yeah, it’s all about me. But in the middle of all this caring and sharing, why didn’t anyone bother to tell me I was fucking pregnant?”
    â€œThe doctors in Switzerland, your doctors in Portland, all thought it best you discover it on your own. It would be a positive sign that you were reconnecting with reality. Telling you sooner would have created more shock and stress harmful to you and the baby.”
    â€œThe baby? What makes you guys think I even want a baby? What makes you think I don’t want to call Abortions-R-Us and get rid of it, like right fucking now?”
    â€œIs that your choice, Kat? Is that what you really want to do?”
    â€œWhat? Four and a half months gone, and
now
you offer me a choice? Why didn’t all those fucking doctors in Switzerland make the decision for me? I was crazy, I was certifiable, wasn’t I?”
    â€œNone of us is allowed to make that kind of choice.”
    â€œWhy the fuck not? You choose everything else about my life. Where I live, who my doctors are, what I eat and drink. Jesus, I don’t even know who the father is. I was gangbanged . . . How am I supposed to . . .”
    Katherine felt a jolt, and she touched her belly. Officer Jannsen watched the look on Katherine’s face.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œThe little bastard just kicked me.”
    â€œAre you sure?”
    â€œYeah. I mean, I think so.”
    Officer Jannsen sat next to her and rested her hands over Katherine’s belly. There was a kick, then another, as if demanding to be part of the conversation.
    â€œSeems to be of an opinionated mind. Like his mother, I’d