Chapter 23
When Sarah awoke the next day everything was hazy. She opened her swollen eyes to a darkened room and blurred vision, gradations of gray blanketing everywhere she looked. She expected to see the dark brown wood of her gabled house, her husband asleep beside her in their bed, her daughter asleep in the room next door. She threw her legs over the side of the bed to go to Grace and moaned aloud at the sharp pain in her stomach, like she was stabbed by newly sharpened knives. Suddenly, the gray blanket cleared away, leaving a clear view of the hospital bed, the IV tubes connected to her arm, the white walls and red furniture of Theresa’s house. She saw a shadow and started, but recognized James in the lightless room, asleep in the overstuffed recliner by her side. She looked at the
