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Della, realizing Kylie was still glowing, pulled off her hoodie and handed it to her.
* * *
Two hours later, Della sat at her sister’s side in the recovery room. She hadn’t woken up, but the surgeon—who’d been shocked at how little damage the bullet had done—had assured her that Marla would be fine.
Burnett had popped in and told her that Shawn was going to make it. “My parents?” Della asked.
“They should be here soon. It’s going to be okay,” he said. But Della was afraid to believe it. It didn’t feel okay.
He left. Della looked back at her sister and worried about what she was going to say to her.
In just a few minutes the curtain shifted again. Della expected it to be a nurse, but her mom walked in.
She looked terrible. Her face was pale, her nose red, and her eyes wet.
Della waited to see the fear, the repulsion, appear in her mom’s eyes, but it didn’t. Or Della just couldn’t see it. Her mom moved in, albeit a little slowly. She glanced at Marla, and didn’t look away until her sister’s chest shifted to take air into her lungs.
Her mom let go of a deep, sad breath.
“They say she’s going to be fine,” Della said.
Her mom met her gaze again.
“I’m so sorry,” Della said.
Her mom pulled Della into her arms.
“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong. If you hadn’t come, we’d have died.”
Della leaned in and for the first time since she’d been turned, she didn’t worry about her mom touching her, or that she’d freak out at Della’s lack of body temperature.
Her mom pulled back and she brushed Della’s tears from her face. “I’m the one who needs to say I’m sorry. I … we … I wish you could have told us. These last nine months shouldn’t have been like this.”
“It’s not an easy thing to tell,” Della said.
Her mom nodded and said, “It wasn’t an easy thing to hear, either. But things are going to be different now.”
Were they? Della wondered. Her father wasn’t here. And she was pretty sure she knew why.
Her mom inhaled. “Your father is in the chapel. He did something terrible, Della. I’m furious at him, but he wants to apologize.”
Della figured it was about telling the police she might have killed the Chis.
“Why don’t you go and I’ll stay with Marla,” her mom said.
Della nodded, but when she walked out, she stopped and just leaned against the hospital wall. More tears fell from her lashes. What in the world was she going to say to him? Would he ever look at her and not see a monster?
Miranda and Kylie walked up. Miranda hugged her. Della hugged her back and hung on.
“You okay?” Miranda said and was the one who ended the hug.
“My dad wants to talk to me,” she said.
“Then go,” Kylie said.
“If he says anything mean to you, I’ll give him jock itch.” Miranda twitched her pinky.
Della, with tears still running down her face, couldn’t help but smile. Then she remembered. “How’s Shawn?”
