Fade To Midnight by Shannon McKenna Read Free Book Online Page B

family.
    â€œWould you mind leaving this subject?” her father asked. “It’s ruining my meal.”
    Edie nodded, and pushed the remaining salad around on her plate. The heavy silence was broken only by the clink of cutlery.
    When they were almost finished, she saw the arrogant young man from the couple nearby striding past their table. He’d said his piece, and he was beating hell out of there. Edie glanced over at the girl. Her eyes were streaming. Her hand was pressed against her mouth. She looked like she needed to vomit, or cry. Or both. Soon.
    The girl got up, lurched toward the bathroom. Edie’s hand shot out, grabbing her arm as she passed. “Wait,” she said.
    Her father gasped. “Edie!” he hissed. “For God’s sake—”
    â€œIt’ll be a girl,” Edie blurted, looking into the girl’s wide, wet eyes. “A beautiful little blond girl. And that selfish bastard is useless to you. He’s done his job. It’s all he’s good for. Unload him, and move on.”
    The girl’s mouth sagged. Wonder, fear, shock, chills. The usual.
    Edie let go of her hand. The pregnant girl stumbled backward, and took off, in a wobbly, stumbling run.
    Well. That had been stupid, with her father watching. It would have been stupid even if he hadn’t been. But she never had a choice. It had just…popped out of her. Totally involuntary. Like always.
    Edie stared at the drizzle of balsamic vinegar on her plate, her eyes fixed on the frilly shreds of romaine and arugula that clung to it. Avoiding the look in her father’s eyes. She didn’t need to see the anger, the disgust. She’d memorized them years ago. They never changed.
    â€œSo. You’re still suffering from your delusions.” Dad’s voice was cool, expressionless. “I’ll make an emergency appointment for you with Dr. Katz, first thing tomorrow morning. If you do not go, there will be consequences. This is what happens when you don’t take your meds.”
    Experience had proven time without number that her perceptions were not delusions. They had never shown themselves to be false or misleading. Not even once. But that argument was lost before it began.
    â€œI don’t need meds,” Edie repeated, wearily.
    The truth was, the meds did work—in a certain sense. They zoned her out into emotional flatness, and clogged the airwaves so that she didn’t get private newscasts from people’s heads anymore. They also, surprise surprise, killed her desire to draw. She hated the meds.
    â€œPromise me that there will be no scenes like this at the reception,” her father said.
    â€œI won’t embarrass you at the reception, Dad,” she said dully.
    Who knew if that was true, though. She never had a choice. God knows, she would never have voluntarily chosen this hell. Being constantly judged, isolated. Punished. Never seeing Ronnie.
    Her father’s eyes flicked to the table. He jerked as if he’d been poked with a pin. “For the love of God, Edith! Stop that, right now!”
    She flinched. Her hand was holding a pen, which she hadn’t been conscious of picking up. It hit the bulb of her wineglass, knocking it over. She’d been doodling on the open sketchpad without realizing it.
    A sketch of her father’s face and torso covered the page. Wine spread across it, over the sketchbook, the table, dripping onto her lap.
    Edie grabbed a napkin, dabbed her skirt, murmuring a garbled apology. She’d been a compulsive doodler ever since she learned how to hold a pen, but her parents had gotten twitchy about it after the Haven. When the incidents began.
    â€œI’ll make a strategic retreat now,” Charles Parrish said, rising to his feet. “Before I get my fortune told. Please, Edith. Don’t do this to people! No one wants to hear it! And take your meds, goddamnit!”
    â€œI’ll try,” she said.