Scars of the Future by Kay Gordon Read Free Book Online

mom had apparently saved every single one. I shuffled through them, reading the names one by one- Stanford, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt, Berkley, Davis, and several more. The very last one in the pile stared at me with its plain, but stated, font: Yale.
    My father and I had decided on Yale when I was in middle school, and it was all we talked about from then on out. He used to say that I had an uncanny ability to win an argument and a passion to help those who needed it. From there, the desire for being a lawyer had been born.
    I could have been at Yale right that very moment, but the tiny pang of sadness didn’t come like it usually did. Yale was a chapter of my life that I had closed long ago, but the news of the baby had been when I had nailed it shut. The excitement of motherhood had taken over, and I found myself daydreaming of a life where I spent my evenings chasing a little child in the backyard. Some of those daydreams even involved Matt, but I had to tamp those down. The minute I had decided I could be a mom I knew I had made a huge mistake pushing Matt away. I had been so convinced that I couldn’t give him the family he wanted and when it turned out I could, unintentionally, it was too late. I had really messed up.
    I shoved the letters back into the file and dropped them in the ‘keep’ box before moving on. The progress I made was decent, and I had quite a few boxes full of items when my phone rang.
    “Hey Mads,” I greeted as I flipped through an old photo album I’d found in the attic.
    “Amanda.” Maddie’s voice sounded panicked and I immediately closed the book in my hand.
    “What’s wrong?”
    She inhaled sharply. “Mom just called. David’s in the hospital. Apparently he was shot and it’s not good. Sydney was there when he was brought in and Mom says she’s not doing too well.”
    “I’m on my way right now,” I said hurriedly as I grabbed my purse and keys off the table.
    “Josh and I are too, but you’ll probably beat us there. Just drive safe.”
    I ended the call and raced over to the hospital where Sydney had been promoted to a full-time Business Administrator. This was the same hospital that Linda and Craig worked and I was really thankful that they could be with Sydney almost immediately.
    I stopped by the desk in the emergency room and almost accosted the young girl who was standing there.
    “David Bradley was brought in. Where would I go to wait for him?”
    She looked at me with a sad expression. “Are you one of Sydney’s friends?”
    “Yeah,” I said as I nodded quickly. “Where is she?”
    “The third floor is where the operating rooms are. She should be in the waiting area.”
    I thanked her as I darted towards the elevator. It seemed to move in slow motion before finally coming to a stop on the third floor. I pushed through the doors before they were open completely and found the waiting area easily. It was packed full of police officers and other random people, all who seemed to be there for David. I spotted Sydney quickly. She was sitting in a chair between Linda and David’s sister, Sarah, her face blank as she stared at nothing. Her eyes and nose were both red from crying, and my heart immediately broke for my friend.
    “Syd,” I said quietly as I crouched in front of her.
    “Amanda.” Her voice broke when she said my name and I wrapped her in my arms as she cried. I rubbed my hand down her back and let her sob. Maddie and Josh rushed into the room and Maddie and I exchanged a look as I continued to cradle a weeping Sydney to me. Maddie moved to Sarah, having established a good relationship with her over the past year, and hugged her tight.
    I spent the next four hours on the floor near Sydney’s chair. Josh had gone out and bought everyone coffee and pastries to hold us over, but we couldn’t get Sydney to take any of it. A doctor finally emerged to update Sydney, only to tell her that David’s heart had been hit by the bullet and that they were