Chapter 12

After four hours of surgery, Abbey was transferred to ICU.

Per protocol, one foot was chained to the bed. Even unconscious, the rules mandated that the prisoner had to be restrained.

Liz asked to sit by her bedside and was granted permission. She took her mother's hand and lightly stroked over the redness and roughness. She looked into her mother's lined face. The darkness under the eyes, the splotchiness of her skin, the gray hair. Liz looked at her nails. Those nails that were always done perfectly, with just the right shade of polish, were now cracked and uneven.

Prison was not a kind place for a woman used to a gentler lifestyle.

The next day, Abbey gradually regained consciousness, the loss of blood being the major hindrance to a faster recovery. The first thing she noted was Liz sitting by the side of the bed, holding her hand. Quiet tears started flowing down the side of her face. The last thing she wanted Liz to do was to worry about her.

"Hi." Abbey smiled as she saw her oldest sitting by the side of the bed. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital in Manchester. The local hospital couldn't handle your injuries."

Abbey then remembered what had happened. "How long?"

"It happened yesterday."

Abbey nodded. "How bad is it?" She grimaced as her involuntary movement sent waves of pain through her body.

"The knife punctured your stomach and nicked the pancreas. You've lost a great deal of blood as well. According to the doctor, you're very lucky."

"Yeah. Who else knows?"

"Everybody. Mom, it's in all the papers and also on the news networks. It's always news when something happens to you."

"Does Ellie know?"

Liz turned her eyes away. "Yeah. I called her. All she said was thanks for calling and hung up."

More tears spread down Abbey's face. She had hoped that maybe Ellie would come and see her, but there had been no communication with her since the trial. The other two girls had kept her current but that was not the same as seeing her and talking with her in person. It was tearing Abbey apart. Ellie and Abbey had had such a special relationship most of their lives. But ever since Jed's death and the trial, things had taken such a negative turn.

"It'll be okay. Ellie will come back. She will. She has to."

Abbey heard Liz's desperation which reflected her own. But Ellie hadn't come back, and Abbey knew she wouldn't.

"Mom, you need to get some rest. I'll leave for a while, but I'll come back. I promise."

"Okay, sweetie. Thanks. I love you."

Liz leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "I love you too."