Every night, Lindsay hears the same voices loud and clear, ringing in her head, resonating and bouncing off the sides of her face as she lay in her dark bedroom. She recognized each voice as they spoke the words.
"You're three weeks pregnant"
"I'm sorry, I can't do this. Marilyn and I….."
"I know this doctor, out in Arkansas, quick and painless but it would cost you"
"I'll need you to sign these papers stating that the clinic has no responsibility…"
Helen Mason's voice is usually the loudest.
"The, um…. procedure… made your uterus a hostile environment for conception"
And then she would hear her own voice, like it was an off-camera voice, faint and muffled.
"What about surrogacy?"
"I want to test the viability of your ova first, Lindsay. I can prescribe hormones…"
Gradually, the voices are drowned out, like the volume being turned down, until only a single voice fills her mind. Manuel's.
"You have suffered too… It has been years"
"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted"
"Mourn no more"
Her ringing cellphone startles her. She looks at the caller ID. It was Danny.
"Hey Lindsay" Danny spoke on the other line "We found another body. Dead girl, Filipina".
Lindsay rubbed her eyes "Same M.O.?" Lindsay asked.
"Better" Danny answered. "Same suspect. The girl was found with Manuel Constantino"