Surrogate
“"Did you see anything weird?" Mary looked up long enough to give him a hard look. "No, that was it. I didn't see anything else." As she spoke, Dallas scrutinized her expression, looking for signs she might've been lying to him because she didn't want to start a fight, but to his surprise he didn't find any. Somehow Mary had missed it all completely, and she continued to naively believe the creature which had presented itself had been Carrie. Hell, it wouldn't surprise him if all the women present at that shower had done the same thing, but Dallas knew better. * * * After leaving the hospital, Robbie had planned to just drive home, hoping he and Shoshan could keep a low enough profile so perhaps others, like Dallas, might forget what they'd had seen in time. "You feeling okay?" Robbie asked as he backed out of the parking space. In his peripheral vision, he saw Shoshan's fingers settled lightly on the bandage covering the wound. "The arm hurts a little," she ...admitted, staring out the window. As she rested back against the seat, Robbie stared at the long line of her throat. Perhaps he shouldn't have watched her. She wasn't really his wife, but some part of Carrie was in there, and that's what he told himself he was reaching for. Besides, Shoshan had admitted Carrie was in here as well, and no matter what Robbie told himself, he wanted to see Carrie. He would always want to see Carrie, and this was as close as he was ever going to get. Both of them lapsed into silence, and the way Shoshan sat, Robbie wondered if perhaps she might have drifted to sleep. She was still, her breathing peaceful. Robbie was driving through a neighborhood as he headed toward the highway that would take them home when Shoshan abruptly sat up, her back and shoulders rigid. "Stop the truck, please." Her words tumbled out in a frantic rush that alarmed Robbie. Was there something wrong? Had she gone into labor? He instinctively jerked the wheel to the side to pull the truck to the curb as he pressed the brake. "What? Are you in pain--or maybe labor?" Immediately, he began looking her over. "No, I'm fine." She still didn't look at him but instead at the duck pond, where a lot of kids were playing. "I want to go there." Her tone was lilting, almost childlike, and Robbie immediately found himself drawn to the park as well, at least until his thoughts drifted back to what had just happened a few hours ago. "I don't think it's a good idea," he warned, intending to keep driving. His fingers gripped the wheel, and his eyes straight ahead, which had become his first response whenever kids were present. The fear of losing the baby kept him from looking at other children. He didn't want to need one so much in Carrie's absence, but he did. It was the last part of her he could still have if the baby survived. "What harm can there be?" she asked, watching him as he started to pull past. "I just want to see the children, to understand what your wife begged me to protect. It was the last thing she said." At that, Robbie inhaled sharply as though he'd been punched, and he felt he were going to lose it any second.MoreLess
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