He crouched in the cemetery that embraced three
sides of the hillside parking lot across from Bradley Memorial
Hospital
The watcher straightened and edged from behind
the granite marker. White puffs of vapor from the shallow, rapid breaths he
took coalesced around his face. He held his body as rigid as a tombstone. As he
waited for the evening nurses to end their tour of duty and hurry across the
street to their cars, his narrowed eyes focused on the brightly-lit hospital
entrance. Every night for a week, he had watched while excitement and
anticipation had circled like a swarm of hornets. Would she come tonight?
"I'll never leave you." When he was
eight, Mommy had said the words that had become his litany. That broken promise
had brought him here.
He stared at the steps. When would Susan come?
When Mommy was a patient, Susan had been her
favorite nurse. He had liked Susan, too, but she hadn't stopped those other
people from hurting Mommy. His shoulders tensed.
"I'll never leave you. They'll have to kill
me first."
The night Mommy died was etched into his
memories. On that dreadful night, he had begun his plan to make them pay.
Mommy would be unhappy about what he meant to do.
To her, nurses were special and Susan more wonderful than the rest.
He rocked from his heels to his toes. The last
time he had disobeyed, Mommy had threatened to tell everyone how bad he was. He
had promised her he would be good. His hands curled into fists. Sometimes he
wanted to feel the heat of accomplishment so much he felt sick.
He gulped a breath. Tonight the heat would
blossom and he would feel powerful again.
Susan was like Mommy. She would tell. He chewed
on his lower lip. Her death would free him to still the people who had hurt
Mommy on that dreadful night.
His smile became a grimace.
He had trusted Susan but she had failed to keep
Mommy safe. Though he wished to see the others dead, Susan had to be first. He
had laid his plans carefully, and while he had considered all the things that
could go wrong, days had become weeks and then months.
The bright lights across the street caught his
attention and stirred his hopes. She had to come tonight. He wanted to be free.
My Places
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