Folsom (End of Men, #1)(61)

Mother stutters and makes an excuse to leave the room again.

I hear her telling Pandora about the appointment later that evening and Pandora tells her we’ll get a second opinion. Mother doesn’t say anything, but I hear her laughing about something a few minutes later.

The tears are legitimate. My mother’s rejection will be something I carry the rest of my life.

The big “outing” Pandora has planned doesn’t happen until the next morning and involves me walking on the front lawn and waving to the growing mass of people. I feel ridiculous, a growing clown on display. I haven’t had a haircut since before I met Folsom and my hair is out of control. I don’t like my clothes. The boots he made me are starting to feel tight. And I can’t just go shopping for whatever I need…the seclusion is getting to me.

It does feel good to be outside. I step closer to the gate and Pandora puts her arm on mine.

“No, no, we’re not talking to them. If you’re going to be part of my family, you need to remember your place.” She grins, gripping my arm until her knuckles turn white.

“Get your hands off of me, Pandora.” I scowl at her and she grips me harder. “Let go and I won’t scream for help.”

“Where do you get your fire, little Gwen? Certainly not from your mother. She is so easy to keep under my thumb.” Pandora smiles and waves and ignores some of the boos from the people. “It will be fun taming you.” She turns and the gleam in her eyes is terrifying. “Okay, that should be long enough to satisfy them that you’re alive and well.”

I really don’t expect to be allowed to see the doctor, but she is even bolder than I knew and shows up Friday and every few days after that with her equipment to do scans of the baby. With her comes news of what she calls the Rise of the Women, whispered in my ear as my mother waits outside the room.

“It’s in every Region, Gwen,” she tells me. “People are stirring and speaking out. A woman was arrested last week for starting a fire in the Blue Region on their governor’s front lawn.”

“Folsom…?” The same question I ask with every visit.

It gets the same answer. She shakes her head, unable to meet my eyes. “We’re looking for him. But we have little resources, few options.”

I nod. I know this, but every minute of every day I’m plagued with thoughts of Folsom. Worried sick. Thoughts of him lying in bed after his heart attack, skin grey, looking weak—make it hard to breathe. If he died, would they tell us? The Regions would grieve…riot perhaps. The Society and President would be blamed. They’d keep his death a secret for as long as they could. I shake the thoughts from my mind. I can’t think about that. Folsom is stubborn…strong. He knows how to survive.





THIRTY-ONE





GWEN


Folsom’s tongue works its way down my neck, to the nipples he’s so fond of, down my stomach, dragging slowly, leisurely, to the spot that aches for him. I whimper and he…

There is a rap on my door and I keep pushing Folsom’s head down. Don’t stop, don’t stop. A hand on my shoulder gives me a hard shake and I lean up on my elbows, glaring.

Sophia stares down at me, a slightly amused expression on her face.

“You look like shit,” she says.

One thing that has been a pleasant surprise of pregnancy is all the sex dreams. I miss Folsom every day, with a longing I didn’t know I possessed, and I wish we could be together now more than ever, but the dreams I have of us are so real that some days it curbs that craving. Some days when I’m not WOKEN UP MID-DREAM.

“Get out,” I say dryly.

Sophia frowns and her mouth hangs open. Despite our tumultuous relationship, I never speak harshly to my sister.

“Gwen…”

“I mean it. I don’t want to see you. I’m sick of this room, I’m sick of the games you people play, and most of all, I’m sick of your smug face. If you’re going to lock me in here, give me some damn privacy.”

Sophia’s mouth closes and falls open again. “I shouldn’t have…you’re losing it, aren’t you…”

“Why? Because I’m not taking your shit anymore?” I fling my robe over my shoulders and storm to the bathroom. “You’d have lost it the first time you didn’t get your weekly manicure, or your monthly massage, or your daily shopping trips.”

“Okay, point taken. You have been far more…tolerant than I would’ve been in this situation,” she says. “But you also don’t like massages, and pedicures, and shopping, and I do, so I’m not exactly a threat to the Regions like you are.”

I throw her a dirty look. I don’t know why she’s being so accommodating; it all feels suspect.

“Why are you here? Are you paying a social visit, or did the governor send you for something?”

She shrugs. “Just feeling a little sympathetic, I guess.” She bites her lip and looks outside. “And there’s a lady here to show you some dresses to an event Pandora says you’re attending tonight.”

I freeze in mid-step. “What event?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t invited.”

I scrunch my nose. “She’s here right now?”

“That’s what I said,” Sophia snaps. “She’s waiting downstairs for you, whenever you’re ready, Your Majesty.” She walks to the door and looks back. “You don’t really look like shit. It’s just been a long time since I’ve pissed you off. I kinda miss it.” She smirks and leaves before I can throw anything at her.