Part 266 (2/2)

”No. I don't want you to say anything unless you need to.”

”I failed myself” She sprang up, slamming her mug on the little redwood

table. ”All those months, I failed myself Is that the right answer?”

”Is it?”

On an oath, Emma turned to the rail. ”I don't want to do this. If I'd

wanted a psychiatrist, I could have had a dozen by now.”

”You know, you made quite an impression on me the first time I saw you.

You were about to storm out of Stevie's hospital room after giving him

the dressing-down I'd been dying to give him. He didn't want help,

either.”

”I'm not Stevie.”

”No, you're not.” Katherine rose then. She wasn't as tall as Emma, but

when her voice grew crisp, she projected total authority. ”Would you

like me to quote you statistics on how many women are abused every year?

I believe it runs about one every eighteen seconds in this country.

Surprised?” she asked when Emma stared at her. ”Did you want to feel as

if you were the only member of an exclusive club? How about how many of

them stay with their abusers? It isn't always because they don't have

friends or family who would help them. It isn't always because they're

poor or uneducated. They're afraid, their selfrespect has been

shattered. They're ashamed, they're confused. For every one who finds

help, there are a dozen more who don't. You're alive, Emma, but you

haven't survived it. Not yet.”

”No, I haven't.” Emma spun around. Her eyes were damp, but there was

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