Seeing Red (Roz & Boy LII)
Rozalie’s shoulders shook as she pressed the shivering, slippery child to her chest, trembling with the force required to swallow back sobs. She closed her eyes, exhaling sharply before she looked down and opened them, checking her child over.
Please. Please. Please.
“No. No, no, no....” She dared to whisper. Pale, shaking arms clutched her child closer. Her son.
Roz stared at him, drinking him in. I won’t let them take you, she swore, because she didn’t dare say it aloud. He stirred, his cries muffled by the towel on her chest. She was being selfish. She’d already waited too long.
Her feet, then knees, slipped on the floor as she shifted, leaning against the shower recess to stand, every muscle in her body screaming. Her skirt was soaked, and it took far too long to shakily change out of it, still clutching her child and trying to stop her head from spinning.
She snatched the paper from the bathroom sink, and stared at the address written on it one last time, before swallowing the paper whole. She didn’t need it anymore. Roz had memorised the location of every nearby fire station with a baby box.
Rozalie’s hands were slippery on the doorknob. She wiped her hands on the towel holding her son, and then opened the door. It swung open, and Roz realised that someone was standing in front of her. Horrified, Roz shook her head.
“Boy, don’t. Don’t you dare,” She whispered fiercly, reaching out to grip his wrist, “I’m taking him. No one will ever know. Don’t.”
@nola-lee
