Rise: Populations Crumble, Book 2 by Gandy, A. (read book .txt) 📕

the bathroom. Nothing to worry about.” I slide back into the bed next to him, and sit against the headboard with my arms wrapped around my knees.

He studies my profile, an eyebrow raised. “Is it the pregnancy testing that’s bothering you? Are you nervous that you could be pregnant already?” His voice is gentle, and he rubs a soothing hand along my thigh.

“No, it’s not that, actually. To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it too much. It’s so soon, it’s unlikely to happen yet, right?” I pause, thinking it over. “I mean, I know it happened for Teddy and Faith, but, deep down I don’t feel like it will be that quick.”

He gives my leg a gentle squeeze. “It will happen when it’s meant to.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.” My voice is quieter now. “How much longer do you think it will take Glitch to figure out if he can hack into the security system? It’s awful sitting around with this huge secret, and not being able to do anything. Josephine and Aisha, and all those other women—” The intense tightness in my throat cuts off the words abruptly.

Patrick scoots up to sit beside me, and wraps me in a hug. “I don’t know, but hopefully not much longer,” he says, and plants a kiss on the top of my head. “It is awful to wait, but there’s not much else we can do for now. I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with a way to get us safely out of here and figure out where we’d even go. And my dad—what do I tell him? Should I tell him?” His arm tightens reflexively.

I can tell how much he hates the idea of his dad having any part of this evil, but as the prime minister, we can’t rule out his involvement. “I know, Patrick. Somebody authorized this, though, and unfortunately until we figure out who, we can’t risk it.” I hesitate, hating to be a hypocrite, but needing to say the thing nagging at my brain. I still want to tell Peter.

He sighs. “I know, you’re right, but I can’t believe he would have anything to do with this. My dad wouldn’t hurt a fly.” He runs a frustrated hand through his hair, and a section is now sticking straight up.

With a giggle, I zhuzh it until it lays back down. His crooked grin in response is enough to make my heart melt into a puddle. Guilt stabs at me instantly—it’s not right to be happy, when we know what we do.

He must sense my quicksilver mood change, because he nudges me with his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Sadie? You never did say.”

“It’s Aisha.”

“You mentioned her name before, but I don’t know her. Was she one of the women we found?”

I nod and rest my chin on my knees.

“Was there something in particular about her that’s bothering you?” he asks.

“I forgot to tell you, right after. But, I knew her. From home.” The words don’t want to come out, but the fear and pain don’t want to stay bottled up inside anymore.

“I didn’t realize. That must make this even harder for you—the waiting.” He brushes a wisp of my hair back from my face so he can see me better.

I nod, the sharp stab in my chest agreeing with him. “She didn’t want to go. She waited, like me. Came at the last minute, and they told her parents she was dead. Died delivering a baby boy, and that they couldn’t adopt him. They gave the baby away to a couple in the adoption program, and her parents got . . . nothing. Not her, not the baby, nothing but a letter full of lies.”

He makes an angry sound, low in his throat.

“It could just as easily have been me, Patrick. Lying in that bed, pregnant against my will, and drugged up. She came from my town, rode the same shuttle, for Pete’s sake. She probably even met Todd.” I sit up now, my anger taking over the fear that threatens to consume me. “She’s been gone for years. Years of her life eaten up, and she doesn’t even know. Even if we somehow figure out a way to stop this, Patrick, that’s irrevocable. We can’t give her those years back. And, Lord have mercy, the babies.” The emotions finally win, and tears begin to trail down my cheeks. I choke on a sob, my futile attempt to hold it in failing.

Patrick pulls me into his chest and rests his chin atop my head. He holds me tightly, but doesn’t say anything.

“She’s had four babies, Patrick. Four. She has four children out there being raised by unknowing strangers. They don’t even know she’s alive. If we expose this, free these women, waking them up isn’t going to be a kindness. We’re going to wake them up, and have to tell them something that’s going to destroy them.” The last bit is hardly above a whisper. The reality is so ugly, so cruel, I can barely voice it into this world.

I sob into his chest, my heart shattered to pieces for all of the innocent lives that have been irreversibly altered by this horrendous place. He holds me until I’ve cried myself out, not complaining about the mess I’ve made of his t-shirt, or the fact that I didn’t even let him out of bed yet. His slow, soothing strokes of my hair eventually ground me, bringing me back to the present moment. I slowly sit up, and wipe the tears from my cheeks.

When I lock eyes with him, his expression is so cold, it’s almost scary. “What is it, Patrick? What are you thinking?”

“Someone is going to be held accountable for what’s been done to them, Sadie. I swear it. I will do everything in my power to make this right. We can’t give them back the years they lost, no. But we can find their children, we can wake them up, and we can help them