"Is Mommy ever gonna wake up?" Alia cried, her voice muffled against my shirt. "She's been sick forever. I don't wanna be an orphan like Violet said."
My own tears blurred my vision, but I held her tighter. "You won't be an orphan, peach. Mom is fighting. She's gonna wake up. She's gonna make pancakes for you again. I promise."
"You're lying!" she screamed, pulling back just enough to look at me. Her face was red and streaked with tears. "You always lie! You lied about Dad. You said he just traveled, but he never came back. He's never coming back, right? So stop lying to me!"
Her words shattered something in me.
I froze, clutching her trembling body, while the street around us kept moving. A car honked in the distance. A dog barked behind a fence. But all I heard was her voice.. You lie. You always lie.
And she was right.
