In the Woods Read online

  “I’m fine,” I protest. “Nothing happened to me.”

  “It could have though.”

  “Well, it didn’t.”

  I look up and meet her gaze for a second, but her eyes are so full of sadness that I have to look away. “Mom…”

  “It’s okay. I’m okay.” She reaches out and puts her hand on my knee. “Thanks for taking care of your sister, Cameron.”

  “Mom.” I don’t know how to say this. “Katie’s going to have to live with what she did, you know? I mean, forever. She’s going to have to live with this forever.”

  “I know.” She closes her eyes for a second. “God, I know.”

  “So…well, you’ll help her, right?

  Make sure she gets counseling and all that. And…you know. Help her deal with this.”

  “Of course I will.” She squeezes my knee. “Cameron? There is nothing I wouldn’t do to help either of you.

  I just wish Katie had known that.”

  Eventually a nurse comes out and tells us that Katie has been moved up to a medical ward and that they want her to stay overnight. “She’s fine,” she tells us. “Stable. We just want to keep an eye on her.”

  “Can I go see her?” I ask. I turn to Mom. “By myself , just for a minute?”

  She nods and squeezes my shoulder.

  “I’ll wait outside.”

  Katie looks pale, but otherwise not too bad. She’s lying down with her head and shoulders propped up by three fat pillows. “Cameron.”

  “Hey, Katie.” I wonder if she’s mad at me—if somehow she thinks it’s my fault that she’s here and everyone knows. “Look,” I say. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep your secret. I was so scared that, you know…”

  She interrupts. “It’s okay. It’s sort of a relief, in a weird way. Like now the worst has happened. It’s been hanging over me for so long, this dread…I think this is almost easier.”

  I swallow. “Yeah. I told them that you made sure I found her, anyway.”

  “And she’s okay, right? The baby?”

  “I just saw her.” I pull out my cell phone. “Do you want to see a picture?”

  Katie hesitates; then she shakes her head. “I don’t think so. Not now, anyway.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “You know how I said I didn’t know I was pregnant?”

  I nod.

  “Well, sometimes I think I sort of suspected. Just for a minute, here and there. But I wouldn’t let myself think about it, you know?” She sighs. “I guess you and Mom must think I’m crazy.”

  I shake my head. “Nah. Well. Yeah, maybe a little.”

  She gives me the tiniest hint of a smile. “Yeah.”

  “Are you…you think you might change your mind? And want to see the baby?” I don’t know why, exactly, but I want her to say yes.

  She doesn’t though. She just looks at me for a long moment and says nothing at all.

  “I guess not,” I say lamely. “It’s just…I don’t know. I thought you might, I guess.”

  She shrugs. “I don’t suppose they’d let me anyway.”

  “They might.”

  “Maybe.” Katie closes her eyes. “I think I have to sleep a bit.”

  “Mom will want to see you,” I say. “I’ll get her, okay?”

  She nods and I leave the room. I’m thinking about what she said— about how the worst is over. I hope she’s right. I hope she’ll talk to the counselors and figure out how all this happened and find a way to get through what lies ahead. I hope she’ll put this all behind her and go back to being Miss Perfect again. Swim club and university scholarships and all that. I wouldn’t mind.

  I find Mom and tell her that Katie wants to see her. Then I find a chair in the hallway, and I sit there and wait.

  It’s weird to think that even if Katie can eventually put this all behind her, there is a whole new person—all eight pounds—just upstairs, whose life is just beginning.

  More than anything, I hope her life is a good one. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’d sort of like to be a part of it. Not a big part. Something though—even if it’s just sending a birthday card once a year. I’d just like to know that she’s doing okay.

  I guess, in a way, finding her makes me feel sort of responsible for her. And like Audrey said, she’s my niece. No matter what Katie decides to do.

  Robin Stevenson is the author of a number of novels for teens, including Big Guy, Inferno, A Thousand Shades of Blue and Out of Order. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia. More information about Robin and her books is available on her website at www.robinstevenson.com.

  For more information on all the books in the Orca Soundings series, please visit www.orcabook.com.