Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“Oh shit,” he said. “Shoot. No.” Ashtyn swatted at him jokingly, and he gave a self-deprecating shrug. “See, she’s the one with all the social graces. When she’s not around, I’m useless.”
“Oh, you have your good points too. Autumn, would you like a glass of water? Iced tea? We have plenty of snacks too if you’re hungry. They’re mostly things appealing to a picky two-year-old, but let’s be honest, no one knows good snacks like a toddler.”
Autumn smiled. “No, I’m good, but thank you.”
Ashtyn took a seat next to her husband. “You said you got Kaden’s name through a contact at social services. I didn’t know they’d give that kind of information out. I wish we’d known.” She glanced at her husband. “We’d have asked ages ago. Like I said, in a way, you’re family simply because of that shared experience.”
“I feel the same way,” Autumn said. She felt slightly nervous about disclosing how she’d come by Kaden’s name. In actuality, she’d put off deciding whether she was going to admit to having stolen his file, even if accidentally, until she’d met him. But now that she had, she felt safe doing so. “And actually, social workers won’t give out that kind of information. At least not the ones I’ve spoken to.” Begged. Cajoled. Over years and years. To no avail.
Ashtyn and Kaden wore matching expressions of concern. “So then…how…”
“I found my birth mother,” Autumn said, the picture of that dank room appearing front and center in her mind for a moment before she shoved it forcefully away. When would that image cease to bring on an immediate depression? “She told me she’d never taken the drug.”
Kaden and Ashtyn glanced at each other.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Autumn said before they had to figure out a diplomatic way to suggest her mother was being less than truthful to absolve herself from blame or regret. It wasn’t an off-base assumption. Autumn had strongly considered it too. Until…suspected ADHM. “She could have been lying. She could have forgotten or been wrong. But then I stole my case file from a social worker.”
Their eyes widened. It really was almost comical how in sync they were. Autumn told them about taking the file from Chantelle’s file cabinet, how several others had come with it, and how she hadn’t had time to put the others back.
One of which was Kaden’s.
“I’m sorry that I invaded your privacy,” Autumn said. “But it’s been like pulling teeth to get answers. Even so…I wouldn’t have stolen anyone else’s file on purpose, but…well, I’m hoping maybe we can work together to try to come up with some answers.”
“I’m glad you’re here, however that happened,” Kaden said. “But what do you need help answering?”
She reached in her purse on the floor next to her and removed her file and his, then flipped hers open on the coffee table in front of them. “Well, here”—she pointed to the place where the words were written—“it says suspected ADHM.”
Kaden leaned forward, looking at the place she’d indicated. “So they thought you were born positive but weren’t sure?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” Autumn pulled Kaden’s file from beneath hers and flipped it open. “The other files I took list a positive ADHM diagnosis. But yours says the same thing as mine. Suspected ADHM.”
Kaden’s frown deepened as he sat back. “Suspected ADHM,” he repeated.
She watched him process that for a moment. “Is there any indication your mother never actually took the drug?” she asked gently.
“I don’t know. I mean, I never heard that that was a possibility.” His gaze shifted for a moment, obviously thinking. “I was only at Mercy for six years before my aunt came for me. She’d had her issues too, but she got her life together and petitioned the court to adopt me even though she knew how sick I was. It was a bit of a battle, from what I know, but she prevailed, and I came here to live with her.” Kaden glanced at his wife, the worry lines on his forehead growing deeper. “Tammy, that’s my aunt, had turned into sort of a homeopath. She credited herbs and detoxes and who knows what else for helping her kick drugs.”
“She took you off the medication,” Autumn whispered.
“Yeah. She did. And I immediately felt human.”
Oh God. At the news, Autumn barely managed to hold herself upright. Her stomach clenched. She knew exactly what he meant because she’d experienced the same thing. My special, beautiful girl. Grow strong. Oh, Salma. For all intents and purposes, someone had “taken” her off the medication too. Thank you, Salma. Oh, thank you. If Salma hadn’t put the idea in her mind, she wouldn’t have done it. And then she wouldn’t have been released, wouldn’t have gone to live with Bill… She couldn’t consider it. She blinked away the tears suddenly burning the backs of her eyes.