*Content Warning* This story contains themes of kidnapping, drug abuse, animal cruelty, and physical and verbal abuse. Read with caution if such themes may be upsetting. *** Shelby slowly walks down the corridor into the living room, where she sits in a round wicker chair. She looks down at her feet and clasps her hands ...

It’s hard to fathom that the third leading cause of death in America before Covid came on the scene was medical errors or misdiagnosis of conditions. Not that anything has changed because of Covid, it only knocked it to the fourth leading cause of death.  My own experience of misdiagnosis with breast cancer for fifteen months caused ...

Read Parts 1-6 Chaos and cacophony. “Dee? Are you okay?” Eddie’s voice penetrates the solipsism. “Dee!” My eyes flicker open to Eddie holding the detached call bell in his left hand, his mouth gaping and face pale. His chest rises and falls through his scrubs. “I’m alive,” I fumble. “Who did this? The night nurse ...

Read Parts 1-5 **Content Warning:** This story contains depictions of and allusions to the abuse of vulnerable populations, such as those with disabilities, LGBTQA+, and children of abusive parents, and may contain content that some may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. “Michael.”   Gasping awake against the dim light and my heart gallops. My ...

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 **Content Warning:** Contains allusions to emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of a maternal figure.

Read Part 1 | Part 2 ~ Red curls bounce and reflect light on the television across the room. In the deep recesses of my visual cortex an impulse fires and a chain reaction of electrochemical events cascade into a single thought. Madison?  My heart quickens. A lightness creeps into my chest, bubbling up as ...

Who’s Michael? Devoid of perception, I am falling. I am aware of nothingness. Neither asleep nor awake, the existence of time suggests I’m alive. A crooning infiltrates my perception. “My son is back.” A tachycardia alarm shakes me as nausea changes gravity’s directions in the nightmare half-sleep. Swirling, tossing darkness stretches between seconds and eternity. ...

A rhythmic beeping permeated the darkness. A warmth squeezed somewhere at something. Then, there was light. An impulse twitched and flicked my soon to be recognized eyelids. In my periphery, a soft blue blur came into focus. It draped over an arm – my arm. My tremoring vision followed my left arm to the source ...