- 9.
The smell of antiseptic replaced the smoke, and when I woke up again, I saw white walls.
Mom was sitting next to me. When she saw that I was awake, her eyes lit up: “Ashley, you’re finally awake.”
Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard, which made me cry.
I couldn’t help but cry.
Mom hugged me, and I could feel her shoulders shaking.
Dad walked in, his arm wrapped in a thick layer of gauze. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but I couldn’t make a sound.
Dad hurriedly stopped me from getting up, and his voice was still hoarse: “Ashley doesn’t know where she ran off to. Your mom and I have made a lot of phone calls, but her phone is off. Don’t go to school for the next few days. Stay home and rest.”
Dad’s always–straight back bent over: “I didn’t think… I thought Ashley was just spoiled, but I didn’t think she would try to kill us.”
Mom shivered, tears falling down her thin face. After a long time, she started crying.
Mom sobbed and relayed the words of the police: “Your dad and I called the police when we woke up. The police investigated the source
I frowned, telling Mom to continue.
Mom closed her eyes, her lips trembling: “They found that the source of the fire was a gasoline bomb.”
I sat up.
A bomb?
We weren’t rich, but we didn’t have any friends in the criminal world. Where did Ashley get these dangerous items?
I had an answer in my mind.
What was the bloody thing that Ashley had held in her hand that day?
I endured the pain and reached for the phone, typing: “Go to the hospital near our house and see if Ashley got an abortion.”
When Mom saw this, she was shocked. Dad picked up the phone and walked out with a dark expression.
Two hours later, the report was in my hands.
Three months pregnant.
Mom covered her mouth, tears falling.
Dad stared at the words for a long time, and then he slowly put the report back and called 911.
Even if we didn’t want to admit it, Ashley was now an even bigger threat.
Ashley had gone down the wrong path.
of
the
fire and found…”
