Dionne
The woman's wrist was thin in my grip.
I could feel the fine bones of it, the pulse jumping beneath my fingers, and for a single second we both just stood there in the hospital corridor staring at each other.
Neither of us had expected it. Especially her because her face changed.
The shock dissolved, and what replaced it was something far colder and more dangerous.
She looked down at my hand on her wrist the way you'd look at something you'd found crawling across your kitchen counter.
"Let. Go." Each word came out separated from the next, bitten off clean.
I released her slowly, afraid she would immediately try to strike me again. My heart was hammering so hard I was certain she could hear it, but I kept my hand steady as I lowered it to my side.
She pulled her arm back and held it against her chest, rubbing her wrist as though I had burned her, even though I knew perfectly well I hadn't held it that tightly.
