I awaken to paralysis. Blinding lights. Hospital smells.
I vaguely recall feeling dizzy at Mom’s wedding reception.
“You’re conscious.”
My new stepfather glides into view, wearing blood-spattered scrubs and a lunatic grin.
“Observe.”
He tilts my head right. I see my new stepbrother, Caleb, unconscious on a gurney. Gleaming surgical staples circumscribe his upper arm, above a Celtic tattoo like mine.
Exactly like mine.
My head gets tilted left. More staples. I see Caleb’s arm grafted onto my shoulder.
The tectonic plates of my sanity shiver and buckle.
“Now you’re really part of our family, and we’re part of you.”
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