Desperate Choices Read Online Free PDF

position before his eyes shifted to the bed. A smile lit his face when he saw the girl sitting up against the headboard, pillows supporting her back.
    “Hello, baby girl.” Steven’s voice was filled with a wealth of love. Tommy was puzzled at the display. He really cared about Rebecca. Steven had shown more emotion in those few words than in all the time he’d been held hostage.
    Tommy watched Steven approach the brass bedstead and seat himself on the edge of the mattress.
    “You doing okay?” Steven’s hand brushed gently at the bangs hanging across her forehead.
    “I’m okay, I guess. Wasn’t exactly expecting company, though, you know? What gives?”
    “I know, baby. I’ll explain it to you later, all right? It’s a real long story.” Steven smoothed down the blanket and picked up the girl’s hand. Tommy watched it all, trying to piece together exactly what was going on. What was Steven’s relationship with this girl? He seemed genuinely fond of her. If he cared about her, why was she a hostage, too?
    “I wanted to check on you, see if you needed anything. I’ve got to go out for a bit.”
    “I’m fine. Woke up a few minutes ago and met Tommy.” She glanced over at Tommy. He blushed and looked away. “There’s only one thing I need anyway, and you’ve got it.” She looked up at Steven, doubt clouding her eyes.
    “You do have it, don’t you?”
    “Don’t worry, sweetie, it’s outside. I’ll get it.”
    Tommy watched Steven pull open the door and reach for something just beyond his line of sight. Steven backed into the room, propelling a wheelchair through the open doorway. The rubber-shod wheels barely cleared the doorjambs.
    Rolling the chair over next to the bed, Steven locked the handbrake into position.
    The smile on the young girl’s face left Tommy awestruck. She seemed positively thrilled at the sight of the chair.
    Tommy tensed when Steven approached him. He remained seated in the chair he’d occupied throughout this entire bizarre conversation. He drew back as far as he could at Steven’s approach. Steven leaned in close, his breath a whisper in his ear.
    “Remember what I told you,” Steven quietly uttered, running a solitary finger down the side of Tommy’s face. “Touch a hair on her head, upset her in any way, and you’re dead.”
    Steven walked back to the bed, bending to place a brief kiss on Rebecca’s forehead before heading toward the door.
    “Bye, sweetie. Be good.”
    Her eyes met Tommy’s before she turned toward the door.
    “I’m always good, Uncle Steven.”

Chapter Six
    Steven paced the floor in front of his kitchen countertop, back and forth, his mind reeling. What have I done?
    He hadn’t stopped to think things through the night he picked Tommy up by the side of the road. He’d fully intended to take him into town, to get his flat tire fixed.
    As they drove, though, he started thinking about Becca. Pretty, sweet Becca. She was so alone now, she had nobody but him. Her parents, his sister and brother-in-law, had been killed instantly in a head-on collision six months earlier. Becca had been in the car with them, in the back seat, but had been thrown clear of the wreckage.
    He remembered getting the call that horrific night from the doctors at the Baton Rouge hospital. He was the contact person listed on his sister’s identification card, in case of emergency. He recalled the calm detached voice of the physician as he explained the facts, asking if he could come.
    Becca lingered, clinging to life. The doctors, who hadn’t expected her to make it, quoted him statistics and gave her less than a twenty percent chance of survival. But he knew she was a fighter.
    He thought back to the moment he walked into the ICU room and saw her poor pitiful frame punctuated with all the tubes and machines helping her breathe, keeping her stable. Their incessant beeping, whirring, chirping sounds gave him pause, even as they gave him hope. She wasn’t gone, and he