The Ferryman Read Online Free PDF Page A

understood her, though just barely. Annette chewed quickly and then swallowed.
    â€œI heard from Janine last night,” she said, her expression now serious.
    Janine. The only other person in the world who called Annette Elf. David knew the news was not good. The sparkle had disappeared from Annette’s eyes.
    In his life, David had had many good friends. Somehow, though, they all seemed to slip away. Even those he still cared deeply for were not really a part of his life anymore. Most of his high school and college friends were married and had children, and thus had lives too complicated for such frivolities as a movie or a few beers with an old buddy. Only Vince Piselli still sought him out regularly, but Vince was divorced, and seemed to be trying to recapture the drunken debauchery of their college days.
    So, almost by attrition, Annette had become his best friend. None of which lessened the degree to which he cared for her. Perhaps it was because she was gay and he knew that there could never be anything sexual between them, but David adored her more than almost any other woman he had ever met. One exception was his sister, who lived in California and with whom he spoke at least twice a week. The other was Janine Hartschorn, the woman he had almost married.
    Janine had been teaching mathematics at St. Matthew’s for only a year before David and Annette came along. The three of them had quickly become almost inseparable. Not long after, David and Janine fell in love. For fourteen months it seemed perfect.They talked about the future. Then the past came back to haunt them in the form of Janine’s ex, who had broken her heart not long after college.
    He could still remember the words she had used to tell him the best thing in his life was gone. I love you, she had said, her voice quavering. But if I don’t give this a shot, see what I can make of it, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life, and I’d end up resenting you for that.We’d both be miserable.
    With regret, he also remembered his response, the bitter words he still wished he could take back. Yeah. At least this way only one of us is miserable.
    â€œWhat happened?” he asked hesitantly.
    â€œShe lost the baby.”
    A twinge of pain shot through his heart and he closed his eyes for a moment. The asshole had gotten Janine pregnant and had left her. Annette had told him that much, had even suggested that he call, but David thought that if Janine wanted to hear from him, she would let him know.
    But this ...
    â€œHow?”
    Annette bit her lip slightly. She dipped her head toward him, then shot a quick glance at the other teachers. When she spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper, intimate and pained. “You sure you want to hear all this?”
    David nodded.
    â€œOkay, maybe one in ten first pregnancies, women have what’s called preeclampsia. Blood pressure goes way, way up, and circulation to the fetus drops precipitously. It’s dangerous stuff. But for Janine, it was worse. She developed another condition, or syndrome, or whatever. I don’t even remember the name. Anyway, with the blood pressure up, the liver goes into overdrive and starts almost attacking the red blood cells and the platelets, destroying them.
    â€œThe short version of that is that with a really low platelet count, your blood won’t clot.That means they can’t perform a C-section and take the baby without having the mother bleed to death. I’d guess even vaginal birth is dangerous at that point, but the baby’s coming out one way or another. But when the mother’s system goes into distress—and we’re talking critical—so does the baby’s.
    â€œJanine almost died, but she pulled through.The baby didn’t make it. Now they’ve got her on all this antidepression medication and stuff. She sounded pretty bad.”
    â€œGod,” David whispered, dropping his gaze. He shook his head,