The Riches of Mercy Read Online Free PDF

out in the neighborhood when she drove through. Sometimes her boys waved at the people they saw. No one waved back.
    Even Mrs. Cranston, her babysitter, didn’t speak to her. Though she took Meredith's money. At least she was kind to the children.
    At work no one seemed to know her anymore. There were moments with Colleen where everything felt like it was before, when Vincent was still alive, when the boys were just infants, and everything at work felt right. But Colleen would back off of those moments before Meredith would.
    Aside from her children and a stranger who didn't yet condemn her, Meredith had nothing. So when the cat rubbed against her hand, seeking more, she didn't have the strength to resist.
    "Where did you come from?" she asked.
    The cat merely circled her ankles and stretched out for another touch.
    She wished she had more faith.
    #
    Natalie missed her life. She missed her city. With each long, slow, pain-filled day passing, the accident felt less like a horrible inconvenience and more like her whole life was altering.
    She only talked to doctors and nurses. The reality of her empty life was sinking in, and it made her feel terribly cold. She trembled and reached for nurses with icy fingers. She slept endlessly.
    Since Wheeler told her about her leg, she preferred to sleep. She would float, at ease and dreamless, for hours. No pain, no past, no future. And then she would wake up, and the panic would set in--always within the first minute. She'd burned through a week of sick leave. She only had two more left.
    Roland's trial restarted. The newspapers reported the defense team's argument was making inroads now that Natalie Ivans' steely, cold gaze wasn't there to thwart it.
    That was how they thought of her. She wanted to dwell on it, but her head still hurt most of the time and all she could really to do was sleep again.
    In this early afternoon, for the first time since waking up in her new life, she had a visitor. Theresa brought Patrick into her room. He'd driven down from Charlotte.
    "How's the case?" she asked. She let him kiss her forehead, unable to reciprocate. She felt limp and useless in the hospital bed. Not even her brain worked, and she was starting to get tired again.
    "Screw the case," he said.
    "Give me a dollar."
    "What?"
    "They don't like you to cuss around here." She lowered her voice. "I think it's a like, Christian hospital."
    Patrick glanced around furtively. "Eastern Carolina. Jesus. A good reason I didn't go to school down here."
    "Oh, that's why?" she asked.
    "And I thought Atlanta would be really exciting."
    Natalie’d worried about what he'd say when he saw her like this, but he was just himself, reminding her of home. She could be herself, too. She could slip into the patterns of her life for the past year, and feel like everything was normal.
    "Was it?" she asked.
    "Hot."
    "Patrick, tell me about the trial. I'm going crazy. I'm atrophying."
    "We're hoping you'll be back before closing. It'll have an impact on the jury, to see you strong and--well, vengeful."
    "I--I can't, Patrick. My recovery is going to take months."
    "Months?" He paled.
    She clenched her hands together. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
    "It was just a car accident, Natalie. It's not the end of the world. We'll take Casey's car and let you use it as a loaner until you get all this sorted out."
    "I'm not taking your kid's car."
    "Nat--"
    "Please. I'm not ready for much."
    "Can I get you a computer?"
    "Maybe soon."
    "How are you?"
    His be-okay tone persisted.
    "They don't think I'm going to walk again." She felt like she was going to throw up.
    "Oh, God. I didn't--I'm sorry, Nat."
    She glanced back.
    He tried not to look at her, tried to be brave and see her at the same time. If she ended up disfigured, or limping, or worse, everyone would be seeing her the same way for the rest of her life.
    "Most of me will heal. They scooped out some of my insides," she said.
    Patrick coughed. He'd always been too sensitive