The intern rushed to help me up. "Before the anesthesia, the patient kept calling your name. She wanted you to take care of yourself and get some rest."
I wiped my eyes and forced myself to hold it together. The surgical light went dark. They wheeled her out. I threw my arms around Aunt Harriet's cold body and held on. The one person in this world who had truly loved me was gone forever.
I handled the funeral alone. Sorting through her belongings, the cremation, arranging the headstone. I hadn't closed my eyes in over twenty-four hours.
Hardly anyone came. I called my parents to let them know, but they hung up before I could finish.
"She only ever cared about you, didn't she? Then you can mourn her by yourself."
They couldn't have cared less. All they told me was to hurry up and come home for a family gathering to celebrate Agatha's pregnancy.
I hated them down to the marrow of my bones. I swore silently over that grave that I would get justice for Aunt Harriet and make every last one of them pay. The family gathering would be the perfect opportunity to drag their filth into the light and turn them against each other.