Someone called after her and she realized that she must be a sight. How could she get past Ruth and the other nurses to her room? As she neared the factor’s house, she slowed her pace. She lifted her head and pushed her shoulders back. It was a morning like any other, she told herself. She was known for her early morning walks. Nothing unusual.
Snatches of country music drifted from an open window at the nurses’ residence. She listened at the door a few minutes before easing it open. She stopped and listened again. Nothing. It couldn’t be much after seven, but she’d missed the morning-shift exodus. For this small mercy, she was grateful, but she knew she’d only delayed the inevitable. In the kitchen, a few cups rested upside down in the sink and a jar of jam stood open on the table. She l
