Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE FULL OF LOCKED DOORS
The Romano estate was enormous.
Marble floors.
High ceilings.
Portraits of stern men.
Security cameras in every hallway.
But what I noticed most was the silence.
There were no toys in the entrance hall.
No drawings on the refrigerator.
No shoes abandoned beside the stairs.
It didn't feel like a house where a child lived.
It felt like a museum where a child was expected not to disturb the exhibits.
Alessandro led me upstairs.
Sofia's bedroom was painted pale lavender.
A canopy bed stood beneath the window.
Shelves held expensive dolls.
A piano occupied one corner.
Everything was beautiful.
Everything was immaculate.
And everything looked untouched.
I walked toward the desk.
A small notebook lay open.
Inside were drawings.
A girl holding hands with a woman in a blue coat.
A house beside a lake.
A dog.
And a little diner with a red sign.
I stared.
Rosie's.
Sofia had drawn Rosie's Diner.
Alessandro stood behind me.
“What is it?”
I pointed.
“She remembered.”
He looked at the drawing.
His expression changed.
I turned another page.
There was a picture of a woman lying in a hospital bed.
A little girl stood beside her.
Above them, Sofia had written:
THE LADY WHO CAN'T BREATHE.
My heart stopped.
I knew that picture.
The hospital bed.
The oxygen tubing.
The pale-blue blanket.
It looked exactly like my mother.
I turned toward Alessandro.
“Has Sofia ever been to Mercy General Hospital?”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because my mother is treated there.”
May you like
He stared.
“And Sofia drew her.”
