Read The Broken String for Free Online Page A

saying the wrong thing. He could always be set off so easily.
    “I don’t know what to say to him,” I admitted.
    The chaplain leaned toward me, his hands on the desk. “Every time he wakes up, he thinks he’s back there,” he said. “Back in the war, under attack. So when he wakes up, tell him right away that he’s safe. That’s what he needs to know. That’s the most important message for him to hear from you: He’s safe.”
    His hospital room seemed too cold to me. I’d been sitting next to Danny’s bed for more than an hour watching him sleep. Part of me hoped he would wake up and talk to me, but another part feared his reaction to finding me there.
    Tubes were everywhere. One came from his neck, another from his nose. One extended from beneath his blanket to a bag of blood-tinged urine at the side of the bed. An IV tube delivered a clear substance into his arm. A big arc-shaped tent had been erected above his legs. I was afraid to see what was beneath that tent. Seeing Danny in such a helpless position made my heart ache.
    I was so tired. A nurse had left a brown blanket on the arm of the chair for me, and now I wrapped it around my shoulders. I kicked off my shoes and lifted my legs onto the chair, trying to get more comfortable, but the scent of disinfectant was so strong it burned my nostrils and I was sure the buzzing and beeping of machines would never let me sleep. As I tried to decide whether to close my eyes or not, Danny’s arm jerked. It was a tiny movement, but it was the first I’d seen from him. I leaned forward and covered his hand with mine, letting the blanket fall from my shoulders.
    “Danny?” I said quietly.
    His familiar blue eyes sprang open and I felt the tension in his hand, in his whole body. “It’s a trap!” he said. It might have been a shout, but his voice was so weak that it came out as more of a whisper. “We’re walking right into it!”
    I remembered the chaplain’s advice. “You’re not there,” I said. “You’re in the hospital. You’re safe now.”
    I heard the words inside my own head. They played back to me in his voice from so long ago. I remembered him holding me on the branch of our magnolia tree after I slipped and nearly fell to the ground. How his hands felt like a vice around my rib cage, holding me in a way that told me I was completely safe. His Game Boy lay far below us on the ground, not nearly as important to him as his little sister. He would never let me fall. I wanted to be that net of safety for him now. For always.
    He looked at me with his pale blue eyes. Perfect eyes. I was grateful those eyes had been spared. I smiled at him. I would be for him what he’d been for me when we were children. His protector. His comforter. His best friend.
    “You’re safe now,” I whispered again, and I wrapped my hands tightly around his arm.

Read on for an excerpt from
    Diane Chamberlain’s new novel,
    The Silent Sister,
    available October 2014

    Excerpt from
The Silent Sister
copyright © 2014 by Diane Chamberlain.

JUNE 2013
    1.

    Riley
    I’d never expected to lose nearly everyone I loved by the time I was twenty-five.
    I felt the grief rise again as I parked in front of the small, nondescript post office in Pollocksville. The three-hour drive from my apartment in Durham had seemed more like six as I made a mental list of all the things I needed to do once I reached New Bern, and that list segued into thinking of how alone I felt. But I didn’t have time to dwell on my sadness.
    The first thing I had to do was stop at this post office, ten miles outside of New Bern. I’d get that out of the way and cross one thing off my list. Digging the flimsy white postcard from my purse, I went inside the building. I was the only customer, and my tennis shoes squeaked on the floor as I walked up to the counter where a clerk waited for me. With her dark skin and perfect cornrows, she reminded me of my friend Sherise, so I liked her instantly.
    “How can I