Resurrection (Blood of the Lamb) Read Online Free

Charlie was squatting down against the peeling weatherboards and tapping his shoulders.
    “Climb up here with your back to the window so you can go in feet first.” He took her hand and helped her clamber from his knee up to his shoulders, holding onto her ankles to balance her as he slowly rose up to stand.
    She felt vulnerable and exposed in the thin hospital nightgown, but she was right at the level of the open window now, so she gripped the top of Charlie's head to steady herself as she snaked her first leg through the void and felt around for the ledge with her toes. Once her first foot was stable, Charlie reached up and supported her under her armpits while she hooked her other leg over the sill, then he helped to guide her as she slithered through. But just when she thought she was safely clear, she knocked the sling against the side of the opening and the empty bottle clinked against the wooden frame. For a momentboth of them froze, Maryam anxiously holding her breath, before Charlie must have decided it was safe and stepped away from the wall.
    She balanced on the window sill and stared out at him, too scared to speak. Below her, he mimed how she should shut the window and fix its catches tight. When he had finished she waved her thanks, trying not to panic as she watched him fade off into the shadows, out of view. From here on she was on her own.
    Glancing behind her, she realised she was perched above a toilet, and cautiously inched down onto the rim of the bowl. More securely balanced now, she eased the window shut, moving as slowly as a sea slug to avoid further noise. Sweat was dripping freely down her temples and her legs had started to tremble uncontrollably by the time she'd secured the latches and climbed down to the floor. She collapsed onto the toilet seat and waited for the panic to pass.
    At last she removed the bottle from her sling and unscrewed the cleverly devised cap, glad she'd seen Charlie undo it earlier: she'd never have guessed. She placed the mouth of the bottle beneath the basin tap and turned it only a fraction, her ears on high alert as the first drops fell. The sound was so subtle she risked turning the tap a little more, allowing a tiny stream of water to flow into the bottle's mouth until it filled. Then she made her way out into the corridor. The wooden floorboards felt spongy beneath her feet, so she took one footstep at a time, careful to place her weight down gradually then pause again between each step. By the time she faced the door to her hiding place her pulse was running fast and jittery, her arm throbbing in perfect time.
    Little by heart-stopping little, she turned the handle of the door and pushed. Nothing. It would not budge. Again she tried, pressing her shoulder against it to add extra weight. She gripped tight to the handle, ready to stop if she pushed too hard and the door decided to creak open, but instead it gave way with a scraping sigh. All the little hairs at the base of her scalp sprang up as she tried to gauge whether the sound had been loud enough to alert the guard.
    But her luck seemed to be holding, and within five minutes she was safe inside the stuffy room that Charlie had so casually referred to as the belly of the beast. Now all she could do was wait. She took two more of the painkillers, pulling a face as she swallowed the tainted water. Whatever had been inside the bottle tasted foul. Then she curled herself up on the hard little bunk, wriggling around until her arm was comfortable enough, and closed her eyes—sending out a plea to the universe that Charlie would rescue her first thing tomorrow…before she was discovered by anybody else.

It was still dark when Maryam woke from a restless sleep to find her arm aching, and her bladder bloated and uncomfortable. She downed two more of the painkillers, then put her mind to the other pressing problem at hand. If she sneaked back out along the corridor to the toilet she risked alerting the guard; if she