Free The Brothers by Katie French

the wall and try to act natural, all the while peering toward the window in my closed door. Someone see him , I pray. Someone come in and stop this.
    “Jan,” he says, holding a hand out like a rancher to a skittish horse, “I know this morning was crazy. I’m sure you’re still shaken up.”
    I nod. That much is true. But when he takes another step forward, my heart drops into my slippers.
    “You have nothing to worry about now.” He flashes white teeth. Doctor’s teeth. He’s lived a good life. He makes enough money to sock some away. And now he wants to spend it. On me.
    “You don’t want to say anything?” he asks, now only four feet away. He raises one brown eyebrow.
    My lips form the words, but the sound comes out as a whisper. “Thank you.”
    He smiles, satisfied. He creeps forward again, now only an arm’s length away from me. “You are welcome, my sweet, sweet Jan.” He grips my shoulder. His voice comes out in a low murmur. “You don’t have to be afraid. Soon, we’ll be husband and wife.”
    He presses his lips on mine. His hands lock around my head. He kisses me, his mouth urgent, his tongue, his teeth, his lips moving as if they will devour me. His body is pressed against me, and I feel so tiny and helpless beneath him. He’ll eat me up and swallow me whole. I pretend I’m a statue, a block of concrete. He’s panting, pawing. His hands grope and grab. My skin crawls at his touch. A scream is building in my throat, but statues don’t scream. And Breeder girls don’t tell doctors to stop.
    A loud creak of hinges makes him jump back. My door blows open and Nanny Hannah’s voice cuts through. “This door is not to be—oh!” She stops in the doorway, her eyes on the disheveled Dr. Houghtson. “I didn’t know you were…”
    He clears his throat, straightens his shirt. “I was just discussing her…last medical exam.” It’s a lie and we all know it, but Nanny Hannah says nothing. She stands there, waiting.
    He strides out of the room, and I clutch the wall. He didn’t devour me, but my lips feel bruised. All I want is a hot shower and a ticket out of here.
    Nanny Hannah watches him stride down the hallway. “You alright?” Her eyes offer sympathy.
    My fingers float up to my lips. Are they red? Can she tell what he did?
    Her face tilts to the side. “It’s happened to all of us. The men need comfort from time to time,” she says, sighing. “Don’t take it too hard.”
    She turns and is gone, shuffling off down the hall.
    I stare at the empty doorframe and consider what she’s said. I’m just to accept my fate, to become nothing, so that Dr. Houghtson can be comfortable? A fury is growing in my belly like a wild fire. My skin burns with her words. Give in, give up , she’s saying. Let him have your body, your soul. Well, my body is on fire and if I’m going to burn, Dr. Houghtson will burn right along with me.
    I stride to the elevator and punch the button. The ride to the nursery is uneventful, but feels like an eternity. When the doors slide open, I bolt down the hall, past the rows of rooms with their nursery music and crying babies until I find Nanny Bell on the floor covered in drooling toddlers. When she sees me, her smile drops and she removes two babies, who cry when they’re placed on the floor.
    “What is it?” she says, standing up. Three children cling to her legs and begin bawling. She runs hands over their heads, but keeps her eyes locked on me. “What did he do?”
    “How do I stop this?” I say, my chest heaving. I know I should be quiet, but I’ve been quiet for so long.
    “How do you stop what?” Nanny Bell asks, hefting a cranky two-year-old into her arms. The girl, with big, red cheeks and blond curls, looks at me. I run a finger down her face. So smooth. So fresh. This is what I want, to be a baby again. To sit in someone’s lap and let her rock away my tears.
    “I need to stop Houghtson. What do I do?”
    Bell’s face hardens. She could’ve