He paused, then added, "Go. Adjust the temperature. And have an ambulance waiting outside."
After that, none of the maids dared say another word.
Mamie Winfield exchanged a look with Ivy, then hurried off to adjust the thermostat.
When she came back, the temperature inside the chamber had climbed to a hundred and fifty-eight degrees.
She had added a full eighteen degrees instead of nine.
The sudden blast of heat hit like a wall. My legs gave out. My whole body shook as I collapsed onto the scalding metal floor.
The instant my feet left their position, one sole lost a sheet of flesh to the iron plate. The other ripped away a layer of dried scab.
When my body hit the surface, the skin that touched the metal sizzled. It swelled red immediately, blood seeping through, as though I were being seared alive.
Pain tore through every inch of me, bone-deep, relentless. Blood oozed from everywhere at once.
To protect the baby, I forced myself past the agony and twisted my body so my back faced down.
Every movement peeled another strip of flesh from whatever part of me pressed against the scorching iron.
By the time I'd gotten into position, there was almost no unburned skin left on my body.