Page 33 of His

“Really?” I’m fighting tears. “You’d—you’d do that for me?”

“Of course. The next one’s on you, though,” she winks again, then falls serious. “So. Um. How are you doing with what happened earlier? Do you have any questions?”

“Uh yeah. What was that about? You screamed, he screamed, and Valerie . . . she was just standing there, in the hallway, white as a ghost. The case file said she hardly gets out of bed. I was told to never let her walk alone because she’s still adjusting to her new medications—I got the impression she couldn’t walk without assistance.”

“That’s correct. That was very . . . very strange. It wasn’t normal, so I don’t think you need to worry about it happening often.”

“I feel bad. I should have been there.”

“You have to eat dinner, right? It’s unreasonable to expect you to be in the room with her every second of every hour.”

I glance into the hallway. “Is he mad?”

“Astor?”

“Mr. Stone, yes.”

Sabine winces for a moment and I’m not sure why. “No, Mr. Stone isn’t mad at you. Again, I think it’s understood that you can’t be with her every second. But, I do want to ask . . . did anything strange happen today before dinner? Was she acting funny? Anything like that?”

“No. Well . . . I don’t know what her acting strange would look like because I’ve only spent a short amount of time with her, but nothing happened that alarmed me.”

“Did she get up at all?”

“To the restroom, but that was it.”

“What about her medication? Did you administer any this afternoon?”

“Yes, of course. She takes medication three times a day.”

“And you gave the correct dosage . . .”

My stomach sinks. Could I have mixed up her medication?

“I’m—yes. Of course I gave her the correct amount,” I say, far too quickly.

Sabine’s eyes narrow and just when I think she is going to press the issue further, she says, “Brittney. You’re still bleeding.”

“Oh.” I look down at my thumb. The blood is now dripping onto the floor. “Sorry.”

I can practically feel Sabine’s scrutiny as I clumsily wipe up the blood from the floor.

She’s frowning when I stand. “Let’s get you bandaged up, and again, what happened today isn’t the norm, so don’t worry about it,” she says referring to Valerie.

Little does she know, that’s not what I’m upset about.

Twenty-Three

Sabine

After showing Brittany to the first aid kit, I retire to the bedroom, knowing I won’t get a wink of sleep until Astor returns.

What a night. Between Valerie’s—and now Brittney’s—odd behavior, I don’t know what to think anymore.

Just after midnight, the bedroom door opens and Astor walks in. I’m fully prepared for him to ask me to leave. Instead?—

“She’s asleep, finally. Took me over an hour to get her there.”

I close my eyes and exhale. “Astor.”

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