Page 31 of Calling All Angels
“What happened to her?” Emma asked.
“Nothin’ happened to her. ’Twas her choice. She’s mortal. For good.”
Emma shook her head, confused. “She’s—? How…how is that?”
“’Tis no’ important.” Connor started toward the ICU, but she followed close on his heels, dodging wheelchairs and nurses walking down the hall. “That’s only on a need-to-know basis.”
“Well, I need to know. How exactly is she down here for good?”
There was the scent of antiseptic in the air, of sterilized sheets and the sound of TVs coming from rooms they passed. Nurses chatted in the nurses’ station, answering questions of patients’ families that waited nearby. But all of that was just a distracting hum in the background. Emma could hardly keep up with Connor’s steps, but she wasn’t about to let this go.
“Tell me.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“Why did you bring her up?”
“Because you—” He turned abruptly on her. “She fell, all right? Because she decided to. Remember the mingle I told you about?”
She nodded.
“That’s what happened. She wanted to stay. She met a man. A mortal. It was meant to be.”
“And she fell?”
“Aye.”
“And you miss her.” It was not a question. There was a sadness in his eyes as he told her. Maybe a bittersweet sadness.
He shrugged. “Aye. But…’tis all right.”
They reached Emma’s floor and moved down the hallway. “Have you seen Elspeth since she…fell?”
With the shake of his head, he closed the subject. But she couldn’t stop thinking about his friend falling. An angel falling. Becoming human. Was it common? Rare? Were there people she knew who had fallen? Could one intersect with an angel—a guardian—and not even know it? Of course, Aubrey had just today with Connor in the guise of a male nurse.
“What did Aaron want?” Jacob asked Aubrey outside Emma’s room when she returned.
“Flowers for Emma. He was a friend of hers. A long time ago.”
“And Kinsey brought these by,” he said, holding up another bouquet. A cheery mix of peonies, tulips, and pink roses mixed with baby’s breath. The fragrance of the flowers cut the sting of the sterile hospital smell. This was the second expensive bouquet she’d brought since Emma had been hospitalized. But the ICU frowned on flowers in the room. They’d have to take them back home.
“That’s very nice of her,” Aubrey said. “And not to point fingers, but it’s a little unusual for Kinsey, who rarely seems to notice anyone outside her own little box.”
“That’s kind of true,” Emma allowed.
“I don’t know,” Jacob mused. “She seems genuinely broken up about Emma’s accident. You just never know what’s going on inside someone like Kinsey.”
“That’s the understatement of the year. Kinsey’s loyal to Emma, but flowers? That so isn’t like her.”
“Sue Marti stopped by earlier, too, to see if you needed anything. She’s bringing you some soup tomorrow, staffing the Brandon’s Hope Home Tour this weekend. She’s apparently got it all under control. She said, and I quote, ‘It’s already a screaming success.’”
Emma smiled to herself. Brandon’s Hope was a fundraising nonprofit that benefited children’s cancer research. Every year, Emma arranged for one or two of the beautiful homes she’d brokered to be perfectly staged for house tours. People paid big bucks to see homes like these, and Emma loved doing it. Their tours had raised almost three hundred thousand dollars since they’d started five years ago.
“Nowthatdoesn’t surprise me. Good for her.”
Worry creased Jacob’s expression. “But listen, Aub. I’m worried about Emma’s safety. And yours. I don’t think she should have any visitors until we figure this thing out.”
“I think you’re overreacting about this,” she told him.
