Page 18 of Chosen Path
She heard him, but still, in her rush, she skidded and just barely caught her balance, wrenching her back in the process.That’s gonna hurt later,some distant part of her brain noted as she raced to unlock the door and throw it open.
Hope Gardener raced into the house, wild-eyed and breathless. She paused just inside the doorway and bent forward, bracing her hands against her thighs.
“Are you hurt?” Molly’s voice was calm and unhurried. She gave no hint that her pulse thudded urgently just under her skin or that adrenaline was zinging and rushing through her body and jangling her nerves.
Bodhi hurried behind Hope to close the door, then helped Molly guide her to the nearest chair.
Molly crouched in front of her. “Hope, talk to me.”
Hope raised her head and met Molly’s gaze. Her pupils were dilated and glassy. She panted, took a series of rapid, shallow breaths, and trembled.
“She’s in shock,” Bodhi murmured from behind Molly.
Molly nodded in agreement but kept her focus on Hope. She clasped the woman’s hands between her own. They were frigid.
“Hope, take a slow deep breath in for me.”
She did as Molly asked.
“Good. Let it out.”
Hope’s exhalation turned in a moan. “It’s Corrine.”
“Wolf?”
She nodded.
“Her cough’s worse?” Molly ventured.
“No. She’s … I think she’s dead.”
“Where is she?”
“At her … she’s at her house,” Hope managed, teeth chattering. “She came into the library yesterday. To pick up an audiobook she had on hold. She … she was coughing. Really badly. I have this cough syrup I picked up last time I was in Canada. Works wonders. So I stopped by with it this morning and …”
Her choppy narrative trailed off, and she pulled her hands free from Molly’s to bury her face in them.
Molly stood and turned to Bodhi. “Stay with her, please, while I go check on Corrine.”
He dipped his head. “Of course. If you’d rather, I can go.”
She jutted out her chin, instantly defensive. “I know you specialize in dead people, but I’ve been around the block.”
He held up both hands, palms forward in a gesture of appeasement. “I wasn’t suggesting otherwise.”
Her indignation faded as quickly as it had flared. “Right, sorry. But Corrine is my patient. I should go.”
He tilted his head toward Hope, who sobbed, her face still covered by her hands.
When he spoke, his voice was low, just above a whisper. “I know, but so is she. And your living patient might need comfort and familiarity more than your dead one.”
Oh.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth and eyed Laura’s daughter. Hope’s breathing was still unnaturally fast, but she was gulping down big lungfuls of air now. If she wasn’t lightheaded and hyperventilating yet, she soon would be. Molly’s brain clicked through what she knew about Hope Gardener. Both parents deceased. Single. Lives by herself. Estranged from her sister and her sister’s family for reasons that were widely known in town, often hinted at by the villagers, and never clearly stated—at least not to Molly. She was effectively alone. Bodhi was right. In this moment, Molly’s duty to Hope was greater than her duty to Corrine.
“Okay, that’s a good a point. Yes, I’d be grateful if you could go to Corrine’s while I calm Hope down.”
“Of course.” He grabbed his coat from the brass coat rack near the door.
