Page 3 of Unknown

He frowned, thoughtfully. "Not tomorrow. Say, the next day? Same time? I will be here again then, and maybe by then I'll know more."

"Okay. I'll meet you here. Same time, day after tomorrow." She hated saying the words, but needed to keep on his good side. In this regard, he was just the messenger. "And thank you," she added, forcing it out.

The man nodded, studying her for a moment longer before turning on his heel and walking away, disappearing around the bridge's concrete bulk.

Cora was left alone under the bridge, her mind spinning. She was one step closer to finding Rose, but the thought of what might have happened to her in the meantime made her feel nauseous.Forty-eight hours felt like a life sentence.

And then, her phone rang, making her jump. Who was it? She grabbed up the call, seeing that it was her father's ID on the screen. Her mom was sick. She had a heart condition. Cora had promised to be there for her dad, to help him while her mother recovered. She was doing her best to mend this relationship which had decayed after Rose disappeared.

"Dad?" she asked, as she strode back to her car.

"Cora." His voice was vulnerable, shaky. "Mom's back in the hospital. They don't know - they don't know if she's going to make it."

A new shock, a fresh bombshell. Her mother had been getting better. This was a twist she'd never expected.

"Give me twenty minutes. I'll be there."

The day seemed grayer, darker, as she spoke the words.

Cora pocketed her phone and broke into a run.

CHAPTER TWO

It was the same nightmare happening all over again, the way that it had the first time Cora's mom got sick, a couple of weeks ago. This time was worse, she guessed, from her dad's tone. What would the prognosis be?

When Cora pulled up outside her parents' house, rubber screeching, her dad was at the front door.

His face was sheet-white, his graying hair was mussed. This was something he couldn't handle. Last time, he'd been the same.

Cora had been shocked, the first time, by the toll it took on him. She thought she couldn’t be more shocked this time, but she was, as she stared into his drawn face, his reddened eyes.

She'd made a promise a while ago to fix things with her parents, to be a better daughter than she had been. There hadn't been the chance to do that before her mom got sick with this heart condition. Myocardial ischemia was its name. It could be treated, apparently. Her mother had been improving, but now, something had gone wrong.

Now, she feared her efforts at reconciliation with her parents, mending their relationship, were too little, too late. What if there was no more time?

"Cora," he said. "I can't believe it's happening again."

She squeezed his hand. It felt cold.

"Come on, Dad," she said. "Let's get to the hospital. You can tell me in the car what happened."

She grabbed the jacket off the coat hook in the hall because she didn't want her dad to be cold, and because he wasn't thinking for himself.

Their house was messier than she was used to seeing it. When her mother was well, there was no tidier place in the entire state of West Virginia. You could eat off the perfectly mopped floor if the polished dining room table wasn’t to your liking. Since she’d been sick, standards had dropped a little. Cora had done her best to help out, but she still hadn't done enough. She needed to do more, because it was important to her mother that the house was respectable. That was its heart and soul, as Cora's mother was a pillar of the community. She always had been.

Sometimes, Cora wondered how and why she'd ended up the way she had. Like a changeling, the ones that she'd read about in the fairy stories long ago. Her parents should have had a respectable daughter - gentle and loving. Instead, they got her: a renegade, a fighter, a rebel right from the time she could think independently.

At any rate, she might not be a loving daughter and there might have been a long rift in their relationship, but now, she was the one who needed to be strong.

Her dad stumbled and nearly fell over the welcome doormat as he stepped out of the house. He didn't know where he was, wasn't being mindful of his surroundings. His mind was focused on his wife.

If Cora had ever needed proof that her parents were close, it was in her dad's behavior right now.

"I've got you," she said, grasping his arm.

"Thanks, Cora," he stammered. "I'm sorry. I'm so distracted. So damned clumsy. It's like I'm somewhere else. There, with her."

"We'll be there soon."

---