Chapter 34
As soon as Audrey stepped off the plane, she called Hugo. “How’s Aunt Anne?”
Hugo didn’t dare to reveal the truth. He replied hesitantly, “She’s… still in surgery.”
After hanging up, Audrey was too anxious to walt in line. She hastily hailed a cab outside the airport.
The driver softened upon noticing Audrey’s red–rimmed eyes and her request to send her to the hospital.
He offered words of comfort, “Is a family member in the hospital? Don’t worry. We’ll get there quickly. The roads are clear at this hour.”
“Yes,” Audrey responded. Her grip on the phone turned her knuckles white.
Hugo waited for her with an umbrella at the entrance to the hospital. As he paced back and forth, he rehearsed how to break the news of Anne’s passing. No matter how gently he put it, it wouldn’t ease Audrey’s pain.
Before Hugo could find the right words, Audrey’s cab pulled up.
When she emerged, Hugo hurried down the steps. He held the umbrella over her head.
“The surgery isn’t over yet?” Audrey asked, panicked. She slammed the car door and rushed towards. the hospital. “Which floor is the operating room on?”
“Audrey!” Hugo’s steps faltered as he reached out to grasp her arm.
She turned, her eyes brimming with dread. Her body was tense like a drawn bow. “Which floor?” she asked again. Her voice broke.
Hugo swallowed hard. He gripped the umbrella handle tighter before speaking, “Audrey, the doctors did everything they could… They couldn’t save her. Anne passed away before you landed.”
Audrey’s mind went blank.
paid hea
The sound of rain on the umbrella was the only thing she could hear.
Her legs weakened as if all her strength had been drained from her body. Tears filled her eyes, but she
didn’t dare to blink.
“Which floor is Aunt Anne on?”
“She’s been moved to the morgue.”
Audrey turned and stumbled into the hospital, nearly missing a step.
“Audrey!” Hugo reacted quickly, steadying her.
He led her inside the building. He explained as they walked slowly.
‘Anne stayed in Sheysea to meet Nathan. She went to Emerald Garden, where he was dining today. On
Chapter 24
the way there, a truck swerved to avoid a little girl chasing a balloon and collided with an oncoming car. The car then lost control and mounted the sidewalk. That’s how the accident happened.”
Audrey couldn’t even begin to visualize the scene.
She numbly followed Hugo into the elevator. When they reached the morgue, she stopped at the door. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her clothes tightly.
Her throat was so tight it made breathing difficult. “I… I’ll go in alone,” she managed to say in a hoarse whisper.
“Okay,” Hugo answered, opening the door for her.
In the cold stillness of the morgue, Anne lay under a white cloth.
On her wrist, she still wore the bracelet Audrey and her cousin had made the year before. Her body had stiffened.
Audrey’s legs felt like they were filled with lead, but she forced herself to move closer.
Her throat rolled with emotion. She gently grasped Anne’s cold hand and pulled back the white cloth.
Anne’s pale face appeared before her.
Audrey bent down. She gripped her hand tightly and gently laid it against her face. The overwhelming grief almost suffocated her.
“Aunt
Aunt Anne!”
