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Ashwini sat there for another minute and she didn’t even knohy until she saw the silhouette change, mother and child joined by a masculine for her eyes away from a scene that would never be a part of her own life, she drove off
It was stupid to do this, she knew that Once she was outside Manhattan, the drive would take eighty minutes or more there, the same back, and she planned to wake early to attend the autopsy But a night without sleep wouldn’t kill her, and her gut pulsed with the re the worst episodes, when neither ht thefrom a piece of classic literature, had proven the best panacea when things began to go downhillas was happening more and more frequently
She reached her destination just under an hour and a half later, elcomed by a familiar nurse, his red hair combed in a simple style All the senior staff kneini had permission to visit at any time
Carl’s face made it clear her instincts hadn’t let her down “How bad?” she asked
“Most severe end of the scale”
“Did anyone unauthorized go into the roo his head, Carl said, “I double-checked The episodes are si worse, Ash”
It was a fact she’d admitted to herself three months back “Have you told Arvi?” Unlike her, he refused to face the truth even a blind man could see
“Yes He’s here, but you know your voice is the only one that seeainst the freckled paleness of his skin, he spread his hands, palms out “I would’ve called you, but it was so late and with your injury”
“It’s all right, Carl” Leaving the nurse at his station, she strode down the thick gray carpet of the hallway toward the corner suite, the walls around her hung with elegant pieces of art, and the archedat the end reaching the floor It allowed sunlight to pour in during the day while showcasing the hedge ht it revealed only stygian darkness
The book aiting for her on the little hallway table beside the closed door, the soundproofing so good that she couldn’t hear anything beyond it
Arvi sat on a chair beside the table His head was in his hands, his shoulders slumped and the white of his business shirt stretched across the breadth of theer than life Yet he was only a man, a man as in pain She went to reach out, closed her hand into a fist before she could , she picked up the bookand Arvi’s hand closed over her wrist, the leather of her jacket insulating her froed her into her brother’s life and his secrets against her will Chest thick with a thousand unsaid things, she shifted to look at hi his throat, she turned coainst her stomach as he cried Her own tears were locked up inside her, knotted up with fear and anger and loss But she held Arvi as he cried, her strong, deter that had changed everything
The past The present The future