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“Let me look,” Astrid said

They entered Mary’s rooanized as ever But the bed was unmade

“She always makes her bed,” Astrid said

“Yeah,” John agreed

“What’s that sound?” There was a steady hu from the bathroom The fan Astrid tried to open the bathroom door, but it was blocked She leaned into it and pushed it open enough to see inside

Mary was on the floor, unconscious She earing a robe that exposed her calves

“Oh, my God,” Astrid cried “Mary!”

“Help ether they forced the door open enough to let them slip inside Astrid immediately noticed the smell of vomit

“She must be sick,” John said

The toilet water was slightly discolored There was a thin trail of vo from Mary’s mouth

“She’s breathing,” Astrid said quickly “She’s alive”

“I didn’t even know she was sick”

Then Astrid saw the little zipper bag, a little Clinique cos with its contents half spilled onto the bathroom tile

She picked it up She dumped the contents out on the floor A mostly empty bottle of ipecac And several different types of laxatives

“John, close your eyes for a minute”