Chapter 24
Sandra jumps. I yelp at the sight of the familiar face through the window.
“Hey!” Clara’s voice is distorted by the glass. “Is this your friend, Isobel?”
Sandra has gone stark white. I open the door and swing my legs out, stand up so quickly I get dizzy, tiny black spots dancing at the edges of my vision, taunting me.
“Hey, Clara.” I steady myself with an arm on the roof of the car. It’s gritty with dust and pollen from the drive.
Sandra gets out on the other side, and she thrusts her hand out at Clara.
“Hi!” Her voice is different, slightly lower in pitch, though still chipper. It must be her work voice. I realize I’ve never heard it before.
“I’m Sandra. I’m the new physical therapist. I’m taking over for Ellen.”
“What happened to Ellen?” Clara frowns, looking from Sandra to me, as though we’ve done something to Ellen. Gotten rid of her.
“Her shift up here is over.” I hear Sandra smiling politely, though I can’t see her face.
The sunlight is stinging my eyes, and I blink rapidly as I close the car door and walk around the hood to Clara.
“Wait.” Clara looks from Sandra to me. “So you guys are friends?”
“No.” Sandra is too quick to deny it. “No, we’re not.”
She’s never been a very good liar. Her shoulders pulled up to her ears, her arms crossed in front of her chest, she looks exactly like what she is: spiky, guilty, and defensive.
“Clara.” I keep my voice low, and I grimace as I lean into the younger woman. “Sandra kind of broke a rule for me. It was really nice of her, but I don’t want to get her in trouble. Would you mind keeping this between us?”
Clara’s eyes glimmer with interest.
“What rule?”
She’s lowered her voice, too; that feels like a good sign.
“I almost passed out on the way back from breakfast,” I say. “Period cramps. Real bad ones. Sandra had just pulled in, and she let me sit in her car and rest until I felt better.”
Her eyebrows climb higher.
“That’s it?”
“And staff aren’t supposed to let any patients into staff quarters,” I add hastily. “Their personal cars are included in that. She was just doing a nice thing. I don’t want her getting punished for that.”
“Well.” Clara seems to weigh her options. “The rules are there to be followed.”
“Come on, Clara,” I urge her. “We’re supposed to take care of each other, right? Have each other’s backs? That’s what the, uh, Himlafall philosophy is all about.”
Clara looks at me. There is a shift in her face, a twitch in her lips, almost like a sneer, but then it’s gone, and she looks sweet as summer again.
“Of course.” Clara turns to Sandra. “Just make sure not to push me too hard in physical therapy, all right? Quid pro quo?”
She laughs, and Sandra laughs with her, forced to the point of sounding painful.
“You better get a move on, though,” Clara says. “Group therapy starts in a little bit. I don’t think you get to skip it just because you’ve got cramps.”
“Sure,” I agree.
Clara gives a little wave.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she tells us, and again, that whisper of a smile seems to flit across her face, like she’s amused at some private joke, before she turns and leaves.
Sandra and I remain standing there, completely quiet, until Clara has rounded the corner of the main building and disappeared behind it.
“Jesus fuck,” Sandra curses, and when I turn to her she’s pinched her eyes closed.
“She won’t say anything,” I attempt to reassure her, but she shakes her head.
“We’re idiots.” Her voice sounds pained. “I shouldn’t have let you in the car. I kept saying how important it was to be discreet, and—”
“It’s fine,” I interrupt her. “Okay? It was a reasonable story. Just repeat it if anyone asks.”
“What about when the article comes out, Isobel?” Sandra sounds like she wants to be shouting, her voice forced into a growl. “What then? They were never supposed to know we had any connection. Your name will be in the byline, Isobel. It won’t be that difficult putting two and two together.”
“Martina doesn’t know yet,” I tell Sandra. “None of the staff members know. Don’t lose your cool. The moment you let yourself be scared, you’ve already lost.”
Sandra stiffens; then she surprises me by letting out a small laugh.
“Is that one of your dad’s sayings?” she asks me.
I feel myself redden.
“Maybe,” I admit.
“Yeah,” Sandra snorts. “That line of thinking worked out so well for him.”
She sighs, and some of the tension seems to drain out of her.
“Okay. Okay. You’re right. We’ll proceed. I’ll take that meeting with the doctor tonight, and you sneak in and check out the files. Then, once they’ve all gone to bed, you meet me in the woods and we’ll debrief.”
“… the woods?” I swallow. “Don’t you think that’s going a bit far? Can’t you just come to my cabin?”
“Still freaked out by nature, are you?” Sandra smirks.
“I’m not freaked out by nature.” I can’t quite keep the sour note out of my voice.
“It’s fine.” Sandra is clearly amused. “I know you’re a big city girl. But there’s nothing out there that will hurt you. Just walk to the other side of the pond and in through the trees at the split pine, until you get to the big rock. I’ll wait for you there. Ten o’clock.”
“There are bears here, you know,” I say.
“Trust me, I’d rather tussle with a bear than with Martina Hastings.
” She grows serious again. “And besides that, we’ve already been seen together.
If I go to your cabin, or if they see you stalking around the staff quarters, that’ll be it.
I know the woods are mighty dark and deep, but it’s safer that way.
Nice and quiet, too. No one will hear us. ”