Placid River Runs Deep by Mollie Hunt

Author:Mollie Hunt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Haunting, Mystery, Hepatitis C, Chronic Illness, Plot Twist, Thriller
Publisher: Mollie Hunt
Published: 2016-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

15.

Gray found Ember crouched by the river, her hand immersed in the icy stream and the long knife lying on a flat stone by her side. He knelt down beside her.

“Are you alright?”

She whirled on him, nearly losing her balance “You scared me,” she rebuked. “I didn’t hear you come up.”

“Tanya said you cut yourself.”

Ember stared at him, her face filled with woe. Her azure eyes were shiny with tears but even more insidious was her look of deep, unconcealed shame.

“I’m poison!” she blurted, holding up a wet hand on which he could see no mark whatsoever.

Gently he reached for her but she recoiled. “I’m poison, Gray! How can you stand to touch me?”

“Ember...” he began, but suddenly her head was on his shoulder and her body was wracked with sobs. He held her until she began to pull herself together again.

“What the hell am I going to do, Gray?” she spit blackly. “Do I have to tell all those people I have an incurable disease, and that now in my clumsiness, I’ve exposed them to it? I know I have to disinfect the knife, but should I throw away the pie, too? If anyone ever got sick because of me, I’d kill myself!”

She began to struggle to her feet, but Gray held her. “First things first,” he said, tugging his wallet out of his back pocket. “Hand me that towel.”

Ember eyed him questioningly but did as he said and gave him the paper towel she had brought from Alba’s. Gray opened the wallet and retrieved a Band-Aid and a foil-wrapped alcohol swab. “Where’s the cut?”

She held out her finger. If he looked closely, he could see the faintest line in the pad. Gently he dried it off with the paper towel, then swabbed it with the disinfectant and finally applied the bandage. “Better?” he asked, smiling.

In spite of herself, she gave a quick smile back. “Better. I guess I should be carrying those things with me, like you do.”

“It’s a good idea,” he agreed, wiping off the knife with a second pad and disposing of it plus the damp paper towel in a baggie. Stuffing the bag into this coat pocket, he added, “Alcohol kills HCV.”

“But what about the rest of it? The huckleberry pie? The people?”

“Did the knife touch anything after you cut yourself? It happened fast, but it looked to me like you pulled your hand back right away.”

Ember thought for a moment. “I did. And I covered the cut with my thumb to stop any bleeding.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about. You did the right thing, Ember.”

She looked at him wistfully. “I don’t have to tell everybody?”

“Tanya might wonder why you ran off like that, but I don’t think anyone else even noticed. There’s a lot of champagne flowing at that table, and Alba’s not wearing her glasses.”

“Really?” She was still doubtful.

“Really. Now let’s go back before they do start missing you, okay? Besides, it looks like rain,” he added, glancing dubiously at a leaden sky.

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