When You Wish by Lori Handeland

Author:Lori Handeland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780821767481
Published: 2010-12-25T13:00:00+00:00

The scene that awaited Grace in the kitchen nearly sent her heart into failure. Em lay on the floor, pale and wan, her hand to her chest, eyes closed, breathing erratic. Ruby and Garnet fluttered around, each patting a shoulder—flustered, helpless, terrified.

Dan bumped into Grace, causing her to stumble a few feet into the room. At least that got her moving instead of standing there imagining the funeral. She couldn’t function if she couldn’t think, couldn’t move.

“What happened?” Thankfully her voice came out brisk, with no hint of the panic that coursed through her veins. If she didn’t keep a cool head, the Jewels would lose what little control they possessed. She’d seen that happen before, and it was not pretty.

“Em said her chest hurt, then she slid down on the floor.” Ruby’s voice shook.

Grace put the back of her hand to Em’s forehead. Damp but not clammy. Still, she didn’t care for those shallow, panting breaths.

“What should we do, Doctor?”

Ruby’s question brought Grace’s head up in surprise. She always handled health-related crises in this house. Though this looked to be the worst crisis yet.

Grace glanced over her shoulder to find Dan filling the entryway, looking trapped, despite the lack of a door to keep him contained.

“Uh, I’m not . . .” He looked at Grace helplessly.

“He’s not that kind of doctor,” Grace filled in.

“Pshaw! A doctor’s a doctor. He went to school, didn’t he?”

True enough, Grace thought. He had the training, even if he didn’t choose to use it. She was scared enough by Em’s color to say, “You could just look, couldn’t you?”

“I think the first thing to do is call 911.”

“There is no 911.”

“What?” Panic lit Dan’s voice. He really wasn’t that kind of doctor—one who thrived on emergency, anyway. He looked nearly as pale as Em.

“There isn’t a hospital for forty miles. This isn’t New York City.”

“What do you do in an emergency?”

“Drive very fast. Or if you can’t drive, you call the hospital, and then you wait.”

“People can die that way.”

“All the time.” Her voice broke.

A cool yet surprisingly strong hand clamped onto Grace’s wrist. She looked into Em’s pain-filled eyes. “No hospital, Grace. Just Dan.”

Grace looked up at Dan and let him see everything she feared. “Please?” she whispered.

He closed his eyes, as if fighting both her plea and himself. For a moment she feared he would flee, and while she knew she could deal with the crisis if she had to, for some reason she wanted him with her.

When he opened his eyes the uncertainty had receded, and he strode into the room, then knelt next to Grace and Em. He pried Em’s hand from Grace’s wrist and checked the pulse, shrugged. “A bit fast, but not so bad. Where does it hurt?”

Em patted between her breasts. Clunk, clunk. Grace reached out and thumped her knuckle against Em’s breastbone. Something hard lay beneath the gold and silver dress.

Dan looked like the snake on Em’s headdress had leapt off and bit him. “What’s that?”

“Corset, dear,” Em whispered.

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