Chapter 4 - THE WINE ON THE FLOOR
That night, Nora dreamed of red wine.
Not blood.
Wine.
A bottle rolling.
A man shouting.
A brass lamp.
Then basement stairs.
She woke before dawn.
Graham was gone.
He had told the nurse he was going home for clothes.
Nora called her older cousin, Rachel Bennett.
“Do you remember my accident?”
Rachel went quiet.
“You fell.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
Another silence.
Nora sat up.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Rachel’s voice changed.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because the CT shows an old injury. And Julian shoved me tonight.”
Rachel breathed sharply.
“What?”
Nora told her.
Then asked again.
“What happened four years ago?”
Rachel said:
“I wasn’t there when you fell.”
“But?”
“I got there after.”
“And?”
“The story never made sense.”
Nora’s pulse quickened.
“What story?”
“Graham said you were carrying wine upstairs. Julian said you were going down.”
Two different directions.
Nora closed her eyes.
Then:
“What else?”
Rachel whispered:
“You kept asking where the blue folder was.”
Nora froze.
“What blue folder?”
“I don’t know.”
“You told me not to let Graham take it.”
The hospital room seemed to tilt.
Nora touched the side rail.
“What happened to it?”
“I never saw it.”
Nora stared at the wall.
A blue folder.
May you like
Something in her mind moved.
Then stopped.
