"I need to get to the hospital."
Agnes looked up from the window where she'd been standing, giving Lilith a moment of quiet. The girl had her head raised from her shoulder, eyes still swollen, voice still cracked....but there was something different in her face now. The crying had burned off and left something harder underneath. Something with direction.
"I need to see my mother. I need to make the payment today."
She moved to get up.
Her legs gave out completely.
Agnes caught her before she hit the floor....both hands gripping her arms, steadying her, holding her up with the practiced ease of a woman who had learned long ago that sometimes holding people up was just part of the job.
"Easy." Agnes kept her voice level. "Easy, child. Your body is still very weak."
Lilith grabbed the bedpost. Tried to find her feet. Her legs were shaking...not nerves, not emotion, just pure physical failure. Her body had nothing left to give.
