Chapter 798
“Daniel, get a handle on your wife,” Matthew said, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.
Daniel pressed his lips together, pulling Dorothy back into her seat. He muttered, “Matthew’s still the one calling the shots in this family.” Even so, he didn’t sound too happy about it.
Matthew barely glanced his way, looking as cool as ever, then headed for the back room without a word.
Andrew, who’d just finished getting on his mom’s nerves, practically jumped up to follow. He didn’t want to stick around and risk getting yelled at. “Matthew, wait up. I’ll go with you to see Grandma.”
“I’m coming too.” Emily shot Dorothy a look, then walked off with a huff.
Left behind, Dorothy was fuming. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm down. “Let’s see how she plans to bring Patricia back from the dead,” she muttered, her voice full of disbelief.
To Dorothy, Charlotte was nothing short of a witch. Ever since Charlotte had shown up, the whole Blair family seemed completely under her spell. Dorothy had even lost a lifelong friend because of her. If Andrew ever got mixed up with a girl like that, Dorothy swore she’d break his legs.
…
The bedroom was thick with the sharp smell of antiseptic.
Patricia lay quietly in bed, eyes shut tight, surrounded by medical equipment. The heart monitor’s steady beeping echoed through the room.
Just last week, Grandma had been laughing and chatting away. Now, seeing her so weak and still, Charlotte felt a sting behind her eyes. She bent down and gently took Patricia’s hand, her voice soft. “Grandma?”
Patricia’s eyelids fluttered open at the sound. When she saw Charlotte, she managed a tired, loving smile. “Lottie, you’re here.”
Charlotte nodded and leaned in, making sure Patricia could see her face. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“It’s an old problem, nothing serious. I’ll be fine after some medicine and a nap. You and Anthony don’t need to worry about me.”
Charlotte nodded again. She was still worried, but she tried not to show it. “Just rest, Grandma. I’ll be right here.”
When Patricia drifted off, Charlotte turned to Anthony, who was standing nearby with her bag. “Anthony, can you give me the kit?”
He opened the bag and pulled out her medical case. Inside, everything was neatly organized-acupuncture needles, a penlight, cotton swabs, and a bunch of other tools come of them hard to even name.
Charlotte started by checking Patricia’s pulse, then used the penlight to check her pupils. Finally
she took out a needle and go .!!
tested the feeling in Patricia’s fingers. Just as she’d feared, there was no reaction at all.
Lavinia waited until Charlotte finished, then stepped closer, her voice barely above a
whisper. “Lottie, how is she? Is she going to be okay?”
Patricia had always treated Lavinia like her own daughter. Seeing her like this,
Lavinia’s eyes were red and worried.
“It’s worse than I thought,” Charlotte
said quietly. She tucked Patricia’s hand back under the blanket and pulled out her phone to text Jackson and Adonis. “I’ll put together some medicine to keep her stable for now, so she’s not in any immediate danger. But to really help her theed to run some more tests and figure out what’s really wrong.”
She just hoped it wasn’t what she feared most.
Somer’s syndrome.
There was still no cure for it. The medicine needed a missing ingredient that no one had managed to find. If Patricia really had it, the consequences didn’t even bear thinking about.