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“You’re doing okay, then? I mean, you’re not stressed or upset or—?”
“Um, where are you going with this, Kate?”
Kate sighed. “She told me to do this subtly. I’m going to be stuck doing charts for a month.”
“I don’t understand. Why don’t you just tell me what you’re here for?”
Kate grimaced. “Dr. Hope sent me to find out if you’re doing okay. She seemed worried about you.”
Oh. Agnes wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Clearly, Cora’s attitude toward her wasn’t as cold as it outwardly appeared. Agnes knew she should feel grateful, but the knowledge hurt. Cora deserved so much better than her.
“Please tell Cora that I’m fine.”
Kate was still grimacing.
“What?”
“It’s just… This was really important to her. I’m going to need to go back with something more thanshe’s fine.”
“Well, get creative. You’re an intelligent person, Kate. I’m sure you can think of a way to satisfy Cora.”
Kate sighed again. “I guess so. I’m sorry about all this.”
“I’m sorry you had to get dragged into it. You can tell her no, you know. This wasn’t a work-related request. Cora would never try to force you if you told her no on this.”
“I know. I just—she’s really taken me under her wing, you know? She’s taught me so much, and she’s worried. I wanted to help her.”
Agnes understood that all too well. “Thank you for checking on me, Kate, but Cora doesn’t have to worry.”
Not because there was nothing to worry about, but because it wasn’t Cora’s problem anymore. Cora deserved someone whole, someone who could give her their whole heart. Agnes simply wasn’t that person.
She wished that she could be, but her heart was broken in two. She couldn’t fix that, and neither could Cora.
10
Agnes
“Are you sure? What was her tone of voice when she said that? Was she making eye contact?”
Agnes knew she shouldn’t be hearing this conversation, but she couldn’t help edging a little closer.
She hadn’t thought Cora would still be in the ER. She’d come down to check on a situation between two of the interns. They seemed to have resolved their differences, and Agnes was about to head back up to her office when the sound of her name caught her attention.
“Uh, I don’t know. Doctor Frame is kind of intimidating. I wasn’t exactly looking at her the whole time.”
Cora sighed, a familiar, exasperated sigh. “Okay, fine. What was her tone of voice, then?”
“I don’t know!” Kate sounded faintly panicked. “Neutral, I guess?”
“Come on, Kate. Think back. Did it have strains of sadness? Anger? Irritation? Loneliness? Relief?”
“Maybe you should have gotten one of the psych interns to do this,” Kate muttered.
“Look, give me something to work with here, Kate. I just need to know that she’s okay.”
“She said she was. I don’t see why she’d lie.”
“Agnes isn’t particularly good at admitting when she isn’t okay. You need to know to look for the signals.”
