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“It looked like something you would like.”

“Thank you.”

Elara sits on the edge of the chair beside the bed. I take the other chair, close enough that my knee almost touches hers. She keeps her attention on Anya, but every few seconds I catch her looking at me.

Each time, she looks away before I can say anything.

The nurse finishes her checks and leaves us alone.

Elara leans forward. “Baby, do you remember what happened?”

Anya’s fingers move over the rabbit’s ear. “I was going downstairs.”

“Do you remember falling?”

She shakes her head. “I smelled something.”

“What kind of smell?” I ask.

Anya wrinkles her nose. “Funny.”

“Like what?”

“Sweet.” She thinks for a moment. “Like when someone cleans the floor, but sweeter.”

Elara looks at me.

I keep my face still. “Did you see anyone?” I ask.

Anya’s eyes move toward the door. “No. I heard somebody behind me.”

“Did you hear a voice?”

She shakes her head again. “Just the smell.”

The door opens before I can ask anything else.

Irina steps inside with a cup of tea in one hand. She stops when she sees Elara sitting beside Anya.

Anya looks up at her.

“It smelled kind of like her,” she says.

Elara turns toward me.

I look at her, and neither of us says anything.

26

ELARA

I keep my face still.

Anya’s words sit in my head while Irina crosses the room and places the tea on the table beside her bed. She doesn’t seem to notice anything unusual. She smiles at Anya, adjusts her blanket, and asks whether her head still hurts.

I watch her closely. When she leans over Anya, I move nearer and breathe in carefully.

Nothing.