By the time Briony finally made it back to the studio, dawn was already breaking. Utterly exhausted, she changed into pajamas and collapsed into bed, falling
asleep almost instantly.
She had no idea how long she'd been out when a frantic knocking at the door jolted her awake.
Her eyes flew open and she stared at the familiar ceiling, breath coming quick and shallow. It took her a moment to gather her wits.
She'd been dreaming.
In the dream, she was standing above a river of blood, so vivid it made her shudder. Somewhere in the distance, an infant's cries echoed in her ears...
From outside the room, Hannah's voice rang out. "Briony? Are you awake?"
Her lashes fluttered. Briony pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
The room spun as she stood, her body heavy and unsteady.
"Briony? Briony..." Hannah's voice grew more anxious.
"I'm coming," Briony croaked, forcing herself upright and shuffling to the door.
soon as the door swung open, Hannah let
half to death. It's ten o'clock and you
thought something had happened to
creature of
she
fine," she rasped, her voice
giving her a once-over. "You
her forehead. It did feel a
few days
forehead. "You've got a fever! You need to see a
much trouble. I'll just take something for the fever
don't want to
I just need some more
Briony retreated
her in, clearly unconvinced. "There's a nasty flu going around. You really should
year. Have finance pay everyone's salary in advance— cover twelve months-and give each person a year-end bonus of, say, twenty thousand. We'll start our holiday
in shock. "That's
but with those
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
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!