Chapter 5 - What Audrey Heard Before She Opened Her Eyes
Awareness returned as sound.
Audrey heard voices without understanding where she was.
Grant first.
Then Elise.
They were speaking somewhere beyond a partly open door.
Elise sounded frightened.
“You said nobody would test again.”
“They won’t.”
“What if Mercer—”
“Bell signed the certificate.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Silence.
Then Grant:
“The claim goes in Monday.”
Audrey tried moving her fingers.
Nothing.
Grant continued.
“Once cremation happens, there’s nothing left to test.”
Her mind seized on that word.
Cremation.
Elise whispered:
“What if she didn’t take enough?”
Grant snapped:
“She did.”
Audrey’s heart began hammering.
She attempted to open her eyes.
At first she saw only white blur.
Then the underside of a partially positioned casket lid.
Satin beside her face.
Her own hands folded over her abdomen.
Panic forced strength through muscles still poisoned by sedation.
She scraped her cheek against the casket trim.
Dragged one shoulder against a metal fitting.
That created the fresh marks later visible in the funeral lobby.
She pushed upward.
A decorative panel shifted.
Someone had left the casket open for the final viewing.
Audrey lifted herself inch by inch.
Then saw a framed photograph of herself surrounded by white flowers.
For several seconds, her mind refused to understand.
Then she heard Grant again.
“If we get through today, it’s finished.”
Audrey swung her legs out.
Her knees nearly collapsed.
She caught the wall.
Walked toward the reception area.
And appeared just in time to see Elise touching the gold necklace around her throat.
May you like
Audrey’s necklace.
Her sister had already started dividing the belongings of a woman whose body was still warm.
