Sandy's words put Liana at ease at once. After listening to Sandy's instructions, she hurried forward to thank her and only let go of her hand when Sandy reminded her that she still had a prescription to write.
Jonathan was surprised for a moment when he heard the result, but then he shook his head and relaxed. He thought no more of it. Only Aaron failed to share their relief; his brow furrowed slightly.
He could roughly guess what Sandy had asked after Lady Lyanna stepped out, and he knew her diagnosis meant that, at least recently, nothing had happened to Hazel.
But Aaron had not forgotten the thing living in his wife's womb. He had not wanted to think about it, yet Hazel had begun feeling unwell around the time Velma gave birth to a stillborn child. Coupled with Sandy's final diagnosis, that only made him more suspicious.
Could it really be...? No. It couldn't be. It had to be a coincidence!
Aaron had only recently regained a peaceful life. He did not want to be dragged into another ordeal of the same magnitude, so he kept trying to convince himself there were other explanations, even as his face grew paler.
Lady Lyanna noticed. While Sandy was writing the prescription, she asked Aaron:
"What's wrong, Aaron?
"You don't look well."
Her concern sent guilt surging through him. For an instant, Aaron wanted to go and find Alice—but only for an instant.
Let's wait and see. If the medicine doesn't help Hazel, I'll go...
Aaron made up his mind, but merely smiled and said:
"I haven't looked well for a while because of what happened with Velma. I've only started getting a little better recently."
Liana could hardly argue with that. She remembered what had happened to Velma too, but