Page 200 of Whispers of Wisteria

I hardly felt it.

“It’s low,” Dr. Kohler said. She grabbed the sparkly pen she’d always kept tucked behind her ear and began to write on her clipboard. “But that’s expected. Don’t worry. You’ll be back to normal soon.”

Normal.

My eyebrow twitched.

I didn’t know what that meant.

Julian’s hand jerked. The movement was so minuscule that I might have missed it if he hadn’t been rubbing circles over my back.

I glanced up at him. What was wrong?

“It’s okay, Bianca,” he said, petting my hand. He was smiling, so why did he feel sad? “You’ll be fine.”

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than me.

“We’ll see.” Uncle Gregory nudged Dr. Kohler out of the way. He took her place at the side of the bed. Unlike the last time, she didn’t protest, but she did stay as she watched the scene without emotion.

He’d had one hand behind his back, and after shooting me a long look, he shifted his stance.

“Take this,” he said. He held out a panda-shaped bowl. I glanced at it. It held vanilla ice cream topped with something that looked like caramel.

I looked back at him.

“It’s honey,” he said in response to my unspoken question. He seemed genuinely surprised. “You’ve never had it as a topping before?”

Honey?

I grabbed it.

Ilovedhoney.

Julian relaxed slightly as I began to eat with small bites. My attention, however, remained fixed on the older man.

“Okay, Bianca.” Uncle Gregory grabbed my vanity chair and moved it beside the bed. “I’d like to talk to you, if you don’t mind.”

I froze, the spoon near my mouth, and stared. I was starting to feel alive again—why did he have to ruin it?

But this ice cream was really good. Was it worth getting annoyed?

I slowly put the spoon in my mouth and watched him.

“I’ve spoken to Gloria,” he said, touching his jaw as his focus wavered, but then he was back. “Dr. Sartore and Ms. Maria, too. So we have a general idea of what happened.”

That’s nice—it kept me from having to answer anything.

I took another bite.

“But if you’re willing, I’d still like to hear your version of things,” he finished.

My pulse quickened as the ice cream suddenly lost its appeal. I dropped the spoon back into the bowl and set the bowl down on the bed, suddenly unable to tear my eyes from the melting snack.

“Because you did something even I couldn’t do,” he continued.

My vision blurred as the lingering numbness began to vanish.

“You broke Gloria’s curse.”