We could hear the sirens approaching.
Hyacinth was breathing, but it was shallow. I pressed my fingers to her wrist, feeling for a pulse. It was there, thready and fast, which made me sigh in relief. “She’s breathing.”
But there really was a tremendous amount of blood. I was afraid to move her or fish around for the injury. That was outside of my expertise and I didn’t want to destroy evidence or further injure her in any way.
I gave her arm a final squeeze and stood up to retreat from the bathroom. “We should all go back to the living room,” I said, pushing my way out into the hallway. “The EMTs need to get through.”
A head wound like that wasn’t that serious, was it? I glanced back at the volume of blood and my stomach did another flip.
Maggie followed me out and we retreated back to our corner, crossing our arms over our chests, as Dorothy led the paramedics to Hyacinth.
Taylor had gone the color of old parchment, backed against the bar he'd been standing at all night. Reginald hadn't moved from the fireplace at all, just stood there with his glass still half raised.
“Some celebration of life,” a woman muttered as she strode past me.
When she glanced over at me, she gasped.
“What?” I asked, startled.
Was there someone behind me? I turned and looked but I was nearly up against the wall.
She looked like she’d seen a ghost.
“There’s blood on you,” Maggie murmured. “And on me. We should probably leave.”
A glance down showed I had a smear of blood on my upper arm, which instantly made me feel like I was going to faint. I closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down.
Maggie didn’t appear to have blood on her but I realized that was only because her dress was black. Her sleeve had a wet stain that was a dead giveaway.
Dead giveaway. I mentally groaned at myself.
I wished I could have gotten a better look at the candlesticks.
“I've known that girl since she was in pigtails,” a woman said. “Poor thing. Tragic life.”
“And now tragic death,” her companion said.
“She’s dead?” I blurted out, horrified.
They both looked at me, startled. “Of course Evelyn is dead. Why else would we be here, dear?”
My shoulders fell in relief. “I thought you were talking about Hyacinth!”
“Right. Hyacinth. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“She didn’t really look fine,” Maggie protested.
They shrugged and went for the appetizers.
“Tough crowd,” Maggie muttered.
Hyacinth rolled past us on a gurney. Her eyes fluttered and found mine for one brief second as they wheeled her past. Her lips moved. There was no sound behind it, and I couldn't tell if she was trying to say something or if it was just the body doing what bodies did when they'd been that close to not doing anything at all anymore.
“She’s going to make it,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure of it. But I was saying the thing I needed to be true out loud, in the hope that saying it would help make it so.
“How do you fall that hard in a powder room?” Maggie bit her bottom lip and rubbed her chin.
“She had to be alone in there, right?” I thought about how she’d left the living room with the older man.
