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I chalk it up to Connor’s foul mood and the fact that things are going to feel differently without Rose over the next few days. We have gotten used to having her around.
“Morning,” I greet Eli. “Where’s the princess?”
Connor swings with the hammer, growing louder if possible, and Eli shrugs.
“She was down here a bit ago, but she wanted to say goodbye to Miss Katherine,” Eli answers. “She hasn’t come back since.”
I glance at my phone and frown. Rose had mentioned wanting to beat rush hour traffic, but it’s already getting late in the morning.
“Any more of that?” I ask, nodding at the coffee.
“Should be. Connor’s all hopped up on spite this morning, so I don’t think he drank much of it,” Eli comments dryly as I head into the house.
The screen door slaps shut in my wake, and I pad into the kitchen, calling out.
“Hello? Good morning?” I’m surprised that neither Katherine nor Rose is downstairs, and my apprehension spikes. “Rose?”
“Hudson!”
The panic in Rose’s call has me bolting for the creaking wood steps, and I take them two at a time until I’m at the second-floor landing, almost tripping over the frayed lip of the carpet runner.
Downstairs, I hear the screen door open and Eli call out, “Rose?”
I stand at the top of the steps, unsure which direction to go when Rose’s flushed face appears in the doorway of the main bedroom. Behind me, footsteps pound up the steps, but I don’t turn to look as Eli races up after us.
“What’s happening? What’s going on?” I rush toward Rose as she gestures to follow her into Katherine’s bedroom. I don’t hesitate, despite the clear privacy disruption, my sense of emergency overtaking any pretense of modesty.
“Something’s wrong with Gran!” Rose sobs, pointing at her listless grandmother, lying in the bed.
Katherine’s laurel eyes are open but oddly blank, the left side of her face drooping. My heart leaps into my throat as I grab my phone out of my back pocket.
Eli rushes toward her bedside. “Miss Katherine, can you hear me?” He feels for her pulse.
The dispatch for emergency services fills my ears.
“I need an ambulance to the Bonnie Belle on Lancaster Road in Stannich, Katherine Winterbourne’s property.”
“What’s the trouble, sir?” the operator asks.
“I think she’s had a stroke,” I say grimly.
Rose gasps, and Eli nods as Katherine garbles incoherently.
“Don’t try to speak, Gran,” Rose whimpers. “Help is coming.”
“What makes you think it’s a stroke, sir?” the woman on the line asks. “Has she had one before?”
“Not that I know of, but she’s on blood pressure medication. The left side of the face is droopy, and she’s slurring her words,” I explain. “My father had a stroke before. I know the signs.”
“You’re not a resident of the property?”
“I’m a family friend. Is an ambulance coming?” I demand impatiently, eager to get off the phone and help Eli and Rose.
“Yes, of course. It’s already been dispatched. The patient is Katherine, you said? Katherine Winterbourne?”
“Yes,” I grumble, ambling closer to check her closer.
“What’s your name?”
