How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Out of nowhere, Elodie was startled.

She stepped aside quickly.

A girl's anxious voice called from behind her. "I'm so sorry! My drone just

malfunctioned and went out of control. Are you hurt?"

Elodie turned to see a teenage girl, maybe sixteen, dressed in a hospital gown. Her doll-like face, pretty and fresh, was full of concern.

Elodie shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

The girl let out a visible sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm not sure what happened it suddenly stopped responding."

Elodie glanced at the rogue drone hovering nearby, then offered the dessert box she was carrying. "Would you mind if I took a look at it for you?"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course not!"

She took the box from Elodie, peeking inside at the small batch of cookies. Her entire face lit up.

Elodie powered down the drone and examined it. "Looks like a navigation system glitch. It's not following the preset route. Let me check if it's a gyroscope or sensor calibration issue."

The girl watched her in awe. "Wow, you really know your stuff!"

Elodie made a few quick adjustments and handed the drone back. "It should be much better now. Want to give it a try?"

the drone again, and this time it

"Freya Delacroix!"

turned to see Joseph hurrying over, clearly anxious and

of him,

surprised to

Elodie asked, "You're her...?"

relief. "She's my sister. She's not well, and she snuck out of her room. I've been

her head. "It's

unwillingness to linger. Her manner was polite, but

pressed his lips together, not sure what else to

know each other?" Freya piped up,

the word "friends," Elodie's

wouldn't call it

anything, their relationship was... mutually

and hesitated, finally saying, "We've

glanced between them, puzzled. For some reason,

meant a lot to her, and this woman was clearly

noticed.

code," Elodie said. She couldn't bring herself to turn down such a sincere request

you for fixing my drone! Maybe I could

smiled faintly.

nodded toward the cookies in Freya's arms. "I made those

ahead and