She opened her mouth to ask and started coughing. The thick, rattling kind. That probably explained the wetness on her cheeks. But her stomach and back? The odd pulsing. She faded in and out, but the pain only increased.

Retta and the man watched her now. Neither moved or said a word. The look on Retta’s face . . . Was it guilt? She had her fist to her mouth as she shook her head.

A rush of strange sounds, then a voice broke through. “What happened?”

Jessa smiled, or she thought she did. Gabby’s voice. About time she got here. The dramatic entrance was . . . typical.

“Jessa! Oh my God,” Gabby said as she slid to her knees beside Jessa. Gabby held her hands in the air, like she wanted to touch or comfort.

Jessa wasn’t sure why, but she needed to sit up. There was something she needed to do. She’d come here for a reason. A really important project.

The wheezing came in short, painful puffs now. The sound came from her. She’d finally figured it out.

“Did you call 911?” Gabby shouted at the other people in the room. “We need to get someone on the phone to help until the ambulance gets here.”

Too late. The words rolled through Jessa’s head. They were all too late.

She was dying.

Not yet! I promised to be a better person. Let me try.

“Open your eyes, Jessa. I need you to stay with me,” Gabby pleaded.

Are my eyes closed? Jessa could have sworn they were open a second ago, but Gabby sounded sure, so now Jessa didn’t know.

Gabby’s words rushed out, and she held something against Jessa’s stomach. The pressure throttled up the pulsing. The pain stabbed and sliced now. Jessa wanted to push Gabby away, but her hands lay limp.

“Jessa, can you hear me?”

I’m sorry. For the lying and for all the horrible things I said behind your back. You deserved better. Jessa wasn’t sure if she said the words out loud, but she didn’t think so.

Jessa couldn’t tell how many minutes passed since she’d gotten to the house. A few? Many? She mentally pushed and shoved her way through the darkness slowly enveloping her. She had one more thing to do. That’s why she needed to make that fist. The small move swallowed up all her concentration, her last drips of energy, but she would get this done.

A push and another. No, her fist wouldn’t open. But she could make it tilt. The back of her hand knocked against Gabby’s arm. Once . . . twice. Gabby finally took her hand.

There.

Done.

“Jessa, no!”

Chapter Seventy-Four
Gabby

Gabby felt Jessa slide something small and hard into her hand. Against her palm. Gabby didn’t have time to look because Jessa’s body went limp as the last beats of her life drained out of her.