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Smile, Part 7, combo deal. Mary checked her phone.

She mumbled.

Hannah still hadn't replied to her message.

Mary reluctantly placed the device back on the desk and reached for the cup of coffee with a tired sigh. She had woken up at 4 a.m. and hadn't been able to go back to sleep.

She had gone to work early instead.

Her eyes were burning and a dull ache in the back of her head

was making it hard for her to focus. Her patience was wearing thin too. She was waiting for news

about Lucille and she hadn't heard any apart from what Alexa shared yesterday. Not that Hannah

had to keep her up to date, of course. She evidently had better things to do.

Mary wasn't even part of the family, but she was worried and she had hoped to get some good news by now.

Reading her emails as a distraction had not exactly helped. It had only made her more grumpy. The many messages from Lex had a lot to do

with that. The shitty part? Mary had promised to respond to every single email. That was the deal she had

made with Lex after hearing the news about Lucille yesterday. Mary had been shocked to find out Lucille

had had a stroke. It had been even more unsettling to hear that Lucille was still in the intensive

care with no guarantee of a good outcome. Mary had felt the tear stinging as she thought of her old boss

fighting for her life. Lex too had looked

sullen and lost. They had sat in silence for a few minutes, staring down at their hands.

...