13. Questioning him

As Eleanor gradually emerged from the depths of unconsciousness, a throbbing ache reverberated through her head, a sensation that felt as though her skull might shatter if she didn't tend to it. The disorienting haze began to dissipate as her mother's voice, a comforting presence, reached her ears.

"Eleanor… thank God you are fine," Rose's words enveloped her, instilling a sense of security even before Eleanor could muster the strength to open her eyes. With a groan, Eleanor sat up on the bed, her hand instinctively reaching to massage her throbbing forehead.

"Damn, it hurts," she muttered, the pain accentuating the disconcerting fog in her mind. Rose, ever attentive, offered her daughter a concoction, and Eleanor, without hesitation, gulped it down in one go. As the liquid flowed down her throat, a sudden recollection flashed in her mind – the cranberry juice, a potential culprit in her sudden unconsciousness.

Setting the glass aside, Eleanor pieced together the fragments of the prev