Anne bounced about the room, telling her tale of delight that was school. It was a miracle she didn't trip considering her chronic clumsiness, but she did not manage to avoid bumping into nearly everything in her path as she moved. At one point while she was telling Cole of the stressful encounter with Gilbert she bumped into him, and he nearly fell off the stool, the pendant dropping to the ground next to him.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry Cole! Let me help you." She kneeled down to help him up, the pendant catching her eye as she did so.

Cole felt a wave of dread wash over him.

"Oh, oops!" She said, laughing, picking up the necklace. She placed a hand on her chest as if to check that her necklace had indeed fallen off during her enthusiastic hop, and frowned when she felt it sitting just underneath her collarbone as she had expected. Lifting the necklace from the ground, the realization came over her.

At first she said nothing, simply staring at the necklace as though it were interesting and new - something she was studying and had never seen before. Cole held his breath as he waited - waited for her to ask what happened, to cry, to scream - anything that would show that she comprehended the significance of this. Instead, she stood up, and said, "Oh." She set the necklace down on the table, her expression blank. There was a sudden silence in the room until Anne said, "I need to go for a walk."

Cole nodded, but was slightly worried considering she did not react at all besides 'oh'. Even so, however, he did not object, letting her go and assuming that this was a form of coping or therapy for her.

Considering that it was early spring, and just chilly enough you may still need a light jacket but not so that you would want something large, she pulled the appropriate outerwear from the coat rack, opened the door, and left to go outside without saying a word.

At first, she felt like she looked. She didn't feel very sad, or angry, or anything really - just a numbness. It was towards the center of the forest that it hit her.

She wasn't quite sure what was happening at first. She felt a prickly sensation in the middle of her chest, at first just strange but suddenly painful. She began to sweat, taking off her coat immediately as waves of panic washed over her. Her breath was coming in short bursts. She felt as though she was dying, immediately remembering the description of a heart attack Gilbert had shown her years ago in one of his medical journals he read. She fell to her knees, hands on her chest as if pushing on it might quell the pain.

It was only a few minutes before the pain was nearly gone and she felt relatively calm again, but it was almost an hour before she stood up and started walking again.

A/N: Hey everybody! I'm experimenting a bit with some new stuff here, making this chapter a bit more emotional, so let me know if you liked this format. As always, don't forget to review and stay safe and healthy!