If there was a moment not to lose her head, this was it, but Hazel was far from in control of her nerves. Ernie's touch might have been light, but it was unexpected and the voices from down the hall were growing so much louder. The tray clattered from her hands, Disillusioned pot of tea shattering as loudly as any visible brothers might have.
The color fled from Hazel's cheeks, and the look she gave Ernie then was rather like a hare that had been caught in a trap.