This comfort thing was new. Ashley was used to being the one to do the comforting and rarely needed comfort herself. Usually, Helen was the one who needed comfort. Having someone else hug her was strange and she couldn't quite place the sensation it left her with. It wasn't a bad one. Entirely. But she still had to get used to it.
Ashley sure wouldn't believe the part about a mage, even if a part of her would be grateful that he'd tried. Even so, she wasn't ready to give up. Not now, not ever.
Not until it was all over and she had no other choice.
"There has to be." She ran a hand through her hair and tried to think. Medicine wasn't her line of work, but she could detective things if she wanted to. "Did anything strange happen the last few days before she got sick? She didn't tell me anything... I should've checked on her more often."