“What is it?”
He looked up.
“Vanessa is going to tell you herself. She asked me to give her until tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because she needs to meet with someone first.”
“Who?”
“A doctor.”
My breath caught.
“A doctor?”
Eliam nodded.
I stared at him.
“Is she sick?”
He hesitated.
Then he said, “She’s dealing with something serious. But I can’t tell you more than that.”
I stepped back.
“She’s my sister. If she’s sick, why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Because she’s afraid of what you’ll think.”
“Of what I’ll think?”
He looked away.
I had never seen him so helpless.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know I should have told you I was taking leave. I should have found a way to explain why I wasn’t at work. But Vanessa asked me not to tell you until she was ready.”
I sat down.
I was still angry.
But beneath the anger was a new fear.
