"It's not Nik, is it?"
Her words work like a slap in the face, and the sheer grossness of it has me emerging from my shock.
"Oh my God, Io. EEEEW!"
"I just want to be sure," my sister protests sheepishly. "You know what happened to Daria's friend—-"
"Please excuse me while I throw up—-"
"So it's really not Nik?"
"Gross, Io! Just gross!" My skin crawls at just hearing his name uttered in this context.
"I'm sorry," Io apologizes with a laugh. "I just really had to ask—-"
"Can we stop talking about this for now?" I'm desperately in need for a change of subject to preserve my sanity. "Let's talk about you, Greece, or anything else under the sun—-"
"Okay, okay, I get it. And I'm doing really great here, if that's what you're asking, and—-oh, has Nik said anything about our house?"
"Nothing yet," I lie without hesitation, "but I'm sure he'll let me know when it's safe to go back."
"Keep me posted on that, okay?"
"Yeah, sure."
I hear Io cough as she says good night, but she's already hung up before I can ask her if she's okay.
Shit, shit, shit.
Chuck comes back with my order, and I thank him in a daze.
You're paranoid. Just paranoid.
But pain is already squeezing the sides of my temple, and my lungs are struggling to function yet again.
Calm down, calm down.
After everything she's been through, my sister knows better than to hide anything about her illness.
She'll tell me if something's wrong.
But she hasn't.
And so that means she's okay.
Do you hear that, Leah?
Io is fine, and it's me who'll be in trouble if Nik finds out I'm having headaches again.
So go away, stupid headache!
But it only gets worse as time passes, and I'm forced to take some painkillers when it's time for me to go to bed. My skull feels like it's about to explode, and I just know there's only one way to put an end to this.
I need to forget I'm Leah for a moment and ask—-
What would you do, Temptation...if you were in my shoes?