when the man was gone, Josh finally looked up at his sister, smiling slightly. "How'd you convince him to let you in?"
"I didn't really, I just made him think that seeing you was all I wanted in return for cooperating. I must have done a really good job because he let me in here before even really finishing up with me. But now that I'm with you, there's probably no doubt in his mind that I'll cooperate."
Josh's smile broadened. "Well played sister."
She smiled, "The war didn't make us weak, they'll figure that out eventually." She leaned back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "What about you? Has anyone been in to see you yet?"
Josh thought about the young woman who had come in earlier. She had wanted to know a lot about him, and of course he didn't tell her much of what she wanted to hear. "Yeah, a woman was in here. Wanted to know stuff about the war, my family, you. I mostly just gave her some rhetoric about the great cause of the war and the duty of the people. She didn't buy it, but she didn't press either."
Julie didn't say anything. He knew she trusted him enough to know that he didn't say anything about their family. She had often said to him, 'you're pretty reckless, but you're not stupid, and you know when you need a plan.'
He leaned back with his hands behind his head, resting his elbow on his sisters shoulder. They laid there like that for several minutes before they heard the door hiss open and both of them sat up simultaneously.
Josh saw the man who had brought Julie in and the woman who had checked in on him walk in. "Hopefully this time has been enough for both of you to be together. Unfortunately, we need to talk to each of you separately now." The woman said it softly and with a little too much kindness in Josh's opinion. Julie looked at him and he gave her a small shrug, which was kind of their code for; just go with it for now.
She looked away and followed the man out the door.
The woman waited for the door to close before she sat on the chair and looked at Josh, making intense eye contact. "Why are you hiding things from me?" She asked the question as if his behavior didn't make sense.
Josh chuckled a little bit, "Because I don't trust you, and I have no interest in telling you things that you don't need to know."
The woman looked back toward the door. "Your sister has been cooperating perfectly. She is intelligent and knows that we are just trying to help."
Josh forced a harsh laugh and locked eyes with her, "Believe me, I'm nothing like my sister."
The woman looked down at her clipboard and calmly took a note. She calmly looked back up and gestured to the whole room, "Look at where you are. You're safe, your wounds are healed and we are going to do everything we can to continue to help you."
Josh remained silent. He had said enough for now.
"Fine." The woman said. "We'll just have to take a different approach with you. Tell me this at least, why can't you tell me anything about your family? What's so secretive about that topic?"
Josh looked away, toward the door. "My family is a very huge factor in the war." He paused, pretending to be ashamed, "We depend on it in order to stay alive."
The woman nodded and wrote another note. "Thank you for your moment of cooperation." Then she left.
Perfect. You're not the only manipulative monster in the family, sister.
He smiled to himself and slid back on the bed so he could lean against the wall. Nothing he had said to that woman had been true, but it had played a role in changing the outcome of how him and his sister were treated.
