♘ Be Brave ♘

LXXVIII

The room gets silent for a minute, and then all hell breaks loose. Lauren screams, and Zeke tries to calm her down. I simply cannot understand what Cassandra is saying. My girlfriend? Sick? A victim of leukemia?

"Guys! Hear me out! SHUT UP!" Cassandra's tone of voice is so shocking that we all stop talking at once. "Robin, would you please give me a minute?" It takes me a moment to realize she's talking to the nurse.

Robin shrugs and exits the room, closing the door behind her. "Now, guys, we are going to handle this like civilized people. Got it?" We nod, amazed at how calm she sounds. "I'm sick, of course. Robin examined me and said she thinks I have leukemia."

Lauren gasps. "I thought the leukemia was in remission!" Zeke nods. "Yeah, didn't you recover two years ago?" I frown. "Wait a minute. You two knew about this?" I glare at them, but they refuse to make eye contact. "Why didn't you tell me?" Cassandra hops off the table.

"I asked them not to. The leukemia was something I really wanted to forget, and when it went away, I told them to keep my disease a secret. I never thought it'd come back again. I thought the chemo had done the trick, but apparently, it... didn't."

I shake my head. "There's still a chance that Robin is wrong! She's nothing but a nurse." Cassandra sighs. "I considered the possibility at first, but I don't think she's lying. She transferred here from Erudite. She should know what she's talking about. Either way, Robin suggested that I go to the hospital, to be examined by one of the doctors there... but you all know how much I hate those places. They're full of sick people!"

She laughs, but we refuse to joke about this. Cassandra holds up a hand to silence me when I try to protest. "I compromised with Robin and she agreed to let me be taken care of by my family doctor back in Amity. So it's all good. I'll be leaving in about an hour." Zeke's eyes widen. "Wait... if you're going to be in Amity, does that mean you'll be factionless?"