Rocco hesitated for the briefest second, then turned toward me. The look on his face—controlled, composed, faintly guilty—was one I knew far too well. It always surfaced when Antonella did.
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “A friend’s kid sister had a fever. I brought her in.”
I felt nothing. No shock. No anger. Just a dull acceptance. To the outside world, I had always been that—someone else’s sister. A detail. A secret.
Antonella nodded politely. “You should take care of her. I’ll be fine. I can head over there myself.” She gestured toward another section of the clinic.
Rocco didn’t even hesitate. He bent down and lifted Antonella into his arms with effortless care. “I’ll carry you. Sofia, wait here.”
I watched them move away together, something hollow spreading through my chest. Maybe it was the fever weakening my body. Maybe it was the sight of him prioritizing her without a second thought. My legs trembled, and I leaned against the wall to steady myself.
He never looked back.
It didn’t matter that I was sick. It didn’t matter that I was standing there alone. In that moment, nothing about me seemed to matter at all.
Rocco wore perfection well—until Antonella appeared. Then everything he tried to hide spilled through the cracks. And he didn’t even realize it.
I forced a thin, bitter smile and turned toward the examination room on my own.
The results were immediate. The thermometer blinked an alarming number—41.3°C. The burn on my wrist had worsened, infected and inflamed, aggravated by stress and neglect. On top of that, a viral fever had set in. The doctor prescribed boiled medicinal herbs and a bitter infusion.
Out of habit, my fingers reached for my phone.
Then I stopped.
Habit was dangerous. Habit was how I’d stayed too long.
A quiet laugh escaped me as I slipped the phone back into my bag. Carrying the medicine alone, I headed to the patient lounge—no escort, no hand to guide me, no one to lean on.
And for the first time, I didn’t ask for one.
The hours crawled by as I forced myself to finish the bitter herbal brew and thick medicinal infusion the clinic had prescribed. Each swallow felt heavier than the last. The room tilted every time I shifted my weight, dizziness rolling through me in waves. More than once, I had to clutch the cool edge of the marble counter to keep myself upright, my knuckles whitening as I fought the weakness.