"What is it?"
"Nothing. She’ll talk to you about it soon."
"What does that mean?"
Before he can answer, there’s a knock at the door.
A pretty woman with shoulder-length brown hair walks in, smiling. She looks to be around my age, and her eyes are . . . the same as LJ’s and Sedric’s.
Where have I seen her before? She looks familiar.
"Hi, brother. Sorry for barging in like this, but I need to ask you a favor and?—"
"You’re his sister," I say in an accusatory tone, because now I remember the photos I saw on Instagram.
All the anger I’ve kept buried since the surgery comes flooding back.
She smiles at me, probably having no clue who I am. LJ looks between us, frowning.
"Get out!" I shout as loud as I can. "Get her out of here, LJ. That woman hates me!"
"What?" the girl asks. "Are you crazy? I don’t even know you!"
Her reaction doesn’t surprise me. His does.
"Leave, Lois. Wait for me outside."
She doesn’t move for a few seconds, looking at us both in shock, but LJ doesn’t wait for her. He walks over and leads her out of the room by the arm.
When he comes back to me, instead of speaking, he checks the IV and the heart monitor. "Calm down," he growls, even though he looks like he’s about to explode himself.
"I am calm, but don’t let her come back. Your sister hates me."
"How do you know her, Alexis?"
I clench my jaw, not wanting to talk, but I don’t play games. "I called you when you didn’t show up that weekend," I say, looking toward the opposite side of the room—even with the curtains closed, I can’t see anything outside. "Your sister answered and told me I should stop trying to contact you because your fiancée?—”
My monitor starts beeping, my heart rate climbing dangerously high.
"Stop. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. We’ll have plenty of time to talk when you’re better."
"We have nothing to talk about," I lie, because I know we’ll have a long conversation eventually, even if he has no idea what’s coming.
"You need to calm down, Alexis," he says, after checking the equipment and watching the nurse who just walked in take my blood pressure. "Lois won’t come back. I guarantee you that."
Lazarus
I stay with her for about another half hour, and only when she falls asleep do I go find my sister.
On the way, I pass William, who makes a motion like he wants to talk, but I keep walking and tell him I’ll speak to him later.
I reach my office and find my sister sitting there, legs crossed, flipping through a magazine.
"Tell me about the conversation you had with Alexis when I asked you to go to Cape Cod," I demand, snatching the magazine from her hands.
"Alexis?"
"Don’t play games with me, Lois. Do what I said."