“What the…?” Kat muttered.
“Again…we could have used that spell against the big boss, Mia. What the hell are you going to fight him with now? Sticks and rocks? It’s going to take you an hour to get that spell back.” Heath was clearly irritated with me.
I shrugged, though I knew they couldn’t see the gesture. I knew I was being immature and probably should just log off due to my pissy mood. I’d do less harm leaving than I would shooting off my good spells left and right.
“Mia isn’t feeling well,” Adam said, looking at me.
And he was right. He’d said that at almost the exact moment I’d felt a headache clamp down over my head. It felt like someone was driving a spike through my skull. And I got hot and sweaty.
Suddenly I could hardly hold the keyboard in my lap as I started shivering. Without another word, Adam stood up and set his laptop aside. “Hold on, you guys, I’m AFK and so is Mia,” Adam said, giving the universal gamer’s code for unavailable—AFK meant “away from the keyboard.”
He tore off his headset and had my laptop off my legs in seconds. Grabbing the fleece wrap on the end of my bed, he enfolded me in it.
“Lie back,” he whispered.
“Ugh,” I said, putting my hand to my head. “Usually I get so excited in my lady parts when you say something like that to me.”
Adam’s expression looked grim as he pulled the fleece blanket over me, tucking it around my body. I continued to shiver.
“Why did you keep playing if you were feeling sick?”
I shrugged. “Helps me keep my mind off of everything.” He pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “I’m fine—go help them take care of their dungeon crawl.”
But he didn’t move. “I’d rather take care of you.”
My teeth chattered. “God, this sucks. Kat has no idea, either. I just…haven’t told her.”
Adam’s thoughts were unusually transparent on his handsome face when he gave me the “I am so not surprised” look.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I muttered between shivers.
“Can I get you anything? Some water or something?”
I stared at him for a moment. “Get me my headset.”
He frowned before turning to grab my laptop and headset and set them near me. I pulled the headset onto my head and glanced at the screen. Kat and Heath were in the middle of fighting goblins while arguing.
“How come no one’s told me this whole time that Mia and FallenOne are a couple and have been living together?”
I sighed. Oh, I had a lot of splainin’ to do to poor Kat. I swallowed. “It’s not his fault. It’s mine. And it’s a super long story that I should tell you on the phone or over Skype without the guys around…” I glanced up. Adam had grabbed his laptop and was sitting next to me on the bed, putting his headset back on.
“Oh yeah, well, I’m fine with doing that now. They can go off and play while we talk…” There was an edge to Kat’s voice, one of hurt and confusion. Because it wasn’t enough that I’d stomped all over Heath’s, my Mom’s and especially Adam’s feelings. Now I was being made to suffer from the stupidity of my actions on every level and with everyone I cared about.
“Not now, Kat. But soon, I promise. I’m feeling kinda shitty right now and I need to log off.”
“What’s wrong with you? Did Heath cough on you or something?”
“No, Kat. I have cancer.” Those three wretched words weighted everything down like an anchor—or an anvil falling out of the sky.
Adam’s hand curled around mine but he was looking at his screen, managing to help the other two fight off monsters one-handed. Only he could do something like that. I squeezed his hand tight.
“Ha ha, yeah. Okay. No, really, what the hell is wrong with you? Fallen didn’t give you the clap or something, did he?”
“I wish I was kidding,” I answered.
Silence.
I heard Heath cough on the other end. Adam and I shared a look. I tapped my mic. “Kat, are you still there?”
There was a long sigh and then Kat cleared her throat. “Uh. Um, yeah. I’m here,” she said, her voice trembling. She sounded like she was seconds from tears.
“I’m—I’m sorry. There’s a lot I haven’t told you.”
The only thing I heard on the other end of the line was a long sniff.
“You okay, Kat?” I finally said.
“No. No, I’m not okay,” she said in a trembling voice. “I’ve got to log off. See you guys later.”