𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓽

Katie didn't talk much, which was usual as of late. She listened to Mini, coughing from the kitchen. Her bedroom door was wide open.

"Is Mini okay?" I finally asked at one point.

Slowly, Katie drew her eyes from the door to meet mine and nodded, looking to her homework she had been slowly working on.

There was something she wasn't saying. I could feel it in her, around her, the very atmosphere of the house.

I looked at her. Her hair and pale skin, wondering what she was hiding.

Katie, as well as Dominic, liked to keep secrets, especially concerning emotional matters. I thought about Katie when she left me and went home crying. I thought about Dominic, how melancholic he's been lately.

I assumed it was something between the two of them, but then I thought about Mini. She's been coughing like that for some time. A flu should have passed on by now.

I listened as she coughed again; harsh and violent.

"I'll be back," I said quietly, watching Katie for some sort of reaction as I stood, but she sat there as if she didn't hear a word I had said.

Despite this, I crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mini was cooking a single dish on the stove, which wasn't like her. Anytime there were guests, it was always anticipated she would have made three or four side dishes.

"Mini?" I asked quietly.

She turned her head and smiled softly. "Yes, dear? Can I get you anything? Some water?" She made a move to grab a glass from a cabinet but stopped when I shook my head.

"No, thank you... I just have a question."

She nodded, willing me to continue. I thought about what I was going to ask. If I should ask it.

"Are you... okay? Really okay?"

She stared at me and then slowly released a soft sigh. "... It's not the right time to tell you," she replied gently. "I assumed Dominic would have by now, but if he hasn't, then I guess it'll be me... At some time or another."

She pointed with her spatula, ordering me as if I was another daughter of hers. "Now you go on up and tell Katie dinner will be ready soon."