I distracted myself by putting on some clothes as he finished getting dressed. My mind was racing, thinking of all the ways him being here was a problem. The thought of Elias not being there for his dad because he’d been here with me sucked the air out of my lungs. I took a deep breath, and then another, trying to ground myself. And when I finally spoke, I sounded marginally less freaked out. “Was your family able to get to the hospital since you have the car?”

“My mom and my sister’s husband have cars.” His voice was calm and steady, and he’d clearly noticed I was having some kind of a meltdown.

“Oh, right.” Now I felt like an idiot. I looked up at him and realized he wasn’t making a move to leave. He closed his eyes standing by the door, as if he were preparing himself for whatever he’d face when he left my room.

He exhaled loudly as he buried his face in my hair, and I tightened my arms around him. If he needed someone to lean on for a moment before going to deal with a family crisis, I could fucking get my shit together and at least give him that.

After a minute, Elias spoke. “My mom and sister are with him. The hospital is close to here, and there’s not much traffic at this time. I’ll get there in a few minutes.”

“Okay. Take the time you need,” I said, lifting my watch to read the time. I realized it was later than I thought.

“Besides, being here with you helps.”

I tried to smile at him, but I was still having a hard time calming down. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I was convinced Elias would not get to his father in time. But he’d told me it was fine, and I needed to respect that. “Do you know what’s wrong?”

He tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it. “My father’s ill a lot. He has some heart problems, but he also suffers from—”

He shook his head like he was trying to figure out what to say, but in the end he just turned his face so his mouth brushed my neck, and we stayed like that for a few seconds. Soon he was moving again. He sighed heavily as he unlocked the door, and I could feel the apprehension coming off him in waves.

Once we were out by his car, without thinking I made a move to touch his hand. He flinched. Then I remembered where we were. This wasn’t my room, or even Saba’s house—we were out on the street. Anyone could walk by and see us.

“Sorry.”

Elias nodded and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s all right, konjo.”