I helped Franny get under the covers and eventually we fell asleep, but when I woke she was gone. I walked to the top of the stairs and listened to their voices blending together. In the kitchen, Leah was standing over a frying pan and my mother was sitting on top of the counter, her legs dangling down and her arms hugging her chest. Franny was at the table folding her napkin into triangles.

“Hungry?” Leah asked.

The table was set for four, and Leah was scrambling eggs. It never occurred to me to wonder why she would be making what appeared to be breakfast for dinner, as though we were at the beginning of something instead of the end. Later, I spent hours reliving the details, replaying the moments, over and over again.

“Matilda, would you like to go shopping tomorrow?” my mother asked.

“For what?”

“I thought it might be fun to get some new stuff.”

Franny stiffened. I saw a tremor pass over her lips. Our sisterly Morse code.

“What about Franny?” I asked.

“Maybe Franny and I could spend some time together. Would you like to go to an art museum?” Leah turned to look at her.

Franny held the fork in her hand and used the tines to trace designs on her plate.

“She won’t like that.” I slid in next to my sister. Franny never looked up from her plate, but I knew what she was thinking because I always knew what she was thinking. She looked so pale, I could make out the little blue veins beneath her skin, and I reached over to hold her hand. When I looked up, Leah was staring at us, but then quickly turned back to the stove. I squeezed my sister’s hand tighter.

That night, in what I thought would be our new room, Franny fell asleep before me. I listened to her breaths, deep in and out, like what I imagined a newborn baby might sound like. In the morning, I woke before she did and went downstairs. She came down after and started eating her cereal and I wondered if Leah knew that she only liked it soggy.

My mother brought up the idea of shopping again and, because I really wanted to go this time, I said nothing when Leah suggested taking Franny to the museum. I waved goodbye to my sister and then went back to eating breakfast. When my mother returned to the kitchen, I looked at her face and only one thought crossed my mind.

Some mornings I put my shirt on backwards.