He dressed and opened the bathroom door to let some of the steam out, expecting to hear the blare of the TV with some action film Nate was watching. Instead, he heard silence. Then he realized Nate was talking on the phone with someone. His voice was low and instead of his joking and fast-talking ways, he sounded upset.

“No, no, Reese, you can’t. You have to tell them.” A pause. “No, they won’t. You don’t know what they’re going to say.” Another pause and it sounded like Nate was choked up. “I know, I know. Just don’t do anything, okay? Just don’t do anything, just wait. I’m going to be home soon and we’re going to . . .” Nate grew silent again, then with more emotion said, “Yeah, okay. Well, I love you. Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.”

David had never heard that from Nate before and he felt bad he had overheard the conversation. He walked out and noticed Nate with his back turned, the phone on the bed as if Nate had tossed it there.

David dried his hair with a towel and moved toward the bed. He touched Nate on the back. “Hey, you good, man?”

“No, I’m not,” Nate said.

Nate turned and David saw the pain on his face.

“Hey, dude,” David said, concerned. “What’s up?”

Nate sat on the couch and rubbed his chin. When he spoke, his voice was choked with emotion and his eyes rimmed with tears. “My sister, she got back with her idiot boyfriend.” A long pause. “And she’s pregnant.”

David froze. He didn’t know what to say. He shook his head and sighed. “Oh, dude.”

“You can’t tell anybody, all right?” Nate said.

“No, I won’t.”

Nate sniffed. “Why? She said she was done with him. I just don’t know what to do.”

David sat on the edge of the bed. He had known Nate a long time and had never seen him this concerned and upset. “Does it strike you as odd that we would be making a video of my life right now? And then your sister calls and tells you she’s going through the same thing Melissa went through?”

“I thought about that,” Nate said. “But I don’t think she would listen to Melissa or anybody right now. I think she’s going to do something she’ll regret.”

“I get it. But instead of what she might do, look at what she did.”

Nate looked up, bewildered. “What do you mean?”

“She called you. She trusted you with that news. That says a lot, don’t you think?”

Nate looked away and something sparked in his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. She did call me.”

“That tells me she’s open,” David said. “She wants to at least consider choosing life.”