Mr. and Mrs. Fiorello arrive, leaving me terrified Lili’s going to tell them what really happened. She doesn’t. Instead, she clutches them, sobbing into their chests. They sit a few chairs away from us, fidgeting, staring at paperback books without turning the pages. Mrs. Fiorello has curlers in her hair, and Mr. Fiorello is wearing shoes that look suspiciously like bedroom slippers. Then again, it is almost one in the morning.

About a half hour into the wait, Lili jumps up and approaches one of the triage women behind the thick panes of glass. Mrs. Fiorello follows her; Mr. Fiorello leans his head back on the chair and closes his eyes. When the woman tells Lili she can’t see her sister for the fifth time, Lili screams, “What if Gabby’s dead? What if she needs my blood?”

Laurel bursts into tears. Madeline bites off the last of her manicure. Charlotte keeps making these gagging, puffed-cheeks faces like she’s about to throw up.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly to them, knowing that they’re all privately thinking that I’m a huge bitch. “I didn’t know this would . . .”

“Just shut up about it, okay?” Charlotte hisses, digging her nails into her thighs. “Don’t make me regret not saying anything to the cops.”

A balding, middle-aged male doctor in blue scrubs and a surgical cap emerges through the ER doors, spies Lili and her mom, and walks to them. Mr. Fiorello and the four of us jump up and rush to their side. My stomach churns. The doctor’s face is drawn, as though he’s about to deliver bad news. He clicks and unclicks a pen and twists his mouth. “You’re Gabriella Fiorello’s family?” he asks.

Lili’s parents nod. Mr. Fiorello wraps his arms around Mrs. Fiorello and Lili’s shoulders, pulling them tight.

“Gabriella had what’s called a grand mal seizure,” the doctor says. “It’s when the electrical activity over the surface of the brain is altered. She’s a little shaken up, but she’s resting now and is doing just fine.”

Lili’s eyes are round. “She’s fine? But why did she have a seizure?”

On and off goes the pen with nonstop clicks. “A seizure can be caused by an infection, but we tested her blood, and she showed no signs of infection. It can also be caused by a brain tumor, but we’ve done an MRI to rule out that possibility. More than likely—”

“What about fear?” Lili cuts him off.

The doctor’s eyebrows shoot up questioningly.

“Can a seizure happen out of fear?” Lili asks. “Like if someone really, really scared her?” She turns and looks pointedly at me. I shrink down a little in my shoes.