“We’ll get Hypatia and see to your grandfather, and then it will all be over,” he responds from the other side of the curtain. “I’ll bring you back to the institute, you can go on living in denial, and we can commence ignoring each other once again.”

The room fills with steam. Everything I’ve just seen and heard makes it easier to ignore that we’re having this conversation while he’s completely naked. There’s a crack where the curtain doesn’t quite meet the wall, and through it I see pinkish water whirl down the drain.

Blood. Her blood. I turn away from the shower as I gag.

The steam is thicker now, the mirror fogged over. I can only make out strange parts of my face, distorted into a deformed image I don’t recognize. It’s becoming difficult to breathe the heavy, moist air. I draw in a deep breath, and my lungs fill with the metallic smell of blood mixed with the florals of the hotel soap. My head is swimming, and telltale saliva pools on my tongue. I know what’s coming next.

I drop to my knees in front of the toilet just in time. My pizza lunch burns my throat as it comes back up, and I retch into the bowl.

What am I even doing here? Planning to ambush my family with Rafe? Why did I never apologize to Georgie? Why did I tell Michael that he should date Kaylie? I’m severed from everyone who truly cares about me, and the one person I chose to trust turns out to be a monster. I retch again.

A rush of cool air tickles my neck, and the sound of water has silenced. I turn, and Rafe is behind me in a fluffy white robe. He’s opened the door to let out the steam, and I take in some long breaths of clean air. But there she is, lying on the bed with a vague expression on her sleeping face. I hastily turn back to the bowl to retch again, and Rafe kneels on the ground behind me, pulling back my hair as I empty the last remaining contents of my stomach into the toilet. I’m shaking and clammy all over; even my hands are damp as they slip around the sides of the porcelain bowl. There can’t possibly be anything more to come out. I spit into the bowl a few times, trying to clear the taste from my mouth. I sit up, pushing Rafe away.