Dr. Carter nodded, his gaze never leaving her. It was a little unnerving. “Losing a sibling is hard, especially at such a young age. He’d been sick a long time, is that right?”

“His whole life. He had cystic fibrosis.”

“I bet that was hard on you.”

Whitney uncoiled the string from her finger, releasing it. It fell to the ground. There was a window to her right, and she stared out of it. Dr. Carter’s office overlooked his backyard. Lush, green grass, lots of flowers, a tiny garden nestled in the corner.

Dr. Carter fixated on her, present in a way her parents never were. He seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say, and she didn’t want to waste his undivided attention on talking about the one person who’d been stealing the spotlight from her most of her life. Sure, she felt awful about her brother’s death. It had been hard for her when he died at only eleven years old.

But it was also kind of a relief. And that was the part she could never admit to anyone.

How would that make her sound?

She had loved her brother. Of course she had. But when he died, she’d thought that finally her life wouldn’t revolve around having a sick brother. But it seemed he still haunted her. Still permeated every facet of her existence. Oddly enough, in death Kevin owned her parents even more so than he had in life. They were merely ghosts of their former selves. Once Kevin was gone, she’d lost them completely.

Out the window, she caught a glimpse of the main house. She thought of the boy she’d met at the front door. Dan. He was nice. Sweet. Good-looking.

In his eyes, she’d seen pity. Concern. But, also, curiosity.

He knew she was here for therapy, and she could see his brain working overtime to figure out why.

She may have met him for only a few minutes, but it was clear he had a hero complex. It was the same vibe she was getting from his dad. They wanted to fix her. But more than that, they were interested in her. In what she had to say.

Whitney was so much more than just the girl with the sick brother. She had other things to talk about. Other things that weighed on her mind.

“I am sad about losing my brother, sure,” she said, still staring out the window, unable to meet Dr. Carter’s intense stare. “But that’s not all I’m sad about.” She paused. Took a breath. “I met someone. Someone really awesome, who I liked a lot. But then...” She bit her lip, pondering what she should say next.

“But then what?” he asked gently. She wondered if the soothing voice he used was the one he was born with or if he’d trained it to sound like that.