[@knight125]

Kijani listened, most of her face impassive. But her eyes showed more life than they had since she'd woken up alive. Anthony had been upset with her. He wasn't the type to yell- you didn't need to be loud to dominate an argument. But she recalled, very distantly, but enough, the same level of hidden fury when he'd executed his father's look-alike. Right before things had gone to hell for her, he'd been very bothered when the fake had said that Anthony's birth was an important achievement. 

A weak chuckle escaped her lips. He was finally honest with her for once, and then he was done? That was more than she'd asked for, and yet, exactly what she needed to hear.

Curling up and pressing her cheek against the pillow, she gently held Connor's hand. "Connor, I'm a total bitch. I hope you know that. I'm going to feel guilty about holding you back for a long time." She raised it to her lips and kissed it, hoping her dry, cracked mouth wouldn't bother him too much. "I love you, even though it's probably the worst thing I could do for you. We've got to talk soon. Just us." She cast a glance at the strange woman in the room, whose name she wasn't sure she'd even heard. "If Anthony hasn't blocked your number... thank him for me? He was upset, but that was the most real he's been since he got here." She smiled meekly. 

"Go to class, will you? I don't think they're going to leave me by myself." A sigh escaped her. "I hope they don't, anyway. Honestly, I'm still not sure I should be here, and yet I'm sane enough to know that I should be worried about that line of thinking."