Chapter 31: Lupus

"Are you guys going to tell him?" Sam asked.

The four moved into the living room. Two two-person fabric couches sat on opposite sides of each other. One one-person sofa sat against the wall, in front of the glassed coffee table.
Sam was sitting alone on the couch that was closer to the front door with his legs crossed, and Emilee sat on the floor, using Serene's laptop on the coffee table. Marcel sat on the couch, across Sam. Serene drank his hot tea, sitting on the one-person grey sofa, gazing at Emilee's brother.

Marcel turned his attention to Serene, shrugging, "He's not going to listen to me. If anything, Seven has a better possibility of convincing him than I do."

"But you two have been friends longer than I've known him." Serene defended himself.

"Yeah, but that's exactly why I can't do it. I'm not the type to go against him. You saw how we argued. I get agitated. I don't want to end up punching him because I, as a person, get impatient."

Serene melted onto the couch, taking a sip of his beverage. He thought for a moment, tapping his finger onto the mug slightly as if he were planning something. He leaned forward, setting his cup on the table, "How exactly do I address him?"

"It's been almost a week since the party. You shouldn't feel uncomfortable around him anymore," Sam spoke, "I mean, considering he's been all touchy with you, you guys are practically dating!" he yelped overdramatically.

A smile crept on Emilee's face, keeping her eyes on the screen. Seven eyed her and wrinkled his nose. It was embarrassing, to say the least. He wanted the conversation to stop once he explained the situation, but it only added more questions to the room. Seven didn't respond to Sam, but instead kept his eyes on Emilee, seeing her pale hands shiver.

"Em?" Serene uttered. Emilee sealed her eyes, gently breathing. Sam directed his attention to his sibling, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Em, are you alright?"

"My vision is weird," she mumbled. Sam stood from his seat, gripping her wrists and pulling her up, "What do you mean it's weird?"

"Everything is moving and blurry." Emilee groaned, yanking her hand from Sam to ease a headache that appeared out of the blue.
Sam turned to Seven, gripping his sister again, "Seven, do you have water?"

The assistant nodded, standing up immediately. The blonde-haired girl felt her body shake, wanting to rest as she lost energy, "I- I need to sit down."

Sam nodded, leading her to the couch gently.

"Is she okay?" Marcel asked, at the edge of his seat. Serene rushed back, handing Sam the cup of water.

"I'm fine," Emilee answered.

Sam scoffed, helping her drink from the cup that was given to him, "Like hell. We need to get you in a hospital. Your symptoms are getting worse."

Marcel's eyes widened, "Symptoms? What does she have?"

Emilee groaned at the question, shoving Sam away from her, "I'm fine!" she shouted. Her eyes watered, seeing the three males in front of her stare at her.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed, his blue eyes narrowing at her. Marcel's eyebrows raised, a worried expression on his face. She took a small glimpse at Serene, seeing him standing with a straight face, unaffected by the situation.

Her heart ached, seeing that everyone in the room noticed how much it troubled her, having the disease. She stood up, letting out a gentle sigh, turning around, and walking towards the wooden front door.

Sam directed to her direction, about to follow her before Serene set his hand on his shoulder, "I'll go."

Sam and Serene stared at each other. Sam didn't know whether he should go too, but he knew he's talked to her enough to know how much she ignored the problem. The brother nodded, resting back down on the couch.

Serene walked towards the front door, his heart dropping in devastation. Opening the door, he saw Emilee sitting on the porch weeping. He frowned, feeling ill as his eyes squinted at the girl who held her legs to her chest.

He stepped forward, sitting down next to her, feeling the warm cement underneath them.

The sun was hiding in the clouds, allowing people to view the sky without squinting. The light blue sky was boring, and it made Seven feel small, his breathing becoming short.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, wiping away a tear from her cheek, "I should've told you earlier, so you wouldn't worry about it today."

Serene turned to her, bringing his legs against his chest as well, resting his arms on his knees, "What's up?"

Emilee inhaled deeply, looking up at the azure sky, "I went to the hospital yesterday without Sam.

Serene lifted an eyebrow, "He's your brother, Em. You can't just ignore the fact that he's concerned for you."

"I know. I don't want to trouble him, but I also don't want to believe the fact that I have a larger chance of dying than the majority of people."

"Emilee, this disease... It's getting worse and your brother can see that. You need to get treatment-"

"But that's the thing, Seven. This whole illness, there's no cure. It's all just treatments and hope. I can't live like that. When I... die, I'll go knowing what I did was because I wanted to."

Seven's voice cracked, and the thought of it pained him, "Just- just take the treatment, Emilee. That's all we ask."

Emilee trembled, shaking her head, "I don't want to. I'm not going to get better."

"But you can get worse."

"And that's fine." She smiled softly, "I'm fine with that."

A breeze swept through them, making the neatly-cut bushes sway in the air. Seven's eyes fluttered closed, understanding where Emiliee's perspective was. He could attempt to convince his friend, but at the same time, he felt like it would steal any form of freedom from her.

Emilee smiled, nudging him a bit, "Hey, don't worry about me now. You have a man you have to help, don't you?"

Serene shook his head, feeling Emilee rest her head on his shoulder, "He's getting married. I can't ruin that."

"Does he want to get married, though? Because, if he doesn't, he can cancel it."

Serene gazed at the sky. A sudden chill crawled on his arms, the wind crashing into his body once more, "If he thinks it's the right decision, then so be it. I'm not going to stop him."

"But Seven," she continued, "You like him, right? And he likes you.." she stopped for a moment, tilting her head away from Seven's shoulder, "So, why can't both of you just act one it? Be happy."

"It's much more difficult than you're making it out to be." Serene inhaled deeply, easing up the stress, "It doesn't matter. It's not like he's going to listen to me anyway." Of course, Seven wouldn't have a problem with talking about the topic with Nick again, but when meeting up with the sponsor - when Nicolas gave Seven a panic attack, yelling at him to not get involved with his personal matters - it ached the assistant's chest.

It went silent, hearing the wind blow leaves off trees. The two had forgotten about what they were speaking about, observing the petals falling and fluttering away. The clouds in the light blue sky moved slowly, and Serene was lost in thought, staring at them.
For a moment, Seven had forgotten where they were and what they were doing. He felt at peace, outside of the apartment with the smell of fresh flowers blooming and hearing nothing but the birds chirping and cars honking from the other streets.

The door behind them opened, Sam stepping out. At that moment, Serene's phone vibrated from the inside of his pockets. Emilee stood up, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks as she turned around, "We leaving?"

Marcel walked behind the black-haired male, seeing Seven grab the cellular device, checking who it was.

"Yeah," Sam answered. He stared at Seven, taking a glimpse at his phone screen, only to see it pitch black again. Sam frowned, hearing him gulp harshly. Emilee wiped off any dirt from her black leggings before turning to the assistant, "Thank you, Seven," she grinned, watching him stand up, "See you soon?"

"Soon."

Emilee jumped off the porch, Sam leaning into the assistant, "What'd she say?"

Seven frowned, looking down at the pebbles that were stuck on the porch, "She's not going to take medication."

"Go figure." Sam sighed. He placed his hand on his shoulders, smiling, "Thank you, though. For being her friend."

Before he could respond, Sam stepped off the porch, walking towards Emilee. Sam was sad, though. He's told his sister many times to take treatment, but Emilee would never agree to it. Serene saw this. He saw how overwhelmed Sam was with the topic of Emilee. All he wanted was to keep his sister safe and all Emilee wanted was live a life without treatment even if it meant a short life. Both Seven and Marcel stood on the porch, watching the two siblings walk down the front entrance.

Seven took another glimpse at his phone, grimacing as he read the message in his head:

**Nicolas Anderson: Hey.**

Marcel took a step down to be at the same level as the assistant, gazing down, reading it as well. He glimpsed at Serene's facial expression, seeing the man with sorrow eyes, "Do what you think is right, Ochoa." Marcel muttered, knocking Serene out of his sorrowful facial expression, "You are his assistant. One of your qualifications is to go over every option on the list, right?" Marcel joked, nudging the slim male.