“I’m on my way,” Natalie said. “But Gia?”
Natalie stared at the screen, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. Three words. A name she hadn’t seen in her contacts since she’d changed her number last spring. Gia hadn’t just been blocked. She’d been quarantined.
Silence. Then, so quiet it was almost lost to static: “Ok.” is everything ok? gia paige
“You just don’t believe in me,” Gia had whispered, as if that were the cruelest thing a person could do.
On the other end of the line, Gia laughed. It was a wet, broken sound. “No,” she said, and for once, it wasn’t a performance. There was no audience. No producer. No Netflix deal. Just a fluorescent light buzzing over a hospital bed and a sister who hadn’t spoken to her in 365 days. “I’m on my way,” Natalie said
Now, a year later: Is everything ok?
Is everything ok?
The Check-In