Leah caught only a glimpse of him as he stumbled through the front lounge, tripping over his own feet: his greasy hair, his pale face. He looked like death. He looked half alive. Rushani returned to the front, where they were all pretending to be very fascinated by the home renovation show James was watching, and took a beer from the mini-fridge. There was no room left on the couches, so she leaned against the counter. She didn’t open her beer. Her shoulders slumped, and she closed her eyes. James stood up, crossed the room, and wrapped his hands around Rushani’s upper arms and gently guided her to the couch. She sat there, mute and staring, while James opened her beer. Then she took a sip and seemed to come back to life, looking around at all of them and blinking. “Is everything okay?” Marina asked, and then rolled her eyes at her own question, because it was pretty obvious that things weren’t okay. “He’s sleeping now,”
