Back in her apartment again, Honey collapsed on her bed, eyes welling up with tears. Tadashi was still alive? Why would he have kept the secret from her? From Hiro? Her phone rang. Wasabi. "Hey, this is Honey." She fought to keep her voice steady.
"Hey Honey. Have you talked to Hiro lately? He seems kind of-wait, are you okay?" Wasabi sounded concerned. He always noticed the little things.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Honey sat up, and wiped her eyes with her hand. "No, I haven't talked to Hiro lately."
"You don't sound okay, Honey." Wasabi was worried. "Can I come over and check on you?"
"Sure. Thanks 'sabi." Honey leaned back on her pillows. She could tell Wasabi. He could keep a secret for her.
"I'll be over there in about….8 minutes. I just have to finish up some things, and then I'll come right upstairs. Take care now."
Honey was glad that her apartment was in the same building as Wasabi. Wasabi was good, kind, and dependable.
When the doorbell rang, she opened it up to find Wasabi, carrying a large insulated bag. "I brought you some things."
"Oh, Wasabi, you didn't need to." Honey smiled. "I'm fine, really."
"No, you're not." Wasabi headed towards her little kitchen. "I have chicken broth, rolls from the bakery, and a box of fudge. Let me put them away, and then we'll talk."
"Thank you, Wasabi." Honey sat down on the couch, waiting for him to come.
Wasabi came and sat next to her, looking genuinely concerned. Like an older brother. "What's going on, Hon?"
"It's just-" Honey paused, trying to decide if she should tell him or not. "I went to the hospital today. They wanted me to help them with a lab issue."
"And?" Wasabi probed, already sensing where this was heading. "You saw something that upset you? Worried you? Can you talk about it?"
"That's the thing, I need to tell somebody about it. The…patient didn't want his friends and family to know." Honey struggled to find the right words.
"Sometimes I wonder what goes in Tadashi's brain. The fire must have really messed him up for him to think that that would be okay." Wasabi sighed.
"Wait, you know?" Honey asked, bolting up right in surprise. "How long have you known?"
"I guessed it, Honey. You wouldn't have been so upset if it had just any other person. I mean, you would be upset, but not crying."
"I wasn't crying." Honey insisted, indignantly. Wasabi just raised his eyebrows at her. "All right, I was."
"Okay, you can cry if you want to. This whole thing is messed up. Just messed up." Wasabi stared at his hands. "Tell you what, we'll do what the knucklehead wants and not tell Hiro, or Fred, or Aunt Cass, or GoGo. Just between you and me, okay?" Honey nodded. "If you need to talk through this, let me know." Wasabi stood up, and stretched. "People aren't meant to keep huge secrets by themselves. I have to run now. I have class. But we'll talk more later."
"Thank you, Wasabi." Honey stood up as well, giving him a hug. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it. I got your back, Lem." Wasabi gave her a fist bump.