I had gotten off the phone and wheeled into the other room. Mabel then rushed in over to me.

"Wendy, what did they say? Is Robbie going to be okay?"

"The doctors say Robbie's heart has gotten bigger."

"Aww." Said Mabel.

"No, not 'Aww'; this isn't a metaphore!" I then sighed, trying to compose myself. "I don't know if Robbie ever told you, but be was born with a congenital heart defect. Even after having surgery to fix it, he still has problems on occasion and frequently has to visit his cardiologist so problems like this won't happen in the future."

Mabel's face turned as white as her eyes and those too had gotten bigger.

"I...is Robbie going to be okay?"

"Well the good news is that his condition is stable, but he'll need to stay at the hospital over night."

I recognized that look on Mabel's face. I've seen it before from all the people around me after I have one of my seizures. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have that same face after first seeing Robbie's face turn blue and his fingers clubbed (hence why he always wore fingerless gloves). I wrapped my stiff arm around Mabel the best I could and held her by my side.

"I know it's scary, Mabel. I too worry about Robbie when these things happen. Thankfully, these things happen rarely and he has his parents and doctor helping him."

"That's not what Robbie told me." Mabel muttered. "I was told his parents lock him up in his room and sometimes even beat him when he doesn't behave."

"Well, Robbie's relationship with his parents is… complicated. We've tried reporting his abuse, but for some reason, the authorities keep forgetting, like someone erased their memories."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Mabel.

"Being a friend is a good start… and maybe you can make him some arts and crafts project."

"Like a flower fairy doll?"

"Sure."

"I'm gonna make one out of silk lilies and call her Lily Elbe!"

Mabel skipped off singing. I couldn't help but smile.