Jessie turned off the lights.
Mike gently picked up Irene and rolled her over, so that she was in between the two adults.
"Come on, Reeny, talk to me." Mike prodded gently. "What's up?"
Irene ignored him and rolled over, so she was facing Jessie.
Jessie sighed and put a hand on Irene's head. "Reeny, please. Tell us what's wrong."
"We can't help you if you don't let us in." Mike added.
Irene continued to ignore both of their pleas. After a moment, Jessie got up and pulled the blanket over the four of them.
"We're not going to leave until you tell us what happened." She warned.
Irene's only response was to turn back to her pillow.
Mike sighed and glanced at Jessie. Both of them were sure that Irene was upset because Mike had turned down Slider's offer, but until she told them so herself, they couldn't assume. Irene had gotten so withdrawn that Jessie was frightened that she might eventually truly be lost to them. They'd spent days trying to convince Irene to tell them what she was really feeling inside, but the closest either one of them had gotten was the argument over the school.
Jessie felt Donald brush her leg as he pushed his way out of the blanket to breathe. He fluttered up on top of Mike and started to snore.
With a last, final sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to follow his example.