“What’s wrong with her?” David immediately spoke out of concern.

The boys were just staring at us — Baron and I — as he ascended down the rest of the stairs with me still in his arms, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, I tried to free myself out of his arms but he was having none of it. In fact, he held on tighter, refusing to drop me until he got to my seat by the table before he gently placed me on it as though I was some delicate thing that could break if ...