Carrie woke up about an hour later, to Devin holding her wrist, taking her pulse again. She was finally feeling some relief from the headache, but she groaned as she remembered that she had intended not to fall asleep, but to think up a way to convince Devin not to put her through a full physical.

"Feeling any better?" he asked.

She figured she couldn't lie. If she said no, she would most definitely be headed for the hospital. But telling him that she did feel better meant she was out of time to escape further humiliation as he examined every inch of her. She nodded. Then she had an idea.

She sat up, sliding back to lean against the headboard. "See?" she said. "I feel better. Would the medicine have worked if it wasn't just a migraine?" It was a last ditch attempt.

He sat down on the bed beside her. "Carrie, just because the medicine helped doesn't mean everything is okay."

She scowled.

"Tell me," he said, "how did my sister 'force' someone as stubborn as you to come to this reunion?"

Carrie couldn't help laughing a little bit. "Deidre really wanted to be here. I don't honestly know why it was so important to her that I be here since she couldn't. All I know is she asked me to, and that for her somehow that makes it okay that she couldn't come. And so, no matter how much I might hate it, I did it for her."

"Then do the exam for me," he said.

"What do you mean, for you?"

"I care about you, Carrie," he said. "I always have. You scared me today. And now, knowing that you haven't been taking care of yourself, I'm even more worried. So regardless of whether you think you need it, do this for me so that I can stop worrying."

She didn't know what to say. She knew he cared about her, the way that any protective big brother cares about his little sister's best friend. But was this more than that? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Either way, she had no argument for him, other than the one she was afraid to bring up. He knew how she had felt about him when they were younger. He probably knew she still had many of those feelings today. How could he not realize how uncomfortable that made this for her?

She sighed. "Well, you're not going to give me much of a choice anyway, are you?"

He smirked. "Nope. I'm not."

Shaking her head, she laughed slightly, in spite of herself. "All right. Let's get it over with."