He was smiling; that had to be a good sign. He wouldn't be smiling if his family was in that room dying. Leah exhaled a relieved breath while he excused himself from the room. Quarantine wasn't a happy place to be, whether you were the bite victim or the family of the bite victim. Leah half-expected Kori to still be in that room, still waiting for her two-week seclusion to be over.
O'Brien started toward her, and Leah helped close the distance so that he wouldn't strain his knee any more than he probably already had. Her hands rested on his waist, although she was more inclined to argue that it was more to help steady him than for needing the physical contact. Somehow, she felt out of sorts showing this kind of familiarity when family members were in the near vicinity. The rest of the Stones hadn't even witnessed yet how things had changed between the two of them. Again, Leah had to remind herself that this wasn't about her at all. This was about O'Brien being reunited with two members of his family.
She smiled slightly when he confirmed that his sister and nephew were okay. What was the problem, then? Why were they in quarantine, if they hadn't been bitten? Leah studied the man's face as he took a moment to group his thoughts. Ah, another of those bullshit government rules. Leah's gaze flicked to the guard she could see over O'Brien's shoulder. While she didn't blame people for being overly cautious, she also knew firsthand what it was like being locked away in quarantine for two whole weeks. That was almost as bad as being locked away in prison. 'Humane quarantine.' Marchand's words in her head again.
Her eyes found O'Brien's again. "I'm glad they're okay, and that you were able to find them." Which meant he probably wouldn't be all that interested in spending as much time with the her and her siblings, anymore. Leah completely understood that, would even support that decision, if that's what he really wanted. Family was as important as ever nowadays.
When O'Brien told her that his sister and nephew wanted to meet her, Leah blinked in surprise. Meeting the family. That was one of those serious steps. Or was it a moot point now that most people didn't have their own homes anymore? She was making this about her again, wasn't she. It was just an introduction. Nothing more than that. Right? Right.
"Of all the things you guys should've been talking about, and you had to mention me?" Leah glanced away from him. There, she was doing it again. Being evasive. Trying to finagle her way out of an uncomfortable situation. She'd promised him her best effort, though. And he was trusting her not to be rude...
Nodding, she patted his uninjured side. "Yeah, okay. If you really want me to."