"Mom. Please, come out."
"Okay..umm...Julie," he said, remembering the name from before. "But I think I'm coming down with something. So stay back a bit. I don't want you to catch it, okay?"
"Okay, Mom," she said, thinking her mother was being a bit paranoid.
Charlie made a show of flushing the toilet and washing his hands, as if he'd had some bout with diarrhea or something, and opened the door.
