Mattie gave a sharp nod, and then followed it up with a "Yes, of course," because she figured that there might not be enough light for him to see her. Wishing there were more light, she turned her back on Nick and squinted down at his sister. What was her name? Alissa, that was it. Normally she would have gained a good deal of information from the look of her; was she pale? Had she lost weight? There was also the thing she didn't want to admit. 

Her run-in with death had left her a bit of a germophobe. She found herself reluctant to touch the little girl. Perhaps part of it was that the poor kid wasn't related to her–– survival of the fittest, the selfish gene, yadda yadda. But she already liked Nick too much to refuse that request. Plus, she wasn't all too keen on being seen as more of a dickhead than she already was. 

She took a deep breath and took the girl's wrist gently. She didn't really want to wake her up, but she could at least check her pulse and temperature. She pressed her fingers to the radial artery and waited. A feeble beat registered on her fingertips. She moved on to Alissa's forehead, touching the back of her hand to it. 

"She's hot," she mumbled softly. It wasn't looking good.