Chapter Three
834 Words
The walk home with Krista in my arms was glum. I walked slowly, nearly trudging along as I cradled my sister. I felt like I was in a funeral march. Subconsciously I knew that might not be an entirely fake thought.
Krista stirred a few times during the trip. I had hoped she’d wake up so I could talk to her, ask her how she felt, but I had no such luck. She stayed in her deep state of slumber on the way home. When I got there, I could see the SUV in the driveway and knew my mother Brenda was already home.
I hurried to the door. Without a way to knock, I kneed it. Brenda opened the door almost instantly and shocked worry made an appearance on her face.
“Oh, my God. Alexis, what happened to her?” she asked following right behind me as I made my way to the couch to set Krista down.
“Nurse Mae said she was having difficulty breathing and some other problems around lunchtime,” I said.
Brenda instantly knelt down beside the couch, a hand cupping the side of her younger daughter’s face. “Krista, honey, can you hear me?” she asked her.
“Mom, just let her rest. I don’t think it’s a good idea to wake her,” I said folding my arms over my chest.
Brenda stood slowly to her feet. She was looking at me carefully. It was obvious she knew something was wrong.
“What else did Nurse Mae say?” she asked.
I was silent for a moment.
“Tell me right now, Alexis Kelly Harrison,” she demanded.
“She said that we should consider checking Krista into a hospital. She needs surgery and constant observation,” I said.
“Alexis, you know we can’t do that. Her insurance won’t cover it,” Brenda said.
“I know, but that was her advice,” I said, my voice a whisper.
Brenda sat down beside Krista’s feet. She looked so sad and broken. I knew I probably didn’t look any better. At least I didn’t have to see myself. The situation before me was a different story.
“She’s really sick now,” she said as if the reality of the situation had finally sunk in. Her voice was oddly without emotion.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“What are we going to do, Alexis?” she asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
I was silent. Right now all I could see was my sickly sister and my devastated mother. They were the only family I had and now there was a real threat of losing them. Our family had been unstable since Krista was first diagnosed, but now we were falling apart.
In the back of my mind, a solution lurked.
I had to fix things. I was, after all, the only one that could make them right. “We’ll get the money to put her in a hospital,” I decided.
“How?” Brenda sobbed.
“Let me take care of the details,” I said and left the house without another word.
In the twilight of the oncoming evening, I walked to Andi's. My mind was buzzing with thoughts. The thought of the competition Amber had pushed on me was the strongest. Andi’s voice repeating “a million dollars” ran through my mind.
Krista desperately needed to go to the hospital, to get the surgery and the treatment to save her life. If I won that competition, I’d get the money to pay for everything she’d need to get better. Of course that was only if I survived.
I shuddered at the thought. I had never been much of a gambler before, it was ironic that now I was playing for such high stakes. All I could hope for was that the rumors of beginner’s luck were true.
The thought of dying scared me to the core –it would any rational person. Somehow, the thought of losing Krista scared me more. She was so young, had so much to offer. Because of her illness, she had never gotten a chance to really experience life.
If I won that money, she would. She’d be well enough to make friends, and live a normal ten year old’s life. Her condition would only go downhill from here without that surgery. In my mind, I pictured her small unnaturally pale body on the couch.
She didn’t have much time left.
Why should I?
The fear that was urging me to change my mind was tucked away as I faced the reality of the situation before me. Krista was dying. I had a possibility of saving her. That chance was worth dying fifty times over for.
- Writer
