THE STRANGER IN MY HEART

"Pam", I called out for the third time. I wonder where she could be. "Come on Pamela this is not funny anymore come out, please" Typical Pam, she always does this, takes my phone, and hides it so as she could read my messages.  I climb the stairs to the artic, her favorite spot in the house. And there she is Pamela "Pam" Andrews sleeping in the closet in the artic with my phone in her hand. It is very clear that she was again reading my messages. "And I will take that thank you very much", I say as I grab my phone from her hands, the way she was so startled it's like she didn't even notice when I entered the room. I wonder what's up with her of late, first, it was the lack of appetite now sleeping at any chance she gets. Something is definitely off with her.  "What?! Ohh, hey Sammy did I dose off again? anyway forget that bring that back I didn't get to read the juicy stuff," she says with puppy dog eyes.  "There is nothing interesting in my phone, nothing at all", "that's a lie, tell me who is Shawn? and don't tell me it's nobody I have read your texts".  My name is Samatha Andrews, the fifteen-year-old daughter of Matt and Jessica Andrews and sister to Pamela Pam Andrews. Pam and I are identical twins. She is my best friend as well as my other half. Growing up it was mostly her and I, that's until three years ago when we met the Stevenson siblings Kayla and Tyler when we moved here from Sunnydale. They are not twins like us but they are pretty close that kind of way. The siblings are our friends, we hang out with them most of the time. "Shawn is just a friend Pam, nothing else", I say in response to her but I know it won't be enough to keep her quiet. I can also tell from her sarcastic look that she is not impressed by the way I am brushing this whole thing off, honestly, she hates it when I keep things from her. "I thought sisters weren't supposed to lie or keep things from each other, but it's okay Sammy it's alright," She said with a clear and disapproving tone. I  grab her hand just as she is about to leave.  "he is not just a friend, I met him in Spanish class, he is new and he asked me to show him around the school to which I agreed".   "Boring!" she says with a fake yawn.  "don't rush me, Pam, you want all the details don't you?! anyway, a few days ago he and I started talking, he is interesting and I kinda like him". All the while I was looking down so I raised my head only to find her eyes popped wide open in clear shock. "Pam?! say something" I wave in her face.  "Samantha Sammy Andrews, how could you?! Keeping such juicy information from me" She playfully hits my arm. "Come sit down, I am tired from all the standing and tell me everything about him, is he cute? What's he like?" She drags me to the old couch and bombards me with countless questions.  "he is cute, a bit nerdy but I like him" Pam and I continue to chat, well it's more of a Q and A session and Pam is doing all the asking. This is why I love her, she is always so eager to know everything that concerns me even my smallest worries. I call her my personal diary.  After what felt like an hour we make our way to the kitchen to get something to eat and then head to the lounge to watch True crime and makeup. It has been our favorite show since I don't even know when. Pam and I always binge-watch it together every Saturday afternoon since our parents are always at work at that time. Today's case is particularly interesting it's about twins, Jasmiyah and Tasmiyah Whitehead, who both killed their mother. Just after the twins' case, Pam went to our room to lie down. We had each had a room when we moved here but after two days of sleeping alone, I moved to Pam's room cause it didn't feel normal without her. Anyway, she said she had a headache so she decided to go and sleep, meanwhile, I sat there trying to find something to do. After much deliberation, I went to take a nap too.  Just as I am about to lay down, I notice something weird happen. I looked at Pam and her eyes were open head tilted to the side and her body was jerking and twitching. I screamed. "Help!! Pam!  wake up!! HELP!"I grabbed my phone and dialed 911. Jack and Mellisa, along with Tyler and Kayla came rushing as soon as they heard my cries.  "Sam sweetie what's wrong? we heard your cries" Mellisa said. As soon as she saw Pam she was startled, "Ohh my God, Pam!, Jack love call the ambulance and tell them to hurry up now" she shouted to her husband who was downstairs. Pam continued to twitch while her arms and head seemed to be cemented in one place. Minutes later the paramedics came and put Pam in the ambulance. Kayla's mother, Mellisa helped me onto the ambulance as I accompanied my sister to the hospital. Jack, Kayla, and  Tyler's stepdad had tried to get in touch with my parents but they were stuck in a meeting but they were coming as soon as possible. As I left along with Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson to the hospital, Kayla and Tyler were left to look after our house while I was gone.  As soon as we got to the hospital the doctors surrounded Pam, she was then rushed to the emergency section for examination while I remained with Mellisa, my head was in her lap. The wait was agonizing, and with every moment passing the edge to cry increased. An hour later mom and dad arrived and being the daddy's girl I quickly rushed to my dad who hugged me tightly while my mom was busy soothing me by rubbing my back with her hand. "Don't worry baby she will be alright" my mom said.  "Yes, moon pie listen to your mother, it's probably nothing serious and besides your sister is very strong", my dad tried to console me but I could tell from his tone that he was as scared as I was, Pam barely got sick even when we were growing up  I was the one who always got coughs while she would always be fine.  "Let me go and find the doctor It's been ages since they have taken her into the room, they should have said something by now", Jack said as he got up from the bench and walked towards the side where they took Pam. Just as he was about to leave the doctor came out of the room. "Are you all the family of Pamela Andrews?", he asked. "yes, we are"my dad responded.  "Let's give you all some space", Mellisa said as she and Jack moved away from us headed towards reception. "nonsense, you and Jack are like family, stay, please", my mom said. Jack and Mellisa joined us. "Well, Pamela has suffered what we call a tonic-clonic seizure, which is basically when the body stiffens which is the tonic phase and then the limbs begin to jerk rhythmically that is the clonic phase. For now, I am pleased to say we have managed to stabilize her and she is now resting, however, since we do not know for sure what caused the seizure we are keeping her here for some days just so as we can observe her and run some tests to determine the root cause of the problem", the doctor explained. Immediately my mother breaks down and cries hysterically. Mellisa and Jack support her and help her sit down. Mellisa tries to calm her down.  "Will she be alright doctor, will my baby be alright?", my concerned father asked the doctor. "Well Mr. Andrews as I have already stated, for now, she is alright but we are running tests on her to find out what is wrong, don't worry Sir she is in great hands", the doctor said trying to calm my dad. With that said the doctor left us to digest the news.  A few minutes later, Jack stood, "well let me go back home, we left Tyler and Kayla alone to guard the houses, I will call to check up on you all later on if I am not able to come back here". He left along with Melissa who was quite hesitant to leave.  Through all of this, I couldn't help but break down into a soft sob too. It was just weird, one minute she is fine the next she is here. I pondered on whether she was in pain or not. She was probably scared, I am too, I don't want to lose her. Pamela is a part of me. The doctor allowed us to see her though it was just for fifteen minutes since she was heavily drugged from the medication.  As we walked in I realized how pale she was, it was only now that I noticed that she had lost her glow, there were bags beneath her eyes. Now it made sense, all those nights that I caught her awake, she was probably finding it hard to sleep at night that's why she often dozed off at random times. But typical Pam she would always come up with some kind of excuse like, she was just getting water or she had just woke up from a great dream so she had to note it down before she forgot it. How could I not notice something was wrong I mean we are twins for crying out loud, I should have felt it somehow. My mom patted her forehead and kissed it. "You are going to be alright my baby, just be strong", she whispered just close to her ear. You could see she was trying to be strong but this was her baby, her firstborn child. My parents struggled to have kids, Pam and I were what they always say their miracles. We were born after three miscarriages and according to my parents, they didn't know they were expecting twins.  Apparently, the scan showed one child. Pamela was born first and two minutes later I was delivered. This is why all of this was breaking my mother. "Hey Pam, get well soon okay. I miss you and you are scaring me. Anyway, I love you big sis" I said while fighting off the tears. My parents and I left the room and went home. The next day we go back to the hospital and after checking up on Pam, we met up with the doctor in his office once again before going back home. "Samantha could you wait outside please, I need to talk to your parents alone" "No, I want to know what's wrong with Pam she is my sister, I deserve to know", I retaliate "Sam, baby listen to the doctor okay, besides we will talk at home", my mom said trying to be calm. "Okay fine", I leave the office but I am tempted to eavesdrop. I decide against it.  Ten minutes later my parents come out of the room. My mother's eyes are more swollen and wipe off a tear on her left eye. At this point, her usually on-point makeup is all over and her mascara has formed black patches around her eyes. The drive home is a silent one, my dad has his left hand on my mother's hand, squeezing it every now and then. He also keeps on checking up on me using the mirror. Once we get home we all sit in the lounge. I do not want to push them in any way so I kept quiet. My dad is the one who breaks the silence. "Sam, we have something to tell you," he says while I fix my posture to face him.  "The doctors were able to find out what is wrong with your sister, moon pie, Pam has kidney failure. She has to either undergo dialysis for the rest of her life or get a kidney transplant" "Okay well, what is next? Can I donate my kidney? I want to donate my kidney" I say. I will do anything it takes to save my Pam.