I stared at my sister who was sleeping soundly due to medicine the doctor had given her. My legs couldn't help but pace back and forth around the room as I tried calling my mother over and over again. At first, it seemed as if she were just ignoring my calls, but it soon turned into every call I made going to voicemail.

Throwing myself in the chair, I brought my hands up to my face as tears streamed from my eyes. The worst part about me, besides the fact that I tend to be indecisive, is the fact that I always seemed to hold things in until I exploded. This moment was my explosion.

A knock sounded on the door giving me a small amount of time to wipe my tears away before it opened. A woman had strolled in wearing a smile as she walked over to me. I knew that she could see that I had just been crying. Pity was written all over her face, but I didn't need any of her pity. I just needed Alex to be okay.

"I'm sorry to be so unprofessional, but I must say, you might need some sort of help. Going through this is a very scary process, and I'd hate for you to do this all on your own," the lady said. Based on the pantsuit instead of scrubs or lab coat, I could tell she wasn't a doctor. My shoulders dropped as I turned towards Alex.

"I'm fine, and I'm not alone because I have my little sister right there. In helping her get through this, she's helping me by staying alive-that's enough for us," I said. She gave me one more pitiful smile before glancing down at her clipboard.

"I wanted to stop by and explain what Leukemia is and what to expect throughout this entire process. As mentioned, Alexandria is suffering from Leukemia. Most cancers are staged going based off of tumors and the spreading of those as well. Leukemia is based on blood cell counts and the accumulation of the leukemia cells in organs. Alexandria has a very rare case for her age of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. It has spread to her liver, her bone marrow, lymph nodes, and her blood. It can spread even more.

"For some reason, it's spreading through her body like a wildfire. The doctor can't state how long she's had the disease, but he says that it doesn't look good. We can get her started on chemotherapy as soon as possible to see if we could kill any of those cancerous cells and relieve some of those symptoms. We are receiving a really good doctor who really wants to help Alexandria. He is on his way and will do his best to assure a recovery for her." the lady explained.

Taking a deep breath, I didn't want to cry in front of her. All I could do was nod my head before she began to write some more things down on her clipboard. My eyes trailed over to Alex who was still sleeping peacefully.

"I'll let the doctor know to get her started on chemotherapy right away. Now, we have to discuss the other part of this ugly mess. Do you happen to have insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, anything to help cover expenses?" The lady asked, raising a brow as she sent a soft reassuring smile my way. I bit down on my lip as I shook my head.

They're asking for some way to pay for all of this. My head began to spin as I thought about the cost of everything. If I had thought I was in debt before, I'm sure in debt now. Maybe I could pick some hours up at the diner, or find a second job.

"We can't deny you care, Ms. Smith. No matter what, we'll be sure to do all we can for your sister, but the cost will pile up really quickly. Cancer treatment isn't cheap," she said softly. Closing my eyes, I could feel a stray tear rolling down my cheek. Before it could completely fall, I harshly wiped it away.

"Okay," I whispered. She was giving me that look of pity once more. Her features slowly returned to a pitiful smile as she began to write more things down on the clipboard.

"I'll be back shortly after discussing future treatment with your doctor and seeing what we can do to help you out financially," she said, touching my shoulder in a reassuring manner before walking out of the hospital room.

The second she was gone, I picked up my phone and dialed my mother's number. Once again, it went straight to voicemail. As soon as I hung up the phone, a sob ripped out of me. "I hate her! I hate her so f*cking much! Why can't she just be a parent for once?" I shouted, lashing out.

When I turned to glance at my sister, she was staring up at me. A look of melancholy was on her face as she looked. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I smiled at her. "How do you feel?"

"Nana, I know she isn't the best mum in the world. We live in a world full of factors that want to bring us down. We waste so much time being angry with others and ourselves. I'm still here, aren't I? I'm still breathing and I can still move," she chuckled before raising her arms up and down.

"Hate is an ugly word. You mustn't hate her, we must hate only her disease. She's still in there, and it's a waste of time to be angry at it. Time is limited in this world, and if we don't look for the positive moments of it-what the hell are we living for? You're my big sister, and I'll love you always no matter what you do with your life. I may actually be dying of disease the exact same way she is, you need to stick by her exactly like how I know you are sticking by me. We need to-ow," she grimaced before grabbing ahold of her side.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she looked up at me. "How are we going to pay for this? Mum can't work with the record she has, and you can't afford this treatment. How- What?" she asked, her eyebrows coming together as she grabbed her side.

"Don't worry about anything. I'll figure it all out for us like I always do. I'm going to go call a nurse," I said, touching the top of her head before walking out of the room. One of the nurses automatically perked up. She had walked around the counter to come closer towards me.

"She keeps clutching her side and grimacing in pain," I explain. She nods her head before entering the room. Her eyes are immediately are on Alex as she begins to do something with her IV.

"I'll be right back with some more pain medication. Dr. Santos is one of the best oncologists in the nation. He has been dying to meet with you, Alexandria. He'll be here as soon as he lands," the nurse stated with a smile before exiting the room. I looked down at Alex to see she was staring at the IV in her arm.

"Don't you have to work today?" My sister asked without ever looking my way. One thing that I loved about Alex was her intelligence. I knew that when she spaced out, it was her intellect putting things together. Her mind had a way of solving the impossible equations of life.

"I'm chucking a sickie," I told her. She looked up at me before rolling her eyes jokingly. The longer I looked at her, the more I didn't want her to ever leave my sight. What hurt most was realizing that my sister may be dying. No, she's gonna live no matter the cost-I'm going to make sure she's okay.
[ chucking a sickie - Australian term for calling in sick ]

Her eyebrows rose as she looked at me in a questioning manner. I quickly averted my eyes and picked up my phone. Alex hated signs of pity almost as much as I did. Not many people in the world can say that they liked to be looked at with sympathy due to struggles. For me, it was like someone was rubbing it in my face that there was a thick wall blocking me from a solution.

"Mum isn't answering," I said, setting my phone down on the hospital's bedside table.

"Go swing by the house and check on her. I don't really trust that man she was with," Alex said, a frown on her lips.

The nurse walked back in and handed Alex some pills and water. She gave me a small smile, and then I watched her as she walked out of the room. My sister already looked comfortable and ready to fall right back to sleep as she rolled over into her side.

"I don't want to leave you here by yourself. What if your doctor gets here?" I ask her, grabbing ahold of her hand. Due to her words about not trusting that man, worry began to knot at the pit of my stomach.

"Nana, my little honey, sunflower, banana, corn kernel, my duckling, sunshine, lemon, yellow heart emoji. . . I promise you that I am going to be okay. I'm already," she yawned, "so tired. Go check on our mum. The nurses will watch me and I'll make sure we don't start without you."

"Okay, but I'll be right back," I stated. She waved her hand before shutting her eyes. What medicine that had been given to her seemed to work pretty quickly. She was out in seconds. I decided to watch over her for another minute before grabbing the keys.

The trip outside of the hospital was short. Once I was outside, I walked towards the car before staring at my reflection through the window. My hair was a mess and I was still wearing pajamas. This wasn't anything I could've prepared myself for. Everything went south within a minute.

As I opened the door, I carefully slid into the vehicle before turning on the ignition.

-

"Mum!" I shouted out as I walked into our apartment. All of the lights were off, but it was only due to the fact that our electricity still wasn't working.

Stepping one foot into the house, I grabbed the gun by the door. There was also a flashlight we kept inside of a drawer that I had grabbed. We were an apartment full of only females, also my mother tended to bring men around like it was nothing. We had all agreed that it would be most intelligent to keep a gun around just in case we needed it to protect ourselves.

This seemed like the perfect time to keep it handy seeing as the door was unlocked and there was no way I could see anything. A small step followed a small step all the way until I made it to my mother's room.

I knocked softly, but when I didn't hear anything-I went in. Grabbing a hold of the flashlight, I flickered it on. A gasp moved passed my lips as I ran over to my mother who was passed out on the floor. Her room was a mess and there seemed to have been blood dripping from her nose.

"Oh, my god! Can you hear me?" I shouted, grabbing her face gently. Her mouth moved to form a groan as she nodded her head. I didn't know what to do. If I were to send her to the hospital, they would know we were natives of America.

"Yes, yes, I can hear you," she whispered. Leaning up, a groan left her mouth as her eyes remained shut. Shaking my head, I grabbed onto her before pulling her onto the bed.

This was the normal routine: help her remove her shoes, lay her down on the bed, place the blanket over her body, leave. Only this time, her room looked like it had been trashed, and she looked like she had been trashed right along with it.

"What did he do to you?" I asked her as I began to remove the heel from off of her feet. It was so hot that it made it challenging to even think straight.

"Who, Dante? Oh, no, nothing sweetie. He just gets a little rough. I'm sorry I couldn't get the money this time," she slurred as I came up to her and tucked her into bed. She was quivering allowing me to come to the realization that she was high. There was never a time that she wasn't drugged.

"What did you take?" I asked her, my voice going monotone.

"Nothing, sweetie. I didn't take anything. How's my little girl doing, is Alex okay?" She asked. It sounded like there was actual concern in her voice, but I knew she wouldn't remember any of this. So, I settled with a sigh as I ran my hands through her hair. Her quivering body remained shivering as I did so.

"She has cancer, mum," I said, a tear falling from my eyes. She looked up at me, her eyes were so bloodshot and empty. I wanted to slap her and tell her that she needs to be here for us. She needed to know that it's her fault why I will never be financially stable because of the fact that the car, apartment, utility bills, hospital were all in my name-they're always going to be left unpaid. I wanted to scream that I can't handle all of this on my own. I needed her to understand that I need my little sister in order for me to be sane.

"I can't blame you because then I'd have to blame it on your mother, your mother's mother, her mother's mother and so on. I'd have to blame it on the darkness. Mum, I don't blame you, but please," I sobbed as she began to fall asleep in my arms. Please just love us more than those damn drugs.

-

For my "Stepbrother" readers, I realized that I begin the story too quickly of 'guy meets girl', I feel like background information is extremely important in a plot. Which is why I'm diving so deep into Anastasia's life before just introducing the main guy. If that makes any sense.

I meant to update this very much earlier, but I never got the chance to go in and edit it. So, I hope you guys enjoyed this update. It was very sad, and I began to tear up a little at the end. Please share your thoughts. Make sure you guys are staying safe.

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thank you for reading. please vote : )