I fell asleep in a hard chair right beside Alex's hospital bed. With a groan, I lifted my head up from the palm of my hand as my eyes began to adjust to the light. I could hear my little sister's voice, but it was just taking my brain a while to process her words.

"Okay, that sounds terrifying," Alex said. With those words, I immediately snapped out of whatever trance I was in before I looked up at my sister. She smiled at me, shaking her head softly. Her skin was already becoming paler and it was beginning to scare me.

"Morning my little Snapchat, school bus, m&m package. The doctor is finally here," Alex said. She had a great way of not showing how much pain she was in. If someone random were to walk in, they never would've been able to guess that her organs are dying off.

"How do you come up with yellow things like that on the spot?" I asked, chuckling softly. My hands came over to my face just to make sure there was no drool on the side of my mouth as I tried my best to fix my hair. Then, I finally looked over at the doctor. He was a very beautiful man-blue eyes, blonde hair, white teeth.

"Hi, you must be Alexandria's sister. Heard you snoring a little," he chuckled before giving me a glance of those pearly whites. I smiled at him before turning towards my sister with wide eyes. She looked as if she were holding in a laugh as she watched the scene unfold.

"Yes, I'm Anastasia," I said, reaching out for a handshake. It took a while for me to understand the American custom of a handshake. I wasn't really used to that sort of thing where I was from.

"Anastasia, that's a beautiful name. I'm Dr. Jacob Flores, your sister's oncologist," he said, looking in my eyes for a second. He had a tall, solid build and it made me question if he had a hustling side job. There were no words said until Alex cleared her throat leaving me to narrow my eyes at her. He cleared his throat as well before opening up the file in his hands.

"I was looking at her scans and her body is equivalent to a sixty-year-old woman's," he began.

"Okay, ouch. Just rip the band-aid off, why don't 'cha?" Alex sarcastically spoke. A small chuckle escaped from me as he sent her an apologetic smile.

"When they handed me the scans, I would have never been able to guess that she was a seventeen-year-old girl. The cancer shouldn't be attacking her organs so aggressively and quickly. I thought about removing the cancerous organs with a transplant, but that takes months. Months that she may not have," he said. My eyebrows pulled together as I processed his words.

"Months that she may not have? What- What are you saying?" I asked, my hand instinctively reaching out for my sister's. He had a sad look on his face. A look that was full of pain and sorrow. The only look in the world that I did not want to see coming from a doctor.

"Look-"

"How many months do you think she has?" I asked him. He glanced down at Alex who was wearing a frightened expression on her face as she looked at him.

"Maybe we should go out-"

"How many months?" I asked, my voice breaking. He let out a sigh before walking towards me.

"Luckily, the cancer hasn't gotten to her kidney. Once it does, I'm predicting based on the way it's aggressively attacking her body and the amount of chemo she's going to go through-I believe that she has two months," he said, his voice full of fake sadness.

My shoulders dropped. I wanted to cry once again, but I knew that I couldn't do that in front of Alex. I had to be strong for my little sister. It wouldn't be fair for me to break down and cry. When my eyes met her chocolate orbs, I had expected them to be full of tears. They weren't full of anything. It had to be her overachieving mind attempting to find an answer to all of this.

"I'm sorry, but we are going to do the best we can do to make sure that the cancer does not spread. There have been many patients whom we predicted would survive for only four weeks and ended up living for ten years. We never truly know, we can only predict. Your sister is in the best hands possible, and I'm going to make sure that we are giving her the longest amount of time to enjoy her life," He said.

I hated the fact that, once again, I couldn't form words. Deep down, I knew that if I spoke, I would want to break down. So, instead, I focused on nodding my head.

His eyes seemed as though they wanted me to trust him. They were begging me to help relieve my worries by having faith. Little does he know, bad luck was common in our family. The second we opened our hearts to having faith or putting trust into someone, we would end up being reminded of why that voice in the back of our head screamed at us not to.

"Thanks," I said. I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for, but the word flew out of me because it was the only word that didn't sting at the taste of it.

"I want this to be easier for you, I really do. Trust me when I say that I'm giving this one-hundred and ten percent Ms. Smith," he said, his voice full of pleading. He gave me one last look of sorrow before walking over to Alex.

"I'll see about starting you up on that chemotherapy in about thirty minutes," he told her before turning on his heel and walking out of the room. I watched his retreating form before my eyes shut tightly.

"You have work in an hour. You should go home and get ready," Alex said calmly as if he hadn't just told her that her world could possibly end within a short time span of two months. It left me puzzled about how she didn't even seem bothered to care. I really did need her to care more than I did.

"Alex-" I began, but she raised a hand, shaking her head back and forth.

"No, my little taxi cab, I don't want to hear it. He said that there is a chance I could live beyond that. I've always been a fighter. So, I'm going to need you to go to work, be normal, and just try not to worry so much about me. I'm okay," she whispered the end part.

"I really wish you would stop comparing my hair to yellow things," I said, a chuckle surpassing me to make up for the amount of sadness I was currently feeling. She smiled at me, beaming happily. Another thing that I loved about her was how happiness could radiate off of her so effortlessly. I didn't know what I would ever do without that.

"What's the fun in that?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. It felt odd how she decided to avoid everything the doctor had said. I wasn't sure if she was covering everything up with humor, or if it was because the way she felt was truly hopeful.

"I wouldn't go to work if I didn't have to come up with some way to pay the electricity bill. It doesn't feel right to be working with you being in here all by yourself," I told her, running my hand through her hair. I had learned that it was a habit of mine as a way to comfort others.

"I promise that I'm okay. Please, just go to work," she told me. I sent a forced smile her way before going over to grab my bag before shoving my phone inside of it. As I walked away from her and closer towards the door, I could feel something dragging me back. I wasn't sure if it was guilt or if it was my own overprotectiveness urging me to stay.

Just as I was about to turn around, Alex yelled out, "Leave!"

Smiling to myself, I walked out of the room. The doctor was standing behind the counter conversing with the nurse before his eyes caught mine. Then, the nurse also looked up at me with a defeated look on her face. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it didn't look like it was good.

As I stood there looking at them in curiosity, the oncologist finally made his way over to me. He was wearing a kind smile, but there was something in his eyes that didn't quite match. "Ms. Smith, are you heading out?" He asked.

"Yeah, I really don't want to, but I have to go to work," I told him, nodding my head with narrowed eyes as I spoke, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"Her cancer has spread more quickly than we thought. She was having pains in her side yesterday, so while you were sleeping, we did a couple more scans of her body. The cancer has now also spread to her kidney," he said, his voice sounding sincere.

"I have to go to work," I whispered before walking past him and out of the hospital. I quickly made my way to my car just as tears began to pour out of my orbs once more. My eyes were so blurry from crying that it made it impossible to unlock the door. With frustration bursting through me, I kicked the side of the vehicle as a sob ripped out of me.

"Ms. Smith!" The doctor called out. Turning towards him, I quickly wiped my tears away. It was too instinctive the way I always seemed to put up an emotional front.

"It's not safe for you to deal with all this stress by yourself. I've seen her records, I know that you're only twenty years old taking care of a seventeen-year-old teenager with cancer. I am so sorry for overstepping my boundaries, but it's okay to see someone or lean on a friend in times like this. I've seen what this has done to families, I can't imagine it for one person," he explained.

"I appreciate your suggestion," I told him, smiling sadly before successfully unlocking my door. I sat down in the seat leaving him to be standing right beside my car. With the key in the ignition, I started the car. When he still stood there, I decided to roll down my window.

"You have a strong kick there by the way. You know, I may not be an orthopedic, but I'd be more than willing to check your foot out if you need me to," he told me, offering a smile. I didn't say anything else as he held up his hand in a small wave before walking away.

-

"Girl, what's got you so bummed out?" My co-worker, Liliana, who is actually the closest person to a friend had asked me. I was placing plates of burgers on a tray that I was preparing to give to my customers. She stood right by me with her hand on her waist as she awaited my answer.

"My sister is probably dying of cancer, and I have to sit here and pretend that everything is okay. I just can't stop thinking about her," I tell her honestly. She reaches out and touches my shoulder. A small smile made its way onto her features. I looked over at her dark complexion and big bouncy curls that sat down her back. Liliana was a beautiful girl inside and out.

"Alex has cancer? Aw, baby, that hurts my heart to hear," she said, opening her arms up. I walked into them allowing her to hug me. Her hugs felt so peaceful and calm. It felt like the hug a mother would give their daughter, but she was my twenty-year-old friend that could make me feel more at home than my actual home.

"I don't even know how I am going to pay for everything," I whispered. She pulled away from the hug quickly before pointing towards a table of people in suits.

"Okay, Anastasia, this is going to sound really crazy, but we should switch tables. That man over there," she said before pointing towards a really handsome man with loads of tattoos, "his name is Vincenzo Rossi. He has a brother that owns this huge underground club. My cousin works there and she just bought herself a mansion."

"What could she possibly be doing at a club to make that much money?" I asked.

"She strips, okay? It isn't as bad as you think. If it wasn't for how overprotective she is, I would've been stripping my way into Italian pockets as well. From what she tells me, Italians love them some Black Girl Magic," she chuckled before pointing at the table once more.

"We can switch tables, but I'm sure if I'm going to strip," I told her, grabbing the tray she had already prepared for them. Nodding her head, she had grabbed mine before heading over to my previous table.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the huge group of big men. The second I made it in front of them, I could feel all of their eyes on me. All except for the Vincenzo guy. Sitting the food down on the table, I tried to pretend as if I didn't feel all of them looking over me.

"Is there anything else I could get you guys?" I asked, my voice hard and full of confidence. Finally, the extremely tatted guy looked up at me along with the rest of his people around the table.

"Anastasia," one of the men had read my nametag as they looked down my body. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I nodded my head while waiting patiently.

"Has anyone ever told you that you resemble a Barbie doll?" A different man had asked.

"Lascia che giochi con le bambole," Vinenzo growled out angrily, irritation visible in his words before glancing down at his phone, completely returning to ignore me. He got up from the table and walked out of the entire place. My eyes followed him as he left.
[ leave it to you to play with dolls ]

"Romano would love you. Valerio, leave his card for the girl," the first man had said before all of them grabbed their food and walked off. They all seemed to have followed after the tatted man.

When I glanced down at the table, there was a huge tip and a card with the words 'Valentino Romano' written on them. Biting down on my lip, I thought back to my sister and my mother. Finally without a second thought, I slipped the card into my apron.

-

So, these chapters are a lot longer than any chapters I've written for Stepbrother. The updates may not be as frequent because of this which I am so sorry for, but I think that longer chapters suit me a lot better. I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Please let me know what you think about chapter three. Thank you so much for reading, I hope to see you next update.

Stay safe,
- xx lee