Odd. I could have sworn that I misheard him. I asked to repeat himself, and he said the same words in the same order. "It will not last for long" was the scary sentence that he used twice. Fearing that I knew where he was getting at, I asked to go in depth.

"Tell me in a way that I will fully understand," I said. "Are...are you saying that my heart will die out...and I will die along with it?"

Dr. O'Fallon nodded his head slowly and explained what exactly was the cause of my poor heart dying. First, he questioned me if I had been taking my heart medicine. I know, right? A thirteen-year old girl taking heart medicine? Talk about crazy!

"Wait a minute," Scarlett piped up as she rubbed my arm. "The type of medicine that you prescribed to my sister is not making her heart weak...is it?"

"No, no. The medication is not the cause. In fact, it is not assisting the heart to heal."

My sister snapped. "Then why give it to her in the first place?!"

"Scarlett," I choked out. A frog was in my throat, so I coughed - and a real frog jumped out of my mouth. It landed on the floor and made a bunch of its croaking sounds.

"Ribbit, ribbit!"

The three of us were in utter amazement, especially the doctor. He yanked off his glasses, breathed on the lenses, and put them back on.

"Now that is something that you do not see every day," Dr. O'Fallon stated. "But why should I even be surprised? We are in the town of Forlot. Anything can happen."

"For my next act, my heart will miraculously heal," I announced, hoping that it would.

"I wish," Scarlett agreed. "But it is not that simple, Margie."

"Sis, if a frog that I had absolutely no clue about was in my throat the entire time, my heart can surely jump on the bandwagon and fix itself."

The doctor shook his head this time. "I am afraid that neither your heart nor any medications or treatments at this hospital will fix the severe damages."

My eyes locked on him with a serious expression on my face. "'Severe damages'?" I repeated.

He handed me an X-ray, and I took it and examined it with Scarlett. It was an X-ray of my heart. Though, not a soul would know that it was a heart if they were not told. Can you guess why that is?

My heart was not shaped like a human heart should be or at least the simple heart that people draw. My heart was ugly, and that is an understatement. It did not have one or two complications. It was no longer my heart. It was a mess.

The heart - or should I say, the mess - was flat. Flat as a pancake. No. Flatter than a pancake. Never have I seen a pancake that was as flat as that heart. It was also tangled. As tangled as electric cords to the point of no return.

I placed a quivering hand over my heart to check if it was still beating properly. Thank gosh that it was.

"No..." I said softly. I let the X-ray slip from my hand and hugged Scarlett. "...this cannot be happening..."

She hugged back. "It sadly is, sis. I am so sorry. I would rather that it be me than you. I would take your place in a heartbeat."

Awe. My own sister would do that for me? I was lucky - no, blessed - to have such a loving and courageous sister. And for someone who has the tendency to freak out whenever I want to do something that is insane...she has her best interest at heart.
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"Then why are you leaving?" Sage asked. She gasped and pressed her ghostly hands to her cheeks. "Is it because you are offended by what Riley said yesterday?"

"No, no. You can never offend me. My absence will not be permanent. I will be venturing on an important quest and told Lean all about it. She ordered me to not go..."

"Good for her," Scarlett cut in.

"...without her."

My sister jumped up from her chair. "What?!"
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I will admit to you readers that it is funny when she panics because she usually does it when I am perfectly okay.
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I opened my mouth, however, Spirita beat me to the punchline. He formed a sentence, and my sister and cousin read it out loud.

"'Margie visited the spirit realm.'"

"That is a relief," I said. "For a second, I was afraid that it was a dream."

"You what?!" Scarlett screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Why would you go there?! You could have died!"

"Sis, what did we say about worrying?"
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Dr. O'Fallon glanced at Scarlett. "Your heart would probably be a match for your sister, however, you are not dead. So we will have to put Margie on the waiting list and—"

"Hold it right there," my sister interrupted. "Are you implying that Margie will need a heart transplant?"

"Yes. A heart that is clean, healthy, and will last for the rest of her life."

"Let me guess," I said. "I am at the bottom of the list."

"Actually, you will be towards the top."

I blinked once. Twice. "You have got to be kidding."

He shook his head again and chuckled. "I am not, Margie. You will receive a new heart in no time. You would be surprised how many patients we get that need any kind of transplant. I will give you a hint. Not a lot."

Scarlett and I hugged each other and squealed.

"This is great news!" Scarlett proclaimed. "My only sister will not die."

A long yawn escaped from my mouth, and I stretched. "I should probably get some sleep."

My sister agreed. "Yes, you should. You need to be rested for surgery."