It had been a few weeks of constant visits to the hospital. I had fallen asleep in the car on our way home from a very late visit. It was really annoying me that she had to have such a late appointment. They even went to the hospital on my birthday! I hate it so much. I wish that mom and dad would let us go to school while they went to the hospital. I had missed a lot of my classes and had a lot of work to make up. Mom said she would talk to the principal about it. But she never did. Carmen has been really shaky and tense after one of her visits last week. I don't know why because she won't tell me, neither will mom and dad. Maggie is now 4 years old and Jonah is turning 6 in a week. Carmen was at the hospital overnight for her 20th birthday, I bet that was a good birthday present.

I noticed that I was back in my bed. The sunlight provided by the bright andshimmering sun, peering through the slits of my curtains. My clean room was covered in dark shadows due to the small amount of sunlight going past my opaque curtains. I heard the shattering of glass from downstairs and quickly hopped out of bed to see what had happened. When I reached the bottom of the stairway, I could hear someone cry softly from behind the counter. I looked behind the counter and saw Carmen. She had dropped her glass cup, which shattered, water spilled all over the floor.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, walking over to grab a new cup for her. I noticed she had even more pills than normal today. She used to only have to take two. She now had three sitting on the clean countertop. I walked over to the refrigerator and filled up another cup, yet this time it was plastic, with water and placed it on the counter next to her pills. I looked down at her bent over form to see she had been picking up the glass with her hands.

I watch her, until I finally said something. "Carmen. Are you ok?" I asked cautiously.

She looked up at me and that's when I noticed the bags under her eyes.

She sighs. "I'm fine Owen. Just didn't get a lot of sleep. I've been a little sick lately."

"Is that why you're always going to the hospital?"

She paused, then after a moment, hesitantly continues to clean her mess. Since our broom broke about a week ago we've had to clean with objects around the house till mum has time to go to the store and buy a new one.

I felt my anger boil and stormed up the stairs. She used to be open with me but now she's hiding things. It truly hurts me. I'm her brother for heaven's sake! She was my open book that I was able to read eagerly, enjoy it, feel her pain, but now she locked that book and I don't have the keys to unlock it. I go to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day.

I sighed and walked back downstairs to get some breakfast. Mom was down there cooking some eggs and bacon and dad was making some pancakes. Just then Maggie came racing down the stairs.

"You can't catch me!!!" Maggie teased to Jonah who was racing down after her.

Jonah stopped next to me as Maggie continued to run. He bent down to catch his breathe. "Maggie!!!!! *Pant* No fair! *Pant* You *Pant* Cheated!" He panted hard and fell to the floor in exhaustion, smiling.

Mom heard him fall and quickly left her cooking to see if he was alright. "Jonah! My gosh! I thought you passed out!"

Jonah looked up at mom confused. "But I didn't." He grinned.

Mom sighed and rubbed her head, walking back to her cooking. I looked around the room and noticed a sleeping Carmen on the couch. I rolled my eyes and walked out the back door.

The sun was out and the birds chirping could be heard. I sat on the bench on our patio and looked out into our yard. Over to the right side of the yard was a player for Maggie and Jonah. Outlining the yard were nice trees, they didn't grow any fruit the were just there. In the left corner of the yard was our shed. It had a nice floor and a sliding door. It was sort of like a small play house. But it wasn't. It was just a shed.

The door to the back opened and surprisingly Trenton walked out. I raised an eyebrow and scooted over for him to sit. He walked over and sat on the bench.

"You ok?" He asks looking at me.

I sigh. "I'm just a little frustrated." I started. "She just doesn't tell me anything anymore! Like we used to be so close... what happened.. why did she quiet down and lock up?" I finished looking into my hands.

"She does it to protect you. I can't really tell you much, mostly because I don't know much. I've only been to a couple of her visits. But she really does care about you. She was letting me know how she felt one day and she said she missed being open with you. She wanted so badly to open back up and tell you everything. So just... give her a break. Talk to her like you did when she was open to you. I can't guarantee she'll open but it will make her feel much better.." he said looking out into the yard.

I opened my mouth to say something but then shut it. I nodded and he gave me a quick side hug before getting up.

"Breakfast is ready, come in when your ready." He said walking back inside.

I sat there and thought about what he said. ' She wants to protect me? Protect me from what?' I shrugged it off for the moment as I walked inside to get some delicious eggs and bacon.