Meet My Mirror ((Gabe))

[Emmy Parker G6]

Emmy? Cute? She had never considered herself as cute, but then again… does anyone ever think of themselves as cute? Emmy knew that she never thought of herself as cute… or even pretty for that matter, Emma was the pretty twin. Which was amusing to think about because… well they were identical twins, weren’t they? So that meant they looked exactly the same, right? That wasn’t true and Emmy knew it. Emma had the prettier personality, so she had to have the prettier looks, too. Emmy had never been compared to Emma in the way that made her come out as the gorgeous, or even cute, twin. So perhaps it was only natural for Emmy to feel like the uglier twin. Nonetheless, Gabriel had called her cute and that was what mattered. That was what made her smile. Emmy realized just then that she had smiled the most that day than she had in years. Her life had been so dark to her and she hardly ever really smiled. Sure, she had smiled, but those were on demand smiles. These smiles were real. They were happy smiles. Gabriel smiles. Emmy was certain that Gabriel was the only person who could make her smile and mean it. He would probably be the only person to make her cry over something other than her sister, too. But Emmy didn’t want to think about that. She only wanted to think about the happy things that being Gabe’s girlfriend brought. The smiles, the laughter, the kisses, the hand holding, the happiness in general. It was completely insane how happy Emmy was, but she loved it. She never wanted to be any less happy than she was today.

She was jolted back to reality when Gabe kissed her cheek, causing her to smile again. She led the way into the kitchen; which was, hands down, the brightest room in the cottage. It had pristine white walls, white tiled flooring, white cabinets, white nearly everything. It also had the most windows in the house as well, so that added to the bright factor. The only thing that was dark in the kitchen were the black lace curtains along the windows, the black appliances, and the black countertops. Her parents had just redone the kitchen a couple of weeks ago, and Emmy could honestly say she didn’t like it. They were determined to redo the whole house. Carol-Ann wanted to add on a room so Emmy could have her own room, but Campbell kept talking her out of it… they all knew why, too. Well, all except Carol-Ann who was in denial about everything concerning Emma. “Take a seat,” Emmy said, attempting a small smile as she shifted her thoughts away from her dying sister to the happiest part of her life. She opened the fridge and looked through it, “No coffee here, because my family um…” she clicked her tongue and looked over her shoulder at him, giving him an innocent look, “aren’t technically allowed to drink caffeine. I mean, sure, we could drink decaffeinated coffee, but then… what’s coffee without caffeine?” She smiled at him before turning back to the fridge, “So that also means no soda. We have juice, milk, water of course, tea, um… those sparkling juices Emma drinks…” Emmy reached for one of those and then grabbed another, “We’ll drink those to get back at my sister for opening her big mouth about things she should’ve just kept secret.” She smirked and closed the fridge with her foot, handing him one of the bottles before opening her own.

Sinking into the seat beside Gabe, Emmy started to say something when the door to the basement stairs opened and Keith came up, his music playing loudly behind him. “Emmy!” He leaned toward the hall, calling her name, half expecting for her to call back from her room. Emmy smirked as he turned around after a moment and spotted them at the table. “Oh, why didn’t you say you were there?” He gave Gabriel a wary look before heading toward the pantry and pulling out a bag of chips. Emmy shrugged, fiddling with the bottle on the table, “It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun?” “Funny, Emmy.” Keith closed the pantry, “Just wanted to let you know I started Emma on her dialysis, however, you’ll need to do the rest later because… well… you know.” Emmy nodded and looked at Gabe out of the corner of her eye, Keith followed her look and stared at Gabe, “Friend of yours, Em?” Emmy looked at Keith a moment and then he nodded, “Oh… you’re the guy. The guy Emma came home talking about. So more than a friend. I get it, I get it. Well, don’t let mum and dad come home to find you’ve got a new boyfriend alone upstairs, alright? No worries, though, they aren’t coming home until tomorrow so don’t think you have to have him sneak out the back door.” Emmy, who had been taking a drink of her juice, choked on it and looked over at her brother. “Is it an unwritten rule or something to say things to Gabriel that I would rather prefer go unsaid?!”

“Mmm, no. It’s just fun.” Keith smirked at her and then headed back to the basement stairs, calling over his shoulder, “Nice to meet you, but keep in mind… I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere…” The door closed behind him, muffling his music once again, and Emmy groaned and shook her head. Her family was so completely mortifying and she was really extremely glad that her dad wasn’t there. She hadn’t thought about her family at all when her and Gabe were at the tea shop. She actually knew that it wouldn’t matter, but as she thought about it now, she wondered how everything would work out. Her father was a rather laid back guy, kind of like a grown up version of Keith, but he was a dad after all. Emmy had watched him let Emma go off on many dates without a care in the world, but she wondered how he would act if he found out that Emmy had a boyfriend. Her mother wouldn’t even care. She knew that without a doubt. She looked over at Gabe and smiled, “He really doesn’t. He can’t hear anything on a normal basis, much less with his music up that loud, and he can’t see anything. So, don’t worry about him coming to kill you or anything.”

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Gabriel smiled, following Emmy into the kitchen, where he had to admit, he felt rather out of place. He looked down at his clothes and held in a laugh. Dark. Black pants, dark blue shirt, and a black blazer. He sure didn’t really match this kitchen, if the black lace curtains didn’t seem to change the fact that the kitchen was not exactly fit for Gabe. Well he didn’t live here. No, just the girl of his dreams. He’d have to get used to the kitchen right? Hopefully he’d be spending a lot more time at this house. With her, with Emmy. He sat down as she told him to take a seat and his thoughts drifted away from the furnishings and back to her. He watched her look through the fridge and smiled as she explained that they didn’t drink caffeine. He wondered why but didn’t ask. It was her families business, he’d learn it all in good time. When she brought back the sparkling juice he looked at the bottle for a few minutes. He’d never had anything like it before. Normally, he drank water. Water or coffee. Rarely anything else unless water or coffee wasn’t available. And when was water not available? He didn’t turn away the drink of course, it wasn’t that he was closed to trying new things, he was just…addicted to his ways. He didn’t much go for change…though…change seemed to be the subject of his life right now. It was like…the theme.

In the middle of his personal discussion on what sparkling juice must have been like, he heard a voice call for Emmy. He looked up and watched as an older boy walked into the kitchen. The guy looked at him, and then walked by, going to get a bag of chips. Before Gabriel got a chance to say hi, though he had moved his hand just slightly in the beginning of a wave, Emmy and the guy he supposed was Keith started talking. He sat quietly as they talked about Emma. At this point, Gabriel had pieced together bits of a puzzle. He only had part of the puzzle done, but that was enough to tell him that…well…Emma was sick. He didn’t have a clue how sick, or what kind of sick, but he figured that she was sick. He had no idea what dialysis was, but it sounded medical. If not slightly uncomfortable. He wouldn’t ask right now though, he saw that as a bit rude. He’d wait, maybe Emmy would tell him, maybe someday he’d ask. But not right now. No, now Gabriel was being talked to. Gabriel was about to introduce himself but before he got the chance, yet again, he was given the option of staying quiet, as Keith went on. Gabriel was the guy. He supposed at least. Gabriel bit his lip and laughed lightly before he looked down at his drink as Keith mentioned that he wouldn’t have to sneak out the back door, and Emmy yelled at her brother. When Keith left the room however, Gabriel looked up in his direction nervously. Big brother’s were no fun.

Gabriel looked back over at Emmy, the nervous look still on his face. She assured him that he didn’t have to worry about a big brother coming to kill him and Gabe laughed lightly again. The smile came back to his face and he leaned over, kissing her softly. Oh boy was he brave. Kissing her in her house, right after her big brother walked out of the room. He could only imagine what would happen if Keith walked in right then. He couldn’t help himself though. It was…almost like one of those, adrenaline things, which was totally silly. He loved kissing her though. Everything was perfect when he was kissing Emmy. The world seemed just right. Like nothing could go wrong. Like he could just spend forever with her and he knew that if given the option, he would. The kiss was soft again, like earlier. He would defiantly get used to kissing her…then again, he pretty much already was. How easy he had gotten addicted to it. His first kiss hadn’t been more then half an hour ago and now this was his third. There would be plenty more he assured himself. Plenty, plenty more. When he pulled back from the kiss he smirked and looked around the kitchen before turning back to Emmy and whispering. “So I’m safe to do that am I?” He grinned and looked down at the bottle in his hands. He opened it and held it up to his lips, looking at Emmy out of the corner of his eyes. “Is it any good?” He lowered the bottle, nervous about drinking it.

[Emmy Parker G6]

There was something about kissing in her kitchen that made Emmy feel a bit scandalous. Something about the fact that Keith had just been in the room only moments before was kind of frightening and yet exhilarating at the same time. It was a soft kiss, like before, so it wasn’t like they were eating each other’s faces as Emmy had seen Emma do so many times with her numerous “boyfriends,” but she knew that if Keith had walked in even on a soft kiss… he wouldn’t have been as cool as he was before. When the kiss was broken, almost too soon for Emmy’s liking, she smiled at Gabe, her smile widening at his question. “As safe as ever.” She twirled the bottle around on the table a little bit, looking at the label. Ryann and her and shared some of these drinks. She smirked at the memory of Ryann asking her if she had anything alcoholic to drink. Emmy remembered thinking “so my reputation precedes me.” Even though that reputation was false. She hardly ever drank. She wasn’t an alcoholic and she probably never would be. She would admit to drinking with Keith once or twice; which, granted, was pretty terrible… but Emmy had gone through quite a bit with her years… she needed to do something. That wasn’t an excuse and Emmy knew that, but it was all she could offer to anyone who asked.

Emmy smirked and raised her bottle to her lips, taking a sip. The sparkling juice was only something Emma would drink. She was the only one who bothered to ask for it when Carol-Ann went shopping and she was the only one who whined about there not being any left when they were all gone. That was because sparkling juices were the only things that Emma would drink throughout the day, minus her glass of orange juice in the morning. She looked over at Gabe and smiled slightly, “Only the best for Emmaline,” she rolled her eyes and took another drink of the juice before continuing, “It’s good, trust me. If it wasn’t my sister wouldn’t drink it. She’s… terrible.” Emmy bit her lip and looked down a moment, “No, I shouldn’t say that. I mean, she is really sick. Like… terminal sick.” As she spoke, she wondered how she was coming across. She had never really talked about Emma to anyone. Everyone who talked to her about it had known it for years. If someone wanted to confirm a rumor, they went to Emma… not Emmy because she was known for blowing up in people’s faces… a lot. Now, she found herself telling Gabe everything, in quiet voice; “When Emma and I were two, Emma was diagnosed with Leukemia. Yeah, they’ve got a fancy name for it… but it’s all the same. She’s got cancer of the blood.” Emmy paused and bit her lip again, tucking her hair behind her ear and fiddling with the bottle in her hands.

“That’s what her dialysis is. It cleans her blood. Takes it out of her, cleans it, and puts it back in. She gets very weak during it, and she really looks sick. You saw her today… she looks radiant, always smiling, you could never tell she was sick unless you saw her on dialysis days. I refuse to be in the same room as her when she’s going through dialysis…” She sighed and took another drink of her juice, closing her eyes a moment before continuing, “I hold so much resentment toward Emma, if you haven’t noticed, because she’s completely taken my life away. You see,” Emmy opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes must have been full of sadness and pain, even a bit of anger, but she didn’t dare try to change how she was feeling, “I’m a perfect match for donating things to her. I’ve given up a kidney, a lot of blood, and some other unimportant organs that I can live without but she can’t for some reason.” Emmy took in a deep breath here, closing her eyes again. She hated talking about Emma. No one knew how she really felt about her sister’s illness. No one understood her torn conflictions for it. Could Gabriel? Could he understand or could he at least see her point of view on it? She knew her mother wouldn’t ever, and her father although he said she knew she didn’t like donating things he wouldn’t get it quite that well, either. Keith? Keith was too clueless to get anything. And there was no way Emmy could talk to Emma about this.

Emmy shrugged slightly and looked down at her hands which were fiddling with the label on the bottle. She had already said too much. So much more than she normally would have said to anyone else. But this wasn’t anyone else was it? No, this was Gabriel. Her boyfriend. The guy she could most likely tell everything to. God, was that a scary concept.

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Gabriel grinned as Emmy smiled at him. Safe as ever. That was nice to know. Though, as he took another glance in the direction Keith had disappeared off to, he had the feeling he wouldn’t be risking anymore kisses, at least not in Emmy’s kitchen. Something about the possibility of getting caught kissing her by her big brother scared him…a lot. Gabriel didn’t have any sisters, but he had a feeling that if he did he would get really, really angry if there was a guy kissing her in their kitchen. Boyfriend or not. He smiled and watched her lift the drink to her lips, taking a sip. As she mentioned how the drink was good, Gabriel lifted his and took a sip, happy to find that it was actually rather delicious. He was about to say something about needed to get some of them for himself when Emmy went on about Emma. Specifically about how Emma was sick. Well here it was. Gabriel could honestly say he hadn’t expected finding out about Emma to be this easy. Terminally sick? Normally something like that wasn’t revealed until a while later. Later then what? Well…a while after you’ve been dating someone. Finding out about a person’s family life was…well…in some cases you could call it an honor. Gabriel got the distinct impression that finding out about Emmy’s family life was indeed an honor and he was glad that she trusted him.

While he was glad she trusted him enough to tell him about Emma, at the same time he didn’t exactly know how to handle the information. Cancer of the blood. That sure sounded serious. Gabriel was blessed. Quite blessed. He had never in all of his life had a relative, or someone close to him at least, pass away. Never had anyone he really cared about been terminally sick. He thought he could remember, maybe when he was a little kid, a pet dog dying…but that was probably the closest he’d ever come to losing someone close. What was worse though…losing someone close? Or having someone close to you be sick like Emma. That was a hard decision. Gabriel couldn’t understand how it must have been…and he probably never would. He could hear Emmy, but he couldn’t ever truly say he knew how she felt. When Emmy looked over at him, that was the dead give away that he couldn’t possibly comprehend what it was like. Giving up blood and organs for someone? Even for your sister. It was…hard to grasp. Gabriel suddenly wondered, that sister that he would be angry at for kissing in the kitchen, would he give up blood for her? He would never know. He would never know what it would be like to give up blood for a sister. Someone that close to you, someone you grew up with. He could only wonder how family life was with something like that hanging over your head. In that way, Gabriel was blessed. His mother and father might have been completely insufferable, and he might have been a moody, angry, teenage boy…but he didn’t have to go through something like Emmy did.

Gabriel heard Emmy out until she shrugged and looked down at her hands. Part of him wondered if she regretted telling him what she had, but another part of him knew that a thought like that was pointless. Now Gabe struggled with how to react. He reached over and sat his hand on her knee for a moment before taking her hand and leaning slightly so he could look her in the eyes. He smiled softly before sitting back again, playing with her hand. What was there to say? Where you even supposed to say anything? Gabriel could think of nothing. His free hand toyed with the bottle of juice in his hand. Finally he leaned over and kissed the side of her head softly, still thinking about if there was something you were supposed to say in this sort of situation. Part him wanted to tell her he was sorry, but he didn’t know if he was really sorry. Was it something a person was supposed to be sorry for? He wanted to say he understood but he truly couldn’t say that. He couldn’t tell her he knew what she must have felt like. He couldn’t tell her that he had experience with this sort of thing. He couldn’t give her any advice, or really say anything that could make the situation just…go away. He wasn’t God. Finally he spoke, his voice soft like it had been in the tea shop. It was easy to speak softly to Emmy. “I’m…I’m glad you told me…if that makes any sense? I’m glad you can talk to me. And you can talk to me. Any time. About anything.” He had finally decided that maybe she didn’t want someone to tell her how to handle her problems, to give her advice. Maybe she just wanted someone to talk to. Well Gabriel could do that. He could be there for her. He was sure of it.

[Emmy Parker G6]

There was a small silence between them as they sat at her kitchen table. Emmy continued to fiddle with the label of the bottle in her hands as she listened to the clock ticking in the hall. The clock. Emmy could see it in her head. It was dark mahogany with a gold face and diamond roman numerals set into the gold. It was one of those mantel piece clocks you saw on top of a fireplace and Emmy had always thought it odd that they had never put it on top of the fireplace in the living room. She knew it was the most expensive piece of furniture they owned because she saw her mother lock it up often whenever they were going out of town. It was always missing the second they returned from the hospital, too, but was put back into place once Emma was settled in her bed. It only ticked. No chiming. Nothing. Not once had Emmy snuck inside from being out past curfew and cursed the clock for being loud enough to wake her parents. The clock had never been something that Emmy despised. Until now. It was taunting her with its ticking. The steady rhythm that would have normally matched her heart beat was teasing her with the simplicity of an easy life. That clock held so much symbolism in it. It symbolized the numerous times Emma had been rushed to the hospital at ungodly hours of the morning. It symbolized the terror of her time running out. It symbolized a lot of things. Things that Emmy would have rather forgotten. And now it was teasing her.

She was vaguely aware of Gabe’s hand on her knee and then when he looked into her eyes, Emmy blinked quickly to get rid of the dryness. She smiled softly as he sat back and started to play with her hand. She knew that even if he had given her the false ‘I can understand how hard that’d be’ speech she’d gotten often throughout her life… she would have loved the fact that he was there. He was just comforting. Playing with her hand and everything. When he spoke, he said that he was glad she told him and that she could tell him anything. Just those words, though she had heard them often from her family, made her smile so widely that she was seriously shocked. She hadn’t thought she could smile like that. Emmy leaned over and kissed his cheek, “Thanks,” she whispered as she sat back in her seat. It was one simple word but it was one she meant. She never felt she had someone she could really talk to and the fact that Gabriel was someone she was comfortable enough around to tell her and Emma’s story to… was mind blowing and Emmy wasn’t going to take that for granted. She knew that if she had something that she felt like she couldn’t handle it herself and just needed someone to talk to, he’d be the person she went to.

Emmy sighed slightly and looked thoughtful a moment as they sat in silence again. What to do? What to do? Emmy had never had someone over and she hadn’t planned on it today at all. So what could they do? What was something at least remotely entertaining? She bit her lip in thought, trying not to look too stumped on something to do. After a moment, she looked over at Gabe and shook her head, “I’ve no idea what to do. There’s not much to do, I guess. We could sit around like bumps on a log and do nothing, just sitting in awkward silence until one of us can’t handle it anymore – though I’ve got to admit, I’d be the first to crack. Or we could head into the living room and put on a movie and watch that – but as a forewarning, I’m terrible with movies. I run a commentary the whole length of the film, it’s dreadful. My family refuses to watch movies with me because of it.” Emmy smirked slightly, “See… I’m the pop culture buff of the Parkers. Emma’s the literature buff, Keith’s the history but only music history, and my parents both know a lot more about geography than any normal person should, that’s for sure.”

Her parents knew the most geography because they were the ones who had traveled the most, that was an easy explanation – but they still knew too much. Emmy smiled at Gabriel and then stood, taking his hand with the hand he had been playing with and her juice in the other, she led him out of the kitchen into the living room. If anything they could sit on the couch and turn the telly on for background noise as they talked. There was so much to learn about him and he had so much to learn about her. He already knew the biggest thing in her life, though, so what more was there to tell him? She was certain there was something. There had to be. Emmy plopped onto the couch, pulling Gabe down beside her, before reaching past him for the remote that was on the end table beside his side of the couch. She turned on the telly and flipped through the channels a bit before finding something semi-interesting and turning it down a bit.

She looked over at him, “Okay. Your turn. Tell me something about you, Mister Roche. There’s got to be something that you don’t mind sharing with me. I mean, after all, I am me and everyone loves to tell their secrets to me.” She smirked and took a drink of her juice, looking at him still.

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Thanks. It’s funny how such a simple word can make one person so happy. Just that word made Gabriel amazingly happy. It seemed that everything Emma did made him amazingly happy, but his was definitely a big one for him. To be thanked is something that no man should ever take for granted. By man of course, I mean all of man and woman kind. To be given someone’s thanks, though it is often overlooked, is one of the greatest things a person can be given. No one ever thanked Gabriel. Sure, this could be because he rarely ever gave anyone anything to thank him for, but still. Even before, before his change in moods, before he got so angry, no one ever thanked him. At home, it was always “Gabriel do this, Gabriel do that…” and no matter how good a job he did at these tasks, there was never once an ounce of praise. Never a thank you, never a good job. Always a “now do this”. When a person’s actions are never positively enforced, they slowly become less and less important to the point where they aren’t important at all. One begins to hate doing things for another person, because there is never any reward in it for himself. This may be seen as a selfish concept, but it is not. Gabriel never asked for material things, he never asked anyone to do anything for him. All he wanted was to be recognized. Well finally, someone had. And go figure, it was Emmy. She really was great wasn’t she?

When Emmy looked at him and explained that she didn’t know what to do, he smiled. Again. All he could do was smile around her. Especially since her mood had definitely brightened since she had explained Emma’s situation. He hoped he had a part in her lightening of mood. Gabriel laughed lightly when Emmy explained that they could very well sit in awkward silence. This seemed harder to Gabe them Emmy seemed to make it out to be. Gabriel expected, that if he had to sit in complete silence with Emmy, he would be perfectly content. Something about her presence gave him the feeling that he didn’t need to say a word. Just being with her was intoxicating. It filled him up and made him happy. Silence between them would not be awkward for Gabe, and in time, he believed it wouldn’t be for Emmy either. All those things took time however. Being completely comfortable with someone was something that took time. A relationship had to grow. It had to be molded. Love was like clay. Gabriel couldn’t say he was in love, but he was definitely in like. Love, was something real small that you started with. Love starts out as a little ball of like. Over time, you collect little bits of emotion, and you slowly add them up. At a certain point in time, different for all people, this ball of like and various other feelings, suddenly becomes love. From there, though, you’re still not finished. Not near finished. For the rest of your time with that person you share this ball of love with, the two of you slowly build onto it. Slowly add onto it and it grows bigger, and bigger and bigger. For the rest of your days together it only can grow. Well that’s deep…

Gabriel snapped back from his random deep thoughts as Emmy grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. He didn’t often think such deep, analytical thoughts. It was unusual, but definitely welcome. He enjoyed that Emmy could make him think these things, they were definitely interesting concepts. Gabriel followed her into the living room and happily sat down on the couch next to her. He waited until she turned on the television and settled back again before moving his arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her to him. Gabriel sat back as she asked him to tell her something, and searched through his mind for something interesting to say. What was there really that was interesting about himself? There wasn’t much…I mean…he was kind of boring in all honesty. He had a habit of being a bully, but he didn’t exactly want to brag about that to her. He could tell her boring stuff, like his favorite color or his favorite movie…but what good would that do? Finally he looked at her and shrugged. “There’s not much to tell…I practically live on a boat? If that’s interesting? That was true, he did practically live on his ‘church boat’ but…would that be something she’d be interested in hearing?

[Emmy Parker G6]

Emmy leaned against Gabe, resting her head on his shoulder, when he put his arm around her and pulled her to him. She closed her eyes, breathing in, and smiling softly. It was such a weird concept to her. Having a boyfriend. It wasn’t something that she could say she had experience with. Gabriel was her first boyfriend, her first kiss… gee, he was a lot of her firsts. Emmy looked up at him as began talking, hanging on his every word. “A boat?” she repeated. She had never been on a boat. Actually, then, Emmy was pretty sure she didn’t even like boats. In order to be on a boat you have to be in open water and Emmy knew she didn’t like open water. Too many movies about sharks or sea creatures or whatnot to plague her dreams for years on end. She smiled at him and shrugged slightly, “I’ve never been on a boat, but I doubt I’d like it very much. Open water makes me feel very vulnerable.” Emmy smiled weakly and looked at the television, watching the pictures weave across the screen. She had no idea what they were watching; well they weren’t even really watching were they? But she did know it was something that she wouldn’t have watched on a regular basis anyway. Emmy was trying to think of something to tell him about her life, something less stressful and such, and when she finally opened her mouth to say something she was interrupted by a loud shriek coming from down the hall. She was up like a rocket, sitting and listening intently for another… and when it came, she frowned and stood, motioning for Gabe to follow her.

The walk from the living room to the room she shared with her sister wasn’t that long at all, but it felt like forever. Emmy’s breathing had slowed as she walked down the hall, passing pictures of her and her sister when they were younger and pictures of her parents and her brother; walking past the small half circular table that was pressed against the wall with the blue vase full of sunflowers that had been knocked over many times when rushing Emma out of the house. Emmy opened the door and stepped inside the yellow room with the two beds parallel to each other. She looked around. Everything was in order. The bookshelf on the wall directly across from the door was as neat as it was when Emmy had straightened it up last weekend. Her bed was messy like always with pairs of jeans and shirts strewn over it, a pair of shoes kicked aside by the foot of her bed. Her summer school work laid open across the desk at the wall opposite the foot of her bed. The only thing that was different about the room from the way it usually looked was the machine in between the two full sized beds that her sister was hooked up to. Emmy made her way into the room, as another cry of pain issued from Emma. She was curled onto her side, clutching her stomach, her blonde hair a matted mess. She must’ve been tossing and turning for awhile now. “Emma, what’s wrong?”

Emma only cried out again and Emmy took a deep breath as she moved to the machine, checking to make sure everything was okay – deliberately keeping her eyes off the tubes of blood that were running to and from the machine and Emma, “I need you to talk, Emma, I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” By now, Keith had appeared in the room, moving past Gabriel without even really realizing he was there. “Emma, come on!” Emmy was thoroughly getting upset with her sister, and she knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help it. “Emma! Look at me,” Emmy sat beside her sister, pulling her up so she could look at her face. She was flushed and hot to the touch. Emmy frowned and with a quick reflex, grabbed the waste bin by her bed and held it in front of Emma just as she spit up blood. Emmy closed her eyes and looked away, jumping back and moving beside Gabe, making sure Keith had taken over. “I…” “Emmy, just… just go. I’ve got it from here, mum and dad should be…” Before he could even finish his sentence, though, there was a loud bang from the front of the house and two figures rushed in. Emmy pulled Gabe back a bit so her parents could get to her sister’s bed. Her mother’s hair was up in a pony tail, wispy yet elegant at the same time. She wore khaki capris and a nice blue shirt with buttons at the collar. Her father was business as usual, his hair combed neatly, black dress pants but with a relaxed button up shirt that he hadn’t ironed. Carol-Ann pulled Emma into her arms, cooing over her baby, and Campbell started to check to make sure it was okay to take her off the machine.

With a soft tug on Gabriel’s arm, she pulled him out of the room, a bit twitchy. She didn’t know how she felt about her parents’ return, but she knew one thing… “You should probably go, we’ll probably end up going to the hospital for the rest of the week. I’ll write you, or I’ll find some other way to talk to you if we do.” Emmy led the way back down the hall to the front door, opening it and pausing to look at him; apologies written all over her face, “I’m so sorry that… this happened. I… I don’t know what to say about it. All I can think is; ‘welcome to my life.’” She sighed slightly and looked down a moment before leaning and kissing him softly again, a sweet soft kiss, “I…” “Emmy! Car!” Keith was jogging down the hall and pushed them out the door, holding it open for Campbell to make his way through with Emma in his arms. Emmy looked once more at Gabriel before she was yanked toward the car by her mother, she wished she didn’t have to go… but she knew she had to. Because she knew that Emma was going to need blood, and lots of it. As they drove away, Emmy felt a growing resentment in her stomach.