Unrealistic

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Eric

I am surrounded by a bubbly laughter and something soft that is tickling my cheeks. I scrunch my eyes through the early morning sunlight and catch sight of the fair blonde hair that belongs to Val. As I adjust to the light I see that Val is skipping around the perimeter of the tree house, her feet thudding on the wooden floor.

Next to me Be stirs in her sleep and rolls over in Val's direction. Before I can stop it Val is racing in Be's direction; she trips over Be's legs and rolls across the floor of the tree house. Be is jerked out of her sleep. Disoriented, she shoots out of the covers and closer to me. Val is curled in between us in fetal position.

"You all right Val?" I ask her.

"Mmm hmm, I'm okay," she nodded her head and propped herself up against the back wall of the tree house in between Be and I. "Daddy sent me to wake you all up for breakfast."

"Did he make waffles?" Be grinned. "I love it when he would make us waffles after our sleepovers."
"You always were addicted to chocolate chip waffles," I joke.

"Ugh!" she shoved me over.

"Come on, come on! We have to get to breakfast before the waffles get cold," Val squealed.

"Just a minute, let me wake up first," Be sighed as Val tugged on her arm.

Be grins at her and shouts, "I'll race you to the house!"

It has been far too long since I've seen her face light up like that. I am just beginning to stand as the girls disappear down the rope ladder. As I rise, my knees snap loudly from laying folded in the cramped space of the treehouse. I hear the echo of the screen door slamming shut behind the sisters.

I jog up to the back door and breathe in the smell of freshly baked waffles. Be and Val are elbowing each other out of the way, fighting for the first bite. Be's dad is smiling, shaking his head behind the morning paper. In this moment I feel as if everything is perfect; it is as if Be was never sick.

Val devoured her breakfast in seconds instead of savoring the flavor like her sister. Halfway through my first helping I notice something is wrong with Be. Her skin is a few shades lighter than usual. Her eyes became unfocused before fixating on me, frozen in fear. Fragile fingers reached out and began shaking uncontrollably.

"Be," I begin, "are you alright?"

Her dad looks up at her and his eyes widen at her appearance. Be closed her eyes and her head droops forward towards her plate. Her dad stands and is around the table before I can blink.

"Is sissy okay?" Val looks up from her second helping of waffles.

"She's fine. Why don't you come outside with me," I meet Be's dad's eyes in silent agreement to protect his youngest daughter.

Just as I get Val out the door I look back to see Be's head flop over as she loses consciousness. I help Val into the backseat and shut the door behind her. Be is in her father's arms she looks almost lifeless. I stop breathing for a moment as her dad screams at me to open the car door.

What if this is it? The doctor said at least three months but it has only been a week. I mentally knocked myself back into focus and opened the back door of his car.

Together we stretched my best friend across the backseat. I speed back to my car and try to ignore Val's panicked expression in the review mirror.

"Is sissy okay?" she asks again.

"Be is going to be okay. I promise," I reassure her as well as myself.

I feel my mind wandering to all the possible things that could go wrong. Be could die today, in her dad's car before I got to tell her goodbye. I attempt to nail my thoughts to the present instead of considering the possible problems in Be's future.

I am so stressed that the car is practically flying. Even though I'm driving thirty miles over the speed limit and can barely keep up with her dad. Before I can worry about her any more than I already am, the hospital's emergency room doors are looming ominously in front of me.