My Sister's Keeper

Fourteen.

Dr. Klein watched intently as Damien sat across from him, staring off into the space behind him with a distanced look in his gaze. The session had been ongoing for over five minutes, and the boy had yet to say anything since his arrival. Though he seemed to have been in better spirits than the last time he was there, it was clear he still held some resentment over being brought into therapy.

"You know, Damien. I've got two siblings," Dr. Klein said. "Both younger brothers, though they've long gone on to live in different places now."

Silently, Damien moved his gaze to meet the one of the therapist in front of him.

"My middle brother, Terrence, lives in Alberta," Dr. Klein continued. "He's a dentist. Why in Canada, I have no clue, but it's easy to catch a plane and visit so I don't have much to complain about. He's been there for about eight years."

Damien stayed silent.

"My youngest brother, Keith, works as a doctor in Australia," Dr. Klein said. "Brisbane, to be exact. He's been there for a decade now. Met his wife there and they have two kids, a boy and a girl. I've only seen them about four times."

Damien frowned. "You've only seen your niece and nephew four times?"

Dr. Klein shrugged. "They don't call it the land down under for no reason," he said. "It's a bit farther to get there and the plane ride's a headache. So we're forced to make do with phone calls and Skype."

"Why'd you stay here?" Damien found himself asking. "I mean I wouldn't if I had the chance...North Carolina's boring. I'd at least go to Texas or something."

Dr. Klein chuckled. "Who says I haven't been anywhere else? Maybe I just prefer it here over anywhere else."

Damien gave the man a look. "Yeah, right," he said. "My dad went to law school in England when I was four and we stayed there until I was seven. I'd even go there before deciding to stay here for the rest of my life."

"Is that so?" Dr. Klein asked. "Sounds interesting. So if you had the chance, would you go there again?"

"You mean now?" Damien asked and frowned. "No...I mean...I don't know...Nise and I always said we'd travel the world together at some point. I don't think it'd feel right."

Dr. Klein nodded while writing on his notepad. "Maybe you could still do it in her honor," he said. "I'm sure she'd like the idea of that."

"You don't know what she'd like," Damien said, a sudden seriousness in his tone. "You don't know her. So don't talk like you do."

Dr. Klein raised his hands. "Didn't mean to come off like I did," he said. "I can see how it came off that way."

"Everybody keeps saying she'd want me to do this, or she wouldn't want me to do that," Damien mumbled and shook his head. "But they don't know what she'd want or not want me to do because she's not here to tell it anymore. She'd probably act just the same way as I am if the roles were switched."

"That could be true," Dr. Klein said with a nod. "And if the roles were switched, would you want her to be in the same position as you are now?"

Damien looked away. "No," he said. "I wouldn't...I always hated to see her in any type of bad mood. I'm only older by three minutes, but I always took those three minutes to heart. I was supposed to protect her. It's always been my job."

Dr. Klein nodded again and wrote on his notepad as Damien furiously wiped his tears away.

"I see," Dr. Klein said. "And I understand that. Whether you're an older sibling by three minutes or three years, you're always going to have that protective side of you that wants nothing but the best for your younger sibling. Unfortunately, life has this very unfunny way of letting you know that it's always in control, and so then you have to learn to work your way around what it's thrown at you."