Sister Mother

Chapter 4

Leo

Less than twenty-four hours ago, I didn't think I'd ever see Addie again. Now I was sitting on her sofa waiting for her to exit her brother's room with a condom. You were wrong, Mags. She's still Addie.

"Oh!" cried Addie's voice.

I stood up. That didn't sound like Addie. It sounded like a shriek. For a few seconds, my heart raced with adrenaline, but then I remembered we were in the house alone.

I walked around the couch and followed the same path Addie did. I found the staircase, jogged up while dragging my sweaty hands along the banister.

"Hey Addie, where are you?" I called out as I walked down the hallway.

Right below her name which was written in red paint, was the word "DOCTOR!" in very similar messy handwriting that I'd seen for years, written in purple pen. I poked my head in the room and saw a neatly made green bedspread and a desk covered with papers. Her blue walls were covered in research papers. She told me about Morquio before, and although I understood little more than "genetics screwed me over", I knew how much she wanted to study under the doctor who diagnosed her brother. Some girls had pictures of flowers, their friends, actors on their walls, but Addie had articles like "Methods of quantifying the urinary GAGs of Morquio A paitents" on her walls.

Every wall was covered in papers, except for the one behind her bed. It only had one golden frame. I walked into her room and over to her bed and saw the paper inside the frame. It read- "Dear Addison Nicole McKenna, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the University of Delaware's Medical School class of—"

The year was crossed out, and there were smudges all over the paper, likely from tears.

⫷👁⫸

I walked out of Addie's room and into "Gabe the Great's" room. Addie was sitting on the edge of the bed clutching a photograph. There was glass at the foot of the bed. Her long red hair was covering her face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She sniffled and moved her hair out of her face. I froze when I saw her the tears under her purple eyes.

"No, I'm um—" Addie sniffled and wiped her nose with her wrist. "I'm still looking for the condom."

"We don't have to if you don't—"

"I know he's got some." She folded the photo and put it on the bed. She stepped over the broken glass, walked over to the bedside table and thrust open the top drawer.

"He's such a mess," Addie muttered. "He's got gum and mints in here that he stole from Dad. Look at this!" Addie turned around and held up a half-full container of Tic-Tacs. She muttered something about him not even liking Tic-Tacs, but having asked for them anyway. Her eyes welled up with tears before she slammed the container on the table. She resumed looking for the condoms.

Mags was right; she wasn't herself. I had never seen her like this. Her hands were shaking and her voice kept cracking. She looked like she was experiencing the last eight months of tragedy in one fell swoop. What on Earth was in that photo?

"Addie, why don't you just sit down for a minute?"

"I found them!" She turned around and held up a roll of condoms. She grinned the fakest smile at me. "Finally! Do you want to go to my room?"

"I am not having sex right now," I said quietly.

Addie's face fell. I stepped over the broken glass and reached for her, but she pulled away. She looked at me and scoffed.