“Come on Chris!” My throat burns from screaming at the top of my lungs as he gets ready for his final dive.
Chris made it into the Olympic final, I still can't believe it. My brother Christopher James Mears who had a five percent chance of surviving and nearly died three years ago made it into a frickin’ olympic final! To say that the group of us are a bundle of nerves and pure excitement is an understatement.
Standing next to me Tonia squeezes my right hand while my crazy mother stands on the other side squeezing my left even tighter. Tom was next to Tonia, but i don’t dare say a word to him: not right now, I couldn’t- this was my brother’s moment.
Three-Two-One I count backwards in my head as Chris begins his hurdle step and propels himself off the board. Like all competitions, I hold my breath until he lands into the water, this time, as it should be, is splashless.
A wild din erupts in the crowd as his score flashes up on to the board: a whopping 100.70!
“Holy shit!” The words rapidly fly out of my mouth.
“Laci Rae Mears, what did you just say?” My mother asks in a disapproving tone.
“Sorry” I quickly mumble. “But look at that score!” I fight every fiber of my being from jumping up and down like an idiot. “Look at his score Mom!”
And with that she bursts into tears like the proud mother she was. Her son, her only son and first born child, was the ninth best springboard diver in the world. He’s knocked down and destroyed every obstacle put in front of him and everyday continues to exceed everyone’s expectations.
*
“Christopher James Mears!” I run as fast as my little legs allow me towards him.
“Ugh!” all the air leaves his chest as I slam into his torso with a thud.
Before Chris can say anything tears begin to stream down my face and I latch onto him tighter. Everyone around can see me, but for once in my life I simply don’t care. I just want to be with my brother.
“Why are you crying right now?’ Chris chuckles.
“Because I’m an idiot who loves you” I sniffle trying to stop the tears, but it’s no use. “You almost died three years ago and look at you now, ninth place in an Olympic final!”
“I love you too, sis” He wipes a few tears off of my face with his thumb. “But why are you crying?”
“I don’t think you understand how much hell you put me through when you were sick. I thought I was going to lose my brother.”
“Oh please stop it.” He wipes away a few more. “That was so long ago.”
“I can’t” I try to push tears back into my eyes. “I was there when you collapsed, I was there when you went into that seizure and I sat in your room day after day just waiting and praying for you to wake up. At that time I couldn’t imagine you ever competing in an Olympics or any competition nevermind finishing ninth in the final- I didn’t think I was ever going to get to see my brother alive again”
“Laci-Rae don’t worry, you can never get rid of me.” Chris squeezes me harder than before; a small squeaking noise escapes from me as Chris's hug pushes all the air out of my lungs. Maybe it’s an attempt to stop me from crying more or maybe it was to prevent him from starting, I’m not all too sure. “You better be done crying now”
“Goddammit Chris, I’m trying!” I wipe under my eyes, brushing tears and my smudging eyeliner away.
“Well try harder, because as much as I love you, Laci-Rae” Chris kisses me on the cheek causing me to scrunch my face up. “I want to go see everyone else too.”
