Lost

One

I buried my face in my pillow. Tears staining my bed. I didn't care. I didn't care about anything anymore.

I glanced up at my calendar— July 27, 2017. It's been exactly a month, but it's felt like an eternity. A month since I lost the most important person in my life. A month since I've been happy. A month since I've been myself. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. It's a day that I never want to relive, but is constantly replaying in my mind. Over and over again. It just won't go away.

Flashback
I woke up to a frantic knocking at my door then it stopped. I glanced at my clock that read 10:27am. How had I slept that late? The knocking started once again as I heard my moms voice from outside the door.

"Emmi!" mom yelled, "Get up and get dressed. Quickly. We have to go to the hospital!"
"Wait, what?" I screamed, sitting up in bed, "Why do we have to go to the hospital?"

There was no response. She must have gone off somewhere. The hospital? Why? I got up and quickly got ready, lost in my thoughts. Was it something with mom and her pregnancy? What was going on?

I exited my room and ran to the kitchen. There I saw Avia sobbing and lying on the couch. Dad was next to her trying to comfort her as mom was running around trying to get everything ready and get all of the kids up. I ran over to the couch. Avia was lying on Dad's lap, trying to get out what was wrong between her cries. Her hair was in her face and covered in tears. Her face was flustered and wet and she was clearly in a lot of pain.

Dad looked at me worriedly and said, "Emmi, I need to help your mom get ready. Stay with Avia for me."

I nodded. I hated seeing my older sister like this. I didn't know what to do, she usually comforts me. She gingerly moved her head onto my shoulder. I stroked her hair and kept saying her name over and over again. I was scared. I didn't know what was going on.

"Aves," I said softly, "What's wrong?"
"I... My..." She tried to speak, "it hurts a lot!"
"What does Av?" I asked, keeping my tone low and my voice quiet.
"Everything," she said letting out even more sobs.

I was in shock. She seemed perfectly healthy just yesterday. How could this happen? Right at that moment, mom called us to get in the car. Gavin, Brock and Daxton were up by now and wondering what was going on. We piled into the car as Dad picked up Avia and lay her in the backseat with Gavin. She was resting her head on Gavin's lap and still sobbing uncontrollably. It must be bad.

Dad sped to the hospital as fast as he could and we got there at around 11am. They admitted Avia to a room and started doing various tests, trying to figure out what was wrong.

It was a long day, with Avia constantly in and out of testing. Everyone was hanging out in Avia's hospital room when the doctors asked mom and dad to step outside for a second. They returned about 10 minutes later with tear stained cheeks. Avia was asleep from all of the tests. Her chest slowly rising and falling.

Seeing that the news that our parents had gotten was clearly not very good, Gavin asked what happened. That's when mom and dad broke the news to us. They told us that Avia had Stage 4 cancer and that she had almost no chance of living much longer. The room broke into sobs and hugs, but Avia was still sleeping, unaware of her condition.

At around 12:30pm, the doctors told us to say our goodbyes. Avia was going to leave this world very soon and the doctors couldn't do anything to help her at this point.

Mom and dad let us go in one by one, so it could be private between us and Avia. So, Gavin went first. I was told to go next, but refused. I wanted to go last, so I let Brock and Daxton go together before me. Then mom went in, then dad. Each of them coming out with even more tears filling their eyes. And then it was finally my turn.

I opened her door and I went over the Avia's bed, still sobbing from all of the pain of the day. She was pale and limp. I leaned next to her and whispered, "I love you so much Avia. Please don't leave. I don't know what I will do without you. I need my big sister."
I heard her soft voice whisper to me, "Emmi. I have to go. It's for the best. I promise I will watch over you and protect you. Be good to our new little sister. I love you so much Em. Never forget me."

After we spoke, I was about to leave when I heard a loud, one note beep. I knew what that meant. She was gone. My sister officially made her departure up to heaven. My sister had left the earth. And then I started to sob even harder, not thinking it was possible to cry anymore. The rest of my family came rushing in, probably hearing my cries, and we joined in one big, tear-filled hug.

I will never forget Avia's final words. "I love you so much Em. Never forget me."

--
Author's Note:
So, how are you enjoying it so far?? It's my first book and I'm pretty proud of this first chapter! I hope you guys like it and I will try and post part two a little bit later! Thank you for reading! -L