Teardrops

Chapter 17: A Life That's Not My Own

Chapter 17

Shelly's POV

"Hi mom. Hi Shelby. Hi dad."

They stared at me, especially my sister, before replying, "Hi Shelly..."

Well this is awkward...

"Why are you so selfish??" my mom asked me, suddenly.

What the cookie?

"First you get carted off to the ER. 150$ down the drain like that!!" She snapped her fingers for emphasis, before continuing, "Then you have to go and break your bone and tear the muscles in your ankle with it!!! Do you know how expensive that is?? Before insurance that costs thousands of dollars and now you have cancer!! what's the point of paying for this if you're going to die anyways?? I'm not paying another dime for you. Imagine, we could've gotten your sister a television with the money we've spent patching your reckless self up!!! Can't you think of how this affects your sister?? You know how much she loves her toys!!"

I didn't hear much of what she said, after that. I was in veritable shock.

Seriously? I'm dying and all she can talk- sorry, I meant yell at me- about is how I'm ruining my sister's life by being hurt.

How can anyone be so heartless?

No kidding, HOW????

"You cost me a new T.V.!!!!! You SUCK!!!!!!!" Shelby chimed in suddenly.

"It's not like I hurt myself on purpose!!!" I couldn't help but defend myself at this point.

They all looked at me, disbelieving.

"Surrrrrrrrrre." Shelby leered at me, "At least you'll be gone soon, and won't be able to wreck my life anymore."

I didn't know that this could hurt so much. What was I expecting anyways? A sudden change of heart and them to confess how much they really did love me and apologize for not being able to show it?

That would explain this stifling feeling of disappointment smothering me and pressing down on my chest like a heavy padded weight.

Just when I thought they couldn't drive the knife in even farther.

"Sorry about that TV Shelbs."

"I told you not to call me that!!!!"

"So is that all you guys came to say to me?"

"Yes. We are going to inform the doctors that any tests they want to make you do, we aren't paying for them."

"Oh. Ok."

Everybody dies alone.

"Goodbye, Shelly."

"Bye."

And then they left without another word and as soon as the door closed, I let it all go.

First came the shaking, giant sobs that started deep within my chest and fought desperately to escape. The tears slid down my cheeks faster than children on a snow-covered hill. they rained on the newly replaced comforter.

How many tears have you seen in your life? I wanted to ask the blanket.

How many lies and how many secrets? How many tales of bittersweet love? Of love merely found to be lost as one lover sits here, dying? One of the ones who came before and left in a big black bag with a sticky zipper...

Of the one's whose identities had been covered only by the thin raspy sheet now clasped in my thin, brittle fingers.

Brittle? I never usually thought of them as brittle. But now they seemed as fragile as pretzel sticks.