Fingertips

Maverick's Sister

I looked at Mavericks face and saw that he had no emotion. I couldn't read him. What did he mean? Does that mean she's gone? My eyes widened at the thought. 

He looked at me for a split second before looking back at the road ahead of us. He paused briefly before deciding to speak. 

"She didn't get better. She just didn't seem to have the will to live anymore. She just stayed in her room all day. She didn't want any of us to talk to her, let alone see her. I would always knock on her door to try and get her to come out for some fresh air. Just to hang out like we used to before she was diagnosed, but she would always yell at me to go away. She didn't want me to see her anymore. She would always tell me that she looked disgusting and that she didn't want other people seeing her. I didn't ask her why she thought she looked disgusting because I knew she would just lash out at me all over again. I just wanted to see her smile aga-," he stopped mid- sentence. 

His voice just cracked and I knew he was fighting back the tears. I'm so angry with myself. I just hit a sensitive topic without even thinking about how he would handle it. 

I looked at him and noticed that some tears managed to escape his eyes and were slowly making their way down his face before he quickly wiped them away. He sniffed and continued his story.

"The day she passed away was the day I saw her for the first time in months. She was unrecognizable. She didn't look like a 19-year-old at. She was so malnourished so small. I was 14 at the time and I couldn't seem to grasp what was happening. My mom couldn't stop crying for years. She still cries about it sometimes. She tries to hide it, but I can hear her crying in the bathroom in the middle of the night some days. And my dad, well, I hadn't seen my dad cry until that day. But I didn't cry. Not even at her funeral. I don't know why, but I felt no emotion. I guess I just realized that from then on, it would be my job to keep our family together and I would have to be the light in my parents' lives. I had to stay strong so that they would stay strong too, and I'm still working hard to maintain that," he continued.

I was at a loss for words. What are you supposed to say after someone tells you such an intense part of their life? 

I didn't know what else to do, so I placed my hand on his shoulder and rubbed his arm. I don't think it did much to comfort him, but it was the least I could do. I would've hugged him, but he was driving, and I didn't really want to make too much contact with him just yet. I don't know if he's mad at me or if he was too overpowered by his emotions, so I decided to let him have some space. 

I retracted my hand and sat back in my seat. I looked outside my window and just saw the mountains. The dry, lifeless mountains and thought to myself, 

Wouldn't it be nice to just be up there? Alone. No more insults, no more pain, no more people. 

But then I realized, 

I wouldn't want to live in a world without Maverick.

A.N.

Here's an insight on Maverick's past and a clue as to how he's going to be a very important person in Phoebe's life in the next couple of chapters. I hope you stay tuned for future chapters. Please vote, comment, and share! Thank you!