On the Edge

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

 

Cate’s P.O.V.

 

It is 6 in the morning by the time I wake up. I look around confused and even a little frightened. A doctor sat comfortably in a cushioned chair by my bed. My vision was blurry, but I knew it wasn’t my usual doctor, Dr. Tate. This doctor was a man with a bushy mustache. It scared me, reminded me of the rude owner at the orphanage.

“What is going on?” I ask, my voice sounding shakey. “Who are you? Where’s Dr. Tate?”

“Calm down, Cate. I’m Dr. Santiago. Everything will be fine. Dr. Tate is busy. She’s assisting another patient.”

The nurses must have drugged me too heavily, because after that, the only words that I heard were: “You have a conjoined twin in the hospital wanting to see you.” My head shot up, causing me to become lightheaded for a few seconds. I sat up very slowly and strolled out the door with the doctor.

“What the hell is happening to me?” I thought to myself. I had a decent life with my father, until he got rid of me, and now I am learning that he kept big secrets from me? What’s going on?

The doctor and I walk down the hall together. All I can feel is my heart thumping out of my chest. “So this conjoined twin…are you sure she’s related to me?” I asked.

“99.9% positive,” Dr. Santiago replied.

“Hi. I’m Cate. Well, I assume you already know that since-” I started spitting out words a mile a minute before Dr. Santiago stopped me.

“Slow down!” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll be fine.”

We turned a corner and right there, in front of my very eyes, I see a girl identical to me sitting on a bench. I can’t believe what I see. All this time, my dad kept this from me? How?

The girl abruptly stands up with a shocked expression on her face. We are finally standing face to face, my breathing becoming heavier and heavier due to my nerves. I don’t know what to do.  

She has no hair. I’m guessing she has cancer and went through chemo. Her eyes are the same color as mine, a nice, crystal blue. She is a little bit shorter than me, maybe by an inch or two. Her back is slouched over, like she is about to pass out with exhaustion. After thinking about it, we do look very much alike. She hasn't lost all of her hair, I still see puny strands of dark, brunette hair, on the edge of falling out.

I swipe my long, bangs of dark, mahogany colored hair behind my ear to get a clear look at my sister. Wow, I can’t believe I have a sibling, a twin. Someone who I was next to in the womb. I feel like I am looking into the eyes of a complete stranger, other than my sister.

“ Well, Bailee, meet your sister, Cate,” Dr. Santiago introduces while looking at both me and Bailee.

“Uh, hi, I’m Bailee,” she states while looking at her feet. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello” I state very shyly, uneasy on my feet.

“Well, maybe I should explain more. When you two were in your mother’s womb, you were both conjoined by the arm.” We both looked down at the scar running up each of our arms.

Her and I both look up at the same time, locking eyes.

I feel my lip curving, forming a smile. In return, Bailee smiles back two times harder.

Bailee’s P.O.V.

 

“You two were born as conjoined twins at the arm, like I said before,” Dr. Santiago continued explaining to Cate, my biological sister I just met, and I.

Cate has the same crystal, blue eyes as me. She’s a little taller than me, maybe by one or two inches. She has beautiful, long, mahogany hair. Her hair’s darker than my hair...well what used to be my hair. The chemo took majority of it away. I only have a few little baby hairs left on my head.

“You two were lucky you lived. About 35 percent of conjoined twins survive only one day, and most conjoined twins that are separated, die.”

“Anyway, the birth wasn’t easy for your parents. After you two were separated, your parents got a divorce. I’m assuming your mom and your dad told you about the divorce...?” Dr. Santiago asked us, pointing at me when he said, “your mom”, and to Cate when he said, “your dad”.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Yeah. He told me before he sent me off to an orphanage.” Cate whispered with her head down.

“Okay. Well, I’ll let you two catch up,” Dr. Santiago stated, walking away and down the hall.

“So…” I said, dragging out the ‘o’, staring at my foot as I moved it in a circular motion on the floor. “You were in an orphanage?”

“Yeah. My da-...our dad didn’t want me.” I could hear Cate choking up, her voice becoming shaky.

“Oh,” I responded, feeling guilty for asking. “Well, I lived with my mo-...our mom (we’re going to have to get used to saying that) my whole life until I was diagnosed with bone cancer about three years ago. Ever since then, my life has been filled with treatments and chemo, if you couldn’t tell,” I said looking up and touching my baby hairs.