CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 28: THE STORM
The phone rang at two in the morning.
It was my father.
"She's back in the hospital."
I was dressed within minutes.
When I arrived, Samantha was already there.
She looked terrified.
The doctors moved quickly around the room.
Everything suddenly felt urgent.
A nurse finally approached us.
"She's stable for now."
For now.
I hated those words.
Hours passed.
At sunrise, we were allowed inside.
My mother looked exhausted.
She smiled weakly when she saw us.
"Well," she whispered, "this is dramatic."
Samantha burst into tears.
Even I laughed.
Because somehow, even now, she was trying to make us feel better.
She looked at both of us.
"I need you to promise me something."
"No," Samantha said immediately.
Our mother smiled sadly.
"You don't even know what I'm going to say."
"I don't care."
The smile faded.
"I need you two to stay sisters."
Silence.
"You already are."
She shook her head.
"No. I mean really stay sisters."
Tears filled my eyes.
"Mom—"
"Promise me."
Samantha grabbed my hand.
"I promise."
I looked at her.
Then at our mother.
"I promise too."
She let out a long breath.
As though she had been carrying that fear for years.
Then she smiled.
"Good."
Outside the room, the sun began to rise.
And for the first time, I realized that healing had quietly become love.
Real love.
Messy.
May you like
Complicated.
But real.
