My stomach churns violently. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Kiera was supposed to be improving. The procedure was supposed to help. We did everything right.
This isnothow this story goes.
Shaking my head, I swallow against the bile rising in my throat. “Can I see her?”
Gran nods, squeezing my arm. “Of course, sweetheart. She’s out of it most of the time, but I know… she’ll know you’re here.”
I bend down, grab my backpack with unsteady hands, and take Gran’s hand as we move toward the room.
The smell hits me first, so goddamn sterile, clinical, and cold.
I push through the partially drawn curtain and step inside.
And the world narrows.
Kiera is lying in bed.
There’s a drip hanging from her arm. Machines monitor her silently. Her face is pale. Gaunt. Thinner than the last time I saw her. Her eyes are closed, lashes resting against skin that looks almost translucent.
She looks like she’s sleeping.
But she doesn’t look like my sister.
“Oh fuck…” The words leave me before I can stop them.
My chest tightens painfully. I drop my backpack to the floor again without even noticing and move toward my sister on instinct.
I take her hand.
It’s cold.
Too cold.
I cover it with both of mine, rubbing gently, trying to warm her skin, trying to push life back into her through sheer force of will. “It’s going to be fine, Kiera,” I whisper, my voice shaking.“I’m here now. You’re going to be okay. You can fight this, booger-butt. I know you can… we can do this together.”
The nickname feels fragile in the air.
Heavy footsteps echo behind me, and I look up to see a doctor in a long white coat stepping into the room, clipboard in hand. His expression is composed and professional, but detached.
I straighten automatically, though I feel anything but steady.
“I’m assuming you’re Kiera’s brother?”
I nod.
“Okay, now that the family is here, I can discuss options with you.”
Options.
The word lands wrong.
I crack my neck to the side, tension coiling through me. “Options? What do you mean?”
He exhales and lowers the clipboard slightly. “Kiera isn’t progressing the way we had hoped. She’s deteriorating quite rapidly, and we need to consider what might happen if her functions give out.”
My muscles seize.
“What?No!” The word explodes out of me. “She isn’t going to stop fighting. We are not talking about fucking DNR orders or whatever the fuck you’re going to start throwing down our throats. Don’t you dare come in here talking about this shit in front of her.”
