There's not a whole hell of a lot a person can do in 3 months. I realized this approximately 62 seconds after being told I'd be dead before Christmas. 32 seconds after that I realized this was all just payback. Payback from the world that I've been cheating for so long. But really can you blame me? I'm Anna and up until now I was a lot things. I was a sister, a friend, and a really great thief. And now.. I'm terminal and everything else just seems to fade away. The plain hospital room is all a blur as tears fill my eyes. I won't even make it to my 17th birthday. I hear Copeland crying with me in the background. My older sister Arselynn is no use trying to calm her down. Neither of us have ever taken bad news very well. Our instinct tells us to run as far from everything as we can get, as fast as our legs can take us. This is probably why we're so good at stealing. No one can ever catch us. We've been on the run with Arsie's stolen pickup truck and a bag of clothes since I was 8. Right after dad died in a boating accident and mom went crazy and hung herself with grief. It was just the two of us until Arselynn met Kannon. Ridiculous name I know but he makes her happy. They had Copeland a few months ago and Arsie promised we'd get ourselves a house to actually stay in for more than a night or two. Kannon's band and my pickpocketing helped with the finance problem and everything was okay for the first time since my parents died. But good things never last forever. I figured that out years ago, but I didn't think things would go this bad so quick. Now I had 3 months to tie off any loose ends, and say goodbye even though I'm nowhere near ready to die.
It turns out Leukaemia can spread relatively quickly if you're on the run instead of in treatment. According to Doctor Nathan, (he thinks letting me call him by his first name will somehow make this better) the cancer has slowly spread through my blood and basically settled in and grew a tumor on my brain. That's all great and wonderful but he also mentioned the oh so fancy term 'inoperable'. So now I have approximately 3 months 14 hours 32 minutes and 11 seconds until my heart stops doing its job. Better start digging the grave. My thoughts are interrupted by a hoarse voice coming from the uncomfortable hospital chair next to me. "So there's nothing you can do? You're just expect us to wait around and watch my sister die? What kind of doctor are you?" Arselynn questions. My sister has a way of intimidating people and the look on Doctor Nathan's face reassures me that the bad news hasn't taken away her 'touch my family and I'll kill you' spirit. I cover my laugh with a pathetic cough as he stares back at her like she's the ghost of christmas past. Copeland starts getting fussy again and I take her into my arms, still listening to my sister argue with the doctor about my 'options'. She grips my shirt with her tiny hands as she tries to steady herself in my lap. She has Arselynn's crystal blue eyes that are currently filled with gaping wonder at the long hair falling around her as I tilt my head forward. It was a really smart move putting tempting hair in front of a baby to pull on and I proceed to yelp with pain, gaining the attention of the other two in the room. I lazily signal that both Copeland and I are fine before listening back in on the conversation. I catch bits and pieces of sentences between tugs on various parts of my hair and clothes from the little body in my arms. 'I'm going to miss her so much', I think as Arselynn pulls me out of my daydreams. "Anna are you sure about this? We can still try to get some of the tumor out." I look at her and notice how much the news has changed her face in just the past 10 minutes. Her eyes have bags under them and are red and puffy from crying. Her voice is still hoarse from arguing with the doctor all afternoon. Overall she looks like she got news someone died and didn't get out of bed for a week. Unfortunately, I know that's actually going to happen. Instead of apologizing or trying to help the situation at all, I say: "I'm going to die either way Arsie. It makes no difference to me if it's in 3 months or 3 years. If he says it's inoperable then it's inoperable. Don't waste your breath." I realize as soon as it comes out that I've said the wrong thing. Her face changes as I speak, morphing from grief to sadness to anger. If there's one thing Arselynn hates more than anything it's talking openly about death like it's nothing. And punk rock wannabe boy bands. And yet here she is dating Kannon the wannabe punk rock guitarist so she's just going to have to suck it up and deal with the openness of my impending doom. I smile innocently. She glares.
Once we get home from the appointment Arsie immediately starts fussing over me. My sister is actually a big softie when it comes to me and especially Copeland. I guess she feels bad I lost dad and had to watch mom spiral into insanity at a ripe age of 7. She was in middle school when the accident happened and could actually see it for what it was. I would sneak in and wake her up every night and she'd tell me a story about clouds and sing Butterfly Fly Away for me like dad did when I was sad. Until I turned 11, I fully believed my dad was off looking for Atlantis instead of coming home. She messed with my innocent mind in the best way and I think it helped us both to just go with the story. But now we're older and have to accept the truth. She promised me we would always stick together. One thing I never expected to get in the way of that was a boy.
A/N: Hey guys I decided to add a little more to the excerpt just to see if I can keep a steady storyline. Please please review and let me know what you think! Thank you! -Izzy