My nurse, a stocky blonde in her late 30's, knocked on my door and stepped into the room.

"Ms. Goodson, you have a visitor."

My mind went into a frenzy. Who could my visitor possibly be? My foster parents were dead, and the only friend I had was already in Florida, waiting for my arrival. I'd have to call her later tonight... The only other family I had was a brother, and he lived in Washington. His name was Sam, and I had many memories of him. CPS had taken me from him and mother when I was 13, he'd just turned 18. Mother had turned into an alcoholic when I was 10 and the neighbors were concerned about Sam and I. Placing me into the hands of Harold and Lucinda, I was shipped off to Indiana.

My eyes went wide as I saw a tall, tan skinned, man enter the room. He had dark hair that was relatively short, and dark brown eyes to match. He wore a pair of cut-off jeans and a black t-shirt. This really couldn't be happening. My suspicions were confirmed the second that he spoke.

"Icy? Is that really you?"

My eyes began to water and the tears threatened to spill from the corners. Choking back a sob, I silently nodded. "Yeah, Sammy. It's really me." I extended both of my arms to him, beckoning that he take me into his arms.

Tears cascaded from his eyes as he gently squished into a hug, being careful not to jostle the retched tube connected to my hand. "I've missed you so much, sissy. You've changed a lot."

I hiccuped slightly as my attempt to giggle was shot to hell. The tears wouldn't allow giggling. "Yeah, I guess. I'm not 13 anymore, Sammy. People change when they turn 17. But anyway, look at yourself. You're not a kid anymore either."

Sam chuckled slightly and released me from his grip, only long enough to crawl into my hospital bed with me and pull me to him once more. "You can say that again..." He seemed to haze over into a thick state of thought, but quickly shook his head and released himself. "The guys would laugh if they saw me like this. To them, I'm supposed to be cold and heartless. I'm not supposed to curl up next to my sister in a hospital bed."

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "I need to meet these people, whoever they are. And remind me to beat the shit out of them when I meet them... IF I meet them."

Sam smiled. "Of course you're going to meet them. You're coming to live with me and my fiance in Washington!" He grinned like a kid on Christmas.

Shaking my head, I was bombarded with question. "Since when do you have a fiance? Who is she? What's her name? Is she pretty? How did you know where I was? We haven't spoken in 5 years... How'd you know where to find me?"

My mind was so full of questions and they were all blurring together into a jumbled mess. Sammy had lots of explaining to do! But I was glad to have my big brother again, and I definately didn't want him to leave without me.


Guys! I'm so sorry! I feel like such a slacker! I'll update again soon!