As soon as Emma arrived to pick up Gavin, she was alerted to the fact that something was not right. The doctor was wearing a somber expression, and her brother couldn't seem to look her in the eyes.
The doctor spoke softly. "I regret to inform you that his cancer has worsened. I won't sugar coat this because that's not my style. If he wants to live, he's going to need to be coming in twice as much as he is now for treatments, and we're going to have to keep monitoring his condition with regular scans."
Emma's heart fell. Her brother's health was the most important thing to her right now, and this news was hard to hear. Gavin was taking it even worse than her.
"Ever since I was born, I've been a burden. I made us lose our house, I made Dad quit his job, which was really bad all around and I nearly bankrupted us. Now, you're telling me I'm going to be even harder to handle?"
Emma quickly sat next to him and touched his arm. "Hey. You are not a burden. Not to me, not to anyone. Don't worry about the money. That's my job. You just focus on staying healthy and living your normal teenage life."
The doctor had long since left to give the siblings some much-needed privacy.
Gavin's voice shook as tears stung his eyes. "See? That's exactly what I'm talking about! Worrying about money shouldn't be your job. You should also get to live a normal teenage life and not have to raise and provide for me. That's the job of a parent, not you. It should have never been you."
Emma took her sleeve and wiped his cheek. "It shouldn't, but it is. These are the cards we have been dealt, and it's all we can do to play our hand. But taking care of you isn't something I'm doing out of obligation. I'm doing it because I love you."
She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "While you were getting treated, I went to Ernie's and he gave me a job. I start tomorrow. I was going to be making enough for the two of us, but now I'll probably pick up some extra shifts. Don't worry, Gavin. I'll make this work. There's nothing more we can do. You can't work because of the hospital visits and you definitely cannot deal with strenuous activity. So you don't get to blame yourself for our situation. Neither of us could do anything different right now, so we're going to do what we can and see where that gets us. Okay?"
Gavin nodded, still upset. "You really have to start working? Between the increased expenses and your extra shifts, how are you going to have time to keep up in school? You have to bring me to the hospital constantly, too. And you have to attend to your Ranger duties? This is way too much for you. Are you going to be okay? God, I'm so sorry."
Emma pulled him in closer. "You let me worry about all that. We'll figure it out. And what did we say about apologizing? Don't say sorry for things that aren't your fault. We're going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. Just focus on staying alive. I'll do the rest."
Her younger brother leaned his head on her shoulder.
"This is so unfair."
—
Gia and the rest of the team listened as Emma updated them on everything that was happening. She asked them to look out for Gavin at school, and thanked Troy for having stepped up already.
Of course, the rest of the rangers readily agreed and promised to keep an eye out for him. They were willing to do anything if it meant helping out their friend.
But that's not what Gia was concerned about.
Her best friend was already running herself into the ground, and hadn't even started working yet. Between balancing work, Ranger duties, Gavin, and school, she simply did not see how Emma was going to do it all.
Also, being a good older sister and fully taking care of a sick younger brother was already hard enough. Having to work to provide for him, and meet the deadlines of his treatment appointments so he wouldn't die, was a whole new beast.
She pulled Emma aside after the rest of the Rangers left to go home for the day. "Emma, I'm worried about you. This is way too much for you right now. Actually, it's way too much for anyone, least of all you. Grown adults can barely handle this pressure. You're still recovering emotionally from your Dad, and on top of that, you're also a ranger. It's way too overwhelming."
Emma shrugged. "What else can I do? Genuinely, what are my options? Because I don't see another way. I've resigned myself to my reality, and I think everyone else has to do the same. I'll find a way to figure it out, because what other choice do I have? Gavin's not dying anytime soon, and I will do anything I can to ensure that is true. It's an impossible situation, I just need to roll with the punches."
Gia watched sadly as her best friend walked away, acting like she was okay with everything. In Gia's eyes, Emma seemed to be moving way slower now, with the weight of her brother's life and the world pressing down on her shoulders.
It wasn't a question of if Emma would burn out, but when.
Emma left, before Gia could see her tears. She had hidden how bad they were struggling financially, because she didn't want her friends to feel obligated to help. None of them really knew how much she was hurting.
She knew if they found out, they'd insist on helping. But she couldn't ask that of them. Gavin was her responsibility. Her friends were already doing way too much for her and supporting them emotionally. There was absolutely nothing that could convince her to ask for any financial support on top of all that.
And she resolved to do anything necessary to take care of him, no matter what it took.
No matter how much it cost her.
