Chapter by CkSwCtWj. Some edits by me.


Cinder wasn't sure what the worst part about visiting her sister in the hospital was. Since her sister had leukemia, she lived fulltime in the white building. So far the bone marrow transplants weren't adapting to her body, so she was again in the long process of constant physical sickness. The slightest fall or bump blossomed her body with bruises.

There was the ticking- the constant humming and beeping of the machines in the hospitals. And the sickly, bleach smell filling Cinder's nostrils. Or the worry during the waiting process. What had happened- did Peony change much from last Cinder saw her? It had only been a few days since Cinder came here.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she gnawed nervously on her lip. Her leg began to throb then- a constant reminder that even though she was out of her wheel chair, her prosthetics weren't perfect, either. Leg cramping was a symptom, and it had always been aching her leg since the day she got them.

It had been about a year since Cinder received the prosthetics on her left leg. She was officially a 'cyborg', as Pearl always called her. The wheelchair was long gone. Half of her leg had been amputated, and in place of flesh was a skinny rod of metal. Cinder felt fortunate enough that she could get the operation done. Though, Cinder was sure Adri only let her have the operation so she would be able to do more chores, and in a faster amount of time. Plus, it turned out the prosthetic surgery was actually covered by their health plan, and Adri was taking full advantage of that. After all, Peony did have leukemia.

Pea had been diagnosed with stage one of leukemia a few years ago. That's how most cancers went- the cause was unknown. It was most likely some genetic mutation and rapid cell growth. Today, the doctors working with Peony notified Adri that she was now in the middle of battling stage 2, which was the reason why Cinder was sitting in the waiting room.

There were a glut of leukemia cancers, but the one Peony had- rare for adolescents, too- was chronic lymphocytic leukemia. CLL was something that would progressively get worse. Like watching a fruit rot and decay in front of one's eyes.

Translation: Peony was slowly dying.

"Cinder. It's your turn," Adri said. She had just emerged from the corridor across the waiting room."I'm going to leave now. Stay here as long as you want, but make sure on the way home, grab the groceries we need." Fishing some money out of her purse, she also added, "Take the bus home. I'm not going to pick you up because Pearl is going to come home in a hour or so from school, and I want to comfort her with the news."

Something tightened underneath Cinder's sternum, and she knew that Adri was being a phony. Comforting Pearl. When was the last time Adri ever cared for Cinder? "Fine," she half-snarled, taking the money from her.

"Don't spend it on anything else, you hear me?"

"Yes, I am capable of hearing. Just because I have a prosthetic, doesn't mean I can't hear."

"You still have a problem," Adri sneered. "You're practically a robot."

Rolling her eyes, Cinder added, "Yeah, and when one of your daughters is diagnosed with cancer, you start dabbing your eyes and letting everyone know that she's such a poor child. You start telling everyone around you about Pea and how she's sick, and you receive money from that- people give you cash for Pea, but-"

Adri neared Cinder, her face pinched in disgust, and breathed into Cinder's face."How rude of you to talk to me this way in public. We'll talk about this at home," Adri growled under her breath. She sniffed, giving Cinder a look of pure disgust.

Cinder forced herself to meet her stepmother in the eye.

With that, Adri walked out, like nothing had happened.

Ignoring Cinder, like she wasn't telling the truth. Again.


"Of course!" Peony giggled. "I just had to take the offer." She grinned, but the smile troubled Cinder.

It was such a different smile from the Peony a few years ago.

Cinder blinked a bit, feeling uncanny. Every time she came to visit, she almost always expected to see that healthy, glowing Pea, but that girl was long gone. Although Peony was still the fangirl, happy sister Cinder loved, she had lost a significant amount of weight. Plus, the red, bruise spots and the bumps on her neck caused Cinder to cringe.

"Oh," Cinder said, faking a smile. "I'm glad you can officially write fanfiction, now."

"I know! Full-time access to a laptop, Internet access and all."

Cracking her knuckles, Cinder went over to lie in the hospital bed. She knew that if she was caught, she might get in some trouble, but she wanted to be as near as her sister as she could. Peony immediately made room for her, and she scooted to the right.

"You...you think I'm going to be alright?"

Pursing her lips, Cinder stared at her sister's pale face. "I hope so. I mean, I spoke to Dr...Dr. Erland. Before I walked in, I saw him. Is that his name?"

"Yep, he's one of my regular doctors."

"Yeah, and he said...Well, you've been in the hospital for some months. And the study team is still trying to undergo the curing process. But the process- Induction, I think- is taking a bit longer than usual. Luckily, though, CLL is a cancer that has a slow rate...so…"

"I don't consider that lucky," Peony said.

"Why not?"

"Life sucks, Cinder. I mean, fanfiction is great. And you, and friends like Iko, and maybe even Pearl and Mom." She glanced towards Cinder, who was shaking her head once she said Pearl. Peony smiled again, but this time it was a sad smile. "I just want to get this over with. I hate lying around with drugs being pushed through my arm," she added, lifting her limp arm up to show faded scars and bandages and red spots. "I feel so gross."

Tears welled in Cinder's eyes. I'm not going to cry, I won't do it in front of her…

"You're not gross. And I would switch places with you at any given moment."

Peony tucked in the thin blanket sheets around herself. "Yeah, I know."

It was silent for a moment. Tiredness and fatigue was a symptom of CLL.

Slowly getting up, Cinder hopped off the bed, but a hand snaked around her wrist. "Wait! I forgot," Peony said suddenly, "to tell you about my Wish!"

"What? You got the option for a Wish?"

"Yes. Only one Wish for us dying cancer patients. Wait. That came out wrong."

Cinder grimaced at the word dying. "Well, don't tell me that you made your one and only Wish already."

"I did," smirked Peony. "And I'm going to meet Kaito! In an awesome concert around town, in three weeks. I already told Iko about it yesterday, when she came to visit. And I want you to come, too."

"That's great," Cinder said, adding artificial kindness in her tone, not understanding why she would want to waste her Wish on something stupid like that. "But I'm not allowed to come. Because the Wish only is for one person."

"But...I want you to be there with me. Can't Mom pay for you, or something?"

"Why would she? Maybe if it was Pearl…"

"Pearl wants to come, I bet. I want Pearl there, too."

Facepalming, Cinder groaned. "We don't have all the money in the world, Pea. I'm sure that Iko can pay for herself, and maybe Adri will pay for Pearl...but there's not a chance I would be able to get in. I'm sorry."

Cinder truly meant it, and she'd want to go to the concert- only because Peony wanted it so badly- but she didn't think it'd be possible.

Shutting her eyes, Peony sighed. "I want you to come. I want you to be there to see Kai, because even though you don't like him that much, I want you to have some fun with me. Like I'm still the normal sister you used to have."


The concert date was ticking.

Cinder also had done plenty of research on Kaito.

And here she was, at the gates of his house. It seemed stupid and helpless, but she was here to convince him. Somehow.

According to Cress- who also surprisingly knew Kaito- he lived here. It was relatively close to where Cinder lived, and she was also rather shocked that he only lived in a mere house, not a flashy mansion. Not many people knew where he actually lived- Cress told Cinder that most celebrities pretended to own an incognito mansion to prevent being stalked.

Cinder wondered what she was going to say.

She tightened her fists, and finally made herself knock on the door.

A heartbeat passed.

The door swung open.

The celebrity wasn't behind the door.

A man, in his mid forties, pursed his lips. "And you must be…"

"Cinder. Er, Linh Cinder. I need to speak to Kaito."

Groaning, the man facepalmed. He began to close the door "Mr. Kaito is very busy, thank you, and-"

"Wait! It's important!" She tried prying the door open, hoping that she wasn't committing any crimes under breaking and entering.

"I'm sure it is, miss, I'm sure of it." The man's knuckles whitened as he grasped onto the door, and he pulled back. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Cinder pushed the door open again, frustration boiling. "Please. Just a minute. I have a letter for him. Not a fangirl letter. It's one from my sick sister!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. But Mr. Kaito doesn't accept letters. Now, scram!" the man gritted, his face suddenly scathing.

The door shut, the hinges squeaking and the sound reverberating against the frame of the house.

What a jerk.

Slumping against the door, Cinder curled up into a resigned ball. She pulled the white envelope from her pocket, and felt the urge to ball it up and toss it in the bush by the porch.

Peony would be crushed.