TW- If you're a guy, and you're squeamish about girl stuff, I suggest skipping this part. Start reading again when you see the next bold letters.
Aunt Stephanie held up a pink flowery thing to my chest. It looked vaguely like a shirt, but there was so much lace I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and my mother's nightgown.
"You would look so cute in this," Aunt Stephanie said. She looked at Mallory. "Wouldn't she?"
Mallory's blonde-pink curls bounced. "Oh yeah. Totally adorable. But something is missing, I think."
The two studied me for a couple of moments until Aunt Stephanie snapped suddenly. "I know! A new bra. That's what she needs."
I shook my head and backed away. "You are not taking me to get a new bra."
"Yes I am," Aunt Stephanie snapped. She reached for my hand, but I dodged as if I was avoiding a feral cat.
"Why?" Richelle asked.
Aunt Stephanie ignored her.
Boys-if you read it, did it gross you out? Can't say I didn't warn you. For those who didn't, here's the tl;dr. Aunt Stephanie decided to try to make Sadie buy something she didn't want to. In this instance, Sadie is storming out.
I ran, but Aunt Stephanie was right on my heels. "Where do you think you're going, Sadie Grace?"
"To the car," I said simply. I didn't even look back.
"We're not done shopping," Aunt Stephanie said. "You're getting a bra."
"Dad said she didn't have to," I heard Richelle say.
Aunt Stephanie snatched my arm and stared at us incredulously. "You could run around naked for all your dad cares. He's not the one to decide this."
"Neither are you," Richelle snapped.
"Your mother obviously hasn't," Aunt Stephanie said.
"So you should?" I retorted.
"If she hasn't, then yes," Mallory cut in.
I bared my teeth at Mallory.
"Stop it," Gabby snapped. "Stop talking about my parents like they're morons."
Aunt Stephanie stared at Gabby like she was just realizing she could talk. "I didn't-"
"They can do everything you can."
"No, they can't, Gabby."
"They can do everything we want to be done for us."
I took that opportunity to dash out of that horrendous place.
About five minutes later Aunt Stephanie and Mallory arrived. Mallory dropped into the front seat, her face red from embarrassment, looking like she wanted to disappear.
"Sadie, we will talk later," Aunt Stephanie said.
The car ride was silent- absolutely inaudible. Completely.
The car had barely stopped when Gabby and I kicked open the doors.
"Air!" Gabby cried, throwing herself on the ground.
I laughed. Because I could. Despite everything, this was fun. Tormenting Aunt Stephanie and watching my little sister so happy.
Gabby got up, her face glowing with happiness. "Tag, you're it!" she said, touching Richelle and darting away.
"Get back here!" Richelle yelled playfully, chasing after Gabby.
I loved this. I ran after them, giggling like I was eight again.
That's when it happened. Right in front of me.
Richelle cried out, crumpling to the ground in a heap. I expected her to get up and keep chasing Gabby, but she didn't. I couldn't see her face, but her shoulders were shaking. I stopped and dropped down next to her.
"Richelle?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
"My leg," Richelle's face was scrunched in pain, and her breaths came out jaggedly.
I moved over to her legs. Her left one had multiple bruises and was starting to swell.
Gabby ran over and fell to the ground next to me. "What's going on? Is she okay?"
"No," Richelle said through gritted teeth. "It hurts. It hurts."
"Girls, what's going-" Aunt Stephanie's eyes widened. "Gabby, go get your dad. Now! Hurry!"
Gabby scrambled to her feet, running toward the house.
Aunt Stephanie knelt next to Richelle. She even put her white pants in the grass. She examined Richelle's leg. "It looks broken. Does this hurt?" She placed a finger gently on Richelle's leg.
Richelle let out a cry, an obvious answer.
"Can you move it?" Aunt Stephanie asked.
Richelle shifted her leg, just slightly, an inch at most, and howled in pain.
Aunt Stephanie nodded. "It's definitely broken. From how much it hurts I'd say it's a pretty bad break."
"We need to get her to the emergency room!" I snapped.
"I can't lift her," Aunt Stephanie said patiently. Her tolerant tone surprised me. "That's why I asked Gabby to go get your father."
"Richelle!" Dad ran out, dropping down next to her.
"We need to get her to the hospital," Aunt Stephanie said. "Her leg is broken."
Dad nods, bending down to Richelle. "I'm sorry, Baby Girl. This is going to hurt a lot."
Richelle nods faintly. I can tell she's in a considerable amount of pain. Dad slips his arms under her body and lifts her gently, earning a cry of pain and a lot of grunts. He ran to Aunt Stephanie's car, seeing as it was unlocked.
Aunt Stephanie slipped into the front seat, and Dad slid Richelle in next to me, so she'd have someone to lean on.
Aunt Stephanie started the car. Richelle's head rested against my shoulder. She was so sweaty. Then she started to lose consciousness from the pain. I frantically tried to hold her and eventually, Dad told me to just put her head in my lap.
Gabby, I could tell, was super nervous. She kept twirling and untwirling a strand of hair over and over. It was her tell of nervousness.
Richelle was still unconscious when Dad pulled her out of the backseat. Her head rested on his shoulder, one arm in her lap, one arm dangling. Her leg was even more bruised and swelled. Aunt Stephanie was right. Her leg was definitely broken.
Dad ran inside, the four of us on his tail. He made us go sit down while he talked to the nurse at the front desk.
After about five minutes, he came back and sat down. That was when Richelle started to wake up.
Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a couple of times, groggily. She started to try to sit up, but winced and let herself go limp.
"It feels like it's broken," Richelle said. Her words slurred together.
"It probably is," Dad said. "But it'll be okay. What happened?"
Richelle blinked. "I don't-"
"Richelle Cleveland?" a tired-looking nurse asked from the doorway.
"Explain later," Dad said, lifting her gently.
She let out a soft groan, but it didn't sound as painful as before, thankfully.
The nurse led us into a room, and Dad eased Richelle down, carefully laying her broken leg on the bed.
"Doctor'll be in soon," the nurse said, with a strong southern drawl.
"How is it?" Gabby asked. Wrong question.
Richelle took a deep breath. "It hurts. A lot. It's throbbing right now. It looks really gross too."
"Sorry about all of this," I said. "Well, I'm not sorry for you, I'm sorry it happened."
Richelle's lips twitched. "Duly noted."
A light rapping on the door drew our attention. "Hey there," a man in a white coat-obviously a scientist and definitely not a doctor said. "Richelle, is it?"
"That's me," Richelle raised her hand.
The man nodded. "Ah, perfect." He walked over with his fancy clipboard and bent down at the foot of the bed. "I'm Dr. Woods. It's nice to meet you."
"You too," Richelle said. She sucked in a sharp breath as Dr. Woods began gently moving her toes.
Dr. Woods looked up at her, sympathetic. "I'm sorry. I know how much this must hurt. I promise it'll be over in less than two minutes."
I could see Richelle's muscles tense, and I could see her holding her breath, but she gave a tense nod.
Dr. Woods stood up. "Alright, I'm fairly certain it's broken, but we need x-rays to determine how bad, and to define a treatment course."
I sucked in a breath. "She's not going to die?"
"Sadie!" Richelle gave me a look. "What the heck?"
But Dr. Woods laughed and smiled at me. "Not this time. Next time-maybe. Not this time."
We sat there for about ten minutes until they came to get her for x-rays and to talk to Dad.
They were wrapping her leg in a soft cast until they could get her into a hard one while Dr. Woods talked to Dad. It's a good thing tomorrow was Sunday because if the clock in the room was right, it was past eleven o'clock.
"Does she have any underlying health conditions?" Dr. Woods asked.
"Li-Fraumeni Syndrome," Dad said. "That's it."
Dr. Woods stopped writing. "Li-Fraumeni Syndrome?"
Dad nodded. "Yes."
Dr. Woods pursed his lips. "Remind me how she broke her leg?"
"She doesn't know," I said. "She said her leg buckled while she was running, and after she fell it felt like it was broken."
"So it just buckled?" Dr. Woods asked.
"Yes," Dad said.
"Crap," Dr. Woods said, pacing. "Crap. Crap. Crap."
"What is it?" Dad asked.
"I'm sure you're aware Li-Fraumeni Syndrome is directly linked to cancers of the soft tissue?" Dr. Woods asked.
We nodded.
"Well," he said. "That means there could be a tumor in her leg, and that's what caused it to break suddenly. On the other hand, it could've just broken. It could just be nothing. But I want her in for an MRI anyway."
I looked at Dad. No. It couldn't be cancer. It couldn't be. She couldn't have cancer. We couldn't go through what we did with Eva again.
Dad sighed. "How long for the MRI?"
Dr. Woods tapped his pencil on the clipboard. "They've got a lot of patients and she's not urgent, so maybe two hours?"
Dad sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stephanie, can you watch the kids for tonight? Stella will be back tomorrow."
Aunt Stephanie nods firmly. "Of course."
"Thank you," Dad said. He glanced at me. "I'm going to stay with Richelle for the night, okay?"
I nodded.
"I heard everything," Gabby said, walking over. She glanced at me. "Ready to go?"
I nodded, following Aunt Stephanie and Mallory to the car. Wisely, Mallory kept her mouth shut the rest of the night.
I could barely sleep. I tossed and turned constantly, thinking about everything.
I woke up to hearing hushed speech. I wanted to hear. I climbed out of bed, my feet touching the soft carpet.
I pressed my body as hard as I could against the wall, listening in.
"Stephanie, I decide on things like bras," Mom said.
"You don't know though," Aunt Stephanie said. "She's growing into a young lady and she needs more-"
"I believe I'm qualified enough to handle this matter," Mom said.
"But I was just-"
"They don't need you deciding things like that," Mom said, getting up. "End of discussion."
And it was. I stepped out and walked down the hall like I hadn't just heard that.
"Good morning, Princess," Mom said, planting a kiss on my head. "I missed you." Princess was a family nickname. My name means Princess, Eva called me God's Princess, so it kinda works.
"Any news on Richelle?" I asked.
Mom smiled. "You cut right to the chase, don't you? They're still doing tests on her. They want to make sure they're absolutely right."
I sigh. "Alright. Can we see her?"
"No," Mom said. "She's in and out of tests right now. But I do have a favor to ask of you."
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My boss's daughter Sasha died in a car crash about a year ago," Mom said. "And, well, she thought Sierra, her second daughter, was over it, but Sierra's really starting to struggle with it. Would you be willing to help her through this?"
I nodded solemnly. "Of course. I'm willing to help."
"Great," Mom smiled at me lovingly. "I love you so much," she said, squeezing me.