Beep… beep… beep…

The annoying sound of the moniter was the first thing that announced to me that I was conscious. I had felt very faint all night and hardly remembered anything past ten. What happened to me?

I sat up and looked around. The bedsheets rustled, I was on a hospital bed with plain white linens. On my arm was a thingy attached to one of those crazy IV drip things. Shaking my head to clear the confusion, I wondered why on earth I was here, in a hospital room.

My sister Amara was sitting on a chair beside my bed, reading. She looked up and gasped. “You’re up!” She had bags under her eyes and looked tired. But then, my 20 year old little sister always worked herself too hard. Despite her exhaustion, she smiled.

“What… happened?” I put a hand to my forehead. “What’s going on?”

“We were hanging out last night and you collapsed. You were barely conscious; I rushed you to the hospital. The nurse and the doctor did some diagnoses. We’ll find out what’s going on soon. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Amara grinned.

As she talked, a nurse came in. They placed a glass of water on my bedside table. Looking solemn they opened the door and gestured for Amara to come out with them. She followed and the door shut quietly.

A few minutes later the two came back in. The nurse looked sad and Amara had red eyes like she’d been crying, a lot more sad than before.

“What’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.

“Well— Fala… you- You-” Sis sniffed and wiped away a tear. Trying to maintain herself, she choked out three words that changed my life forever.

“You have cancer.”