Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Well, well, if it isn’t my older sister.” She snickers.
“By three minutes,” I add, walking back to the board to remove the rest of the pictures.
“Whatever. What are you doing?” she says, and I can hear she’s walking outside when I hear car horns in the background.
“Doing last-minute packing,” I tell her. “I have pretty much everything packed. I’m just packing my desk.” Putting the phone down beside the stack of photos, I add, “Did you pack yet?” She surprised me two days ago when she called telling me she was moving. From the last conversation with her, everything seemed like it was going amazing in LA.
“Not even close. You know me, always late to the party. Anyway, I’m not calling about that. I’m calling to discuss this year’s vacation. Did you get the itinerary?”
“I saw an email, but I figured someone would tell me something.” I unpin a picture of my brother, Christopher, and me on the beach last time we saw each other last summer.
“Well, it’s another little island. At this point, I think he had them build us houses.” She laughs. “Either way, we have to celebrate.”
“I agree.” I unpin a picture of me with my nephew, Maddox, who is now taller than most of the men in our family at only sixteen. “We both should let our hair down.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gabriella pffts out. “My hair has been down for the past six years. But I’m happy you are finally going to let your hair down!” She snickers. “It’s been tied up so tight that it’s not sur—”
“Okay, well, this has been a great chat,” I shut her down before she says anything else, “but I have to shower.”
“Fine, I’ll let you off the hook for now, but as soon as we get on that island, we are finding someone to finally get you to let loose. I don’t know how you do it.”
I roll my eyes. “You know, I’ve lived for the past six years without you beside me, and I survived.”
“Barely,” she jokes, and I laugh. “Good news is, I think I’m going to be staying in Dallas for the summer.” I sit up all excited. “Do you think you could use a roomie?” Her voice goes lower and I have a feeling that her moving out of LA isn’t just because of her work.
“Well, does this roomie clean up after herself?” I ask her, knowing full well that she doesn’t. Even though we are twins, we couldn’t be more different. I’m the clean, quiet one, she’s the messy, outgoing one. I mean, I’m not going to say when we are together, we don’t get into trouble, but the last six years I’ve learned a lot about myself.
“The roomie is somewhat cleaner than she used to be, and she also learned how to cook,” she informs me, and I don’t have a chance to say anything else because a horn honks in the background. “Okay, my ride is here. See you on the flip side,” she says right before she disconnects the phone.
I toss the phone on the desk, shaking my head. “At least my move to Dallas won’t be uneventful.” I finish taking the pictures off the board, leaving the most special one for last.
I hold the picture in my hand, the subject the sole reason I picked pediatrics. Penelope. The little girl who I met while volunteering in the hospital in Dallas. Her black hair is in a ponytail and her eyes so crystal-blue it looks like you can see into her soul.
I had just gotten started in the nursing program and signed up to volunteer a couple of times a week. Little did I know, one day that decision would change the course of my life. She came into the hospital when she was a little over two years old. Her mother had died in the car accident when she was under the influence. It was a miracle Penelope survived because she had so many injuries, and she was all bandaged up. She had a cast on her arm and her leg, along with a slew of small injuries.
When I walked into her room, she was a little girl in a very big bed. I can’t even put into words what I felt looking at her. My feet moved without my head even registering it as I sat beside the bed and held her little hand in mine when she woke up and cried for her mom. There was no amount of soothing I could have done, so I did the only thing I could. I held her in my arms, rocking her for much longer than I should have. Telling her she was coming, knowing I was lying to her. The little girl had lost her whole world, and her grandparents had come in trying to claim her, which ended up being more of a shit show. I would show up, even on my days off, just to spend time with her. To be honest, I was at the hospital every single day. If I wasn’t in class, I was in the hospital, doing my homework in the little waiting area, just in case she needed me. It's hard to put into words the pull I had for her, but it was the easiest decision I ever made.