the lucky one || reggie peters

> prologue

Jo and Carter walked home from school that day in the crisp autumn air. Carter happily breathed it in, a certain freshness to it that made him feel alive. Conversely, Jo was sneezing and coughing constantly. Her steps were wonky as if she had to focus just to walk straight. "That cold still hasn't gone away?" Carter sighed.

"Obviously not," Jo rasped, breathing heavily as they approached the trailer park.

"Alright. No need for the snark," he said with a slight laugh. Carter glanced at her worriedly when she didn't retort something sarcastic. Instead, he watched as she threw a mouthful of spit towards the trees beside them. His eyebrows furrowed. "Jo, I think there was blood in that one."

"Yeah, right. I think I would know if my mouth was bleeding, Carter."

He stopped in his tracks and, a moment later, so did his sister. She groaned and turned back towards him. "Spit. Now," he instructed.

"I thought you were supposed to be the younger brother. Remember?"

He raised an eyebrow expectantly. Jo rolled her eyes but spit on the concrete in front of her. Just as Carter thought, there was a streak of blood in it. He stepped up to her and made her open her mouth for him. Inside, he could see her gums bleeding.

Jo scoffed. "See? No big deal, just a little gum blood."

"Why are you acting like this is normal? Do we need to go to the dentist or something? How often are your gums bleeding?"

"Okay, I'm gonna pull the older sister card. It's chilly and I'm sick and I want to be home. Let's go, Carter."

Jo ignored him when he tugged the sleeve of her coat. "Take it easy, Jojo. You sound out of breath." She avoided his eyes. "Sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure," she said brightly, forcing a smile. But Carter could always see through her falsities. He pushed forward, however, as there was a surprise waiting for her back at the trailer.

Carter ran ahead when they were one motor home away from their little residence. Jo thought it odd, but rolled her eyes and kept at her own pace. When she opened the screen door, she was greeted with people jumping out from behind the small kitchen table.

Jo kissed her teeth and looked at her brother ruefully. He was smiling like an idiot as all of Jo's friends ran to greet her. He planned for the day after her birthday, so she wouldn't expect it. Because if there was one thing Carter knew about his sibling it was that you couldn't surprise her. So, of course, he made it his goal in life to catch her off guard and he'd finally succeeded.

When one of her friends pulled back from their hug, their face fell. "Jo... your nose."

Jo raised her hand to her nose. When she pulled it away, her fingers had bright red on them. Her eyes raised to her brother. And that was the last thing she saw.

Carter watched his sibling's legs fold beneath her. He tapped her cheek, splashed cold water on her face, and he carried her out to their friend's car. They drove to the hospital. He called their mother.

She looked as if she was sleeping.

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. ALL for short. Which Jo always found appropriate as the cancer spread through all of her blood. Her suffering didn't last long. It was moving quickly as it was. They tried a few treatments, but within a year, it was obvious that she wouldn't be getting better. And her mother refused to take on any more debt.

Jo was seventeen and six months. Carter was fifteen and four. But he kept growing. And she didn't.

That's when Caleb Covington found her.

>author's note
hey. so the thing is i had a random stroke of inspiration a few weeks ago for this story and then i left it sit for a while. i'm gonna try to write more this weekend but we'll see :).

also, this is super short and all future chapters are at least double this length fyi. see you then <3