The Other Half ✓︎

N i n e t e e n

"Merry Christmas!" my parents shouted.

I groaned and rolled over in bed.

I felt my bed jostle as a body bumped into mine.

"Mom said she'll make us hot chocolate, and Dad promised his waffles," Lucas said cheerfully.

My eyes flew open.

"It wasn't a dream," I whispered.

He grinned widely.

"C'mon sis. Time for grub," he responded.

I bounded out of bed, Lucas's laughter ringing behind me.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," our father teased.

I smiled sheepishly at him and Mom.

"Hi. Sorry, guys," I apologized.

"We get it," Mom assured me.

"Can we please eat? I'm hungryyyyy," Lucas whined.

I laughed and threw a piece of fruit at his face. It hit his forehead and fell on to the plate in front of him. He scowled at me and then shrugged and popped it into his mouth. I stifled my laughter.

"Are we doing presents?" Lucas asked as we helped set up the rest of the table.

I looked down as the smile fell of my face.

"We weren't sure if we were going to celebrate this year," Mom spoke slowly.

I shook my head and sighed.

"What Mom really means is that they weren't sure I was going to have enough life in me to do anything normal, like celebrate Christmas, let alone get presents for them," I spoke. "Since I got into a fight last week and fractured my wrist, we weren't in the mood for holiday shopping."

Lucas looked at us in confusion.

"I got it. It's on me anyway," I spoke to my parents.

"Are you sure?" our dad asked.

I nodded.

"Come on, Lucas. Let's go into the living room," I said.

He followed me in silence. I knew he had a million and one questions for me. I had asked our parents not to tell him anything after what had happened to him. That responsibility fell to me.

"After you... After what happened, things changed around here," I began. "We were all obviously upset, but I stopped living, Lu. I-I didn't want to be happy, not without you. So I started going to the Center more and left my academy. I'm not here on break. I'm here because I moved schools to get payback for what they did to you."

"Cass," my brother breathed.

I bit my lip as a tear escaped.

"I didn't want to live without you, so I started surviving. You're the other half of my soul, Lucas. There is no me without you," I confessed as more tears streamed down my face. "I thought we were going to lose you for good."

Lucas leaned forward and pulled me to his chest, his small arms wrapping around my frame. He'd only been out of the hospital for a week, but he was slowly regaining his strength. I was to return to school next week, but Lucas was going to stay home and get his health back. Just going up and down the stairs left him breathless. It served as a constant reminder that we had nearly lost him for good.