Page 49 of Whiskey's Redemption

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Waking up in the recovery room, the bright lights are blinding. My head is groggy, my eyes feel scratchy, and my body is numb. Clearing my throat gains the attention of a nurse.

“Nice to see you awake, Jamieson. How’re you feeling?”

“Tired. Really tired.”

Smiling, and grabbing up a glass of water off the side table, she says, “You’ll be for a while. Here, drink some water, it’ll help.”

Taking the straw she pushes towards me, I suck back the water like I’ve been living in the salt flats for days. When I’m done, I push the straw away and ask her the only thing of importance. “How’s Petra? Where’s my sister?”

That smile disappears before she says the words I never want to hear again.

“I’m sorry she died before you could help her. Your sister is gone.”

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It’s been weeks. It could be years and nothing would feel better. Looking out at the sea, the cliff and the spot where it happened, nothing feels right.

I’m not right. The ocean doesn’t hold any charm after it took my sister, and the whales? If they sing again, it won’t be something I find magical.

Dad was here for her funeral, and luckily for the birth of my new baby sister, China, before he headed off for another race.

She’s beautiful. Dark hair like my dad and soft features like Mom. She’ll be a danger to all men. To me, she’s never going to replace Petra. I have the scar to prove she was real, and touching it every day reminds me how amazing and awesome she was, and reminding me of how I failed to save her.

Being her brother I had one job, and mother reminds me that every day. I never had the chance to save my sister and that tiny scar taunts me.

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