Page 20 of Anastasia

I cocked a brow as I gave him a pointed look. The last thing I wanted to talk about was that girl. It wouldn’t surprise me if she were just like her foolish father. She probably believed the world belonged to her, and she would take down anyone who disagreed. Just like her father did to my family.

“She isn’t bad. I know because I’ve talked to her. She seems so upset and lost. I just can’t understand how she is such an angel yet her father?”

“Killed our family! Don’t you ever fucking forget it, Enzo, do you understand me?” I yelled.

With a clenched jaw, he nodded. I didn’t mean to let my anger take control, but I couldn’t hold it back. I didn’t care if the girl was nice or cruel, she was a pawn in the plan to take down her father. There was nothing more or less to the story. She was the spawn of someone I hated, which made her someone I loathed.

Anastasia

Iwoke up with a crick in my neck. I wasn’t exactly sure how long I could continue sleeping on a chair. It was becoming the most uncomfortable place, but I still managed to make it work with a hospital blanket draped over me.

The second the sunlight fanned my face, I opened my eyes to look at my sister. She was still sleeping, and the slight amount of color that had managed to make its way onto her face seemed to have disappeared. Her body looked lifeless with the amounts of tubes and added monitors attached to her body.

She seemed to feel me looking at her because her eyes snapped open, but then shut due to the sunlight. When a groan moved past her lips, I knew my best option was to cover up the windows with the curtains.

“Hey,” she said softly.

Her voice no longer sounded the same. I tried my best not to break down and cry because it seemed like I had done enough of that to last a lifetime. I gazed down into her eyes only to see they looked defeated. The color that once danced around her hazel gaze seemed to vanish. I was looking into them only to see myself looking back.

“Here, drink some water,” I whispered before grabbing the cup the hospital had provided and placing the straw against her lips. I waited until she finished to set the drink down on the small bedside table.

“How are you feeling?” I questioned. A weak smile formed on her face before it fell. Her eyes shut momentarily as her body seemed to adjust to long, abnormal blinks.

“I’m so tired, Nana,” she whispered. Her eyes shut completely, and my heart began to break. I got down onto my knees beside her bed and reached for her hand.

“Just rest a little, okay? I’ll be right here, Alex. I’m so sorry for not being there when you were hurt last night. I thought you were getting better.” Frustration at my doings were looming into my emotions due to my constant crying. Crying never fixed anything.

“Not that kind of tired. I’m tired of feeling like this. I feel deader when they try to cure the disease than when they just leave it alone. I’m tired of fighting. I want to be there for you and Mum, but I can’t do this anymore,” her voice cracked. I watched as the tears sparkled between her closed eyelids. My own tears began falling threatening to fall as I pressed her hand against my head.

“Don’t say that, do you hear me? You can’t, Alex. I need you! If I could, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat, you know that, right?” I sobbed. She opened her eyes before swallowing. Alex shook her head back and forth.

“It seems like I won again because I would do the same for you, which is why I am the one lying here right now. Anastasia, you have always been so capable of being a person the world should look up to. I look up to you, and I hope that one day someone will see how great of a person you are. I hope thatyouwill see what a great person you are. I love you so much, and no matter what happens, promise me that you will love yourself just as much,” she stated.

Something felt like it was squeezing my heart. I couldn’t believe what she was saying, and I didn’t know how to feel. Was it selfish of me to beg her to continue to fight despite the fact that it waskillingher, or was it selfish of her to give up on me?

“It doesn’t matter because I will have you to remind me. Alex, please, you have to stop talking like this. It’s been two months and you made it past what everyone said you would. You can do this, I know you can! You’re my little sister, but you’re the strongest person I have ever met,” I pleaded. My hand went up to touch her cheek. Her body was cold and drained as her eyes stared into mine. Slowly, she brought her hand up to lay on top of mine before giving another weak smile.

“I will do my best for you. It’s the least I could do, seeing as you have taken such good care of me. I promise I will fight, but if anything happens to me, I just want you to take care of Mum. I want you to remember everything that we’ve ever talked about. Live on my legacy of forgiveness and love.” She chuckled softly. I sniffed a little before responding with a light chuckle.

Reaching over to the bedside table, I grabbed the water and pressed it to her lips.

“Nana, if you give me any more water, I am going to become Aquaman in this bitch,” she joked. It caused me to laugh even with tears falling from my face. Only she could do that for me—make me laugh while I was crying my heart out.

“I love you, baby sister,” I muttered before pressing a kiss on top of her head. She smiled at me before puckering her lips and kissing the air. “I love you too.”

The door opened and Dr. Flores walked in wearing a huge smile on his face. “Alexandria, you’re up!”

She grimaced at the name he called her. No matter how many times she tried to get him to call her ‘Alex,’ he always managed to call her by her full name instead. I sent him a small smile.

Last night after the hug, we had a long conversation where he told me about the death of his father from cancer. Apparently, he lost him when he was really young, which was what made him want to be an oncologist. The story was a saddening thing to hear, but he managed to make it sound motivational.

He returned the smile before looking over Alex’s vitals. Once he finished, he held his fist up to her as if she were a five-year-old. Tiredly, she gave him a fist bump before lowering her hand back down onto the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he questioned. I looked over at her. Her answer to me replayed itself in my mind. She gave him a small smile, her lips were cracked with dryness as a tint of blue made their way onto them.

“Like a million bucks,” she muttered with a light chuckle. He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Very funny. Really, how are you feeling? On a scale of one to ten, can you state the amount of pain you are in?” he questioned. My eyes dropped down to her, only to see the smile she had on her face had disappeared.

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