We sit waiting for word from the doctors. Hours go by. Mom and Dad huddle on the couch. I curl up on my side on the other couch. Mom and Dad have offered to take me home. None of us really wants to leave. I’ve stopped watching the clock hours ago. It only made me more agitated. I can’t concentrate. I don’t have my books or my backpack. I have nothing to do but sit in silence.

I get up in an attempt to pace the halls, but I’m stopped by a nurse who assures me that everything will be fine. She walks me back to the waiting room. Her words are hollow. My parents gave me the same assurances for the last 2 weeks. I sit there for hours until I stewed enough in my own mind.

“Why keep me in the dark?” The words rattle in my mind before I realize actually said it out loud. My folks begin to stir.

Mom rubs her eyes and looks at the clock then to me. I ask again. Through her exhaustion, she says “We thought it was the best thing. There was little you could do to help Amber, and we thought to see your sister in her state would paralyze you with guilt.” I can feel my face scrunch. Mom continues, ”Is this any better? You sitting here, with us, worried to death?”

“And what of the cheerleading? I heard about the agreement you had with Coach Tompkins. Was that supposed to distract me?”

Dad joins in, “Yes and no. We knew that we would be spending a lot of time in the hospital. You were new to high school, and Taylor was your only friend. We thought that when you entered high school that the pranks would stop. Clearly, that didn’t happen. We needed you around positive role models that we were familiar with. Your sister has been on the squad since last spring, and we know most of the parents. We thought they could help keep an eye on you.”

“Do you know what I’ve been through in the last two weeks?” I say meekly. Exhaustion, worry, guilt and sadness took the sting out of what should have been an angered question.

“We’re sorry, honey, but your father and I thought keeping you active would allow you to make more friends.”

“Nobody talks to me. I’m a pariah at the school. You both haven’t said a whole lot to me either. I was more alone than I’ve ever felt in my life!” I’m becoming more distraught. “How can you do this to me?”

They looked at me shocked.

“Even Taylor doesn’t talk to me. I just kept getting more and more lonely. And just when I started to think that everything was starting to look better. I get kicked off the squad by the Principal? I threw up in her office when she told me I was off the squad. I’ve been through hell in the last two weeks. Now, I found out I could lose my sister too? This is too much, I can’t handle all this!” I break down crying. My folks rush over towards me. They try to calm me.

More time passes. My stomach is still tied in a giant knot, anxious for news.

A knock on the door breaks the silence. It’s somewhere after 3:00 AM. A man in scrubs enters, I think he's a doctor. A woman also enters behind in scrubs and a lab coat. The woman speaks. “Mr. and Mrs. Stewart? I’m Dr. Mendoza, I was the one that operated on your daughter. It was fortune I was on shift at the time of your daughter her episode. We were prepping for surgery on another patient and were notified of Amber's change in condition. We were able to drain the fluid easing the pressure. Your daughter is fortunate. She’s resting comfortably for now. We don’t know the lasting effects of the damage. Generally, the survival rate for complications from a subarachnoid hemorrhage is pretty slim.” She survived both the hemorrhage and the complications thus far. As I said before, there may be significant impairment even though she survived. We will know more when she recovers.”

In our relief, we gather in an embrace. I start to realize how much grief my folks have been over the past few weeks. The same anguish I briefly experienced over the past few hours, they had to dread for more than 2 weeks. Their exhaustion, like mine, keeps them from the fullness of the happy moment. It dulls it. Somber tears of joy.

Thursday, we saw our first restful sleep in days. Home is disheveled and unkempt, my guilt has seen the fullness of my act. The distress it has caused to my sister, my folks, the squad, coaches and to me. This all happened from one stupid prank, my stupid prank. I had a lot to make up for. I knew the pranks had to stop, I was done with them. The best way I could help all of them and myself was to find a way back onto the squad.

By Friday evening, With me at her bedside, Amber opened her eyes for the first time. I looked into her eyes. Was unsure whether or not I was dreaming myself. Her brown eye blink, dart to me and blink again. “Amber?” My heart beat at the possibility. I would drag her from hell’s doorstep to reality. “Amber?” She blinks here eyes, and I rush over to the door. In my excitement I crash into a nurse, tumbling to the ground. “She's awake!”

The nurse angry for just a brief moment until she realizes what I said. She rushes to the room leaving me in her wake. I dash to the waiting room, My parents are eating their vending machine sandwiches. They shudder at my sudden entrance. “She’s awake!” They scramble to their feet rushing past me. They stop at the door. Mom hurries to her bedside. I stand to flank my Dad. The nurse tries to calm my Mom down. Amber’s eyes are still open. Mom realizing that Amber is truly awake burst into tears of happiness. She rushes to my Dad. Mom’s laughing?

I have my sister back.

Our miracle had come.

Mine came soon after.

I returned to school on Tuesday buoyed by the improvement in my sister’s condition. It was hard for me to leave her bedside. The neurologist’s advice was to leave Amber’s recovery to the doctors and nurses for the moment.

That morning, I walk into Dr. Corning’s office. “Aaron, please sit down.” I walk over to the chair and take a seat. My eyes are pulled to the trash can. The memory of last Tuesday's discussion was still on my mind. “I understand you have had a chance to visit with your sister.” I nod my head. “I’m sorry you had to see her in such a state.” Watching my sister tremor and convulse in a hospital bed was worse than I could have imagined. Seeing her open her eyes was a moment of pure elation. “I heard, she’s awake. We’re all very happy for you and your family.”

I smile widely as I have all weekend. “Thank you.”

“What I wanted to discuss with you was not about your sister, but about you.” My stomach sinks and my heart again starts to race. Was she ready to dole out my punishment?

“I have spoken to some of your teachers, and while you perform well on the academic side, they are a bit concerned that you seem to be a bit… Isolated. I do have reservations about your well-being. You’ve been through a lot in the last few weeks. I think I want you to have a chat with Mrs. Yates. She’s the district’s counselor. We had originally had her lined up should your sister not be so fortunate. She’ll be here this afternoon.”

I begin to fidget nervously, “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, I think so. It might be nice to talk to someone about all this.”

“You seem to be a bit of conundrum. Academically, you seem fine, yet you haven't been active in other pursuits, well constructive pursuits anyway, save one. Cheerleading and you were forced into it as a well. I’m not going to push you into such activities, but I want to know why you haven’t tried any of the other extracurricular activities? You could certainly pursue similar activities not just Cheerleading, or is Cheerleading what genuinely interests you?”

I eye her suspiciously. I don’t respond.

“It's alright, to be interested in cheerleading, there is nothing wrong with it. I simply disagree with the Coaches and your parents forcing it on you. I did hear about your speech to the squad.” I have no idea where this is going.

“Since, you have are on your way to the academic standing that would make you eligible for the squad, the only thing standing in your way now is this.” She hands me an envelope. “Open it.”

Opening the envelope. My eyes widened when I see a series of forms and waivers. They are forms for my parents to join the cheerleading squad. “I must be dreaming. Does this mean I can rejoin the squad?”

“Well, I do have to warn you that your parents may be hesitant, because of what has happened to your sister. Though they were involved in you joining in the first place. I’ll leave that for you to discuss with them. There are a few other preliminary things that were not ‘covered’ when you ‘joined’ the squad. Before you participate, I would want those cleared.”

I trying to wrap my head around everything. I’m barely listening at this point. My heart is fluttering at the possibility.

“Oh. Should you decide to participate, do keep in mind that there are, in fact, male cheerleaders. However, if you feel there is more that we need to discuss regarding your participation in school activities, please know, you can always talk to me.” She gave me a smile, “You are dismissed.”

I stand, I don’t know why I did this, but I rushed over to her to give her a hug as I started so sob softly. I murmur a “thank you” and rush out of her office clutching the envelope, seeking out Ellie and Lisa.

We have some work to do!

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Author's note:

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading, commenting and encouraging this story.

There have been some comments raised about the brevity some of the segments of this and the other stories (oh! and the cliffhangers). Looking at what I've written in the past month here, I think that the rapid sucession of the stories has been trying to keep the pace and momentum I held for Nanowrimo. 1666 words per day becomes sort of a mental goal. I've only been writing fiction for 4 months and I'm happy about all the critiques and input from those who wanted to help me improve (I love you all for every last bit of it). The second part (I planned for three parts) of this story will have longer chapters and less frequent posting consistent with other authors on this site. I'm still learning and I hope that better stories result from this.

All the best for 2017!

Hugs,
Leila