- 4.
When Liam
Wake up,
Mom, Grandma, and
Grandpa were all d around him.
Dad was busy. He stopped by during the
surgery, and left as soon as he heard Liam
would live.
The drugs hadn’t worn off. Liam was
confused with everyone crowding around him.
Mom was watching some stage show on her tablet. She glanced up and said, “You’re
Join the bookshelf
Activate VIP
99
awake.”
“Mom, what… what happened?” Liam asked.
Mom didn’t answer.
Grandma burst into tears. “Oh, sweetie! You’ll
be okay…”
Liam didn’t know they’d chopped off half his
legs, knees gone.
Too bad the trucker didn’t do a better job.
He should have taken off everything, including
his little Liam Jr.
Join the bookshelf
Activate VID
4
I was peeling an apple. Mom looked at me,
not at her injured son. “Harper, didn’t I tell
you not to eat fruit? So much sugar, it’ll ruin
your figure!”
I kept peeling. “I’m giving it to Grandpa and
Grandma and Liam. I want them to be okay.”
Mom frowned. “The nurses can do that. Don’t peel it. And don’t get any scars.
“I
I nodded.
Liam finally noticed me. The drugs wore off, and memories came flooding back.
Me dodging the truck, not saving him, played
over and over in his head.
“You… you’re okay? But… that’s not…” He
trailed off.
I cut the apple and gave half to Grandma, the
rest to Grandpa. “Oh? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Liam’s lips moved, but he didn’t say anything.
He couldn’t ask why I, the loving sister who valued family above all else, didn’t push him out of the way, didn’t take the hit myself.
He also couldn’t ask why my not being hurt meant his “sister“, that trailer trash, couldn’t replace me.
