alive, e. o'connor

ix || sickly

Before 1943 |

" we have calcium in our bones, iron in our blood, carbon in our soul, nitrogen in our brains- 93 percent stardust with souls made of flame. We are just stars, with people names "

Seeing Akia was like a curse disguised as a blessing. His under eyes were so dark, that his normal hazel irises didn't even seem like they were the same. His young, chubby cheeks were now hollowed out, and his skin was three shades lighter than it once was.

"What does he have?" Aspen tried her best to seem strong in front of the boy and her father; however, she couldn't. Akia looked like he moments away from death. "It's influenza," Her father grimly confessed, not allowing his daughter any closer to the sickly child. "It's highly contagious, Aspen. We cannot lose both of you," He muttered, as Aspen stared at the oily, due to sweat, child. He didn't look like Akia, he looked like a skeleton of the child.

"I have left everything I had to see him, father. I'm not going to lose him," Aspen seethed out, as she stepped inside the room where Akia had been isolated.

The boy let out a dry, deep cough, as Aspen felt tears slid down her face. "How are you doing, Akia?" She spoke, with a fake smile plastered onto her face.

Akia looked at Aspen, with all the pain he was feeling in his eyes. "I'm dying," He wheezed out, shivering whilst he sweated off whatever fever he had. "No, don't you dare say that. I'm here, you have to get better now," Aspen cried, whilst kneeling to face her little brother. "Aspen, you didn't have to come. I'm going to get you sick," Akia may have only been nine-years-old but he cared for people like a man would. "You're the only thing I have, Akia. I don't mind the illness," Aspen whispered, playing with Akia's curly bangs.

"What if I don't get better?"

"You'll get better."

With that, Akia's breathing became more rhythmic, as if he was finally at ease. "You promise?" He said, slurred from lack of sleep. Aspen laughed, before nodding her head. "Yes, I swear it," She confirmed as the nine-year-old fell asleep. As soon as Aspen realized he fell asleep, she left him. She didn't want to wake him from his sleep, and she had to talk to their mother and father.

"Papa, Mama. Why does he not have doctors awaiting him?" Aspen asked, bitterly. The two exchanged looks, before looking at their daughter. "We don't have the money--" Aspen cut them off before they came up with an absurd reason.

"If you didn't have the money, then how did you move down here, huh? You could've survived in Belgium, if it meant your son had a chance, right?" Aspen was rarely angry, but she was currently raging whilst thinking about how neglectful her parents were to Akia. "Was it because of me, huh? Did you spend your money on finding me?" She scowled, crossing her arms bitterly.

"What's the point? He was going to die, anyways."

"The point is he's a fighter. He could've done it, he may have a chance of living with proper medication. Or, did you forget? You were a doctor, you should know this," Aspen was terrified by her father's yelling, but what was more scary was she found herself screeching at the man who raised her.

She had lost everything. She left her closest friends, a loving boyfriend, a chance. She left it all because she thought there wasn't a chance that her brother could live. Now, she had learned that it was her father's fault for his deadly illness.

"You're the reason, he is going to die!" She cried, before her father's hand came in contact with her cheek. She breathed out, in shock as she looked at the man. She had never been stricken by her father, and never thought she was going to be. However, there she was. Red-cheeked, thanks to the forceful hand of her father.

"Pack Akia's stuff," Aspen deadpanned, looking very monotone on the incident that had just happened. "I never want to hear from you, again. You have ruined my life in more ways than I can count, and you may have ended Akia's," Aspen seethed, before looking at her mother.

"And you allowed it to happen," She, bitterly, scowled. Her mother sobbed, slightly, before running upstairs to pack Akia's stuff.

--

Shortly after, Aspen carried a very sickly Akia out of the house, telling him that she was going to get him better. Everything was going to be okay, she promised him and herself.

Aspen hated to admit, she didn't have a clue where she'd be staying. Yet, she knew she'd have to find it fast. However, when she came up on a hotel that was fairly close to the hospital, she breathed out in relief. "I promised," She muttered to herself as she carried up to the hotel room, that she had begged for.

**

I am uncertain on how many chapters should be in this book, maybe 10-15? I don't know, but I want the readers (yes, you) to decide for me. I will be going by what most people say, and all you have to do is comment the number of chapters you'd like in the comments below. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this...BYEEE...

-tara.