American Dream?

Sister

Sister [sis-ter]

1. A female offspring having both parents in common with another offspring; female sibling.

2. Also called half sister. A female offspring having only one parent in common with another offspring.

3. Stepsister

4. A female friend or protector regarded as a sister

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As I sat in the back of the police car with my head resting on the window I couldn’t help but wonder how this had happened. How?

I knew my sister, or at least I thought I did. She would do something like this. This must be a horrible nightmare that I will wake up from; I wasn’t really in a police car, I was at home in my comfortable bed in the middle of the night.

I kept telling myself this over and over again. But no matter how many times I tell myself this, I knew the truth – she did do it, I was in the back of a police car and I was going to see my sister in hospital. Nothing could change that.

I let out a low moan as I watched the cars racing passed us up the main road; there headlights blinding me, some so white they appeared blue.

I felt my hand being squeezed carefully by the passenger sat next to me. Even in the dim light, I could make out the faint lines of his jaw, the sparkle of his sky blue eyes. I turned my hand palm up and squeezed Jason’s hand back. He gave me a small sympathetic smile and moved closer to me.

Without realising it, my head started to fall back into his broad shoulders. My eyelids suddenly felt like lead and for a few minutes I fought to keep them open, but eventually they won the battle and my eyelids closed. I was barely aware of the arms that entwined around my body or the head that softly rested on mine.

Sleep.

That’s what I needed.

Sweet sleep…sweet delicious sleep.

I startled awake and Jason delicately lolled me from my slumber.

“What” I croaked, as my vision focused I loved up at his beautiful face, I inhaled deeply and my eyes widened in surprised. I looked frantically around me. I stared at the black leather interior, the cup holder at the front of the car filled with a Costa Coffee cup, the GPS flashing, the two faces looked back at me from outside the passenger window. I remembered why I was there at that moment.

“Come on sleeping beauty, time to get up.” Jason whispered so that it was loud enough for me to hear but inaudible to my mother and the police woman. I gazed at his until he shifted; his strong arms pushing me up.

I came to my senses and whispered back, “let’s go.

He smiled down to me and pushed open the door of the car. As he climbed out I stay where I was, remising about what just happened. But then the realisation hit me as I saw the glowing Hospital sign ahead of me.

This was it.

I walked through the spotless lobby of the hospital. I could hear babies crying, people talking and the news playing on a continuous loop. I looked around the waiting rooms. Everyone looked miserable, each and everyone on of them would prefer to be somewhere else.

The reception was in sight. Sat behind the desk was a over weight woman, with a red blotchy face, and a tight nurses uniform. Her nose was pierced and she had so many bangles on her arm you couldn't see the skin of her arms. Her reading glasses were placed firmly on her nose. She was in her late 30s or early 40s.

As she heard are footsteps click on the plastic floor, she cocked up her head from, what I only found out later, a gossip magazine.

"Yeah...?" she asked in a distant voice. Her face was right in front of mine but her eyes were on the magazine. She was getting payed for this?