The Self Destruct Button ~ Bratayley Fanfic

Chapter 12. Thanks for the Memories

Annie's POV

I woke up and realized I was in a hospital room, which was weird because I don't remember ending up here.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Annie! You're awake!" My mom cried as she ran and hugged me tight.

"Annie!" My dad and some woman next to him exclaimed as they hugged me too.

"W-who is she?" I asked as I pointed to the strange girl next to my father.

"Annie," my dad laughed nervously as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "that's Skylar."

"Who?" I asked; this lady was a complete stranger! And why was she and my dad flirting in front of my mother?

"You don't remember?" Mom asked. I shook my head.

"Annie, your father and I—"

"Jules!" I jump and look over to see a tall teenage boy running into the room and hugging me.

When he noticed the look on my face, he asked, "Annie? What's wrong?"

"W-who are you? Is he one of Caleb's friends? And where is Caleb, anyway?" I asked, searching the room for Caleb.

I saw the strange boy look up at my mother, and they both looked like they were crying.

"She doesn't remember the last eight years of her life." Mom said through tears. "She doesn't remember meeting you."

That's when I got really confused. "I don't remember eight years of my life? Of course I don't! I'm only six..." then I looked at myself, and I seemed tall and mature, definitely not a six year old.

My family all looked at me sadly. "How old am I?"

"Fourteen, almost fifteen." The boy said, tears streaming down his face.

"Who are you? And why are you crying?" I asked, which made him cry more. "Am I supposed to know you?"

He knelt down next to my bed and held my hand, which oddly felt nice. "My name is Brennan Donnelly—"

I gasped. "Cool! That's my best friend Katie's name! She said I was going to meet her family soon, last I remember..."

The boy—sorry, Brennan— smiled. "Yeah, that's me. Um, I was a friend of your brother's and your friend too."

"Was? Did you and Caleb get into a fight?" I asked him. Again, my family looked concerned and sad.

"No." Brennan answered, still holding my hand and now rubbing his thumb over it. "Um..." he turned around to face my mother, who nodded.

"What's going on? Is Caleb at like a baseball camp or something?" I asked.

"No, Annie." Brennan squeezed my hand. "You see, um, he died two years ago from today..."

I felt tears sting my eyes. "What? That's a cruel joke! My brother can't be dead, he's perfectly healthy! We all are, right?!"

"No." Brennan said again, which seemed to be the word of the day. "Annie, he had a heart condition go undetected called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And you have osteosarcoma cancer which came back once you fell into a coma a month ago."

Now I was full on crying. I buried my face in his hands, feeling my hair topple off my head.

I reached forward and realized I had a wig on this entire time. I felt my head to feel a little tiny bit of fuzzy hair, but it felt thin and when I removed my hand off my head, a clump of hair was in my palm.