“Love you too.”The call ended, and I smiled.That was Mindy.Her brain flew from one subject to the next without any brakes.
I checked the causes of high blood pressure and found stress could cause it.Thank goodness for phones with internet.Maybe she was right about it just being the pressure of school.But that wasn’t going to stop me worrying about my sister.
Would Valerie understand the close relationship I had with my sister?It hadn’t been like this when we were together, mainly because Mindy had been knee deep prepping for med school and didn’t need me as much as she did now that she was in med school.
Some might say I was a little too involved with my sister, but I’d raised her.With her across the country, I couldn’t help myself.Her education was important, but so was her health.
I chuckled.Now, I was the one bouncing between topics.My sister and Valerie.Though if Valerie didn’t understand about my sister, then that could be a deal breaker.My gut clenched at the thought of that happening.While Valerie wasn’t close to her family, I remembered her saying she wanted a family of her own someday.
I was getting ahead of myself.Valerie hadn’t agreed to anything with me.I had a long way to go to make things up with her.
“Everything okay?”she asked quietly when I sat.
“Yes.My sister.”A small furrow appeared on Valerie’s forehead, the only outward sign of her concern.
“Mindy, right?”
“You remembered her name?”Why was that a surprise?
“It took me a minute.I remember you talking about her when we were together.”
“She’s finishing up medical school.”
“That’s right.She always wanted to be a doctor.”
“A pediatrician, she tells me.”Not that I’d ever discourage my sister, but I wondered why she wanted to work with kids.It wasn’t like we had the greatest parents.
“She’s got a way to go, doesn’t she?”
“Once she finishes med school, there’s internship, then pediatrics residency, and then a pediatric fellowship.Mindy loves a challenge.”I wasn’t much different.Mindy and I thrived on challenges.
“You must be proud of her.”
I cocked my head and stared at her.“I am, but I’m curious why you say that.”
“Because you raised her.”
I sat back, surprised at her remark.Then I remembered telling her one night as we cuddled on the sofa about my flaky parents after a phone call from hers—one she wouldn’t talk about.
“Yeah.She turned out all right.”I couldn’t be prouder of Mindy.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”Valerie put her hand on my arm.Her compassion flooded me with warmth all the way to my toes.
“She’s a good kid.I got lucky.”Mindy had been a model teenager, which helped me while I worked.Stepping in to raise my sister hadn’t been ideal, but someone had to do it since my parents had flaked out.
In some ways it’s a miracle I wasn’t commitment phobic due to my parents.Raising my baby sister, holding down two jobs, and going to college all at the same time.“Those were some crazy days,” I commented.
“They were.I remember when we first got together, she’d just turned twenty, and you were worried about frat parties.”
“Not that I needed to worry.Mindy’s always been a level-headed kid.”I grinned at her.“Just like you.”
Valerie tilted her head.“You think I’m level-headed?”
“Aren’t you?I mean, you’ve been working with me for a week now, and you haven’t gotten upset with me since the first day.”I leaned closer.“Until you ran out of here earlier.”
Her eyes widened and darkened.She swallowed.“I started to have a panic attack.”
“I’m aware.Why?”
