Page 2 of Her Eternal Warrior

“Your sister has had a lot of support and attention. The nurses and doctors have been with her constantly. Then we have been at her bedside all the time. I even quit my job when CiCi was five years old when she relapsed a second time…”

Brax nodded.

“You know,” she prodded.

“Yes, Mom, I know.”

“Come here, and sit next to your mom.” Brax reluctantly got up and sat next to her, and she put her arm around him. “I loved my job. I was going to be someone.”

Brax had heard her say that more times than he could count. She talked all the time about the promotion she was going to get and having to give up her dreams at the magazine because CiCi kept getting sick. But now was different.

“Mom, maybe you can do both. I’m older. I can help.” Brax was desperate. “I’m eleven. Maybe you can go back to your old job, and Dad and me could be the ones to visit CiCi all the time. You can just see her on weekends. How about that?”

Please let her say yes.

She squeezed him tight, and he smelled the perfume she was wearing. It didn’t smell the same as always. All the other times it smelled sweet and nice, this time it smelled almost sour.

“Braxton, you have always been my good little man. You’ve always been on my side, no matter what. That’s why I love you so much.”

“And CiCi, you love CiCi too, right?”

“Of course I love CiCi. But it’s you who I’ve always relied on to understand me. To believe in me. And you have, Braxton. You have.” She brushed back a lock of his brown hair. “I’ve always believed in your dreams, and you’ve always believed in mine.”

Suddenly, he didn’t want to become an astronaut. Not if his dream would take him away from his sister. Not if his dream would make him go away from his family.

“But why do you have to leave?”

His mom winced. “You heard your dad and me talking?”

Brax nodded. “Can’t you just call up your old boss and get your old job back?” he pleaded.

“No, I decided it was time I moved on to a bigger and brighter future. I applied for a job in New York. They liked my ideas and I’ve been hired. I’m going to be a Social Media Intern for three months, and then I will be a full-time Social Media Assistant. This magazine is read by over a million people!”

She squeezed Brax so hard he could hardly breathe. “Brax, that’s my first step to becoming the Senior Fashion Editor. Me, a girl from Iowa! Can you imagine that?” She bounced on the bed.

He shook his head. He didn’t know what she was talking about. All he heard was that she was leaving them. Leaving CiCi. His sister had the biggest brown eyes, and she hardly ever cried. Not even when they used those big needles on her. Dad told him that the cancer hurt her all the time, but CiCi always tried to smile when Brax was in the room. So Brax smiled. He saved his tears for when he was home.

“Mom, you can’t leave. It’s not right.”

His mom pulled her arm away and looked at him. “I thought you would understand.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you would do something that would make CiCi so sad.”

She stood up.

“She’s strong. She’ll be okay.”

Brax shot up off his bed, his arms stiff by his sides, his fists clenched. “You’re wrong. She’s not strong. She just tries to be to make us feel better. You’re supposed to be the one to help her. You’re supposed to hold her. It’s the right thing to do.”

His mom knelt down in front of him. “One day you’ll understand. The right thing for me to do is follow my own dreams.”

He looked her dead in the eye. “No, Mom, I. Will. Never. Understand.”

He sucked in a deep breath so he wouldn’t cry or yell.

“Not ever.”

1