The Westbrook Games

The hospital

Clay was up at the crack of dawn , if staying awake most of the night was not considered .

Up was quite literal as she had not been able to sleep more than a few minutes before she heard her sister groaning again and ran to her side of the bed .

She had fallen asleep sometimes during her virtual class when her laptop had suddenly gone blank .

She had hit every part of the laptop she could think of but the laptop would not boot .

There was really no funds to get another laptop , so that was a huge bye to college for the next couple of weeks .

She turned to her sister .

She had only stopped groaning a little before dawn , she would definitely wake up exhausted .

She got up and adjusted the blanket to cover her more .

There was a huge hole in the blanket that she would have to fix when they arrived .

They lived in a room that was shaped like a box .

They slept at one end , cooked at one end and the bathroom was at another end .

She walked into the bathroom and washed her face and teeth .

Clay sighed as her stared at her reflection in the mirror , they were not going to be able to afford a lot of their bills this month .

She had lost one of her jobs and they had to go to the hospital , they needed a lot of groceries and Jade needed a thicker coat .

Even if they defaulted on the water bill , they could not on the electricity bill .

Jade could not sleep in the cold .

She left the bathroom and headed for their small kitchen .

She grabbed the pancake batter and almost broke their only family portrait .

Jade had a habit of changing the location to wherever she thought their parents wanted to be .

She held the picture , Jade had been a baby when they had taken the picture , she had been fifteen and their parents had still very much been in love .

Clay sighed at how wide her parents were smiling , she was smiling too .

Jade had always been pouty , right from birth .

She did not remember the last time she smiled like this .

She kept the picture where Jade had left it and began to mix pancake batter .

" You're up ? "

She lifted his head towards the voice , Jade was sitting up in bed , her hair was a mess .

" Obviously , I'm making banana flavoured pancakes . How do you feel ?".

She sighed loudly and got off the bed .

" Pretty okay ".

She was lying .

Jade would have run to her at the mere mention of banana pancakes .

And she was walking so slowly .

" Wash your teeth and your face , they will be ready by the time you are ".

She halted , gave her a look before turning and heading towards the bathroom .

She banged the door and screamed a second later .

Clay was at the bathrooms door before he could take a complete breath .

" Jade ? Baby , what's wrong ? Baby..."

" Why didn't you tell me that my hair resembled a nest ? ", She yelled .

" Was that why you screamed ? Are you okay ? "

She ignored her and continued to grumble under her breath .

At least , she had remembered to not enter until she gave her permission .

The last time she had entered the bathroom without telling her , she had not spoken to her for a whole day .

" Come on Jay , hurry out ".

She tapped on the door twice before returning to the kitchen .

The pancakes had burnt terribly , she threw them out , greased the pan and added more batter .

When she was done , she brought out what was left of their maple syrup .

She needed to get groceries really soon .

She walked out of the bathroom with her face washed and pink .

She had put her blonde hair in a ponytail and slicked it down with water .

She smiled .

" Come on , they are getting cold ".

She walked faster and took her seat , she served her before taking her own seat .

She passed the bottle of syrup to her .

She picked it and was about to pour when she suddenly paused .

" What is it ? Do you feel okay ? "

She rolled her eyes at her .

" I suddenly don't feel like using syrup ,my heart can't take it ".

That was a huge lie , she loved syrup on pancakes .

She looked down at her plate and understood , she was doing it again .

" I don't mind , you can have it ", she told her .

She looked up at her through her lashes .

" But , you like syrup too ", She whined.

" It's okay , I'm okay with this ".

She looked around her for a second .

" If you are not having , then I'm not ".

Clay sighed and took the bottle , she poured a tiny bit on her plate and pulled her plate closer , she poured the rest over her pancakes .

She looked between their plates , probably about to say something on how unequally she had shared it , she gave her a look .

When they were done , she cleared the dishes while Jade changed .

When she was done washing the dishes , Jade came over to dry them while she changed .

She packed a backpack for her with an apple , her new calculus book , her pencils , a bottle of water and her favorite eyeshadow palette .

" Are we taking a bus ? ", She asked.

" No , we are going pretty far , so the subway ".

She nodded and grabbed her backpack putting it on .

" You know Clay , we really don't have to go to a hospital ".

She turned to her , she would not look at hee so Clay went to her and lifted her up .

" Why sayest so , oh fair one ? "

She tickled her as she asked this , she hated when Jade assumed such a serious countenance .

" Silly , there's no such thing as sayest ".

She laughed , opening her mouth .

Her teeth had fallen out again .

" We don't have a lot of money , so spending the little we have this way is a waste ".

Clay brought her closer and hugged her .

" It's not a waste baby and I'd like to see you healthy enough to go to school and have actual friends ".

She gasped , putting her hand over her chest .

" I'll get friends as soon as you get your sorry ass a boyfriend or girlfriend ,or even someone to invite you out ".

She laughed at that .

Jaymie was constantly asking her to get a boyfriend .

They walked out of the door and Clay locked the door behind them .

She lifted her unto her shoulders , she didn't want her walking and even though she liked to be carried , she would of course still complain .

There was a subway line not very far from where they lived .

They walked while Jade told him different theories she had read yesterday .

" You know , I think I'm going to have to change my name before I propose my theories ", She told him .

" Why would you ? Jade Willis is strange enough as it is ".

" I was thinking something along the lines of Jade Wilson ", She announced it with a little clap .

" That doesn't sound very different ".

" Your ears are unrefined ".

She frowned , at least she was not using any curse words .

She smiled throughout the subway ride and throughout the walk to the general hospital .

Jade had always loved the outdoors but her hearts condition and Clay's constant working had not afforded them a lot of chance to do as they wished .

When they left the hospital , she would surprise her by taking her to a park that was nearby .

They arrived at the hospital and had to wait a while since they had not made an appointment .

Finally , a nurse came and took them to a room where she helped Jade change clothes before taking her into another room .

She waited for a while that seemed like decades before she was finally called in .

Jade was smiling and telling the doctors of her resolve to change her name to further her research .

" Hello , you must be Clay ".

The doctor held out her hand for Clay to shake , she took it .

" Yes , I am ".

She nodded .

" I am Doctor Amir " .

Dean smiled at this , the doctor turned to the nurse that had been waiting and nodded at her .

The nurse led Jade out .

" Take a seat ".

She did as she was told .

" Will my sister be okay ? "

" About that , is there an adult I could talk to ? "

Clay blinked .

" No , both our parents are dead ".

Se saw it then , what Jade called the pity party , It happened every time .

" You can talk to me concerning any thing , I'm her legal guardian ", she declared .

The doctor sighed .

" Are you aware of your sister's condition ? "

Clay nodded ," I am ".

" Well , it's become a lot worse ".

The little mirror that Clay had used as a shield over her and her sister crumbled .

" To be honest , I'm surprised you didn't bring her earlier , she must have been in a lot of pain everyday ".

" Pain ? "

She had been in pain and had not told her .

" I don't think you should take her home , she should remain here for observation till she gets the surgery ".

" Surgery ?"

Oh God , hee little sister was going to be having surgery .

" Yes ,We'll try to seal the hole in her heart for now , so that she is okay enough to wait for the transplant meanwhile I am more concerned about something else ", the doctor told her .

" What is that ? "

The doctor smiled reassuringly .

" The cost of the surgery , the general hospital bill and the cost of the medicine she will have to use consequently ".

Clay watched her expectantly , waiting for her to talk .

She would borrow money , take student loans out , sell everything that could be sold , she would....

" It will cost roughly around a million dollars ".

Clay blinked , a what ?

She had never even seen a hundred thousand dollars in all of her life .

She must have been in shock , she could see the doctors mouth moving but she could not hear a thing .

She stood up , pushing the chair behind her very roughly .

" We will come back when we make a decision on what to do".

She stumbled to the door .

" Clay , you should hurry , your sister doesn't have a lot of time or strength to keep up ".

She nodded , thanked her and left .

Where was she going to get such money from ?

Something vibrated in her pocket and she stuck her hand inside , pulling out her mobile .

It was an unknown number , she picked it .

'" That you Clay ?"

It was Tommy .

" Yes Tommy , What's up ? "

He coughed before continuing .

" The landlord came over and threatened to throw your stuff out , I told him you had the money and you were bringing it to hil ".

Clay sighed , the landlord showed up at any time to collect his rent , he didn't ever wait till it was actually a month .

" Okay , thanks for the heads up".

" Maybe you and the brat should stay out for a while , you know ? Just until the landlord leaves the area ".

Clay ended the call and went in search of Jade .

She found her sister , she was sitting next to a tiny child in hospital clothes , the child had no hair .

She had given the child her apple and was applying eye shadow on the child's pale face .

Why ?

Why did kids have to be sick ?

Clay would rather she died than watch anything happen to her only family .

She would do anything to make her happy and healthy .

Anything at all .

On the television in the lobby , WB was advertising their latest household technology .

Clay watched the advert come to an end .

Then WB's popular slogan came on .

'Anything for Family ' .

Clay laughed at the irony of the situation .

She stopped laughing when her sister saw her , she waved at her .

" Clay , I made a friend ".

As Clay walked towards her with a huge smile on her face , she realized she would indeed do anything for her .