After having lunch at one of their favorite eateries, Cedric and his father drove home while Stacy left with Sara to the hospital. She had excused herself with the intent of taking Sara for her checkup.

As they got home, Cedric took his luggage and made straight for his room. It had been almost 3 years approximately since he slept there and he was pretty anxious to see if anything had been altered.

The smell of fresh paint filled his nose as he stepped in; no one had stayed in the room for a long time so it smelt like it had just been painted.

Edging closer, he saw his favorite comic books arranged neatly on the study table with an apple laptop. He guessed immediately that it was his birthday gift.

A note was sticking under it and he pulled it out. FROM MUM was inscribed in a cursive and beautiful writing on it.

“This is truly home sweet home” he said and jumped on the bed.

His eyes were still feeling droopy from the flight so it wasn’t long before he gave into another round of sleep.

[2 HOURS LATER]

Cedric woke up to take his bath, after changing into a casual wear he went downstairs to look for his father. The house was still silent making him wonder if his mum and sister were back, he got to the courtyard and met his father having a drink with his friend, Carl.

“It’s good to see you back home Ced” Carl said sipping the juice from his glass cup.

“Thank you Carl”

“I thought you were going to go on for another two hours, I bet the two hours you had wasn’t enough”

“Dad!” he grumbled.

“Don’t blame me….. It seemed like you were hibernating”

“What of mum and Sara? Aren’t they back?”

“Not yet. I had an urgent meeting to attend to but I’ll be off to the hospital in 10 minutes so get dressed if you’re coming along” he replied with a quick glance at his watch.

“Alright, bye Carl” he turned and left the courtyard to the sitting room. In a spasm of 10 minutes, they were in the car driving to the hospital.

On getting there, they made their way straight to the VIP room; this time around Jade didn’t bother greeting or exchanging pleasantries. Her last encounter had taught her a lesson. They climbed upstairs and found Stacy sitting in the lounge having a drink but Sara wasn’t there.

“Hello sweetheart” Alvin greeted his wife with a peck on both cheeks before dropping a light kiss on her lips.

Cedric cleared his throat and turned away; it was pretty obvious he wasn’t accustomed to his parents’ public display of affection.

“Don’t feel awkward son, I’ll get you a fine lady soon so you won’t feel bashful when we do this” his dad said facing him with a light chuckle.

Turning back to Stacy, he asked, “What of Sara?”

Stacy hesitated and glanced sideways to see Cedric was engrossed in a magazine he had picked up on the table. Standing up from where she sat, she dragged Alvin with her to a more silent end of the corridor. When she was satisfied that no one was in sight, she spoke up

“Fred told me he looked through Sara’s test report and from the tests they conducted, they discovered a tumor”

Alvin was utterly thrown off balance. “A tumor? How and what is the cause? When did this happen?” His hands moved to his hair and he ruffled them.

“Where is she now?”

“The doctors took her in for another scan, they want to determine if the tumor is benign or malignant before they perform any surgical operation on her. I think they said something about a CAT scan”

Alvin closed his eyes and felt the information he had gotten circulate his body like a wild fire. He had always feared something like this would happen and now the day he dreaded most had arrived.

“But Fred wants us to transfer her to his hospital in case there will be need for a surgery. He’s the chief of the pediatrics department there”.

“Is that possible at all?”

“Yes it is but let’s wait for the results to come out”.

Casting a glance at her by his side, he could see she was shaking and biting down on her lips.

Walking up to her, he drew her into an embrace. At this gesture, Stacy felt all the emotions she had been bottling up overwhelm her and she broke down in tears. Right from the day Sara had her seizure, she had been trying her best to stay strong for her; at least not for herself yet. And now in spite of everything, it had come to this.

“I’m so sorry Al”. She sniffed. “This is all my fault that Sara is in this condition. If I had been more careful during her pregnancy, none of this would have happened”.

“It’s okay baby, stop crying” Alvin consoled her.

“No it’s not. Now I can’t give you another child and Sara is about to leave”.

“That’s enough Stacy… Stop it!” his voice came out in an anguished tone. He couldn’t bear to hear her blame herself for something she had no control over.

Alvin raised her chin so he could stare into her eyes. “I don’t want to hear any more complaints. Sara’s not dead yet so how do you want her to feel seeing you in this state?”

“But -"

“There are no buts here. If I married you solely for the sake of having kids then we should be divorced by now. I love you Stacy Ramirez with or without children, besides we still have Cedric. Are you going to give up on him too?” he paused and kept on peering in her teary eyes.

“You’ve always known I felt pregnancy would disfigure your shape so quit pestering your mind. We could adopt if you want but let’s not head there for now”.

   Stacy felt an outburst of love flow in her blood stream as she reached out and threw her husband in a tight cuddling embrace.

Her mind felt a bit revived hearing his soothing words to her; her main source of worry was that he would get paranoid and vent his anger on her inadequacy to give birth or worse still blame her for the unfolding event but she seemed to have forgotten her husband was always doting on her and would do anything to make her happy.

X.X.X
Meanwhile Cedric who was still waiting in the lounge was wondering where his parents headed to. Immediately he sighted a nurse wheeling Sara to her room and he walked up to them.

“Umm…. Excuse me Miss, I’ll take it from here” he said attempting to take the wheelchair from her.

The nurse gazed at him with uncertainty and turned to Sara. “Do you know him?”

“Of course I do, that’s my elder brother” she replied and squeezed her face as she watched the nurse walk away. “Dumbass” she murmured.

“Hey, you haven’t changed a bit little devil. She was just doing her job”.

Cedric pinched her nose and helped her climb the bed. As he looked at her lying on the bed, a smile clouded his face.

“What’s so amusing?” she asked watching him suspiciously as she turned on the TV with the remote beside her.

“Just thinking of how adorable you look. You look like a tiny angel in that hospital dress, we’re just missing the wings” he replied.

“Whatever” She focused her gaze on the television as her favorite children series was streaming.

“How did you know I was coming back?” Cedric asked adjusting his chair closer to the bed.

“Well. Eavesdroped on mum’s conversation last night with dad, he mentioned it…. But I think you should leave and head back to school”.

     Outside the room, their parents were about entering the room when they heard Sara’s statement. Guilt stuck Stacy in the chest and she felt her chest clutch making her weak instantly; Sara was undoubtedly misunderstanding her brother’s reason for schooling away from home and it hurt her a lot. She needed to go in there and straighten things out for the two of them. As she made to turn the handle, Alvin pulled her back.

“What are you doing Al? I need to go in there now”.

“Let them have their private time to talk”

“Sara’s misunderstanding him. She’s seeing him as a stranger, that’s totally wrong”

“Stacy, they are siblings and are bound to have misunderstandings. Besides I believe Cedric can sort out things with her. You won’t be there to settle their problems forever so let them do it this once”. He gripped his hands in a pleading gesture.

“Alright...Fine… But if they can’t resolve it, I’m going in. I can’t bear to see Sara look at him that way” she agreed and walked off to take her seat in the lounge.

   Cedric sat on the chair and gazed at his sister who had a distant expression written over her. How was he to explain to this 6 year old that she was clearly misinterpreting his interest?

“What do you mean Sara?”

“Isn’t the message clear? All those years you never showed up and now you hear I’m sick, you surface out of the air?”

Each word that left her mouth was a blow to his heart. How could she think he didn’t care?

“Sara, it’s not the way you see it”.

“Then explain to me Cedric why you came. If not that you came back for Christmas Thanksgiving when I was four, I wouldn’t have known I had an older brother" 

She switched off the TV and laid down on the bed backing him.

“I have a tumor and don’t know how serious it is but what I detest right now is pity”

I have a tumor. The words ringed incessantly in his head like a bell. The room spinned before his eyes as he turned to look at her, pain and anger stabbing his chest like a knife blade. All this years he had been away and now he showed up, she was sick; not just sick but diagnosed with an aggressive illness, a tumor.

As he looked on, he understood her eyes but the realization of it hurt the more.

“I’m sorry Xi….. I’m fucking sorry” he knelt beside the bed pleading. Tears had already built up in his eyes.

“You should go home and have some rest. I’ll be fine”. She whispered from the other end.

The tears finally gave away and rolled down his cheeks. How in the fucking world did this happen. He asked himself repeatedly. Reaching out his hands, he took Sara’s hand and wrapped it in his own.

“Xi” he sniffed. “I know you don’t want to see me now but I understand how you feel… I’m deeply sorry I stayed away for so long, it wasn’t my intention” he stopped and looked at her back hoping she would turn to give him some re-affirmance.

“If I can go back in time, I will… and I’ll show the whole world that I have a beautiful, talented and intelligent younger sister, I’ll stick to your side always. Just don’t let go”. He placed his head on the bed and continued crying.

Stacy who was by the door had tears glimmering in her eyes. She had moved away when her husband napped off and listened all through the conversation they had in the room.

Her heart ached as she listened to Cedric’s agonized cries in the room, at that minute she only desired to hold and console him; this was their fault not his.

      After some minutes of standing and hearing no voices, she turned the handle and walked in. Cedric had dozed off holding Sara’s hand but what melted her soul was the fact that he was still on his knees.

“Cedric” she called out.

Instead of replying her back, he mumbled some inaudible words but she heard them faintly.

“I won’t let go Xi… I love you”.

Ximena was Sara’s native name and Cedric was fond of it, he had abbreviated it to Xi; his pet name for her. Stacy decided not to disturb them and gently closed the door; she silently prayed that this wouldn’t drive a wedge in their relationship especially at this critical stage they were all facing.