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"Right on time, as always."

I smiled at the replica of me sitting on the bed. She looked so much like me that people would mistake us for twins if not for our age difference. My sister Evangeline was younger than me by eight years and now that she was nearly eighteen years old, we both looked more alike than ever. We had inherited almost all our features from our mother. Same facial structure and same auburn hair.

The only difference in our appearance was our eyes. While she had our mother's beautiful sea green eyes, I was the one to inherit dad's boring chocolate brown ones. I remember when I used to complain that the only thing I did not inherit from my mother had to be her most alluring feature. Oh, how I missed her. Missed them.

Shaking those melancholic thoughts out of my mind, I entered the room and grinned at my sister, matching her own. "I would be a hypocrite if I go on preaching my employees about punctuality and arrive late myself now, wouldn't I?" I replied, subtly accessing her body and facial expression for any pain or discomfort.

She rolled her eyes at me. "C'mon, Eves. It's been two years! You should know by now that you're not being subtle at all. So before you ask, I'm perfectly fine. No pain, no discomfort, no incidents in the past week. Now if you're finished playing strict nurse, I want my sister back. I've already had enough of Linda playing that role perfectly."

I chuckled and raised my hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Fine. I believe you. Now tell me about your week. And I thought Dr. Jenkins performed some tests on you yesterday? How'd it go? Did he say anything?" I stopped myself before she started scolding me again. From her expression, it looked like she was about to do that, but instead, settled for a glare.

"Nothing unusual. It's not like I could do anything different when I can't even stand on my feet." She replied and I was immediately filled with guilt, grief, regret, despair, hopelessness and every other painful emotions all at once. I tried to hide the hurt before she noticed anything but as with everything else, she saw right through it and flinched. She took hold of my right hand and squeezed it in between her own.

"I'm sorry Eves. I didn't mean to hurt you. But you need to know that you have nothing to feel guilty for. It was meant to happen one way or the other and you shouldn't blame yourself for something that wasn't in your hands. If anything, I should be grateful for having a sister like you, and trust me, I am. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be what I am today. Hell, I wouldn't even be alive today. I wouldn't have even dreamt of pursuing my dreams.

And don't think for a second that it doesn't make a difference because it does. It has made my life meaningful and I thank God everyday for giving me a sister like you." By the time she finished, both of us had tears in our eyes as we remembered the day that changed our lives forever.

Seeing as I did not deny nor agree to her statement, she sighed and changed the topic. "Right. So Dr. Jenkins has been visiting the whole week. That guy has been poking and prodding my legs for the whole week and yesterday he sent me again to that big hole with freaky lights. He hasn't said anything to me but he did let me know that he'll be here today to discuss something with you. Although I know it's something else he wants to ask you again, I also think that there's gonna be a good news regarding my condition. I've been feeling really good this week and I can feel myself getting better, y'know?"

I smiled at her enthusiasm. I just hoped that Dr. Jenkins brought good news. Then I scowled remembering her other statement. I opened my mouth to scold her but before I could utter a word, she swiftly changed the subject to some chick flick movie she watched yesterday. This girl could change the subject faster than a guitarist could change his chords.

"Oh! I'd almost forgotten! I have something to show you." She said and reached for her bedside drawer, struggling a little to do so but I stopped myself from helping her because I knew she wanted to do things independently as much as possible. After a few minutes of scuffle, she took out her sketchbook I'd gotten her a couple of weeks ago as I always do on my first visit of every month.

"I thought on what you said about your new upcoming collection with The Stones jewelry targeting young adults. So I did some research on it and came up with a few designs. Here, take a look." She said, handing me her sketchbook.

I looked at her designs and was dumbstruck by how specifically she designed each and every model giving equal emphasis to their dress and well as the jewelry. All of them were perfect and I got awed by my sister. Even at her childhood, she was adamant about being a fashion designer but the incident changed everything. However, she took online courses and now was one of the best designer of Eva's. I couldn't have been more proud of her.

"These are perfect, Eva!" I exclaimed. "I know without a doubt that our sales are gonna increase tremendously because of you. I'm so proud of you!" Eva grinned and proceeded to explain all the designs to me and even designated which model would look got in which outfit. She wanted Shawn Mendes to model for all of her male outfits. I laughed at that. She was obsessed with the singer.

We sat in silence for some time, Eva browsing The Stones jewelry and me silently watching her work, wondering when she'd be able to stand up on her own feet and ramp with the models flaunting her own collection.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I got startled when Eva suddenly screamed. Thinking something happened to her, I panicked and immediately looked at her, only to find her showing her laptop to me with a wide Cheshire grin and wiggling her eyebrows.

I breathed a sigh of relief which soon turned into a scowl when I looked at the screen. There was the same article I'd been seeing everywhere since this morning. The article with my and Adrian's photo. I groaned aloud.

"He's hot, is he not? Wow! When you told me he's your business partner, I browsed him and thought he was handsome. But now, looking at this, I can't believe I thought that. He's not handsome. The word doesn't do any justice to him at all. He's downright hot! And sexy! Forget Shawn Mendes. I'll make him my model anytime. Oh my God Eves! Why didn't you tell me he is this hot. And you two look so good together. Like a perfect couple. Awww..."

Eva suddenly had this dazed look and I could tell she was imagining Adrian in a way that was not shown in any of his photos. But soon, as if remembering something, she turned to me. "Unless..." she started, narrowing her eyes at me. "Unless you are a couple." Then she raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if waiting for an explanation. An eyebrow raise. The feature she got from dad. Life was unfair.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Shut up, Eva. You're not even an adult now. You're only seventeen! So stop thinking such nonsense and do something productive." She raised another eyebrow and was about to retort something when I was saved by a knock followed by Dr. Jenkins.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something important." Dr. Jenkins said with an easy smile. Then he turned to me and gave me a grin. "Hey, Eves. How have you been? This little one keeps on getting into trouble the whole week and becomes the epitome of innocence on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I hope you keep her on check and save me from Linda's ranting." He finished, pointing to Eva who stuck out her tongue in reply.

I laughed. "It's good to see you again, Keith. I've been good and talking about this little devil, you can take her laptop away if she troubles you or Linda again. I glared at her when she tried to retort once again. "Speaking of my sister," I turned my attention to him as I continued, "I remember you saying we'll get the test results today. So can we discuss the further course of her treatment now?"

I thought I saw him look a bit uncomfortable at first but he quickly eased his expression into a smile that made me wonder if I'd been mistaken. "Right. Yeah, we did her MRI scan yesterday and all the other neurological assessments. The reports must be out by now. Actually, I've got a small work to do. Why don't you come to the emergency department after half an hour while I complete my work and fetch her reports and we can discuss it from there?"

I furrowed my eyes at this. We had decided that we'd discuss everything related to Eva's treatment only on her company since she wanted to be aware of everything happening in her body, both good and bad. So it was a little unusual for him to meet me alone to discuss about her treatment. But I nodded anyway and before I could question anything, he was already gone.

"You do know that he has a giant crush on you, don't you?" I turned to find Eva staring at me with a creepy smile. I rolled my eyes and refrained from saying anything. Keith had asked me out a while ago but I told him I didn't feel that way about him. It was true, after all. And besides, I had my company to run and with my sister's condition, the last thing I wanted was to have an affair with her doctor.

Eva and I talked about anything and everything in the half hour and when it was time to go, I suddenly missed her. I wanted her to live with me but with her condition and continuous treatment going on, the doctors said that she needed constant monitoring and daily assessments. And Eva didn't want to go home until she was fully healed so that she could dance in the welcome party I throw for her.

"You know, I think I'll be here on Mondays as well." I said as I got up and collected my bag. Eva immediately glared at me. "Don't even try, dear sister. I won't see you. No offense but seeing your face two days a week is more than enough for me. I don't want to get allergies looking at you face more times than I am used to." She replied dryly and I narrowed my eyes at her in pure offense.

"You, young woman," I started, pointing my finger at her. "You're going to have to see me a lot more once you get home. I'll make sure to cover your bedroom walls with my posters. Oh, these days there are those printed pillows as well. Yeah, I'll make sure they have my picture in them." I completed with a smug look at her.

She looked positively horrified at the thought that it was downright offensive. But before she could reply and I feel even more offended, I quickly hugged her goodbye and fled the room.

I think I'm getting better at cutting her off beforehand. I thought with a smug grin.

I reached the ER and cringed as I saw bloodied bodies being rushed by the paramedics and the flurry of activities. It made me remember the day I was in a similar situation and I retreated to a safe distance away from there only to see Keith coming at me with a file in his hand which I suppose were Eva's reports.

"I'm sorry it's chaos in here. You know it's New York city so accident cases are almost a daily occurence here. Anyways, let's go to the Starbucks across the street and we can talk about this." He said, stopping in front of me and gesturing to the file in his hand. I merely nodded, still thinking about his first statement and numbly followed him.

The fresh aroma of coffee immediately chased away all the depressing thoughts from my mind and I became aware of the surrounding. We were in the Starbucks that served the best coffee in the area. We sat on a corner booth as I wanted privacy regarding everything related to my sister's condition.

I'd managed to completely hide my personal information because I knew how nasty media could get if they got a wind about Eva. She hadn't been outdoors much since her accident and if the media got so much as a smell of my family, they'd stop at nothing to make their story, not even caring for her feelings. I didn't want Eva to go through any of that hence I'd hidden everything about me and my family from the media. The only personal things they know about me were my name, age and the college I attended. Hence the title mysterious.

Keith cleared his throat and I came out of my thoughts. Dr. Keith Jenkins, or simply Keith, as he preferred to be called, was a neuro consultant. He was just completing his residency when I first met him two years ago. That was the day Eva was first brought here. Eva's case was assigned to him as his final assignment and he continued it even after he was no longer a resident.

He was a good looking man with soft brown eyes reflecting his kind nature and blond hair. He had an easy going persona that gave a friendly vibe but right now, his expression showed no signs of easiness that I had grown accustomed to. Instead, there was a hint of nervousness, sympathy and large amount of despair in his eyes, as if it pained him deeply to say whatever he was about to. I suddenly had this feeling of anxiety and uneasiness and suddenly, I didn't want to be here at all.

He took a deep breath and uttered a sentence that filled my entire body with dread.

"I'm really sorry, Eves, but I've got bad news."