They Chose My Sister, Then Learned She Was Dying novel · Chapter 5 of 24
Chapter 5: Thirty-One Thousand
By Tuesday night the fundraiser had thirty-one thousand dollars.
My mother texted me the number every few hours with a row of hearts.
I read the page standing at my kitchen counter.
The photo at the top was me at twelve, missing a front tooth, holding a trophy from a spelling bee.
Under it my mother had written that I was her brave girl and her best friend.
I read that line four times.
In twenty-six years she had never called me either of those things.
The comments went on and on.
My old Sunday school teacher. A man from the county road crew. My supervisor at dispatch had given two hundred dollars and written, "You've kept this whole county alive. Let us keep you."
I put the phone face down.
Someone knocked.
My mother stood outside with a pot of soup and a grocery bag, and she walked in without waiting to be asked.
"I'm not staying," she said, and she stayed.
She made tea.
She sat next to me on the couch and tucked my feet under a blanket and stroked my hair off my forehead.
I held very still.
It was a long time since anyone in my family had touched me without a reason.
"Do you remember," she said, "when you were four and you wouldn't wear anything but the yellow raincoat?"
"No."
"You wore it to bed. Your father had to carry you into church in it." She laughed and wiped her eyes. "You were such a stubborn little thing."
"Mom."
"I've been thinking about it all week. How I didn't have enough time for you."
Keep reading free with an account. Start They Chose My Sister, Then Learned She Was Dying from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 4 · All chapters · Chapter 6 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend