Chapter 3

I turned to look at Serena. She was still standing in the same spot, the slip clutched in her hand, watching me like she was waiting.

I walked up to her and stopped.

"What gives you the right to take my appointment?"

Serena sighed. "My heart isn't well either, and I'm older. Treatment's harder at my age. Emma's young, she has options. No other hospital has a specialist like this. I looked it up. You need connections and you need time. I can't go through that."

I glanced at my mother, who was standing there silent. "You can get a check-up at any hospital. A specialist appointment is a different story. I'm not giving it to you."

"Carol, if Mia would just give me the appointment, I'd do anything for you. Anything." Her knees went out and she dropped down in front of Mom, eyes streaming.

I grabbed Mom's wrist before she could reach for Serena. "Mom. You actually want me to give it to her? Do you know what I went through for this slip? Even Serena knows you can't get it without time and the right connections. Just this once. Can you be on my side?" My eyes were stinging. I held her gaze. Just this once. She could choose me.

Mom held my hand with one of hers and Serena's with the other, that familiar pained look on her face. She didn't speak.

The hope I'd been holding onto dropped out of me.

I should have known. When we were kids, Serena washed dishes once and got taken to the amusement park. I washed dishes every day and got told it was my job. Nothing had changed.

I laughed, dry, and was about to open my mouth when a wave of people poured into the hospital lobby. Phones, cameras, mics. They were heading straight for us. "We heard there's a story here." Reporters elbowing each other, eyes lit up.

Serena wiped her face. Trembling, she said she'd called them. She wanted to start a fundraiser for Emma. Every camera swiveled to me.

"Ma'am, what's going on? We're on your side, we're here for the truth."

"Look at this sister, bringing reporters in for her niece. What a loving family."

"Family helping family. What a story."

Mom looked a little overwhelmed by the noise. She tugged at Serena's sleeve and whispered something about how this was too much, weren't they bothering people again. She had that anxious, eager-to-please smile, counting on her fingers like she was already calculating what she'd owe them. Serena pretended not to hear. She dabbed her eyes and pivoted. "We're family. None of this means anything to me. The problem is Mia. She doesn't appreciate me. She's trying to take the specialist appointment from me." She dropped her head, and a single tear hit the floor right on cue. A camera caught it.

Microphones swarmed me. "Your sister was trying to help. Why don't you appreciate her?" "You're ungrateful. Care to explain?"

People around us started chiming in. Saying I'd just slapped my own sister. Saying I'd been spoiled rotten. Saying my family had been so good to me and I was nothing but ungrateful. The voices piled up until I was drowning in them.

I looked at my mother. She was hunched in the corner. "Mom. What do you say?"

She got nudged forward to stand next to me. She lowered her voice. "Mia, look, Serena even brought reporters for Emma. She's so good to you. You can't owe her this. Just give her the appointment. Everyone's watching. Don't make a scene. You can always book it again next time."

She paused. "You've always been such a good girl. That's what I tell everyone. Just this once. Give your mother some face out here."

The corner of my mouth twitched up. I laughed.

The light over the ER flipped from red to green. The doctor wheeled Emma out and said she was stable, just needed rest.

I looked at Emma's little face. I touched her cheek. After she was settled in her room, I turned back to my mother.

"Well, since Mom says so. Fine. Serena gets it. Why wait? Let's go change the patient information right now." I leaned in close to Serena.

Serena raised her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth lifting. "No takebacks, then."

I just held my mother's eyes, watching them drop. "No takebacks."

I sidestepped her hand when she reached for my shoulder, and headed for the registration desk. Serena trailed after me, the reporters in tow.

There was someone ahead of me. I stood and waited. Serena stood next to me. Cameras rolling.

My number was called. I walked up.

"You want to change the booking? Is the patient here?"

"She's here."

Serena scoffed. "What patient? Your little sickly kid is in her hospital room. Are you stupid?" My mother pressed the back of her hand to my forehead, took it away, did it again. "Mia, are you exhausted, sweetheart? Should you rest?"

The doctor looked up. "Specialist appointments are hard to come by. You only get one name change. Are you sure?"

Something moved in my chest. I turned to my mother one more time. "You really want me to give this appointment to Serena?"

She paused. Then she said it again. "We can't be in debt to Serena. It's for everyone's sake. The appointment has to be transferred. Emma's surgery was a success, she's out of the woods. Holding onto it now is just wasteful. God will remember your kindness, Mia."

I knew that expression. I knew that line. Every time it came out, I lost something. The Tesla. The emergency fund. Emma's medicine. Today, this appointment slip.

Fine. Transfer it.

Serena stood beside me, the corner of her mouth already curled up.

I slid the file across the desk.

"Patient name. Carol."