My name is Max, short for Maxine. I'm 14 years old, just entering puberty. I'm rather tall for my age, with brownish yellow hair, or better yet, you could call it a somber dull yellow or blond hair that is cut short, and I don't have the necessary places protruding the way I wanted, making me jealous of my sister even if she is 10 years older than me. Looking around me, I confirmed that I just came out of a coma.
How do I know? Well, I can't forget the incident that just rocked my life, can I? It turned my world upside down.
Some people might forget, to run away from it, but I loved my parents too much to just forget what happened to them. And, recognizing where I am as a hospital room tells me that it was more just a nightmare, everything was true, and from now on...
Just thinking about it and I'm already crying but seeing the white sheet used to cover me, I become disgusted, and I want to throw it as far as I can, even in my condition. And that's exactly what I do, only to find myself in a hospital gown ending above my knees, with my right foot bandaged, pointing once again at the reality of the situation. Only my left leg is healthy, with its beautiful appearance preserved, and I have reflexively used it to throw my tantrum. A sudden spell of dizziness makes me lose focus, taking my thoughts out of the gutter before I manage to calm down.
I used to like the color white, mind you. My favorite dress was white in color, with straps, showing my shoulders, my collarbones and my fair arms and stopping just above my knees, leaving for the appreciation of any admirer my straight legs that are the envy of my classmates. It was simple but I liked it very much.
I was even wearing it today while going out with my parents, but when the tragedy happened, it was splashed and became tainted red, the red of their blood. I saw in slow motion as my parents' blood left their rightful home, the veins and arteries inside their bodies, and covered a short distance in the air to shower me. The shock at that time didn't even allow me to consciously register my injuries, so I think my body must have taken over and I blacked out, leaving my mind sheltered and my body less stressed.
I suppose the rescue came not long after, since I didn't die. But I hate that. Why couldn't they have come much later so I could die too and not have to live with all this grief? I can't even imagine myself marrying in a pure white dress anymore, with no one to descend the alley with, solemnly but with joy.
Not with the way that dress became red, not with what I woke up with.
Looking around, I can determine that I having been out for very long, after not seeing my sister, the only reason I have not to consider suicide apart from not wanting to dishonor my parents who gave me life. So I just look at the ceiling in a daze while thinking about my parents and waiting for my sister to come. I don't even know when I fell asleep.
When I wake up again, I feel someone holding my hand with a weight beside me on the bed that I'm sure is a head. The room is still the same, with the curtains opened, allowing me to know that the sun had already set.
From my bed, I can see the lights of the city but they are not beautiful anymore. They only make me feel lonely.
Without even the need to turn my head, I know it is my sister beside me. The smell of her shampoo is so distinctive, not strong but relaxing. It was made of natural products by herself because she dislikes those things made with chemicals that are threatening to health. It helps her long dark hair stay soft but firm despite reaching her lower back.
Thinking about that, I smile a little, but remembering our parents that will not be with us anymore, I start crying, again.
This life really opened the waterworks for me, or maybe it's just that I love my parents so much but they won't be there to pamper me anymore. My mother's gentleness that didn't prevent her from being strict when needed, and my father, always jovial and supportive.
It seems that my sister heard me crying since she is waking up. Her face showed that she cried a lot but wanted to hide it, making me think that she wants to be the anchor of the family from now on. However, while she arranged her hair and tried hiding her tear stains, her reddened eyes were a dead give away. Still, seeing me crying in silence, she bends over to console me:
"Shhh... You can cry all you want Max, I'm here. Let it out, it will be okay, we will go through this together, alright?"
This really broke the dam for me as I hug her and start crying my lungs out in her stomach, her breasts comfortingly resting their weights on my head, preventing me from feeling her own tears dripping down while she strokes my hair.