I walked into our bedroom and Richelle was doubled over her leg, clutching her Aircast.
"Richelle?" I asked quietly, sitting down on the bed next to me. "You okay?"
Richelle looked up at me, her teeth grinding together. "It hurts," she whispered.
"Do I need to ask Mom for painkillers?" I asked, my brow furrowing in concern.
"Yes," Richelle said through the pain.
I nodded, sliding off Richelle's bed and running out looking for Mom. Richelle's pain level always gradually went up a few days before chemotherapy, as the tumor slowly started growing when the effects of the chemotherapy medication wore off. We'd already put off her chemo treatments for a couple of days for the two-day vacation, but Mom would be likely to cut it short if Richelle's pain went up too high.
"Mom, Richelle needs pain meds," I said, walking into the kitchen where Mom was cooking dinner.
Mom moved to the cabinet behind her, swinging it open by its hinges. About ten or fifteen medication bottles labeled 'Richelle' stood there. Mom looked over her shoulder at me. "Does she need a breakthrough or regular?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "What's the difference?"
"Her pain level," Mom said. "Is it higher than normal?"
"Yes," I nodded.
Mom sighed. "Breakthrough, then." She grabbed a bottle and handed it to me. "Give her this. She'll know what to do." Mom rubbed her temples. "God, I hope this vacation doesn't get cut short."
It was a valid concern. The first time we had gone on vacation with Eva after her diagnosis, her pain got so bad, that we had to take her to the nearest hospital. Mom wasn't going to let that happen to Richelle. She'd hightail us all out of there if Richelle started feeling bad.
I ran back into our room, holding two white pills and a cup of water. "Richelle?"
My sister looked up, her eyes full of pain. She held out her hand silently for the pills.
I dropped them into her hand dutifully, and she guzzled them down with the water in mere seconds. She sighed, holding her leg. "I can't believe this is happening," she murmured. She looked up at me. "It's the exact same thing that happened to Eva four years ago."
"Richelle, you're not the same as Eva," I said, sitting next to her.
Tears were shining in Richelle's eyes. "I'm close enough," she said quietly. "We were mirror twins. I share a lot of the same genes as she had. We even share Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Now we share an osteosarcoma diagnosis."
"But," I said slowly, thinking through my words. "You're not the same person. You're different."
Richelle's voice cracked. "How?"
"Your personality," I said. "You may look alike, but you're not."
Richelle shook her head, standing up. She winced, even though the Aircast took most of the weight off of her foot. "It's enough." Richelle looked at me, her eyes misty, and walked off.
And that was that.
Richelle's pain level increased steadily, so of course, as planned, Mom cut the vacation short, which just made Richelle more depressed.
The drive home seemed to take longer than seven hours. Granted, seven hours was still a hefty amount of time, but still. At one point, when we had reached Watonga, it seemed like Mom went right past our street. Maybe I was seeing things. Or maybe I wasn't.
Mom pulled into a driveway that definitely wasn't ours.
"What's going on?" Richelle asked, yawning. "Are we home?"
"No," Mom said. "But get out anyways."
"I'm tired," Richelle complained.
"Get out, Richelle," Dad said.
I could hear my sister complaining as we tumbled out of the car. It was hot. It was really, really hot. The sun beat down on my skin, and I could practically feel myself baking. Not a feeling you want.
I stood around, Richelle on my left, Gabby on my right.
"Stay here," Mom told us as a lady opened the door and she stepped inside.
Just a couple of minutes later Mom opened the door and a tall, rusty red-colored dog leaped out. She struggled against the leash Mom held her with, very eager.
"Meet Shasta!" Dad said.
Mom brought Shasta over and she circled my legs, wrapping her leash around me and licked my legs nonstop. Then she bounded around Richelle and did the same. When Shasta came to Gabby she sat down in front of her and cocked her head, tongue lolling out to the side. Gabby giggled and patted Shasta on the head. Shasta bounded up and sat down at Richelle's feet.
Mom clipped a leash onto Shasta's collar and handed the end of the leash to Richelle. Richelle took it but Shasta saw something and pulled it out of her grasp.
"Shasta!" Gabby and I took off running after her. I couldn't lose my dog after only a couple of minutes of knowing her.
Gabby was close behind me. I could see her in my peripheral vision.
As I neared I realized that Shasta was circling a man. I slowed down to a slow jog. He must've had treats in his pocket or something. Why would he have treats in his pocket? The man saw me and locked eyes with me, holding Shasta's leash.
"Your dog, right?" the man asked. "Sadie Cleveland?"
I bent down, trying to ignore his comment. It was unsettling that he knew my name. He had already set me on edge. But now he knew my name? "Here, Shasta."
"It's okay," the man said. "I work with your dad."
Gabby ran up beside me. "What's going on?" she stared at the man, her blue eyes sharp. "Hello," she said, reaching for the dogs' leashes. "Thanks for catching Shasta for us." Gabby looked nervous.
The man grabbed her wrist. I stifled a scream. It was like watching one of those stranger danger movies they show little kids at school to scare them into submission.
Sharp barking sounded as Shasta growled, low and terrifying. She was crouched low to the ground, her muscles tensed to pounce at any moment. Startled, he let go of both Gabby and Shasta's leash.
Shasta growled, muscles tense, closing in on the man. I love dogs. She growled and snapped at him, eager to sink her sharp, canine teeth into his flesh if he tried to do anything.
The man backed up, trying to look dauntless. But I could see Shasta made him nervous. "Call off your dogs."
"Yeah right," Gabby said sarcastically.
The man threw a paper at my feet. "Just tell your dad-tell him Shane wants to talk to him."
Shasta didn't move an inch as the man turned around and ran off.
I bent down and picked up the paper. I didn't dare open it. I collapsed in the grass and buried my face in Shasta's fur. At least I had my dog back.
"What was that?" Gabby asked. "I thought your dad wasn't doing any work because of Richelle."
I bit my lip. What was going on?
Gabby took the note from my hand. "It says 'be careful who you side with'. What does that mean?"
I took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I don't know. Dad didn't tell anyone he was doing a case."
Gabby rubbed her wrist and stared after the man. Her anger seemed to have faded and she grabbed Shasta's leash. "You coming?" She asked, concerned.
I nodded, getting to my feet. I felt wobbly. "Yeah. Let's go."
I was so jumpy walking back. Even when we neared, I jumped at the slightest sound.
Gabby reached down and scratched Shasta's ear.
"Sadie?" Mom asked. "What's wrong?"
I couldn't speak. "I..."
Gabby glanced at me nervously and explained to our parents what had happened. Dad grabbed the note from her hand. "Where is this man?"
Mom nudged Dad and gave him a 'don't overreact' look. "It's okay, Tyler. The girls are okay."
"Get in the car, girls," Dad said sternly. "Now."
Richelle, Gabby, and I exchanged a nervous look, but we did as we were told.
It made me anxious that my parents were so concerned about this. What were they not telling us?
It took almost two hours to unpack all of our stuff and get Shasta's stuff settled. She had even come with a dog bed, a bag of dog food, and a few toys.
We sat around the kitchen table, Mom and Dad at the head, glancing at each other nervously.
Gabby sat next to me, Shasta laying at Richelle's feet. Richelle's face was pale, her arms bruised from the lack of platelets in her blood thanks to chemotherapy. Her leg was resting straight out in front of her.
"Girls-"
"Did you take a case?" I interrupted.
"Sadie-"
"Answer the question!" I snapped. "Did you take a case?"
"Sadie, that's enough," Mom said firmly. "Watch your attitude."
I sighed.
"Yes, Sadie," Dad said calmly. "Yes, I did take a case."
"Why?" Gabby asked. "Don't we have enough on our plates already?"
"I know I said I wouldn't take any cases but this one was-" Dad took a deep breath. "This one's a little personal. It's about a cancer test."
A knock at the door interrupted Dad this time, leaving us in suspense. Richelle glanced at me with her eyebrows raised. No one ever knocked on the door. We didn't even get girl scout cookies.
Dad crossed the room and answered the door. "I'm sorry you'll-"
"Just give me a chance to explain," the man at the door cut off Dad's words. His voice was gritty with emotion.
Gabby and I moved closer to mom and she put an arm around Gabby and me protectively. It was the man from the beach. I felt safer in my mother's arms. I don't know why, it just did. Probably because she was, well, my mother.
Shasta was standing, her hackles raised at the man.
"Let's go to my office," Dad said calmly. "We can record what you have to say-"
"Listen to me!" The man yelled, He banged his fist on our door frame.
"Look, we can talk to Daniel and find a logical solution," Dad said patiently.
"There is no logic with Daniel," Shane said. "He's been like that since we were kids. Thinks he can craft a device and no one will ever be in pain again."
"You knew this when you started the project though," Dad insisted.
"I didn't know he'd be so stupid and blind!" Shane growled.
I could feel Gabby's muscles tightening with the outburst.
"But you don't know it won't work," Dad said. "Daniel's plan could work."
"And if it doesn't?" Shane asked, narrowing his eyes. "You're gonna explain to a kid's parents that it didn't work? That even though they hoped so much it didn't even work? That even though you told them it would work, their child still died?"
"I don't care how passionate you are about this, you cannot continue to harass my family," Dad said firmly.
"I will do what I want to get what I want," Shane said. "Even if I have to use your kids to do it, I will get what I want, Tyler Cleveland." He looked past Dad's shoulder and glared at Richelle, Gabby, and me.
I shrank back into my mother's hold and she tightened her grip.
Shasta growled, leaped over the couch and snapped at Shane. Dad grabbed her collar and struggled to hold her back. Shasta strained and jumped wildly, eager to get her teeth around the man. I knew Shasta was our dog. Only our dog would do that to someone for us.
Shane ran back to his car and Dad shut the door. He let go of Shasta whose hackles went down and went back to Richelle and laid down at her feet.
Richelle's voice trembled when she spoke. "What-what was that?"
Dad rubbed his temples.
"Tyler," Mom said. "What was that?"
"I'm sorry Stella," Dad put an arm around Mom. "That was Shane. My case... is with a man named Daniel who is working on a device to test kids for cancer. He's working with a man named Daniel, but they're conflicting because Daniel thinks the device should test kids right when they're born so they can start the treatment immediately. Shane feels it would be better if it tested adults to see if the child inside has cancer so they could..."
"They could do what?" I demanded.
"Kill the baby," Dad said.
"What?" Richelle demanded, her voice cracking mid-sentence. "That's so unreasonable!"
"Richelle," Mom said, giving her a look. "Let your father speak."
"Shane is very passionate about it though," Dad said. "He has harassed Daniel and his kids, and now he's harassing my family. And he's persistent. He won't stop until he gets what he wants. Or until someone stops him."
"Wait, so they're just going to test every kid who's born?" I asked.
"No, just hereditary and genetic cancers," Dad said. "And parents with the genes that make disorders like Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, Gardner's Syndrome, Hereditary Leukemia Syndrome, things like that."
"So if Shane has his way, people like Eva wouldn't even be born?" I asked.
"No," Dad said. "And neither would kids like Richelle."
Richelle looked up from petting Shasta. "What?"
"You carry the gene mutation too," Dad said. "It's what put you at increased risk for osteosarcoma."
"No," Richelle said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. Her voice rose a little. "Dad, that can't happen. Kids can't die because one man thought stupidly."
"I'm doing my best, honey," Dad said. "I really am."
Richelle's breaths shook. "Right. Right." She got up and walked out, limping a little. Shasta followed her, whining a little.
"She's never this emotional," Gabby muttered. She glanced at me, then back down at her lap.
"Gabs, she's facing a really big surgery," Mom said gently. "She's going to be emotional."
"What surgery?" I asked, looking up.
"Amputation," Dad said. "That's why her chemotherapy stopped. They're giving her about a month to recover from its effects before they try to take out her tumor."
"And her leg," I said.
Dad pursed his lips and nodded. "Yes."
Mom looked up from her phone. "Oh Sadie," she said. "Sierra's mom asked if you and Jazmine would like to help at our church's day camp."
"What about Richelle?" I asked.
"It would get your mind off of her," Mom said. "Right now I think you need that, too."
My eyes lit up. "I could do it even with her?"
"Of course," Mom smiled. "You're just as important as she is."
I grinned and threw my arms around my mother. "Thank you!"
"Of course," Mom said, hugging me tightly.
I grinned again and got up, walking down the hall to Richelle's bedroom. This might be a bad decision, if she was in a bad mood, but why not try anyways? I knocked on the door. When there was no answer I tried the doorknob. I opened the door and promptly got a pillow pelted at my head.
"GET OUT!" Richelle yelled at me.
Yep, she was in a mood. A really bad one.