In trouble

Mia Wolfe

When the cops called, I felt a familiar sinking in my chest.

It was happening again. My sister, Lilian, was in trouble -again.

It could have been anything this time:

Smoking, drugs, bullying, alcohol.

The list goes on and on,

But this time was different.

This time was worse.

She tried to take her own life.

That would have been bad enough,

But there was more.

There’s always more.

She tried to steal my mom’s very expensive wedding ring.

Not just any ring,

The only thing we had left of our dad besides his ashes and a pocket watch that

just recently got stolen.

The cops took her to the hospital.

And just like that, she was gone.

No more sister.

The house felt empty that night.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, my mind racing.

Every creak of the house made me flinch.

It felt like something was missing, a piece of me ripped away.

The next day, the phone rang.

It was her.

Her voice cracked as she told us what the doctors said.

She’d be going away for a while.

She sounded scared.

My sister? Scared?

She was never scared.

I tried to picture her face,

The way she always smirked like nothing could touch her.

But this time, I heard something else in her voice.

Fear.

She wasn’t always like this.

There was a time when she would laugh so hard at her own jokes that we’d all

end up laughing with her.

But those days feel like a lifetime ago.

I didn’t know what to feel.

Should I be relieved that she was getting help?

Worried about what might happen to her?

Angry at everything she’d done?

I felt all of it, all at once.

Part of me was angry.

Angry at her for putting us through this.

Angry at myself for not seeing the signs.

Maybe if I had paid closer attention, things wouldn’t have gone this far.

I was scared too.

For her. For me. For us.

The phone felt heavy in my hand.

I could hear her voice shaking, but behind it, there was the faint hum of

hospital machines.

It made my stomach churn.

I don’t know where they’re taking her,

But I hope it’s somewhere she can find herself again.

Maybe this time, things will be different.

Maybe this time, she’ll come back.