“Are you excited to be home?” I asked as I opened the front door for Myla.

She slowly crutched her way into our home. “Excited is an understatement.” She made it the couple of feet to the loveseat in our living room and plopped down. “I just need to get used to these damn crutches.”

I brought her bag in and set it by the bottom of the stairs. “I am going to do some laundry and bring down a bunch of your stuff from upstairs.”

The living room had turned into our makeshift bedroom for the foreseeable future. Until Myla was cleared to start putting weight on her leg and was able to make it up the stairs, she and I would be calling the first floor home. I knew I was being a little overprotective, but I didn’t want her trying to do too much for herself while I was sleeping in my bed upstairs and then reverse all the progress she had already made.

“You really don’t have to do this, Bray.” She glanced around the room at the couches with sheets and pillows on them.

“Myla, we talked about this already. Just let it be.” The alarm on my phone started going off. “Shit, I have to change and head to practice. Are you sure you’re going to be ok while I am gone?”

She shot me a devilish glance. “If you do not get your ass out of that door in five minutes, I am going to kick it. Even though I only have one working leg, Darren made sure I could take care of myself for the most part. I am going to binge on all of my recorded stuff on the DVR and order a pizza.”

“Fine.” I pulled cash out of my wallet. “You can’t blame me for worrying.”

“I appreciate it, but we both need you to keep your job. One of us has to pay the damn bills.”

“Touché, sis.” With that I bolted up the stairs, changed into my sweats, and headed to practice. I was actually going to be on time for once, and I was stoked that Coach was finally going to see that I could handle my personal and professional lives in some capacity.

* * *

The days went on in a sort of routine. Taking care of Myla and practicing with my team consumed my life. We started to get into a nice rhythm, but nothing could have prepared me for everything that had happened in such a short amount of time. It was like the earth had shifted on its axis. The weirdest part was that even though everything had changed in my life, nothing really had.

Yes, my mother was gone. Yes, Myla was no longer going to be an Olympic skater. Those things were giant, mind-altering facts that I had to grasp as my new reality.

But, my team was still the same. The mail never stopped coming. The bills still had to be paid. Laundry still had to be done. My father was still in prison for vehicular manslaughter. The world kept spinning, days kept coming and going, life went on. I had to get back into the swing of things or I might get left behind—at least that was how it felt.

Myla was getting stronger every day and her spirits were up. It was pretty much all I could ask for.

“Hungry?” I asked, carrying two plates with chicken and rice into the living room.

Myla glanced up from her Kindle and took one of the plates form me. “That smells so delicious, thanks.”

“Hey, we both gotta eat, right?” I winked at my sister before sitting down on the other couch across from her.

It was the simplest of moments, but it was nice to just have a quiet night with Myla. Before the accident, we were both so busy with practicing and trying to make it into the big leagues that we barely ever slowed down and just enjoyed each other’s company. Even though I had lived with my sister our entire lives, I felt like over the last few months I actually started to get to know her—the real her.

I had never known she hated the color yellow or that she detested lima beans. I got to hear about all the books she had been devouring since she wasn’t able to do much else. We talked about how much she missed skating and how nervous she was to try it again once she was back on her feet. She told me about the recurring nightmare she had been having since the third grade where an octopus with sponges for hands attacked her while she floated in a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean.

On their own, none of the things I was learning about her would seem like they meant much of anything, but piled together, I felt like I had gained a sister. I mean, I’d had a sister since I was three and my parents told me Mommy had a baby growing in her tummy, but our relationship had jumped to another level, one I would never let go of. Myla was turning into my best friend and someone I truly admired.

“Hey, Brayden?” Myla looked up at me from her plate.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think we say it enough, but I love you and I am really thankful you’re my brother.” Tears were welling up in her eyes as she broke eye contact.

A goofy grin spread across my face. “I love you, too, My.”