Chapter 2

I woke to a sterile smell and a persistent, dull ache that bloomed into agony when I tried to move. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. My legs. I couldn' t feel my legs.

A doctor, a kind-faced woman with tired eyes, stood beside my bed. "Sarah, you're very lucky. The burns are mostly superficial on your upper body, but the falling equipment... it caused severe spinal trauma."

She paused, her voice gentle. "You've suffered a complete T10 paraplegia. I'm so sorry. You won't be able to walk again."

The words hung in the air, suffocating me. Paraplegia. My music, my guitar, my independence... gone.

Tears streamed down my face, hot and silent.

The door opened, and Ethan rushed in, his face a mask of concern. Brenda, my mother, followed, dabbing her eyes. But their concern wasn't for me.

"Oh, thank God you're awake!" Ethan said, relief washing over his features as he looked past me, towards the other side of the room.

I turned my head slowly, painfully. Jessica lay in the adjacent bed, an oxygen mask over her face, her eyes closed, looking pale and fragile. A heart monitor beeped softly beside her.

"Jessica collapsed from the shock of it all," Brenda said, her voice trembling. "Her poor heart. The doctors said the stress was too much for her condition."

Ethan rushed to Jessica' s side, taking her hand. "Jess, can you hear me? It' s okay. Sarah' s awake."

Jessica' s eyelids fluttered. "Ethan? Sarah... is she...?"

"She' s fine, Jess, just a bit shaken up," Ethan said soothingly, stroking her hair. He didn't even look at me.

"My legs," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "Ethan, I can't feel my legs."

He finally turned, a flicker of irritation in his eyes. "Sarah, please. Not now. Can' t you see Jessica' s been through an ordeal?"

"But the doctor said-"

"We know, we know," Brenda interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "A sprain, some bruises. You' ll be fine. Jessica, though, she nearly died."

I fumbled for the crumpled letter in the pocket of the hospital gown they' d put me in. My leukemia diagnosis. "No, it' s more than that. I need to tell you something. Something important."

I held out the letter. "Please, read this."

Ethan took it, glanced at the hospital letterhead, then at the complex medical terms. He scoffed, a harsh, disbelieving sound.

"Really, Sarah? Props? You' re trying to upstage Jessica even now? With fake medical reports?" He crumpled the letter and tossed it onto the bedside table. "She' s the one who' s actually dying. Have some respect for her final moments."

Brenda nodded vigorously. "Honestly, Sarah, your jealousy is astounding. Jessica is fighting for her life, and you' re pulling these stunts for attention."

My heart shattered. They didn't believe me. They wouldn't even look. The truth of my body, my real, impending death, was just another inconvenience, an act of jealousy.

"It' s real," I choked out, tears blurring my vision. "Please, just listen."

"Enough, Sarah," Ethan said, his voice cold. "Rest. And try to be a little more considerate." He turned back to Jessica, his face softening instantly. "Don't worry, Jess. I'm here."

I lay there, paralyzed, invisible, my real illness dismissed, my life a footnote in Jessica' s manufactured drama. The physical pain was immense, but the pain of their betrayal, their utter blindness, cut far deeper.