<
My parents pulled out my oxygen
tank
Chapter 1
My folks always played favorites with my twin
sister, Ashley.
I swear, from day one, she was wrapped in
cotton wool, while they shipped me off to boarding school.
That’s just how it was.
Then I got into MIT, and Ashley wound up knocked up by some loser before graduation.
<
We begged her to get an abortion, but she
dug in her heels, bitter as hell, and torched
Mom and Dad’s bedroom in the middle of the
night.
I damn near burned to a crisp trying to drag
them out.
Next thing I know, Ashley’s waltzing into MIT,
using my name.
Mom comes to my bedside, blubbering like a
baby.
“Ashley’s just starting out,” she sobs. “I can’t let anything ruin her life.”
1
<
“This is just how things have to be,” she says.
Then, bawling her eyes out, she yanks out my
oxygen tube.
I blinked and was back in high school, staring at a positive pregnancy test Ashley had
tossed in the trash.
This was my second month as a vegetable.
Ashley was the one who set the fire, but Mom and Dad told the cops it was me, acting out like I always did.
<
I was stuck in the ICU.
Meanwhile, Ashley was doing fine.
Mom and Dad, perfectly unscathed, went to the hospital registration desk to pay.
When the receptionist asked for the patient’s
name, Mom hesitated for a split second, then
said Ashley’s name.
She dragged Ashley into a corner, squeezing
her arm tight.
“Sweetheart, from now on, you’re Emily, got
it?”
<
Emily was my name.
Ashley looked stunned, then nodded like
crazy, burying herself in Mom’s arms.
A tiny smile played on her lips. “Whatever you
say, Mom.”
Dad stood there, puffing on a cigarette, not
saying a word.
Finally, after Mom filled out the forms, he croaked, “Is this really right?”
“What’s not right?” Mom snapped, shoving
him.
<
“Dian’t you near the doctor? Emily might
never wake up. You want our other daughter
thrown in jail?”
She gave Ashley’s forehead a gentle tap, shaking her head.
“Such a goofball. Playing with fire in the middle of the night, now look at the mess you’ve made!”
My spirit was floating above them, and even though ghosts don’t need to breathe, I felt like I was suffocating.
Despair washed over me, a tidal wave of
misery.
<
Ashley was using my name to go to a great
school.
And I had become the arsonist in the news.
When they were interviewed, Mom and Dad cried and told everyone I’d always been a difficult, hot–tempered kid.
At first, they visited me every day.
Then it was once a week. Now, it had been a
month since I’d seen them.
Until Ashley made a phone call.
She sounded pale and terrified, whining about
<
Where I was back for revenge.
After she hung up, Mom grabbed her coat. “I’m going to see Emily,” she said.
For a second, a sliver of hope flickered inside
- me.
But then Mom dropped a bomb, shattering me into a million pieces.
“Emily’s already gone,” she said. “She’s
suffering. Maybe we should help her move
on.”
Dad just hunched over, smoking, his eyes
く
“Our daughter risked her life to save us,” he
said, his voice breaking. “Can we really do
this?”
“Parents make tough choices, “Mom snapped. “You want to watch our little girl throw her
life away?”
Dad just slumped over even more.
“Fine, if you won’t do it, I will!” Mom glared at
him, then stormed out.
I followed her to the hospital.
She slipped a penny wrapped in yellow paper
く
“When you die, just stay dead, don’t come
back to haunt your sister.”
I wasn’t supposed to feel pain after my soul
left my body.
But watching Mom unplug the oxygen, hearing the machine scream, it felt like my
heart was exploding.
I could have lived.
I went back into that burning house, over and over, trying to save them.
I was willing to die to keep them safe.
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And this is how they repaid me.
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