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Author's Chapter Notes:

The first chapter is story setup, sorry. Just a little bit of size change but nothing especially titillating

 


 

2031 AD

“Prospects are…not good. Her vitals are declining rapidly,” the doctor explained, sighing in that rehearsed way someone who deals with tragedy regularly enough to be unaffected by it but has to still seem empathetic sighs, and adjusted his glasses, “you should go and be with her now.”

“T-there’s nothing you can do?”

“You know the effects of her condition as well as I do.  It’s come to the point where-“

“There has to be something! P-please, doctor, what about that experimental-“

“Out of the question. It’s not safe, and you know what could happen.”

“I want it. We can pay. I don’t care about the risks, I would do anything for my sister! I would,” I paused, making sure this was the decision I wanted to make, “give anything for her.”

The doctor mulled over this, reluctant but ultimately excited about the prospect of testing out the experimental treatment on two willing, matching candidates.

“Very well…please step into the operating room. We don’t have a lot of time.”

 

2034 AD

“Big bro! Look!”

My little sister skipped out of her room and posed in front of the door, wearing her brand new school uniform.  A wide, unfiltered grin spread across her cute, pale face as she did a quick twirl around, almost going off balance at the end. She kicked back one kneesock covered leg, rustling the plain blue skirt. The outfit was completed with a basic white shirt and matching blue tie.  Before this, I wasn’t even sure there were really schools with uniforms like these in real life, but it was a pretty high class school that her above average test scores and unique situation helped get her into.

“Aw, you look so cute, Bree!,” I said, reaching down to lightly ruffle her  short blonde hair.

Aubrey’s face immediately bloomed bright red.

“B-but in a mature way! You look like exactly like a high school student on her way to growing up….” I added hastily after realizing my mistake.

Aubrey’s  a beautiful young girl, but incredibly self conscious. She’s been isolated so long because of her condition, and it doesn’t help that she’s incredibly petite at 4’9”. Years of hospitalization during the prime of childhood might have stunted her growth a little, I can’t really say for sure. But I know the world is a big, scary place for her.

A few minutes later we both sat down at the table for breakfast, but I could tell my sister was nervous, just pushing around the food, seeming lost in worry.

“Uh Bree, you know it’s important that you eat…”

“Y-yeah, yeah,  I know,” she replied softly.

Soon it was almost time for the bus to arrive. Aubrey grabbed her backpack and turned towards the door, but I grabbed her on the shoulder.

“Forgetting something?”

“Oh, yeah….”

She turned back around, and reached her arm up to my neck. Her soft, delicate fingers spread and pressed lightly into my skin, gradually heating up. I braced and focused my mind on why it is I do this, I had long ago learned to tolerate the pain. In just a few seconds, it’s over with, and she withdraws her hand, turning back around and quickly shuffling towards the door, little feet in new shoes clacking against the floor in a pitter patter.

“Thank you,” she whispers , not able to look at me.

“You know you don’t have to thank me,” I say pointlessly, knowing I said the same thing yesterday and will say it tomorrow too.

The door closes and I sigh in relief. It’s been rough but I’m glad for her, and hopeful that from now on life can be more normal, or as close as was possible for us.

My sister, she suffers from an extremely rare condition. The same one that claimed the lives of both our parents, but a much quicker acting version she has since they both carried the gene. It’s actually a statistical miracle that I don’t have it. But I would trade anything to be have it instead of her, and in a way, I did. It was extremely risky, but me and her were the first and so far only to receive an experimental treatment.

Basically, I can transfer part of my immune system to her, so she has one at all and can stay alive. We must do this daily, or she’ll regress again, but it’s easy enough, miraculously able to be done just with touch. I don’t regret it for one second. Sure, I get colds more than the average person, but I have my sister here with me today.

When Aubrey got home from the first day of school, she immediately went into her room and shut the door. It was the worst I had expected. I could hear her crying in there, but I didn’t want to invade her privacy, so I left her in peace for the rest of the night.

The next morning, she willingly got out of bed and put on her uniform again, which was a good sign. I finished making a simple breakfast and approached her.

“Good morning, Bree. I-is there anything you wanna talk about? How was school yesterday?”

“Fine,” she mumbled, avoiding my face, “it was fun a-and, my classes are….g-good…” she began to well up with tears and dove toward me, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face in my chest while sobbing. “I-it wasn’t fine! It was scary…..I-, I don’t wanna go back.”

“It’s ok. What was scary?” I said, rubbing up and down her small back.

“All the girls are so…..t-tall. I mean w-way taller, we had to special order my uniforms in a smaller size after all. They’re mean and….I don’t think I can make any friends,” she sniffled, regaining composure.

“Oh come on now, you can make friends. I bet they’re not all as mean as you might think. And please don’t worry about your height. You’re still growing….a-and even if you don’t grow much, it doesn’t matter! You’re fine the way you are. Now come on, we need to exchange before you go out.”

Aubrey sighed as she once again pressed her hand to my neck, feeling for my pulse before going about her vampiric routine.

“I just wish I was a little taller is all….”

I winced. I hadn’t done that in years. But it was over quick enough so I didn’t pay it much mind.

After she left, I walked back into my room to study, which I do from home since colleges are rife with germs. But for some reason my clothes felt so roomy and comforting, and I laid down.  My bed felt bigger than usual. I used to get this a lot back when I first started giving to my sister. Drained. I guess it makes sense as a side effect.

That night at dinner, Aubrey wouldn’t quit looking at me funny, except when I looked back and she pretended to be interested in something else.  When I got up, she did too and awkwardly stood right next to me, before running off to her room.

After cleaning the dishes, I walked over to my sister’s bedroom and looked through the open door. She was alternating between looking at herself in the mirror and standing up against her wall height chart. After a few minutes she noticed me, and blushed a little.

“I….I grew!” she exclaimed, “You gotta see!”

She led me in by the hand until I was in the back by the height chart. Standing up tall, spine erect, she proudly measured herself.

“Wow,  4’11”, nearly 5 feet. That’s one heck of a growth spurt,” I smiled, rubbing the back of my neck, “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m happy too big bro! I just wished it this morning, and then when I was at school I could tell I was a little bigger!” she practically bounced around in joy. Then she walked up in front of me and compared our heights. I was very surprised to see how much taller she seemed now, much more than 2 inches. Her face was now more in line with my chin instead of my chest.

“I really hope I grow more!” she said, looking straight in my eyes.

“Me too, Bree,” I said, exiting as she returned to marveling at the mirror, “just make sure you do your homework too, Amazon woman.” I joked.

I was happy for my sister, I only ever wanted the best for her. But I couldn’t help but feel like something was off. Maybe it was normal, maybe all that missed growth was catching up all at once. Walking back across the house to my room, I was annoyed by my slippers continually slipping off. I’ve had them forever, but now it was almost like they were too big, but I figured they were just getting worn out.

 

Chapter End Notes:

Thanks for reading. Reeview if you'd like, I read them all (obsessively) and appreciate it. This story will get going fast, but I needed this slow chapter to start off with. (I haven't forgotten about that other unfinished story of mine, by the way. But I've had the first part of this one written for so long that I decided to finally work more on it.)

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