3 Apr 2001
English 100
The Lost Sisters
The run from her front door to the street had never bothered Byanka before. Though she never actually thought of it as a run since it was so short. But by the time Byanka had reached the car, which was waiting for her, she felt tired and winded. Thinking back, Byanka could remember herself feeling sick and tired more and more often since she started high school. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead in the chilly winter weather as she closed the car door. Girl…you okay?" Her friend Andy McPhee asked."Yeah." Byanka said as she took in a deep breath, "Let’s go."
Andy nodded as she pulled the car away from the curb and drove down the street. Byanka took off her sweater as wiped her forehead.
"Are you sure you’re okay?" Andy asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the local skating rink.
"Yes. I’m just hot, mom’s got the thermostat set on extra crispy today." Byanka joked as she smiled. The truth was far from such. In the past few months, Byanka began to feel tired and weak, although she was keeping the same routine she’d kept for over a year and a half.
Following Andy out of the parking lot and into the skating rink, Byanka pushed her the worries out of her head as she slipped on her skates. Summer had just ended and Byanka had welcomed the new school year with open arms. She was relieved she wasn’t a lowly freshman anymore, and at 16, she could finally drive.
Once she finished lacing up her skates, Byanka followed Andy out onto the ice. The Zamboini had just passed over the rink, creating a smooth flawless surface for the girls to skate on. Byanka had been talking figure skating lessons since she was five, and always found a day at the rink calmed her and made her problems seem less severe.
As she moved over the ice, Byanka closed her eyes. Butterflies began flittering in her stomach as she took in the smell of the ice. Opening her eyes, she could see Andy on the other side of the empty rink. The skating rink always opened promptly at 10 am, and since Andy and Byanka didn’t have to clock into work until five before, they would wake up as early as they could to skate before they had to begin work at the rink. Turning her head and arching her back, Byanka turned her skates and flew in the air into a double axle. With a gold medal worthy landing, she skated into a series of jumps. Just as Byanka was about to make another leap into the air, she suddenly grabbed her thigh, sending her off balance and crashing into the ice below her. Her thigh throbbed with pain as she lay on the ice. Suddenly the pain stopped, then began moving its way up her body.
"ANDY!" Byanka screamed as she began crying from the pain.
"What happened?" Andy asked as she rushed to her friend.
"I don’t know, I must have pulled something, I don’t know what happened." She said as Andy helped her stand. "Ah, ouch. No, stop. I can’t move it." Byanka told her.
"Okay, stay here, I’ll go get the walker." Andy said as she skated to the other side of the rink to retrieve a metal frame of a senior citizen type walker, to help Byanka get off the ice. When Andy turned back to look at Byanka, a long terrifying scream came out of her throat as she saw Byanka lying on the ice, unconscious.
"What happened? Andy calls me and tells me you fainted on the ice and she had to call an ambulance for you because you wouldn’t wake up!" Byanka’s mom cried as she came running into the emergency room followed by her husband, Byanka’s stepfather.
"I’m okay, I guess I’m just tired." She assured her mother as she sat up.
"Are you sure?" Her stepfather asked as he felt he forehead. A doctor walked into the room; "She’ll be fine. She pulled a muscle, and she’s got some bruises from falling on the ice, but she’ll make a full recovery.
As the weeks went by, Byanka found it harder and harder to stay awake in class, she had caught a cold quite a while ago, and Byanka soon realized her cold had been bothering her for three months. Constant aches and pains made her quit her skating classes until she felt better. Things slowly progressed downhill until the fateful day Byanka was rushed back to the hospital.
Byanka lay immobile in the hospital bed, she groaned in pain as she tried to move her head.
"This is ridiculous mom, we’ve been waiting here for hours." Byanka turned her head to see her mom, teary-eyed; leaning against the wall while her stepfather paced the length of the room. Moments later, a doctor walked into the room, followed by yet another doctor, and then a third. Her mother looked up, and her stepfather stopped his pacing.
"What is it?" Byanka’s mother asked. The first doctor looked up at her, "Your symptoms have been reoccurring frequently over the course of this year. Had we gotten to it sooner–" He suddenly cut off, "I’m afraid Byanka has very advanced leukemia." He said softly, "Our only option at this point is a bone marrow transplant."
"But," Byanka told the doctor, "My mother doesn’t have the same blood type as I do, and he’s my stepfather." She said knowing what the facts meant; "I don’t have any other siblings." She said as tears began to form in her eyes. "This can’t be happening." Byanka cried.
The doctors nodded understandingly, "We’ll leave you alone now." The first doctor said as the three walked out.
"Mom, how can this be?" Byanka asked, "I’ve always been healthy…except lately."
Her mother glanced at her stepfather for a moment, then turned to her daughter, "Honey, there’s something I you need to know." Her mother began slowly, "When your father and I married, we tried everything we could to have a child, but…" Her mother began to cry, "But we couldn’t, I couldn’t, so we moved on to the next step. We adopted."
"You…I…?" Byanka asked, "You mean, I’m adopted? Is that why your blood type? And my hair?" Byanka asked. Her hair, which was long, brown, and straight, looked nothing like her mother’s or father’s, who both had curly blond hair.
"Yes." Her mother said as she nodded, "I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner, but that isn’t all. You do have sisters, you have two sisters."
"How?…How is it you know this?" Byanka asked through her tears.
"When we went to the adoption agency, they said they were trying to place three baby sisters. We said we only wanted one child, that was all we could afford, so they ended up separating the three girls, and here you are." Her mother said as hot tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"Do you know where they are? My, my sisters?" Byanka asked.
"No. They wouldn’t tell us." Her mother said, "But we’ll find them, we’ll do whatever it takes to find them."
Byanka nodded slowly as she wiped the tears from her face.
Typing furiously at her computer, Byanka began scribbling down names onto a notepad.
Mom, does it say anything about their last names?" Byanka asked as she stopped typing."No honey." Her mother said as she sat down on the bed next to her and looked at her daughter’s laptop. "Just their first names, your mother wanted you to keep your birth names-so you’d be able to find each other."
"Well, I’ve got a bunch of names here, I’d better get started." Byanka said as she hit the print button on her computer. Once her printer had finished her mother began stuffing envelopes; each addressed to a different person, but each containing the same message:
Dear Recipient,
Please do not discard this letter until you’ve read my plea. I am a sixteen year-old high school sophomore from Pasadena California. I am in no way asking for money or services of any kind.
In the past two weeks, I was diagnosed with an advanced stage of leukemia. While there are no drugs or treatment I can undergo to save my life, there is an operation, which might help me live to graduate high school. A bone marrow transplant is my only chance of survival. However, I was adopted as a baby, and I currently do not know where my two sisters are.
I was born on October 6, 1982 to Britney Mitkem of Los Angeles California. At the time, my mother was 19 years old. I, along with my two sisters were put up for adoption after a car accident two years after my birth. With the newfound knowledge that I have two sisters, I stand a dramatically better chance of a full recovery if I can find my lost sisters. Upon their birth, my sister’s first & middle names were Belle Bre Ivy and Brooklyn Dawn Laurel.
I am writing to you because I received information that you or someone living in your household shares the same name as one of my sisters. If you believe I could be related to you or a member of your family please write back to me or call me day or night at 555-378-4053. Thank you for you time.
Byanka Elayne Daisy Anderson
As her mother dropped the envelopes into the mailbox, Byanka hoped against odds that one, if not all of her sisters would be found.
Nooo waaaay!" Belle screeched into the phone as she twirled a lock of her long brown hair around her finger. "You’re kidding me! Michael told me that Katie said that Ashley wanted to go to the dance with Tanner? But Tanner said he didn’t want to go with her, he asked me to go so now Michael, Katie AND Ashley aren’t talking to me!" BELLE!" A voice boomed from the other room."Gotta go!" Belle said as she hung up the phone and walked into the adjoining room where her father was eating breakfast and reading the morning paper. "Yes daddy?"
"There’s a hoodlum waiting outside for you in a death machine." He told her.
Thanks…bye daddy!" Belle called as she grabbed her bag from the floor and ran out the door to the waiting car. "Let’s book it." She said as she jumped into the convertible."You know," The driver, a young boy of about 17 told her, "You think we’ll actually be on time for school one of these days?" He asked.
"
Tanner, as long as there’s a phone in my house, then, no." Belle said as she flipped the sun visor to check her lipstick. Tanner shook his head as she turned the car into the local high school’s parking lot."Belle sometimes I wonder how you ended up here." Tanner told her.
"Just what do you mean by that?" Belle asked as she got out of the parked car.
"I mean your more of a prim Madonna than, well, Madonna." He told her as he took their bags from the backseat, "I’d think you’d be going to school in some studio backlot."
"Hey, I live in Hollywood, I’m going to milk it for all it’s worth until the fateful day I’m discovered." She said as they headed into school, "You’ll see," He told her as they walked into a classroom, "one of these days, my Oscar award worthy face’ll be plastered over everything."
"Not if you don’t pass Science." He told her as they sat down.
"Dean Cain didn’t finish school…"
"No, Dean Cain didn’t finish college, Dean Cain went to Harvard. You: high school."
"I don’t need to finish high school to be famous…"
"Oh yeah? Lisa Kudrow, David Duchovney, Kate Holmes, shall I go on?"
"Katie Holmes didn’t go to college."
"But at least she was accepted, deferred admission…get deferred admission and I’ll leave you alone."
"Don’t worry about it, I’ll find a way, I always do." Belle told him with a smile. The teacher looked up from his desk at Belle, "Miss Martin, I’ll thank you to take out your homework and refrain from talking."
"Oh, um, I didn’t do it." Belle said as she played with her waist long hair, "I had an appointment."
"Where?" Her teacher asked as he stood up.
"At the nail salon." Belle said softly.
Her teacher furrowed his brow as the class laughed. "Well Miss Martin, it looks like science won’t be the only thing you’re failing this term." He said as he began to write logarithms on the chalkboard. Half way through class, a very distinctive melody began flooding the classroom with it’s irritating sound. Belle dug into her black Gucci bag, coming up with the source of the sound-a baby pink phone which had a tiny pink light flashing from the antenna. "Hellllloooo?" Belle asked in a singsong voice as she answered the call. "Yes…no, okay." She said into the phone, her voice becoming serious.
"Miss Martin!" Her teacher bellowed, "Hang up that phone right now."
Belle looked up at the teacher as she held a well-manicured finger out to him, signaling him to be quiet. "Okay," she told her person who called her, "Where are you?…I’ll be outside." Standing up, she dropped her phone into her bag, "Sorry Mister, as much as I would like to learn about this gobble you have on the board, which by the way makes NO sense, but my father called, I’ll see you around." She told him as she walked out of the room.
Jogging down the hall, Belle ran out of the school to find her father waiting in his running car. "Daddy, what is it?" She asked as she closed the door.
"I’ll tell you at home." He said as he stepped on the gas. The two rode in silence till they reached home, "Daddy, what is it?" Belle asked again. He father walked up the pathway to their house, unlocking the front door; he motioned to the coffee table.
"It’s for you." He told her.
"You pulled me out of school because of mail?" Belle asked.
"No," He said as he sat down, and picked up the envelope, "The return address, the name-it looked familiar, but I didn’t want to open it, so I held on to it. I did some research…"
"And?" Belle asked as she looked at the return address, "Who is this Byanka?"
"You’d better open it." He told her as he handed her the letter and stood up. Belle took the envelope from her father and tore open the side. Extracting the letter, she slowly unfolded it. Skimming the letter, Belle began to cry, "I’m adopted?" She asked finally.
"Yes." He told her.
"How long have you had this?" Belle asked, her voice turning harsh and cold.
"Three months."
"Three…Months?!" Belle said as she picked up the phone and dialed the number that was on in the letter. "Hello? Hi, I received a letter saying call this number if…yes...yes." Belle said as she began to cry, "Thank you." Belle said as she hung up the phone, "My…sister is in the hospital." Belle told her father as her voice grew in volume "…in a coma!" She yelled as hot tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Standing up, Belle took the letter in her hand, "You’ve had this for three months, because you were afraid I’d be mad at you-and now the sister I didn’t know I had might die-because you were to selfish to tell me!"
Standing up to match her, Belle’s father wagged his finger at her, "Don’t you dare take that tone with me, I didn’t know what the letter was about-you’re not eighteen yet-I didn’t know. Your adoption has been hanging over me for seventeen years-I didn’t know what to do." He told her.
"You didn’t know what to do? Well, my sister might die-I don’t know what to do." She said as she turned and walked out.
The days passed slowly and Belle made the necessary arrangements to be with her sister. As soon as she could, she took a plane from her home to Pasedena. A flood of emotion overcame her as she walked the long hallway of the hospital. The clicking of her chunky heels against the while linoleum set off a rhythmic tone as she tried to find her sister room. Finally coming upon a darkened room, Belle stuck her head inside. A thin blonde girl sat in a chair near the foot of the bed while a middle aged couple stood at the head of the bed, crying.
"Excuse me?" Belle began. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the girl in the bed. Tears began to form in Belle’s eyes as she saw her sister for the first time, lying so still it seemed as if she wasn’t really there. The couple looked up to Belle the woman’s thin lips formed into a tiny smile, the first one in ages as she moved forward and hugged Belle. "I’m Mary, this is Frank. The doctors say she’s doing better…did you get the test results?" She asked.
Belle nodded, "I’m not a match." She said softly.
"That’s okay." Mary told her, "Just to have you here…" she cut off, "I’d mailed so many letters, just hoping to find her sisters."
Belle nodded understandingly; "When I read that letter, part of me was hoping I wasn’t who you were looking for. The thought of having a sister dying, and I didn’t even know her." Belle said. Without warning, the blonde girl who’d been sitting in the corner stood up; "I’m going to get some coffee." She said softly, "Belle, do you want to come with me?"
Belle looked to Byanka, she’d wanted to spend some time with her sister, but seeing as how Byanka wasn’t awake, she figured she’d have time later. "Sure."
The two girls walked silently out of the room and down the hall. Once in an elevator, Belle looked to her, "How do you know Byanka?" She asked.
"We grew up together…she’s been my best friend since we were five." She said, "I’m Andy." She finished softly.
"Oh." Belle said softly as she walked out of the elevator. The two again walked shrouded in silence to the cafeteria. After getting a few cups of coffee, they sat down at a table. "I’m sorry, no one ever clarified this to me, what exactly happened, why were you all put up for adoption?" Andy asked abruptly.
"Well, our mother married a few months after I was born." Belle began, "She was only eighteen and she had a child, so she did what she thought was best. Then Byanka was born eleven months later, and a year our third sister, Brooklyn. By that time my parents’ marriage had fallen apart. So on there way to file for a divorce, we were left with our grandmother, and on their way downtown, a drunk truck driver ran a red light, and they died."
"Why didn’t your grandmother take you in?" Andy asked as she played with the lid of her cup.
"My grandmother had been sick, for the greater of her life." Belle explained, "She wasn’t even thirty when my mother died, but she could barely take care of herself, let alone a three year old, a two year old and a newborn. My mother was an only child, so there was no other choice."
Andy nodded as she looked at Belle. It was hard for her to fathom this girl was really Byanka’s sister. "I still can’t believe this." Andy finally said, "You seem nothing like Byanka."
"Tell me about her?…" Belle asked, "She may be my sister but I barely know her."
Before Andy could speak, a tall man with greasy hair moved next to Belle and another followed him, carrying a video camera.
"I’m here at Pasedena General Hospital where we’re following the remarkable story of three sisters. After their parent’s untimely death, the three sisters were separated when given up for adoption. Now, the middle girl, Byanka Anderson clings to life upstairs in the hopes that a bone marrow transplant will save her life. Her family and friends launched a statewide search for her two missing sisters. Now, finally after months of searching, we are proud to report that the oldest sister has been found, perhaps we can get a word with her." The reporter spoke with the conviction of having to many espressos. "Ms. Martin, if we could have a word, do you have any leads on your other sister?"
"No comment." Belle said as she stood up. Andy followed her lead out of the cafeteria.
"Ms. Martin, the third sister, her name, Brooklyn…Dawn Laurel? Do you have any information on her last name? Do you know where she is? How is Byanka doing? Ms. Martin, please just one comment." He begged her.
Belle stopped and looked from the reporter to the camera, "Brooklyn Dawn Laurel is fifteen right now, her birthday is April 9. She has dark brown hair, like me. She should live somewhere in California. The Anaheim-San Bernardino area. If anyone has information on her, please call 1-800-LOST-SIS. Thank you." Belle said as she walked off with Andy.
"Do you think that’ll do any good." Andy asked as they got back onto the elevator.
"I don’t know." Belle told her, "I really don’t know."
Sitting on the couch, Brooklyn flipped from channel to channel, not really paying attention to what was on. She’d long since given up trying to find something good to watch.
"Why don’t you to outside, it’s a perfectly lovely day." Her mother told her from the next room.
"I’m waiting for Dawson’s Creek to start." Brooklyn said as she dropped the remote to watch the news. "Look at this mom," Brooklyn called, "two sisters are trying to find their third sister." Brooklyn told her mother was she watched the reporter haggle a teenager in a hospital, "It’s like a Lifetime movie of the week or something."
"Brooklyn is fifteen right now, her birthday is April 9. She has dark brown hair, like me. She should live somewhere in California: the Los Angeles-San Bernardino area. If anyone has information on her, please call 1-800-LOST-SIS. Thank you."
Brooklyn’s stomach did flips as she listened to the girl talking into the camera. "MOM!" Brooklyn cried as she turned up the volume, "This girl they’re looking for, her name is Brooklyn Dawn Laurel." She said as she looked to her mother.
"Oh gosh honey." Her mother said as she sat down, "You’d better call that number." She said softly, avoiding her daughters gaze.
"Why?" Brooklyn asked softly, "Tell me it’s just a coincidence…" She trailed off as hot tears began to stream down her face.
"Oh, honey, I didn’t want you to find out this way." Her mother said as she tried to hug her Brooklyn.
"No!" Brooklyn yelled as she cried, moving away from her mother, "You lied to me." She wailed, "I asked you before if I was adopted, you said I wasn’t!" Brooklyn accused.
"I know." Her mother said defeated, "But that’s not what’s important right now, your sister needs you, and you need to be with her."
Days past before Brooklyn had gathered enough courage to call the toll free number. A recording sent her through a number of questions about herself and about her adoption records, which her mother had given to her to answer question Brooklyn found herself asking. Two months after Belle’s impromptu advertisement on the evening news, Brooklyn found herself in a strange house in Pasadena, sitting next to her sister.
The days slowly passed Brooklyn and Belle would spend their every moment at the hospital with Byanka. Brooklyn’s donor test came back negative, she also was not a match to Byanka. While the doctors had lost hope that she would wake from the coma, Belle and Brooklyn prayed against scientific proof–hoping their sister would wake up.
"When I was five, I was in a car accident." Brooklyn told her sisters. Belle and Brooklyn were sitting on opposite sides of Byanka’s bed, their feet both resting on the metal railing of the hospital bed, "Mom had just put hand lotion on her hands, and we went to the store for flour. She couldn’t hold onto the wheel, and she crashed into a rose bush."
"A rose bush?" Belle asked as she raised her eyebrow. Tilting her head back, Belle looked at the ceiling, which was full if little holes, "That’s hardly an accident."
"Sure it is. The car was fine, but the rose bush was never the same." Brooklyn laughed. In the short time they’d spent together, the two sisters became closer with each conversation. The tension, which existed when they’d first met, had dissolved into friendship and kindred bond only sisters can have.
"So do you think we’ll be able to move onto the next grade even though we aren’t going to school?" Brooklyn asked Belle.
"I don’t know. My principal didn’t believe me when I told him my long lost sister was dying." Belle told her sister as she began filing her nails.
"Mine too." Brooklyn nodded as she threw a hacky sack into the air, "She thought I was trying to get out of a math test." The two girls burst into a fit of giggles. They suddenly hushed when they thought they saw Byanka stir.
"Did you see that?" Brooklyn asked. Belle nodded as she stood up, Brooklyn followed as she placed the hacky sack onto a table. The two sisters watched as Byanka’s eyes fluttered, though remaining closed.
"Come on Byanka." Belle said softly as she took her sleeping sisters hand, "We’re here." She said softly, "your sister."
Brooklyn nodded as she held Byanka’s other hand. Belle and Brooklyn watched as Byanka’s eyes finally opened. Her right hand shot up, protecting her sensitive eyes from the glare of the morning sun. Brooklyn turned and closed the heavy hospital curtains, then turned back to her sister, "Byanka?" She asked as tears began to form her eyes.
"Yes?" Byanka said, sleep clogging her throat.
"It’s us." Brooklyn said, "Belle and Brooklyn, your sisters." She said with a smile. Belle nodded as she wiped tears off of her cheeks, causing her mascara to run.
"My…sisters?" Byanka asked as she tried to sit up.
"No." Belle told her, "Stay, I’ll call the doctor." She said as she pushed the call button next to the bed. A smile formed on Byanka’s face as she saw her parents enter the room. Doctors quickly filled the room, examining, poking and prodding their patient as if she was an alien, wondering how she’d come out of a life-taking coma.
Once the commotion died down, the three sisters sat with Andy talking about everything they could. Time passed quickly and soon they realized just how late it had gotten.
"I’d better go." Andy said as she hugged Byanka gently.
"Bye." Byanka said to her friend as she lay back down. Brooklyn and Belle took their seats on either side of Byanka.
"I can’t believe this." Byanka told them as she closed her eyes, her voice shallow and soft.
"I know, I never thought I would have had sisters." Brooklyn agreed.
"I guess we’ve always known–in a way." Belle added. The other two nodded in agreement, "In a way." Brooklyn repeated.
"We’ve always been sisters, and always will be sisters, no matter where we are." Byanka said, as her breathing became shallow.
"Right." Belle agreed, "It’s a bond nothing can break." Brooklyn and Belle each held one of Byanka’s hands then reached over the bed to hold each other’s.
"Not even…death." Byanka added as her breathing slowed to a stop.
Brooklyn and Belle looked from Byanka to each other. Their smiles had long since faded, as they watched their sister breathe her last breath.
Author's Note: This fictional story was originally created to be about quintuplet sisters, but was then changed to quads, then triplets, then just three sisters.