Chapter 4I had given up

The next morning, we were all having breakfast together. My family and my husband, all gathered around Ivy.

"Mom, you won't believe how bad Leo's photography skills are," she was saying, giggling. "He took hundreds of pictures of me on our trip, and only a few are usable. It's a good thing I'm so photogenic. Anyone else would have looked terrible."

"Hey, I tried my best," Leo said, ruffling her hair. "You're the one who kept demanding more pictures."

Ivy was glowing, her cheeks flushed with color. I, on the other hand, looked like a ghost. Even Leo, who usually ignored me, frowned when he saw me. "Nora, you're so pale. Are you okay?"

Before I could answer, Ivy snorted. "Oh, Leo, don't pay any attention to her. She's always faking sick to get attention. She's probably just being dramatic."

Julian looked at me, a flicker of concern in his eyes, but Ivy immediately recaptured everyone's attention. "Ugh, pasta again? I want a burger and fries tomorrow. Freshly made!"

"You know you can't have greasy food with your heart condition," Leo chided.

Ivy stuck her tongue out. "What's the worst that could happen? I have my own personal doctor right here. He won't let anything bad happen to me, right?"

Julian looked at her with a fond, exasperated smile. "You can have a little taste. But that's it."

"You're no fun," she pouted, but it sounded more like flirting than complaining.

Julian had bought a house just down the street so he could be closer to her, to monitor her condition. He designed every one of her meals himself. He placed a piece of shrimp on her plate. "Ivy, you need to listen to me. What you did to Nora was wrong. You need to apologize."

Ivy's face fell. She slammed her chopsticks on the table. "Why should I apologize to her? She was in my way! She deserved it!"

Julian didn't get angry. He just coaxed her, his voice gentle. "Be good. Just say you're sorry. See that apple on the table? Just hand it to her and say 'I'm sorry.' And then you two can make up. Nora is very understanding. She'll forgive you."

The next thing I knew, Ivy had snatched the largest apple from the bowl and hurled it at my face. It hit me squarely in my right eye. A sharp, blinding pain shot through my head.

This was their pattern. Ivy would lash out, Julian would patch me up, and the whole family would tell me not to be so lively and healthy in front of her. My good health was an insult to her sickness.

"Fine!" Ivy screamed, her eyes filling with tears. "I'll apologize! I'm sorry! I'm the one who should be sorry for being sick, for dying! I'll just stop my medication tonight, how about that?!"

In an instant, they were all hovering over her.

"Silly girl, we were just teasing you," Leo said, rubbing her back.

"Don't say such things!" my mother cried. "I can't lose you!"

"Okay, okay, no apology," Julian said, frantically wiping her tears. "Just don't stop your medication. Please."

It was always like this. I clutched my throbbing eye, a silent observer in my own home.

Finally, Julian remembered me. "Nora," he said, his voice strained, "I'll put some ice on that for you later. It'll be fine."

For a second, a flicker of hope. We had been together for five years. Maybe, just maybe, he still cared.

But then he added, "Can you stop being so selfish for a minute and help me calm her down? She's threatening to stop her medication because of you."

And just like that, the hope died. I started to laugh, a hollow, self-mocking sound. How could I have been so stupid?

I stood up, my voice dripping with an icy calm I didn't know I possessed.

"Fine," I said. "I'll calm her down." I looked at Ivy, my one good eye burning with a cold fire. "This is what, the third time this week? You're all talk, Ivy. You say you want to die? You say you're going to stop your medication? Then do it." I leaned forward, my voice rising to a shout.

"If you really want to die, then just do it!"