Raine Marcella (2)

"It's your fault Clyde broke up with me." Kay shouted at Raine as she woke up from her nap. She had just gotten home from work and fell asleep for an hour before Kay came home shouting at Raine at the top of her lungs.

"It's all your fault!" Kay said again as she grabbed a pillow and threw it at Raine.

"What the--" Rain said as she sat up. "What's your problem?!?"

Rain caught the pillow and placed it to the side.

"Clyde broke up with me because he said we were poor!" Kay shouted. "And it's all your fault! I could never buy anything nice to wear. I couldn't buy any makeup or accessories. He said I was plain, poor and boring so he broke up with me!"

Before Raine could say a word, Kay had already ran to her room and locked the door.

"Kay." Raine said as she knocked on the door. "Unlock the door so we can speak properly."

From behind the door, Kay's music became louder and louder. Raine was unable to speak to her nor comfort her. Sighing heavily, she left a note for Leo and Grandma Maggie and left to work.

~~~~~~~

"Don't stand too close to me." Luke said as he frowned at Raine. He didn't like the fact that Raine wore her maid uniform to his graduation. It was embarrassing enough that they were poor, but to have Raine show up looking like a servant, made him even more embarrassed.

"Sorry." Raine said softly as she handed him the flowers she bought for him.

As every sibling smiled and took pictures with him, it was only Raine who stood in the background watching. When they wanted to take a group photo, it was Raine who insisted on taking the photo.

~~~~~~~

"Why do you keep coughing?" Raven shouted at Raine as Raine laid on the couch to sleep. "It's so annoying."

Raven snickered at Raine before walking into her room and slamming the door. Raine had a chronic cough for the past two years and hadn't had the time to visit a doctor.

Leo, Kay, Hayley, Gavin and Luke have all graduated from high school, The only kids still, living at home was Raven and Vera, whom still attended high school. Once the other siblings left to college, Raven and Vera insisted on finally getting a room to themselves.

Even though Raine helped every sibling with their tuition as well as sending them some pocket money, once Leo, Kay and Hayley have all graduated from college, they all found jobs out of state and moved away. Gavin and Luke went to college out of state and never came back home during breaks.

Grandma Maggie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease three years ago and was placed into a nursing home. Raine couldn't bring herself to go through Grandma Maggie's room and sleep in her bed, it just didn't feel right to her.

~~~~~

When the last child of the Marcella family graduated from college, Raine couldn't find the time nor the money to get her GED and attend college, even if it was part time.

Grandma Maggie's hospital and nursing bills kept piling up. Once Vera graduated from college and moved out of the house, Raine had to sell her Grandmother's home and down size, just to keep all the bill collectors from constantly calling her.

Even though every sibling knew about Grandma Maggie's health issues, no one came forward to offer their help. No one asked Raine if she was struggling. And Raine felt so disconnected from her siblings that she couldn't find the right words to ask for help.

~~~~~~

On Raine's 30th birthday, she lies in a hospital bed, alone with acceptance of her diagnosis. All those years of coughing, should have been the first signs of her illness. Had she gone to the hospital to get an examination when she was 22 years old, they would have found the lung cancer at an early stage.

However, now after 14 years of second hand smoking, Raine was dying of lung cancer. Raine could only scoff at her bad luck. She was never one who was very lucky anyway. Might as well die and wash away her bad luck, right?!?

When her illness got really bad, she fainted at work and was brought to the hospital. It was then they told her the bad news and the fact that she didn't have a lot of time to live.

Against doctor's orders, she checked herself out, hired a lawyer to write her will and put her finance in order before fainting in the streets on her way home. When she was brought back to the hospital, the doctors didn't let her check herself out again. Her illness had gotten worse since she left.

"Happy 30th birthday." Raine said softly, before coughing up a storm.

She looked back at her life and although she didn't regret most of it, what she regretted the most was the fact that her siblings weren't considerate towards each other. She wished she was more close to them. However due to her constant work schedule, ensuring their bills were paid on time, taking care of the house and Grandma Maggie, and only sleeping a couple hours a day. She wished her next life would be an easy one so she could live a lazy life.

"As long as they are all financially stable and live a happy life. I won't regret my decision." Raine reaffirmed with herself as she smiled bitterly at her own life.

Raine began to call each sibling, however the only one who picked up was Leo.

"Hello?" Leo asked as Raine could hear a lot of talking in the background.

"Hey Leo, do you have time to talk, for a moment?"

"Sorry, Raine. I'm with some friends right now."

"That's okay. I'll just send you an email."

"You know you can just text me, right?"

"I know, it's just that I have a lot to say and don't want to keep on sending you long messages. It's better that I email you."

"Okay. Sure. It'll be the first thing I read when I'm done here."

"Okay. You have fun with your friends."

"Okay. Bye."

"Goodbye."

When Raine ended her call, she began to cough violently. With each cough, blood came out, however she didn't call for a nurse. Instead Raine began to write her last email and addressed it to all of her siblings.

Once she pressed send, she laid back down and her breath became short. Raine closed her eyes and let go.

In the darkness came a robotic voice.

[Initiating contact.......]