Chapter 2 One

• "Michelle, are you all right?"
• Michelle's face rose from her bowing when she heard her younger brother's voice.
• She looked at her brother and shook her head, a hesitant smile on her lips. "Yes. Of course, I am. I was just really worried about you yesterday. You made me nervous, Michael. I thought you would leave me too."
• The mere thought of losing her only brother causes her to cry. She will be unable to cope if even his brother disappears from her life, and she may have given up on life entirely.
• Michael smiled at her, the kind of smile she looks forward to seeing every day, the kind of smile that motivates her to keep working so hard even though she is already struggling. And she wished she could see that smile every day.
• "I'm sorry if I made you worry. If I could just prevent my body from getting sick so you wouldn't have a problem, I already did."
• She felt the guilt in her brother's voice that saddened her. She put down what she was holding then took one of his brother's hands.
• She gently squeezed its hand. "Don't even think about it. The important thing right now is that you need to get treatment so that your illness would not get worse." She gently told him.
• "But we don't have enough mon---"
• "I will take care of it. Just rest and do everything the doctor says. Don't be stubborn." She immediately said,
• She could see the dissatisfaction in her brother's eyes, but he didn't say anything and chose to remain silent.
• The silence was eating them until Michael's gaze shifted to the thing that she was holding.
• Michelle, alarmed, stuffed the object into the pocket of her pants. When she returned her gaze to her brother, Michael's brow was already furrowed.
• She gave him a hesitant smile, but Michael didn't return it.
• "Ahm, just take a rest first. The doctor will be back later so in the meantime, you can just go back to sleep." She said, trying to divert her brother's attention but she failed.
• Michael kept staring at her but this time, his face was serious. "I am telling you, Michelle. Whatever you are planning, don't do it." Michael said while still seriously staring at her.
• Michelle took a deep breath and stared back at Michael with determination in her eyes. "Everything will be okay, Michael. For now, just rest. I'll just leave you for a while but I'll be back soon." She said and kissed Michael's forehead.
• She was about to walk away when she overheard her brother say, "Please, Michelle, do not do anything that could endanger yourself. Do not make hasty decisions." Michael's voice begged her, but she was already determined to do whatever it took to save her brother's life.
• "Everything I do, Michael, I do for you." She responded to her brother and then exited the room.
• When she closed the door to the room, she took the calling card from the pocket of her pants. "I'm hoping you can help me." She murmured as she stared at the name on the calling card.
• Rafael Stanford.