Scrolling through the list of contacts, I pressed the speed dial for Maddy. It had been a good week since I’d spoken to her, and I was missing my baby sis.
“Hey, Sis.” Maddy’s sing song voice rang through the phone. Instantly, the tight feeling around my heart lessened at her happy tone.
“Hi, Mads, how you doing?” I asked.
The shuffling of papers and a zipper could be heard through the line. “Eh, you know me, getting ready for class.”
“What’s this one?”
“Forensic Pathology,” she answered.
I pushed a hand through my hair and tucked the blankets higher around my body. “Isn’t that the study of dead people?”
More shuffling then she sighed. “Yeah, technically it focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. The autopsy is performed by a medical examiner, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions…” She went on, but I had blanked out after she said examining a corpse.
“You’re going to cut up a dead person?” I couldn’t contain the shock in my voice. Who would willingly want to do that? I mean, I know people did do that, and it was part of solving murders and such, but really, my sweet baby sister cutting up dead guys? The thought made the hair on my arms rise.
“It’s called a cadaver, and it’s part of my course work. Everyone has to do a variety of classes and I picked this one. It’s really interesting. You’d never believe some of the sick stuff people do.”
She’d be surprised. “I know what psychos do, and I don’t want my baby sis anywhere near that shit. You’re golden, baby. I don’t want you tainted by what the scum of the Earth do.”
“Momma Mia, you cannot protect me forever. I’m nineteen years old. Besides, you’re only five years older than me.”
“Didn’t stop me from taking care of you to this point!” I shot back.
She sighed so long I could almost physically feel the weight of it pressing back down on my chest. “Mia, I don’t know what type of scientist I’m going to be yet…”
“The kind that cures cancer or develops new pills that can keep me skinny forever! The kind that doesn’t deal in death!” I sat up, my hackles rising. I did not want her surrounded by the ugly in life. We’d had enough of that growing up, and I had worked my damn ass off since she was five to make sure she’d see only light, as bright as I could give her.
“You know I love you,” she said so softly, using that voice that she knew got to me. “I know you want everything for me, and I…” She paused, and that pause pressed the weight deeper, crushing my heart. “Mia, I have to be able to find my own way. Okay? Promise me you’ll let me figure this out on my own.”
Figure something out on her own? My baby sis doing something all by herself. Without me to guide her, protect her, save her from getting shit on. I felt like a robot. Does not compute. Does not compute. I shushed my own ridiculous crazy voice aside and tried to be supportive. “I want you happy, Mads,” I choked back the emotion. “Just promise me you’re considering all options.”
I could tell the moment she turned back into happy-go-lucky Mads. “Oh, I am! I’m also taking a botany class that’s absolutely fascinating!”
“What’s botany?” God, I felt stupid asking my baby sister what something meant. I’d heard the word before, but I couldn’t place it.
“Plant science,” she giggled.
Did she just say plant science? From the study of dead people to plants? “Plants?”
“Uh huh. It’s actually really cool. We’re studying the relationship of different plants and flowers to their environments. Next, we’re going into horticulture which goes over the cultivation of plants and flowers for food and decoration.”
Now that sounded really weird but also safe and pretty. Everyone loved plants and flowers and there weren’t murders as part of something like that. “I like the sound of this course,” I admitted.
“Figured you would. And Mia, there’s this guy that I’m partnered with, and, oh my God, he’s so hot!” she giggled again like the schoolgirl she was. It lifted that weight right off my chest and slammed it into next week.
Now this, this is the type of talk I could get into. “Oh yeah, tell me everything!”