CYPHER

More issues than Vogue

Dean was up at the c***k of dawn , if staying awake most of the night was not considered .

Up was quite literal as he had not been able to sleep more than a few minutes before he heard his sister groaning again and ran to her side of the bed .

He had fallen asleep sometimes during his virtual class when his laptop had suddenly gone blank .

He had hit every part of the laptop he could think of but the laptop would not boot .

There was really no funds to get another laptop , so that was a huge bye to college for the next couple of weeks .

He turned to his sister .

She had only stopped groaning a little before dawn , she would definitely wake up exhausted .

He got up and adjusted the blanket to cover her more .

There was a huge hole in the blanket that he would have to fix when they arrived .

They lived in a room that was shaped like a box .

They slept at one end , cooked at one end and the bathroom was at another end .

He walked into the bathroom and washed his face and teeth .

Dean sighed as he stared at his reflection in the mirror , they were not going to be able to afford a lot of their bills this month .

He had lost one of his jobs and they had to go to the hospital , they needed a lot of groceries and Jaymie needed a thicker coat .

Even if they defaulted on the water bill , they could not on the electricity bill .

Jaymie could not sleep in the cold .

He left the bathroom and headed for their small kitchen .

He grabbed the pancake batter and almost broke their only family portrait .

Jaymie had a habit of changing the location to wherever she thought their parents wanted to be .

He held the picture , Jaymie had been a baby when they had taken the picture , he had been fifteen and their parents had still very much been in love .

Dean sighed at how wide his parents were smiling , he was smiling too .

Jaymie had always been pouty , right from birth .

He did not remember the last time he smiled like this .

He kept the picture where Jaymie had left it and began to mix pancake batter .

" You're up ? "

He lifted his head towards the voice , Jaymie was sitting up in bed , her hair was a mess .

" Obviously , I'm making banana flavoured pancakes . How do you feel ?".

She sighed loudly and got off the bed .

" Pretty okay ".

She was lying .

Jaymie would have run to him at the mere mention of banana pancakes .

And she was walking so slowly .

" Wash your teeth and your face , they will be ready by the time you are ".

She halted , gave him a look before turning and heading towards the bathroom .

She banged the door and screamed a second later .

Dean was at the bathrooms door before he could take a complete breath .

" Jaymie ? Baby , what's wrong ? Baby..."

" Why didn't you tell me that my hair resembled a nest ? ", She yelled .

" Was that why you screamed ? Are you okay ? "

She ignored him and continued to grumble under her breath .

At least , he had remembered to not enter until she gave him permission .

The last time he had entered the bathroom without telling her , she had not spoken to him for a whole day .

" Come on Jay , hurry out ".

He tapped on the door twice before returning to the kitchen .

The pancakes had burnt terribly , he threw them out , greased the pan and added more batter .

When he was done , he brought out what was left of their maple syrup .

He needed to get groceries really soon .

She walked out of the bathroom with her face washed and pink .

She had put her blonde hair in a ponytail and slicked it down with water .

He smiled .

" Come on , they are getting cold ".

She walked faster and took her seat , he served her before taking his own seat .

He passed the bottle of syrup to her .

She picked it and was about to pour when she suddenly paused .

" What is it ? Do you feel okay ? "

She rolled her eyes at him .

" I suddenly don't feel like using syrup ".

That was a huge lie , she loved syrup on pancakes .

He looked down at his plate and understood , she was doing it again .

" I don't mind , you can have it ", he told her .

She looked up at him through her lashes .

" But , you like syrup too ", She whined.

" It's okay , I'm okay with this ".

She looked around her for a second .

" If you are not having , then I'm not ".

Dean sighed and took the bottle , he poured a tiny bit on his plate and pulled her plate closer , he poured the rest over her pancakes .

She looked between their plates , probably about to say something on how unequally he had shared it , he gave her a look .

When they were done ,he cleared the dishes while she changed .

When he was done washing the dishes , she came over to dry them while he changed .

He packed a backpack for her with an apple , her new calculus book , her pencils , a bottle of water and her favorite eyeshadow palette .

" Are we taking a bus ? ", She asked.

" No , we are going pretty far , so the subway ".

She nodded and grabbed her backpack putting it on .

" You know Dee , we really don't have to go to a hospital ".

He turned to her , she would not look at him so he went to her and lifted her up .

" Why sayest so , oh fair one ? "

He tickled her as he asked this , he hated when Jaymie assumed such a serious countenance .

" Silly , there's no such thing as sayest ".

She laughed , opening her mouth .

Her teeth had fallen out again .

" We don't have a lot of money , so spending the little we have this way is a waste ".

Dean brought her closer and hugged her .

" It's not a waste baby and I'd like to see you healthy enough to go to school and have actual friends ".

She gasped , putting her hand over her chest .

" I'll get friends as soon as you get your sorry ass a girlfriend ".

He laughed at that .

Jaymie was constantly asking him to get a girlfriend .

They walked out of the door and Dean locked the door behind them .

He lifted her unto his shoulders , he didn't want her walking and even though she liked to be carried , she would of course still complain .

There was a subway line not very far from where they lived .

They walked while Jaymie told him different theories she had read yesterday .

" You know , I think I'm going to have to change my name before I propose my theories ", She told him .

" Why would you ? Jaymie Virgo is strange enough as it is ".

" I was thinking something along the lines of Jaymie Virgillo ", She announced it with a little clap .

" That doesn't sound very different ".

" Your ears are unrefined ".

He frowned , at least she was not using any curse words .

She smiled throughout the subway ride and throughout the walk to the general hospital .

Jaymie had always loved the outdoors but her hearts condition and Dean's constant working had not afforded them a lot of chance to do as they wished .

When they left the hospital , he would surprise her by taking her to a park that was nearby .

They arrived at the hospital and had to wait a while since they had not made an appointment .

Finally , a nurse came and took them to a room where she helped Jaymie change clothes before taking her into another room .

He waited for a while that seemed like decades before he was finally called in .

Jaymie was smiling and telling the doctors of her resolve to change her name to further her research .

" Hello , you must be Dean ".

The doctor held out her hand for him to shake , he took it .

" Yes , I am ".

She nodded .

" I am Doctor Ymir " .

Dean smiled at this , the doctor turned to the nurse that had been waiting and nodded at her .

The nurse led Jaymie out .

" Take a seat ".

He did as he was told .

" Will my sister be okay ? "

" About that , is there an adult I could talk to ? "

Dean blinked .

" No , both our parents are dead ".

He saw it then , what Jaymie called the pity party , It happened every time .

" You can talk to me concerning any thing , I'm her legal guardian ", he declared .

The doctor sighed .

" Are you aware of your sister's condition ? "

Dean nodded ," I am ".

" Well , it's become a lot worse ".

The little mirror that Dean had used as a shield over him and his sister crumbled .

" To be honest , I'm surprised you didn't bring her earlier , she must have been in a lot of pain everyday ".

" Pain ? "

She had been in pain and had not told him .

" I don't think you should take her home , she should remain here for observation till she gets the surgery ".

" Surgery ?"

Oh God , his little sister was going to be having surgery .

" Yes ,We'll try to seal the hole in her heart , meanwhile I am more concerned about something else ", the doctor told him .

" What is that ? "

The doctor smiled reassuringly .

" The cost of the surgery , the general hospital bill and the cost of the medicine she will have to use consequently ".

Dean watched her expectantly , waiting for her to talk .

He would borrow money , take student loans out , sell everything that could be sold , he would....

" It will cost roughly around five million dollars ".

Dean blinked , five what ?

He had never even seen a hundred thousand dollars in all of his life .

He must have been in shock , he could see the doctors mouth moving but he could not hear a thing .

He stood up , pushing the chair behind him very roughly .

" We will come back when we make a decision on what to do".

He stumbled to the door .

" Dean , you should hurry , your sister doesn't have a lot of time or strength to keep up ".

He nodded , thanked her and left .

Where was he going to get such money from ?

Something vibrated in his pocket and he stuck his hand inside , pulling out his mobile .

It was an unknown number , he picked it .

'" That you Dean ?"

It was Laura .

" Yes Laura , What's up ? "

She coughed before continuing .

" The landlady came over and threatened to throw your stuff out , I told her you had the money and you were bringing it to her ".

Dean sighed , the landlady showed up at any time to collect her rent , she didn't ever wait till it was actually a month .

" Okay , thanks for the heads up".

" Maybe you and the brat should stay out for a while , you know ? Just until the landlady leaves the area ".

Dean ended the call and went in search of Jaymie .

He found his sister , she was sitting next to a tiny child in hospital clothes , the child had no hair .

She had given the child her apple and was applying eye shadow on the child's pale face .

Why ?

Why did kids have to be sick ?

Dean would rather he died than watch anything happen to his only family .

He would do anything to make her happy and healthy .

Anything at all .

On the television in the lobby , WIC was advertising their latest household technology .

Dean watched the advert come to an end .

Then WIC's popular slogan came on .

'Anything for Family ' .

Dean laughed at the irony of the situation .

He stopped laughing when his sister saw him , she waved at him .

" Dean , I made a friend ".

As Dean walked towards her with a huge smile on his face , he realized he would indeed do anything for her .