Secrets

Chapter 5

Leena's POV

I was sitting in the hospital room, again. I don’t think I’ve left for more than an hour to shower really quick. I never wanted to leave Miranda’s side again. I knew she would never blame me, but I should have been there. I was her big sister.

I wasn’t happy when my parents told me were getting a foster kid all those years ago. I thought I would be resentful and closed off. But to my surprise, we got along great. We were both 14 when Miranda moved in with us. I was closer to turning 15, and she had just turned 14. We liked the same music, guys, and everything. I couldn’t contain my excitement when my parents told me they were going to adopt her! She cried and kept thanking us for taking her in. I should have been a better sister.

I shook my head. I needed to get rid of these negative thoughts. The only thing we needed to focus on now is Miranda getting better and finding out how we can move on. I gently took Miranda’s hand in mine. She was sleeping and I didn’t want to wake her. I knew the investigation was still open. George’s alibi checked out. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Miranda ran into him a lot. I never thought much about it. But things were starting to fall into place.

2 Years Ago

I had gotten off of work early day. So, I decided that since it was close to Miranda’s birthday that I was going to make her dinner. I was running around the apartment like crazy, trying to get everything ready before she got home. I threw up some streamers and got some balloons. She loved lasagna, so I had that in the oven so it would be ready for when she got home. I also stopped at the local bakery and got her a small birthday cake.

I kept glancing at the clock. She should have been home 10 minutes ago. As I walked past the door, I heard some voices in the hallway. One of them was Miranda’s! I opened the door to see Miranda standing there talking to our neighbor George. He was a nice guy. He knew our dad, so he gave us a nice discount on our rent. Miranda looked a little uncomfortable. When George’s eyes landed on me, he looked nervous. I didn’t really get why.

“Oh, evening George. What are you two talking about?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Miranda was just telling me that she’s been having a few issues with her laptop. I was offering to fix it for her birthday.” He nodded.

He seemed off, but that was normal for him. He was a 45 year old man that lived alone. He owned some random properties through town, and he was some sort of computer programmer. From what I’ve seen, he mostly keeps to himself. He was a pretty awkward guy. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice having someone that knew our dad living so close incase we needed anything, but I didn’t quite trust him.

“Well Randa, why don’t we head inside. I made dinner!” I squealed with excitement. Miranda nodded before waving good bye to George.

“Have a good evening George.” She waved and shuffled inside the apartment. I went to say goodnight to George, but he had already shut his door. Weird.

I followed Miranda inside. She was flabbergasted.

“Lee, you did all of this for me?” She squealed.

“Of course, I did. I wanted to do something special with just the two of us.” I smiled at her. She walked up to me and gave me a huge hug. When she broke the hug, she had a few stray tears in her eyes. I smiled at her. “Now, go get on your pjs. Lasagna will be ready in about 15 minutes.”

Miranda nodded before skipping off to her room to change. I walked into the kitchen and put the garlic bread in the oven. I grabbed a few plates out of the cabinet and got everything ready for dinner. I was so excited to share a special night with my sister. We worked opposite schedules, so I felt like I hardly saw her. She came out of her room with a huge smile on her face. I knew that she had been talking to some guy, but that was about it. I didn’t want to pry for information.

“Randa, you have to tell me more about this mystery guy you’re talking to. Are you inviting him to your party?” I smiled. All she could manage was a shrug and a blush.

“I don’t know yet. I mean, it’s supposed to be just a girls’ night. Besides, we’ve only been talking a few weeks…” Her voice trailed off as she typed quickly on her phone. She smiled. I loved seeing her so happy. Knowing that she came from a rough past made me feel like she deserved to finally be happy.

Miranda was taken out of her birth family’s house when she was 8. She never went into details with me. We only knew what the case workers told us, and none of it was pretty. From what I know, there was a lot of abuse in the home. She would be locked in her room for days at a time. She was shuffled from foster home to foster home, until she came to live with us. My patents always wanted to have another kid but couldn’t have any more of their own. Once Miranda and I met, it was like she had been my sister from birth. We never went anywhere without each other.

“It’s your night out Randa. You can decide if you want to invite him or not. Just let me know so that I can move some things around.” I smiled at her.

I wanted to encourage Miranda. She was always so shy. I can totally understand why. Her birth family never gave her any reason to trust them or anyone else. I could never imagine what she went through all those years ago. I never wanted to. But she knew that she was safe with our family. Our patents loved her and did everything they could so that she knew that she was safe.

“Oh, Lee, would you be mad if I did?” She looked at me with wide eyes. How could I be mad at that face.

“Of course not!” I smiled at her. “Now, go sit. Dinner is just about done. Then it’s movies and cake!” I scurried off to the kitchen to get dinner for my little sister.

I was brought back to reality when Emily walked back into Miranda’s hospital room. She smiled at me and proceeded to check on all of the machines in the room. I quietly asked her for another blanket for Miranda. She had been shivering while she slept. Emily nodded and went to go get her a few more.

I don’t remember Emily coming back. I just remember waking up, wrapped in a blanket. I looked around the room and saw Miranda staring at me. When our eyes met, she smiled at me. I grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. She squeezed back.

“Go home sissy.” She smiled.

I looked around the room to see if anyone else was there with me. Mom and Dad were sitting in some chairs close to her bed. All of us locked eyes and just stared at her. She must have felt everyone’s eyes on her because she blushed. Our mom ran over to her, gathering her into a hug and covering her in kisses. Miranda giggled. It was definitely music to my ears.