There was a special floor of the hospital that was only for newborns and moms. Happy families.

That's where I was, actually. Me and my sister.

My mother and father were so happy to find out that we were twins. I don't remember that, no, but I remember them talking about it the other day. We've been here about a week now. Waiting for the newest member of our family to be strong enough to go home.

And there's where the problem is. See, my mom and dad were so happy to have another baby. Especially after the long wait.

My mom has trouble having kids, I guess. Last time, they had to go to a special doctor. That's how we got here, two babies instead of one. The BOGO event of the century, really.

That's why my sister and I look so different. For one, she's a girl. I am a boy. She has my dad's blue eyes and blond hair and nose and her middle toe curves a little, like my mom's. I have my mom's mousy hair, but its kinda curly and I don't know where that came from at all. I have my mom's brown eyes, but my dad's lips. And I had a matching toe on my left that looked like Mom, but on my right? Everything was straight on that side.

In other ways, my sister and I were the same in a lot of ways. We both liked geometry, but we hated all other math. We liked to write, but she was more creative than I was and I liked to write papers. We used to play soccer as kids, but now we were ice skaters together. Her pick of sport, not mine, though I do love it. We liked to wear flannels, but she usually wore skirts with hers and I always wore jeans. I always wore watermelon chapstick, and she liked this natural rose brand that matched her perfume.

We both loved wildflowers. Queen Anne's Lace, to be precise.

That's where we were the night that our mom's water broke. We were picking Queen Anne's Lace by the bank of the river by our house.

It was unusual for babies to come this early, right? I mean, me and my sister had come out pretty early, but that was because we were twins. We were crowding the place.

But back to my parents. This time, when they were able to just have a baby, they freaked. And I get it, I mean my sister and I were just as excited as they were. So to have her come so early... The doctors say that she'll be okay most likely. Most babies have a 70% chance of being just fine at this stage. That was a pretty good number, but it left 30% of uncertain pain and worry.

This one, the little sister we were so freaking excited for, she should have baked for another 15 weeks at least. So why was she here so quick?

Doctors don't know exactly. They said it might have been Mom's UTI from a couple days ago. It could have been stress from my father's job, especially now that he was traveling to start up the new building in LA. It might have been something else.

Whatever it was, my sister blamed herself. I could tell she did. It was the way she carried herself, the way she didn't say anything after the doctor said it could have been stress. It could have been anything really, but all she heard was that she was responsible.

I was walking back from the bathroom when I noticed her in the hall. She wasn't with Mom and Dad, she was outside. Looking down at her shoes. The shoes I usually made fun of because they are Vans and they are covered in glitter. I walked up from behind, linked my arm through hers, and began to walk down the hall.

"M'lady! Might I escort you to the dining hall for an enticing meal?"

My sister smiled slightly, the happiness pulling at the tips of her lips but never reaching her eyes. It was unusual for my sister to act like this. She couldn't resist my gentlemanly charm, even on her worst days at school.

I noticed her flinch ever so slightly when I bumped her hip. I'd noticed the same flinch a few days ago when I poked her awake. I had a suspicion the flinching had to do with the pocket knife she kept in her pocket and the days when she came out of her room with red eyes. Sometimes when she got really upset in public places, she would rub her hand over her side, too.

Mom and Dad didn't put it together, but I did. We talked about it. She was trying to stop, but it was hard.

I tried all my tricks as we walked down to the cafeteria; I danced a little, I skipped, I commented on everyone's outfit. I noted that there was a boy in black sweats with a tee shirt that was a clear 10 out of 10. I also noted that there was a woman in a mismatched skirt and top, but she looked calm and clean, so I didn't think she'd stayed in the hospital overnight or been rushed here for an emergency. I gave her a conservative 6 out of 10. Nothing made my sister smile, though. Nothing.

We made our way to the cafeteria, which was on the 3 floor. It wasn't as crowded as you might expect for the hour. It was nearly noon, so I thought people might be getting ready for lunch, but there were only a couple people inside. Along one side of the cafeteria, there were a series of open fridge cases, holding stuff like drinks and yogurt and some desserts like cake or pudding. There was also a few pre-made meals, like salads and wraps and sandwiches.

The other side was lined with deli counters, behind which people were shuffling around the kitchen to make huge platters of food. During the breakfast hours, they had been full of bacon and potatoes and eggs. If you moved all the way to the far end of all the deli counters, you could order things like omelettes or pancakes.

Then there was an area for fountain drinks, which is weird because its a hospital. Then a salad bar and a yogurt parfait place, a place to make ice cream sundaes, and a rack full of those disgusting baked chips and unsalted nuts and other unspeakable foods.

Now that it was lunch, the deli counter was filled with roasted vegetables and chicken and panini ingredients. There were some burgers, too, but it was all sorts of sandwich and lunch foods. I walked forward, really reeling the idea of a sandwich. I ordered quickly, then turned to my sister.

"Do you want anything?"

She didn't say anything.

"I'm paayyying!" I said it in a sing song voice. She still didn't say anything, but she kinda shook her head.

We waited quietly for my food, then went to the sitting area to eat. There weren't a ton of clean tables, but there were enough. I knew my sister loved to sit in the sun, so I looked for a table where we would be close to the windows. There was a wall of windows to the far back with a ton of bar style chairs in front of a huge table mounted into the wall.

There was a nicely dressed man sitting at the table, too. When we sat down a few chairs away from him, he looked up from his paper. He looked at as for a moment, then stood and left. My sister and I sat quietly for a while, nothing to really talk about. I took a bite of my sandwich. It was really good.

"It's my fault. Do you agree?"

I looked at her, some sandwich still in my mouth. "What do you mean? Like... Mom's thing?"

My sister scoffed slightly. "Yeah."

"Dude, it's not your fault. The doctor's said it could have been anything, it's not you. It's not you at all! First of all, it was probably something else. We always knew that mom had issues with carrying little baby people in her body, so that's probably it. Secondly, even if it was the stress, that could have been caused by dad or her job or anything else that happens in her life. And finally, the suspension wasn't your fault. You saw a classmate crying and you went to check on them and they suspended you for being off campus. Not your fault. You were doing what was right!"

And then I saw the best sight I'd ever seen. My sister smiled. A real, true smile, it reached all the way to her eyes despite being rather small.

"Really?" Her eyes kinda watered, like she was overwhelmed by the feeling. The unfamiliar feeling of being happy again.

"Really. Sis, you're in the clear. You're golden."

And then she smiled again and giggled. I shoved the last of my sandwich in my mouth. It took me a second to finish up that bite, then I stood up. I stuck out my arm in a little triangle, like it had been when we had walked down here.

"Shall we head back up, m'lady?"