Annie ate her not-quite ripe banana in less than a minute. She gulped down some orange juice to wash it down and ran to meet me at the door, but not before grabbing a few cookies.

“Come on, Annie!” I call. I watched her bob towards me.

“I’m just hungry.” She munched on her cookies as we walked out to the car. Annie had a doctor’s appointment that day to make sure her anemia wasn’t going to kill her. It’s not the first time the doctors worried about her. I did too, but I’m a big brother; I can’t let Annie know.

Annie called shotgun. There was no point, as she was the only passenger. As I started the car, she reached for the radio. I grabbed her hand.

“Seatbelt.” Annie rolled her eyes and carelessly put on her life-saving device.

“You’re too uptight, Jake. You’re gonna get high blood pressure and die from it.”

This time, I rolled my eyes. Little sisters are annoying. I’m sure all of them are. But sick ones are even worse, because you can’t be as mean to them. I pulled out from the drive way and headed to the local pediatrics.

Waiting at the pediatrics always sucked. I wasn’t her guardian, so I couldn’t be in the room with her, but she was still a minor, so I couldn’t just leave. I sighed and continued to sit in the seven inch high, red play chair. I absently played with that child toy with the beads and twirls of wire.
I thought of Lacie, my girlfriend. She thought I was so sweet because I took such care of my sister and because I always worried about her. But it’s not really that odd, is it? You have a sick little sister, almost nine years old, and your parents are always working. Well, you can’t convince your parents to care enough, so you take up the job. Just as I sighed about my mournful load of work, the nurse came out to greet me.
“She’s doing better, her iron levels are up a bit. Bring her in next month and we’ll check again. Whatever you’re doing, it’s working, so keep up the good work.” I nodded and smiled at Annie as she bounced towards us.