Page 182 - 聖方濟各英文小學（學校雜誌）

Seeing her brother laying weak on the hospital bed, she stumbled backwards. Sachi felt a sharp pain in her chest, as
if her whole world came crashing down. Distressed and confused, she yelled at her parents, demanding an explanation.
“What did you mean when you said someone was dying?” she yelled. Both parents looked at each other and sighed.

It was time that she knew the truth.
“Dear, I know this news might be hard on you… Your brother doesn’t have much time left in this world. When he was
12 years old, he was told that he needed a kidney transplant. We tried to find donors but there were no matches. In the
end, we did find one donor who matched his exact type, but Icarus refused.”
Furious, she yelled at her parents. “Why did he refuse? What’s wrong with him? What am I going to do without my
sibling? Why didn’t you tell me from the start? Why now? I can’t live without my brother!” The emotions got the best of
her and tears started streaming down her face. She realised that she had held a lot of it in throughout the years. They all
sobbed quietly as her parents pulled her into a hug.

“Your brother refused since you were so young. He also knew that if he had accepted, you would resent him even
more. So he simply told us to keep you out of it. He knows you have a bright future ahead of you, and he has no right to
get in the way of that.”

The next day at school, people noticed a change in Sachi’s attitude, even though she tried to hide it. Plastering a fake
smile whenever people said hello, it didn’t feel genuine. People started worrying since she rarely used to be sad at all.
Although she tried to dismiss their claims, people knew that she was lying. Back home, she couldn’t continue to bottle up
her emotions. She couldn’t stop thinking about a life without her brother. She decided to make a long post on Instagram
stating how she felt deep inside. Not even a day after, Sachi’s post started to spread across the globe. Countless people
shared their own experiences and gave support to her.
After some thought and encouragement, Sachi made the big decision to do the transplant. She hugged her parents
tightly before going into the operation room, she knew the risks and she was going to take it. The chance of her making
it through was 50-50. It could go either way. But she knew how silly and petty she had been all these years, and feeling
deeply touched by her brother’s love by his desire to shield her from all this, she decided it was worth the risk. If she did
not make it through, at least they would not be apart for long, she thought. The day before, she had written a letter for her
brother:

Dear Icarus,
If you are reading this letter, it means I didn’t make it. I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but I just want to let you
know that I really care about you and I hope you'll live your life to the fullest. I hope you’ll keep me in your thoughts every
once in a while.

Love,
Sachi

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