Elvin POV
When I returned to my apartment I was exhausted because of my wounds.
Soon after, I received a report about everything that had happened to my sister. My father had stopped sending her money and froze all her accounts. My sister was forced to live like a beggar just to put food on the table.
Later she managed to get a job with her certificate so she could support herself and her baby. She went through a lot just to give birth. But even after the child was born the baby had serious health complications.
My sister did everything she could to save her.
She donated bone marrow, blood, and other parts of her body just to make sure her daughter survived. When the child was six years old she donated one of her kidneys.
Now the girl was eight years old, and my sister was preparing to donate another organ.
Which meant she was ready to sacrifice her life.
The person I had resented for years had been living through hell all this time.
I was angry because I believed she abandoned me when I needed her the most. But she had been fighting a battle I could not even imagine.
I do not think I could ever give up my life for someone the way she did.
Guilt filled my chest.
I decided I had to confront my sister. I needed to face her now. I did not know when I might see her again. Even if it was only once more, I did not want to live with regret.
I would take care of her daughter like my own family.
Like my own child.
The next day after changing the bandages and applying medicine to my wounds, I went to the hospital to see my sister. Before going I bought her favorite chocolate biscuits and her favorite flowers.
When I arrived at the ward I felt strangely afraid to knock.
Before I could decide, the door opened.
There she was.
My sister stood there looking surprised, as if she never expected me to find the hospital or come see her.
Without thinking I pulled her into a hug.
With a trembling voice I said, "I am sorry sister. I was never a good brother. I am sorry I could not protect you."
She hugged me back and gently patted my back.
"You do not need to apologize," she said softly. "I am the one who should be blamed for not telling you what I was going through. I did not want to become a burden."
She sighed.
"Besides, one of the reasons Cherry was able to have you disowned was because you helped me divorce that beast of a husband."
Then she pulled away from the hug and suddenly scolded me.
"Elvin. How many times have I warned you not to lose control of your emotions?"
I could not help but smile.
I had missed her scolding me like that. The expression on her face looked exactly like the one our mother used to make.
"But sister," I said with a small smile, "you know you are the only person I am comfortable showing this side of me to. Why should I hold back my emotions when I am with you?"
She smiled warmly.
"At least one of my dying wishes has come true," she said quietly. "Seeing my brother again. Seeing that smile I have missed for so long."
She looked tired.
"The only person who ever tolerated my bad behavior and accepted my mistakes as if they were nothing."
She looked down at her hands.
"I am tired of this world where the bag decides everything. Not only must you chase the bag, but sometimes you must become a terrible person just to get it."
Her voice trembled.
"I am not willing to become that kind of person. I feel guilty that there are many things I could not do. But please take care of my daughter."
She looked directly at me.
"Do not let her learn how the bag can turn siblings into enemies. Sometimes the price of chasing the bag is killing the people you love."
With tears in my eyes I nodded and promised her.
Then I asked, "Where is my little niece?"
"She is asleep," my sister answered.
I quietly stepped inside to see the girl whose tiny voice I had heard the day before.
My niece.
When I saw her sleeping peacefully, I was surprised by how beautiful she was. She had her mother's beauty and her father's looks.
The same beauty that had deceived my father and those greedy business partners.
The same father who would never see his daughter again.
"Elvin," my sister said softly. "The operation will start tonight. Will you stay with me? I am a little scared."
I hugged her again.
"I will be here," I said.
Then I handed her the biscuits.
"I brought your favorite."
I hesitated before asking, "Sister… can I sing your favorite song for you?"
She smiled and took one of the biscuits.
"I would rather sing for you, little brother," she said gently. "When we were young you said I had the most beautiful voice. So let me sing for you one last time."
Then she began to sing.
Flowers I Should Have Given You
I picked these flowers on a quiet road today
Soft little things that never chased the bag away
Brother I swear I never meant to disappear
But I was running so fast I forgot you were there
My little girl with the sunlight in her eyes
Deserves a world that is not built on lies
If love could shield her from what we became
I would drop the bag and forget the fame
I am so tired of what the bag made of me
All I ever wanted was my family
One flower for my brother one for my child
Love so gentle in a world so wild
If there is another life waiting for us
I will hold you close without the rush
No bag to chase no world so cold
Just the two hearts I should have held
These flowers are soft but this world is not
I love you both more than the bag I fought.
That was when I realized this might truly be the last song I will ever hear from my sister.