Chapter 6. Difficult Times

It was late when the doctors could come up with their diagnosis and start the treatment. Her mom had developed pneumonia because of a carcinoid tumor in her lungs. It was an advanced stage of lung cancer. Annalise's world crashed at hearing the news. With her dad too battling for life, she did not know how to deal with the situation anymore. Her uncle gave her the support that she needed. It was in the wee hours of the morning when she returned home and broke down in her aunt Emily’s arms. It was decided that her siblings would shift to her uncle’s house, but Annalise didn’t want to leave her parents’ home and go anywhere. No one forced her.

After trying to sleep for a few hours, Annalise got up to get ready for college. She knew her uncle was bearing the cost of her education and therefore she never missed her classes. She hugged and kissed her teary-eyed siblings as they were about to leave home with their aunt. Her twenty-two-year-old cousin brothers, Erik and Dean, who were the