I Won't Give Up

**Marc’s POV**

It was the Christmas season of 2004 and I was seventeen years old. I had caught some sort of bug when I got home from Sudbury, so my mother put me on bed rest until I was no longer sick and couldn’t get any of my siblings sick either. Being exiled away from anything fun sure did make this Christmas suck. But being exiled only really works when the other people in the house agree to leave you alone; and my pain-in-the-ass sister Joey would not cooperate with our mother’s orders. She would sneak up to my room every half hour to check on me.

“Yes, Joey, I feel just as awful as I did when you were up here less than an hour ago,” I told her when I heard my bedroom door squeak open. I didn’t even need to look in her direction to know it was her. All I wanted to do was sleep and she wasn’t letting me.

“I brought up a movie I thought we could watch together,” she announced as if she hadn’t heard what I said mere seconds ago. Without my approval, Joey sat down on the floor in front of the TV that was directly across from my bed. I didn’t need to wait for the movie to start before I knew what we were going to watch.

“Miracle, Joey? Really?” was all I could get out before I was bombarded by Joey jumping on top of my bed with me. “This movie makes you feel better when you are sick, not me,” I pointed out, but she wasn’t even listing to me. She was too busy humming along to the music on the main menu screen.

“Will you just give it a shot, Marc? I want you better before Christmas.” I was going to tell her that Christmas Day was still three days away and I was bound to be better by then with or without her help, but I just let it go.

“Why does it matter?”

“No one deserves to spend Christmas alone.” Before I got the chance to say anything back, Joey had hit the play button and the movie was starting.



When I woke up the following morning, I walked into Joey’s room to check on her. I was greeted with muffled groans and mumbles and the sight of my little sister spread out on her stomach with her face stuffed into her pillow. I didn’t even need to ask to know she was miserable. But of course I was going to ask anyway.

“How you feeling, Joe?” I asked while I walked across the room and took a seat next to her on the queen sized bed. She grumbled at me incoherently as she was still lying face down. “Try that again without the pillow in your mouth.”

“How the fuck do you think I feel, dumbass?” she aggressively retorted when she turned her face to the side only long enough to get her words out, and then she was back to having her face in her pillow. I wanted to laugh at her behavior, but I knew it would only make her more upset so I kept it to myself. I told her I was going to go make her some oatmeal for breakfast and left the room before she could say anything back.

While I was making the food, I called my coach to tell him that my sister was in town and that I wouldn’t be able to make it to the optional practice because she got sick and I needed to take care of her. I've never missed an option practice since receiving the 'A' on my jersey, but luckily for me, I was one of Coach’s favorites so he let it slide. It also helped that the entire Rangers organization loved Joey to death and never wanted to see her unhappy. Joey had that kind of effect on people; everyone instantly fell in love with her everywhere she went.

I entered Joey’s room again not too long later with a tray holding two bowls of oatmeal, two glasses of orange juice and a plate of toast for the two of us to share. Joey sat up in bed, back propped up against the headboard so I could place the tray over her legs.

Joey held her mouth open to me with an expecting look in her eyes when I sat down next to her and picked up a spoon to eat my breakfast.

“Not a chance, Joella. I will sit here and eat with you while we watch a movie, but there is no chance in hell that I’m going to feed you like a baby,” I told her, very determined not to give in to her request. She cracked the first smile I had seen on her all morning and I was glad she didn’t feel completely dead.

“Miracle?” she questioned, slight excitement being heard in her voice. I pulled out the DVD case I had hidden under a couple of napkins on the tray and showed her the cover. Of course I planned on watching Miracle; it was the one movie that always made her feel better when she was under the weather. Her small smile turned into a beaming grin that caused me to beam as well.

“Only the best.”

*~*~*~*~*

Remember that cute brother/sister moment Joey and I had? Yeah, that only lasted as long as the movie did. After Miracle ended, I brought up the idea of watching another movie: Footloose. I knew it was her favorite musical, so I thought watching the movie would bring a smile to her face the way Miracle had. But she decided she didn’t want to watch another movie and that she was simply done being sick. With the intentions of going to take a shower and preparing for a day of practicing for her big Broadway audition the following day, Joey got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom attached to her bedroom.

She only took a couple of steps before falling to her knees because her sickly body wasn’t strong enough to keep her standing. Newsflash. You cannot just ignore sickness, it isn’t that simple. And I, always being the bearer of bad news, didn’t hesitate a bit when I told her that despite it being the only reason she was here in New York…

She wasn’t going to the audition.

I thought she was going to cry, but the tears never came. The yelling sure as hell did though. The yelling started and never stopped. She mostly shouted about me not being the boss of her and I had no right telling her what she could and could not do. Occasionally she brought up the idea that the casting directors would understand that she was just momentarily sick and would be fine by the time the performance came around. Who was she kidding? No one there was going to ‘understand’ that. That was like saying that a hockey player could be off his game during rookie camp, but all the coaches would understand he could play better so they invite him to play for the team in the fall. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen.

She kicked me out of her room. I guess an hour and a half of being at each other’s throats was long enough for her. When I got out to the kitchen, my fists slammed down forcefully on to the counter, quickly followed by my head. I was used to being the bad guy; Joey and I arguing and yelling at each other was more common than us having a real conversation. It was different this time. I felt like I was stopping her from following her dream. She never told me that I couldn't play hockey. But I knew I was doing the right thing. Going to the biggest audition of her life thus far would be a regret she carried with her forever, and I wouldn’t be the one responsible for letting her make that mistake.

I was set on her understanding what I was telling her, but I knew that I was the last person she was going to listen to. Sure, we may have nice moments from time to time, but we spent the majority of the time barely being able to stand looking at each other. So I did the only thing I thought would work; I grabbed Joey’s cell phone off its charger on the kitchen counter and scrolled through the contacts until I reached the Flyer’s name. Before the thought of this being a bad idea even crossed my mind, I hit the call button.

“Joella sweetheart,” he greeted and I felt my stomach churn in disgust. “Please go to sleep, baby, you need your rest.” How on earth did he know she was sick? She hadn’t been out of her room all day because she couldn’t stand on her own two feet for more than ten seconds. I had even had to walk her to the bathroom during our movie that morning.

“Uhhhh it’s Marc,” I replied so he would stop with the coupley talk; it was really creeping me out.

“Oh sorry, man. What’s up?” Stop trying to be buddy buddy with me, Flyer. That’s not what I’m here for.

“I need you to talk to Joey. She won’t listen to a word I say.”

“Is she still sick?” Still sick? I thought she didn’t get sick until she got here?

“What do you mean still sick?”

“She called me when she was at the airport waiting for her flight up there. She told me her hold body felt weak and her head was spinning. I told her flying was only going to make it worse and basically begged her not to get on the plane but she ignored me. She has her heart so set on Broadway that it’s clouding her judgment,” he explained and I kept nodding my head along with his story like he could see me.

“Tell me about it,” I huffed and slumped against the fridge. “I had to tell her that she can’t go to her audition and she freaked out. If I didn’t leave the room when she told me to, I’m pretty sure she would have started throwing things at me.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t start with the throwing,” he laughed out and I chuckled along with him. It was weird to be getting along with the Flyer, but I just shrugged it off. “What if she rests all today and is good enough to audition tomorrow?”

Of course Joey would be ready to go on on a moment’s notice. I knew better than anyone that she had at least ten audition solos ready and waiting in her back pocket, able to pull out at any time and any place. Whenever she came to New York to visit me, all she ever did was sing. She sang in the shower, while cooking, while trying to go to sleep at night, while watching TV. ‘Come on, Marc. Can’t you feel Broadway in the air?’ she would always tell me. Just the thought of it caused my eyes to roll.

“You should hear her, man. Her voice sounds all scruffy and cracks every three words. Plus, she just yelled at me for an hour and a half so it has to be a hundred times worse now,” I told him and I heard him let out a distraught sigh. “She’s not seeing the big picture,” I continued when he didn’t say anything back. “She wants this audition so badly, just to get her name on the map. But if she goes and messes up, she’s gonna be on the map for all the wrong reasons. It will take longer for her to get where she wants to be, but she just doesn’t see that.”

“That sounds like her. But we don’t have much room to judge, we were the same way with hockey.” The Flyer did have a point. I knew exactly what Joey was going through and if I were in her shoes right that very moment, I would feel the exact same way she did. “Listen. I just got home from practice and have to nap before my game tonight. I will call her after the game and talk to her about this. I’m not sure hearing it from me will change much, but I will definitely try.”

“Thanks, man. I hope you lose tonight,” I replied, sounding surprisingly light-hearted. As much as I meant the words I said, I did intend for them to come across as a joke. Thankfully, his chuckle let me know that he didn’t take me seriously. We shared our goodbyes and hung up the phone, and then I ventured into the living room to watch something—anything—on TV that would get my mind off of my stubborn little sister.