Secret Garden

The doctor finally came back. He was gone for several hours. Long enough that Wheeler and father were home. We all waited with Venus to see what the doctor had to say. During his long absence… I-I witnessed her condition worsening. She started throwing up not too long ago.

“What’s wrong with my daughter?” father hastily questioned the practitioner.

He pulled out a clipboard and laid it on Vee’s dresser. He adjusted his glasses so he could read it. “I ran several, several tests on the blood sample. I did not find any pathogenic bacteria. Likewise, I did not find any harmful virus. I continued the tests but I did not find prions nor invasive fungi in her blood.”

“So there’s no cause for this?” mother asked, confused. I noticed Wheeler had already left the room. Perhaps he didn’t care, or maybe he had some sort of emotional side and couldn’t bear to hear the news. Either way, I remained the closest one to Venus.

“I didn’t say that. There was one possibility I had not considered until I remembered you telling me that she kept a garden in the forest,” the doctor explained, now playing the part of some detective-doctor hybrid. “I ran a toxicity test on her blood and found something rather strange. She has been poisoned by a rare plant known as Cicuta douglasii. The common water hemlock. It has a beautiful aroma but releases a powerful toxin while ingested.”

“So what’s the damage? How much will the medicine cost?” my father asked gruffly.

The doctor took a deep breath. He just looked into father’s eyes with concern. Father stared back at him with a mixture of anger and confusion. Then it hit him. Father looked disdainfully to the ground. The doctor walked up to my father and put a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry Oleander.” The doctor left a note on the dresser and walked out.

Father turned to mother and shook his head. We all knew what it meant. Venus lay asleep on her bed; oblivious to the news we were just given. She did not have long. I looked back at my sleeping sister. I walked to my room while my parents hugged each other and cried.

I curled up on my bed; tears rolling down my face. Vee was my only friend, and now she was leaving. I couldn’t grasp that idea in my head at the time. I was very detached from the situation. “Why didn’t I protect her? Why did I let her go deeper in the forest? It’s my fault my only friend is dying now,” I would say over and over in my mind.

I somehow managed to make it through the first week of school. Depression hung in my inner thoughts and outward actions. I felt helpless, almost more helpless than Venus did. She still hung on though, and it was her fighting spirit that let me keep fighting too.
She didn’t show signs of improvements though. According to the doctor’s letter, the toxin was going to affect her nervous system first, then her respiratory system. She’s been having seizures the last three days, and in the last day she’s been having difficulty breathing. She must not have long left.
I finally got back from school in time for the weekend. I went straight into my after-school ritual of running straight to Vee’s room to keep her company. It was hard seeing her like this and I always fought back tears when I talked to her.

“S-s-sundew… c-c-can w-we… g-g-go t-to… th-the… g-g-garden?” she asked with long breaths in between every couple of syllables. She looked up to me with sunken eyes.

“Yeah Vee. We can go, do you want to fly there?” I offered.

“N-no… I w-w-want t-to…” and I stopped her there.

“I understand,” I said and I bent my knees next to the bed and she carefully climbed into my back. I could feel her pain through her hoofsteps. I trotted slower than usual to the garden. The trees still retained most of their leaves, but the path was still covered in their debris. The leaves crunched after each step.

The trail seemed to stretch on forever this time. I cried freely now. I hoped Vee couldn’t hear my crying because I needed to be the strong brother for her. I know Wheeler felt as bad as I did, but he didn’t know what to do. I didn’t either, but I hoped I was doing the right thing. Finally we reached the end of the trail. The garden was dying, but the remaining flowers stayed lovely all the while.

I helped Venus down off my back. I kept my wing around her to help her walk to her creations. She took her time smelling each flower. She had a coughing fit in between each flower. Her lungs could barely take it. “S-s-sundew?”

“Uh-huh?” I responded.

“W-w-when I-I’m…. I’m… I’m g-gone,” she said, droplets of tears gathering in her eyes. “W-w-will y-you… t-t-take c-c-c-c-“

“Of course I will. Don’t worry. I’ll look after them for you. I’ll make sure they get everything they need.” The tears came again. They wouldn’t stop flowing and I have been fighting them for so long.

“E-e-even m-m-m-my… V-v-venus f-f-“

“How could I forget them? I’ll treat them with the same care and love I have for you, sis,” I assured her, hugging her.

“I l-l-love y-you, b-b-brother,” she wheezed out. Her grip loosened and she walked to a huge pile of leaves and sat down. I followed suit. She leaned back to look up at the trees and their wondrous, changing leaves.

“I’m so sorry Venus,” I finally told her. “It’s my fault you’re dying. It’s my fault have to say goodbye to you for the rest of my life.” My eyes stung from the constant tears.

“D-d-don’t b-b-be. I-it’s n-n-not…. g-g-goodb-bye. I-I’ll j-j-just… s-s-s-s-see y-y-you… l-later. Okay?” she finally said to me, smiling through a body beaten by poison. She reclined in the brittle, but comfortable leaves and closed her eyes. I stayed quiet for a long moment. Everything was racing in my head.
I leaned over to Vee and said it was time to go.