▌Prologue ─ Her Fight ▌

2 YEARS AGO

      ━━━━━ SWEAT COVERED THE brunettes forehead. She was tossing and turning in her sleep. Whimpers falling from her pale lips. Her sister had come into the room and turned the light on. Blake ran to her sisters bed and started shaking her, trying to get her out of her sleep. When she wouldn't wake up Basil screamed for her parents.

"Mom, Dad!" Blake shouted at the top of her lungs.

Something was most definitely wrong with Basil, it wasn't like her to not wake up from her sleep even if she had been having a nightmare. Blake stayed by her side, until her dad and mom ran into Basil's room. Basil had been sick for a few days and by the looks it had only gotten worse rather than getting better.

"I think it's time to get her to the hospital." Ray said, staring at Emma and Blake.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Blake questioned.

"I don't know." Ray answered, he picked his daughter up from her bed, her blanket falling off her body. She was shaking when he had picked her up and was still shaking. Not to mention her body was cold even though she had been running a fever since she had gotten sick.

The three ran out of the house heading to the car and climbing in. Ray got into the back holding on to Basil attempting to keep her warm. Blake and Emma climbed into the front of the car. When it turned on Emma pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road heading to the hospital. Emma pulled up to the front of the hospital and they all got out, Ray was still cradling Basil in his arms.

"It's okay, baby, we're here. You're gonna be okay." Ray whispered softly, as he very carefully got his daughter inside the building. Emma went to park the car and then she and Blake soon ran into the hospital. They had taken Basil in the second that Ray had gotten her inside. He was in the waiting room and soon enough Emma and Blake were right by his side.

"Do you think she's going to be okay, Dad?" Blake asked, looking at him through her tears.

"Basil's strong, she's going to pull through this." Ray answered. He wasn't sure she was though. He had never seen her this sick before. Sure she had been sick in previous years but truly it had never been this bad. Ray was holding on to hope that his daughter would pull through this on her own.

"Your father's right, Bas is strong. She'll get through this, like she always does."

They ended up being in the waiting room for about 5 hours before a doctor came to talk to them. During those 5 hours they each talked about their favorite memories shared with Basil in hopes that maybe just maybe it would help her to stay alive even if she couldn't hear them talking about her. The doors to the waiting room finally slid open and Basil's doctor walked in his eyes on the family of three.

"Mr. Gaines," He called out, gaining Ray's attention. Ray stood up and shook his hand with the doctor.

"How's she doing?" Emma questioned, coming up behind Ray. Blake was also standing, she had grabbed a hold of her mother's hand and connected their fingers together out of fear. Emma could feel that Blake was terrified to lose her sister. She couldn't afford to lose her other sister.

"There might be a chance that she doesn't pull through, we've given her everything we can to help her fight but all we can do is wait. We have to hope that she can make it through the night, but she has to do it on her own now."

Ray lowered his head, while Emma turned to comfort her daughter. "Can I see her, can I see my sister?" Blake asked.

"Of course. Just one at a time though. It'll be better for her." Ray and Emma nodded their heads and watched Blake follow the doctor out of the waiting room.

"She's gonna be okay, Em. Bas, she's strong, she'll pull through this she always does." Ray said, grabbing a hold of her hand and squeezing it tightly.

"I know she will." Emma replied.

Blake was left at the door, she pulled the door open and walked in. The monitor was beeping, something she was used to. She shouldn't have been, but she was. Basil some how wound up in the hospital a lot especially when they were kids. She would get hurt, or sick and they would go to the hospital. Basil hadn't been sick like this in a few years, the most she had gone to the hospital for recently was an injury she suffered in volleyball or soccer.

Blake grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to her sister. She placed her eyes on her seeing how pale her face was, the sweating seemed to stop and she wasn't shaking anymore. The brunette grabbed a hold of her sister's hand. She had warmed up slightly, Basil wasn't so ice cold to the touch anymore. Blake gave her sister's hand a gentle squeeze. Before she could stop the tears from falling down her face, the watergate opened and she was crying again.

"Bas, I don't know if you can hear me. Honestly, I hope that you can. I need you to pull through this, okay. We both lost Mallory, and I-I can't lose you too. You're the only one who understands me. You're my best friend, and my co-captain. I need you to survive." Blake whispered those last few words, she lowered her head to the bed and looked at her sleeping sister, her grip on her hand tightened.

Through the night Blake had stayed with Basil after their parents had seen her of course. Blake was refusing to leave her side until something happened, until there was some kind of change within Basil. While a change did happen, Basil didn't wake up the following day like they had all hoped for. With this they had to really wait to see when she would wake up. After a few days in the hospital Basil was showing signs of getting better.

Blake had her head resting on her sister's leg, she was holding onto her hand and her eyes were closed. Ray and Emma were talking to each other on the other side of the bed. Basil started to stir in her bed, slowly she opened her eyes, lifting her free hand to cover her eyes at the blinding lights. Blake groaned mentally at the sudden movement, her eyes opened and landed on her sister.

"Basil?" She questioned, gaining the attention of their parents.

"Hi." She whispered, her voice hoarse. Ray and Emma stood from their chairs and joined Blake and Basil. They all had smiles on their faces now. "I'm okay, I promise." She said, as she squeezed her sister's hand. Two days later Basil was able to finally go home and back to normal for the most part.