A couple of years have passed since then ...
"Why do you keep on coughing? Can you keep it down? It's so annoying!" Rina shouted at Quirra as she laid on the couch to sleep.
"Sorry, I'll try not to disturb you."
Rina snickered at Quirra before walking into her room and slamming the door shut.
Quirra got a chronic cough for the past 2 years but haven't got the time to visit a doctor.
Leo, Kiiara, Reign, Brent and Clyde had all graduated from High school. The only siblings left at home with Quirra was Rina and Mika, who still attended High school. After the older siblings left for college, the 2 that were left insisted on finally getting a room for themselves.
Even though Quirra paid for every siblings tuition fee, she still sends them some pocket money.
When Leo, Kiiara and Reign graduated college they all moved out of state and found their jobs there. Brent and Clyde also went out of state for college, and they never came back home during breaks.
As for Grandma Maggie, she was already sickly from the start since she has a weak immune system, but 3 years ago she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and was placed into a nursing home.
Quirra couldn't bring herself to go through Grandma Maggie's room and sleep in her bed. It just didn't feel right to her.
When the last of the Masaki family graduated in college, Quirra couldn't find the time nor the money to get her GED and attend college even if it was part-time.
Grandma Maggie's hospital and nursing bills kept piling up.
Once Mika finished college and moved out of the house, Quirra had to sell her grandmother's home and down size just to keep all the bill collectors from constantly calling her.
Even though every siblings knew about their grandmother's health issues, no one came forward to offer their help. Nobody even bothered to ask Quirra if she was struggling. She feel so disconnected from her siblings that she couldn't find the right time nor the right words to ask for their help.
~ ∆ ~ ∆ ~ ∆ ~
On Quirra's 30th birthday, she was lying on a hospital bed with total acceptance of her diagnosis.
All those years of constant coughing should have been enough of a sign of her illness. Had she gone to the hospital to get an examination when she was 22 years old, they would have found the lung cancer at an early stage.
However now, after 14 years of second hand smoking, Quirra was dying of lung cancer. She could only scoff at her bad luck. She was never one of the lucky ones anyway, -might as well die and wash away her bad luck, right!?- she thought to herself.
When her coughing got really bad, she fainted at work and was immediately brought to the hospital. It was then she discovered how critical her illness had gotten and that she didn't have much time left to live.
Against the doctor's orders, she checked herself out then hired a lawyer to write her will and put her finance in order before fainting for the 2nd time on the streets on her way home.
When she was brought back to the hospital, the doctors didn't let her check herself out again. Her illness had gotten more worse since she left.
~ ∆ ~ ∆ ~ ∆ ~
"Happy 30th birthday self!" she softly and sadly said before coughing up a storm. When her coughing ended she stared at the window beside her bed, and looked back at her life...
Although she didn't regret most of it, she still had some things she wished were different. One of those was the fact that her siblings weren't considerate towards each other. She wished she was closer to them.
However because of her constant work schedule while ensuring their bills were paid on time, and also taking care of the house and grandma Maggie, she hardly have enough time to spare to bond with her siblings.
Even if she had a time to spare, she would take it as an opportunity for her to sleep since she could only get a 3-4 hours rest most of the time.
She wished her next life would be an easy one, so she could live a lazy life.
"As long as they are financially and are living a happy life now, I won't regret my decision." Quirra reaffirmed with herself, as she smiled bitterly at her own life.
She then decided to call each of her siblings. However, only Leo answered her call. "Hello?" Leo said upon picking up. Quirra could hear a lot of talking on the background.
"Hey Leo! Can I talk to you for a moment? I promise it won't be long."
"Sorry Quirra, I'm with some friends right now."
"Oh. Well, that's okay. I'll just send you an email then."
Leo laughed "You know you can just text me, right?"
Upon hearing him laugh, Quirra smiled herself "I know, it's just that I have a lot to say and I don't want to keep on sending you long messages. So it's better that I email you."
"Okay. Sure. It'll be the first thing I'll read when I'm done here."
"Okay. You have fun with your friends!"
"I will. Bye."
"Goodbye, Leo."
After their call ended, Quirra coughed up violently. There was blood coming out with every cough but she didn't call for a nurse. Instead, Quirra took her laptop to start typing her email and adressed it to all of her siblings.
Once she pressed send, she could feel her body getting heavier so she laid back on her bed and closed her eyes.
Her breaths became shorter by the minute. Quirra could feel her time has come and so she let go...
In the darkness, she could hear a robotic voice.
[Initiating contact with host . . . . .]