Marvin looked over at his sleeping sister. She moved around in the neat hospital bed and she finally awoke from her awkward position. She stretched her arms and opened her eyes to see her brother sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chair. “How are you feeling?” Marvin asked her.
“I feel pretty good,” she said enthusiastically. Sophia was Marvin’s sister, and she had been battling leukemia for five years, ever since she was seven. They were quietly talking when their mom, Mrs. Jones, came abruptly into the condensed room and announced that it was time to leave. A nurse came in and unhooked Sophia from all the tubes and they hopped into the car, as everyone was eager to leave the melancholy hospital. When they got home, Marvin was hungry so he decided to have lunch. He quickly devoured two ham and cheese sandwiches, and went to lay down because he had basketball practice in an hour. He fell asleep before his blaring alarm clock woke him up. He rolled over on his side and stared at the clock, it read 2:36. He got on his basketball practice uniform and got in the car. His dad drove him to his school’s gym. It was Marvin’s first official practice with the whole team, and he was excited. When he got to the gym, it was vacant except for Mr. Jackson, the new basketball coach. Marvin got warmed up by just shooting many short shots, and by the time he was done, all of his teammates arrived and they began to practice as a team.
“Let’s go boys, we got a championship to win!” Coach Jackson barked. All of the boys huddled up in a circle. “Alright guys, let’s do some fast-break drills”. The kids started on the fast-break drills. When it came to Marvin’s turn, he bolted down the floor, like a streak of lightning, wanting to impress the new coach.
“Atta boy Marvin!” the coach pointed out his delight in his new player. They ran drills for two more gruesome hours, and at the end, they all realized how out of shape they were. Marvin climbed into his brand-new car that he got for his 16th birthday, a Ford truck. He headed off to his house after the brutal practice. When Marvin got home, he saw everyone at the dinner table, with dinner already served. He gobbled down the dinner and went outside to dribble a basketball, determined to make his last year, his best year. He worked on his dribble moves for an hour before making his way back inside the comfort of his home. He woke up the next morning, energized for his second day of full practice. He hurriedly got out of his seventh-period class, eager to get to his favorite part of the day, basketball practice. When he arrived in the gym, he noticed that no one was there, not even the coach. Marvin thought nothing of this and proceeded to his usual warm up routine which consisted of layups on both sides of the basket, and jump shots which got exceedingly longer with each consecutive make. He warmed up for about five minutes before he heard a pair of footsteps enter the gym. He turned around and saw his coach, Coach Jackson, along with his assistant coach, Coach Lewis.
“Hey coach,” Marvin said greetingly.
“Hey Marvin, I just wanted to let you know, I was watching up in the weight room, and I saw a whole lot of potential in you,” exclaimed Coach Jackson.
“Y-y-ou were watching?” Marvin stammered.
“Yes, and I would like to invite you to train with me and Coach Lewis after this practice, here at school.”
“Wow, I’d love to train with you guys” Marvin answered.
“Alright, well hurry up and go text your mom and tell her you’ll be staying late.”
“Yes coach”.
Marvin scampered off the court and went to his gym bag which contained his phone. He quickly shot his mom a text and then ran onto the court. He practiced with the other varsity level kids until five o’clock, and then he stayed around and shot for fifteen minutes while the other kids left. Coach Jackson approached Marvin with a smirk on his face, “You ready to get some real work in kid?”
“Uhhh yeah let’s do it”.
“All right, let’s get going.” Marvin trained for two hours with his coaches. He made an endless amount of shots, and by the time he was done, you would’ve thought he just went swimming in the ocean. He worked on his dribble moves, along with his shot. “Good work, Marvin.” Marvin left the gym and went out to his truck. He hopped in and headed for home. When he got to his house, it was 9:00 at night. He saw his mom sitting at the dinner table, her eyes moist with tears.
“Mom, what happened? Is Sophia alright?”
“S-s-she got taken out of school today and she got rushed to the hospital.”
“What happened?”

“I’m not sure, I was waiting for you to get here to see if you wanted to go to the hospital with me to see her. Your dad’s already at the hospital with her. If so, take your school clothes and we can sleep in the chairs there overnight.”
“Ok, sounds good.”
Marvin and his mom went to the hospital and saw Sophia in a fresh hospital bed. Marvin shivered at the sight of her and witnessed how weak she looked, and how pale her face was. She was asleep on the bed, and by the time she woke up, Marvin and his mom were already asleep in their chairs. The next morning, Marvin woke up in his chair and got ready for school. His mom drove him to school and told him what the doctors had said about Sophia. She lied to him,  saying that she was alright and should be out of the hospital in a couple days. Marvin went to school and trained with Coach Jackson late at night again. He went back to the hospital and saw that Sophia hadn’t gotten any better. The next morning, when he went to school, he wondered if she would get better at all. Marvin couldn’t focus all day, and he had a hard time staying awake, because he wasn’t getting enough sleep in the old, stiff hospital chairs. The only thing that helped him take his mind off Sophia, was basketball. He continued to get better and train with Coach Jackson. Each and every day he would go and visit Sophia, and he saw that she was getting better. She went through chemotherapy, and she started to feel like herself again. One day, he saw that Sophia looked perfectly fine, she even looked happy in the miserable, gloomy hospital bed.
“How was your day today?” asked Sophia.
“Good, what about you?” replied Marvin.
“It was actually pretty good, my checkup is tomorrow, and they get to see if they can release me from the hospital. I feel fine, like nothing hurts at all.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
The following day, Marvin couldn’t think about anything but Sophia. In school, he wasn’t paying attention and even during basketball he was missing shots he didn’t normally miss. After he was finished with his training, he checked his phone and saw a message that read, “Come to the house”. He looked, and it was from his mom. He got into his car, not knowing whether to be excited or depressed about the news. When he got to the house, he found Sophia and his mom on the couch, watching TV.
“How’d it go?” Marvin asked eagerly.
“You’ll never believe this, but they said I can get released from the hospital, and … I’m cancer free!”
“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!”
Marvin and Sophia hugged tightly for a long time. When they finally got apart, they both went to bed happy. Marvin’s first game was coming up, and it had been a full two weeks since Sophia had been cancer-free.
“Sorry I can’t make your first game Marvin, I’m really sorry but I have to take Sophia to a check-up with the doctor,” Marvin’s mom said sincerely.
“That’s fine, as long as Sophia’s alright.”
Marvin played his first game against the Makertown Titans, an unexperienced team. He had a great game and had 24 points. When he got home, he went in the door and saw his mom sitting at the dinner table, her hair a mess, and looking incredibly distraught.
“What’s wrong?” Marvin asked inquisitively. His mom burst into tears and put her head on the table. He went over to comfort her, not knowing what had happened.
“Just as I thought Sophia would be normal” she muffled through sobs. “The doctors found a brain tumor in her head, and they think it’s pretty serious. Your dad’s at the hospital and he took off work to stay with her.”
“Will she be alright?” Marvin asked. His mom raised her arms up, as to say that she didn’t know. He went to bed that night thinking about Sophia and what it meant for his life. Meanwhile he tried hard to concentrate on his next game against their rivals, the Woodbridge Gophers. They would play them twice this year, and they were ranked as the eighth team in the nation. Marvin went out onto the court against them, thinking nothing about basketball. Marvin wasn’t paying much attention to the game, and if he was being honest, he didn’t really care about it at that moment. They ended up getting demolished, losing 81-67. Marvin kept on thinking about Sophia. He went through practice the whole week, determined to play better during big games. The season flew by, and Marvin had an outstanding season, but he couldn’t get his mind off of Sophia.
By the time he could stop and think about what was going on, it was time for the last game of the season. It was against their bitter rival, the Woodbridge Gophers, who they lost to in the second game of the season. Marvin was determined to win this game, and to play well. Marvin’s team, the Panthers, started off on a 23-12 run making a lot of easy layups thanks to Marvin’s extraordinary defensive play in the first quarter. The game got tighter and tighter, and when Marvin looked up at the clock, he saw that it was the fourth quarter and there were only thirty seconds left! The Panthers were only winning by 1, a slim margin that any decent team could overcome. Marvin knew that all of his hard work with Coach Jackson would eventually pay off. after the game, he saw that it just had. Marvin played outstanding defense in the final thirty seconds racking up two steals and more importantly, the win. Since they finished the season with only two losses, they automatically advanced to the district championship. Marvin knew that his mom would be coming, but he was surprised when his sister showed up at the game. Marvin played the best game of the year. They got revenge on the Gophers, beating them by 12 points. After the game, Marvin went over to his sister, surprised that she attended his game.
“Great game,” Sophia said. Marvin looked at Sophia and wanted to cry. He held back his tears, not wanting to add any more sorrow to his sister’s life. She looked incredibly sick, and he wondered if she would ever be well again. “This might be the last time I ever get to see you,” Sophia looked at Marvin. Right after the game, Sophia was rushed back to the hospital. They hooked her up to many different cords, but it was too late.
“When you’re up in heaven, remember that I love you,” Marvin whispered in her ear these words, and Sophia smiled before passing away in Marvin’s arms. Marvin collected her dead body in a hug and cried. It was truly, a different kind of love.
The End