We Shared a Body They Chose Her Every Time Chapter 03

We Shared a Body They Chose Her Every Time Chapter 03

My soul detached from the body. For the first time, I existed on my own. That body now belonged only to Sophia.

I drifted toward my family.

My brother held the short card and smiled gently. “Sophia will wake up tomorrow.”

Then his face filled with worry. “But Emily’s injuries haven’t healed yet. Which means Sophia is going to feel all that pain.”

He turned to my mother. “Mom, call the doctor. Get some painkillers ready. Sophia has always been delicate.”

My mother nodded quickly and left.

I let out a bitter laugh. Why couldn’t they think about getting me treatment when I was still there yesterday?

I felt pain too.

The next morning, Sophia woke up and saw my parents and brother standing over her.

The pain in the body hit her all at once.

She burst into tears. “Liam, it hurts so much. Why didn’t you make Emily take all the pain before you woke me up?”

My mother’s eyes went red immediately. “I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t think of that.”

My father ran over with the doctor, sweating. “Don’t cry, Sophia. The doctor is here. We’ll give you painkillers right now.”

My brother soothed her while she cried against his chest. He frowned at the doctor. “Be gentle.”

The doctor wiped the sweat off his forehead, quickly gave her the shot, and handled her like she was made of glass.

As soon as the medicine kicked in, Sophia stopped crying. She lay in my brother’s arms, still sniffling.

“Emily took care of everything, right? The Vance family isn’t going to come after me anymore?”

My brother nodded. His eyes were soft, nothing like the cold way he looked at me.

“Don’t worry. It’s handled.”

“And if the Vances are still angry, I’ll just bring your sister back out to take the punishment for you.”

Sophia beamed. “Thanks, Liam.”

She stuck out her tongue and batted her eyes. “You promised you’d take me to see the northern lights.”

My brother blinked. “The northern lights… but I already promised Emily I would take her. Would we have to go twice?”

When he saw Sophia’s face fall, he didn’t hesitate. “Okay. I’ll take you.”

“When Emily wakes up, I’ll explain and take her somewhere else.”

I floated nearby and watched.

For some reason, all these years, I could see everything Sophia experienced, but she could never see me.

So I knew exactly how my parents and brother loved her. How differently they treated us.

But she always thought I was trying to steal their love when I woke up. So she hated me.

I laughed bitterly.

Good. Now she had the body all to herself. She would never have to see me again.

To make it up to her, my mother cooked dinner herself that night.

She made my favorite dish, garlic butter pork chops.

I stared at it hungrily. I had never gotten to eat it. Not once.

When I was little, I saw Sophia eating it. After I woke up, I begged my mother to make it for me too.

But she just pushed me away. “I’m busy every day. When do I have time to cook? Can’t you stop causing me trouble every time you wake up? You’re so ungrateful.”

Little me had stood there frozen, crying.

I never asked her for anything again.

After dinner, my brother took Sophia to the mall. He went into a photo booth with her even though he thought it was childish.

“Come on, Liam, smile.”

She gave him a puppy face, and he had no defense. He smiled reluctantly.

I watched the pictures print out one by one.

I remembered the day I finished my SATs. I begged my brother to take one photo with me.

But he just looked up from his papers, annoyed. “We’ll see how you did on the test.”

I didn’t feel disappointed. I waited until my scores came. 1520. Good enough for Fairmont.

When I went to him, excited and hopeful, he frowned. “Today’s the last day of the month. Tomorrow we draw again.”

So he pulled Sophia out to take all the interviews and praise from the media.

And that photo he promised me? We never took it. Not until the day I disappeared.

Time passed.

It was the end of the month again. Time to draw.