Mischief's Mate (The Immortal Mates Book 1) by Nicolette Scarletti

the rational side of her knew that there was nothing she could do to stop fate. But there was that part of her that wanted to rage against whoever was responsible for her sister’s illness.
    The nurse ushered them into the four by six examination room. Chantelle couldn’t help but wonder why the damn room wasn’t bigger. Wouldn’t it have been more comfortable if the room was bigger? Emma gave her an odd look as she sat upon the table, its paper covering crackling as she got comfortable.
    “I’m just going to take your vitals while we wait for Dr. Berger.” The young nurse patted Emma’s arm as if this was her first rodeo.
    “Yep. I know the drill.” She took off the black and purple hoodie she had taken from Chantelle’s closet, that read, ‘I dig medieval men’, rolling up her sleeve for the blood pressure cuff.
    Chantelle rolled her eyes at how blasé her little sister was. If she hadn’t witnessed Emma’s reaction to her diagnosis and treatment with her own eyes, she would have never believed it. She was always joking about it. Saying things like, she was cold all the time because, she was already dead but just too stubborn to lie down.
    Chantelle of course thought some of her jokes were in poor taste and often told her that. Emma would just shrug it off. Telling Chantelle this was her way of dealing. The cancer couldn’t beat her if all it was to her was a joke.
    “You’re vitals are excellent.” That one sentence had Chantelle feeling better.
    “The doctor will be in shortly.” The nurse left them in silence.
    “When Dr. Berger gets here, please for the love of God, don’t make any jokes.”
    Emma cocked her head to the side as if she were examining her. “And why not?”
    “Because it’s not appropriate.” Her voice was stern but her eyes were soft.
    “Not appropriate?” She shrugged her frail shoulders, “I’m not gonna act as if I’m dead, ‘Telle. So deal with it.”
    That’s not what she had meant. Chantelle didn’t want her baby sister to give up her fight, just the opposite. But she needed to treat this as something serious, not just another thing to crack a joke about. She knew she shouldn’t have said anything. It was hard enough for a sixteen year old without being constantly reprimanded. Emma had found her own way of handling this. Chantelle knew she shouldn’t put a damper on it.
    “I’m sorry.” It came out a whisper but she knew Emma heard it from the way she sat straighter.
    “You should be.” She turned her hazel eyes toward her older sister, “I need to deal with this my way and you need to respect that.”
    There was a curt retort on the tip of Chantelle’s tongue, but one look at her sister’s tired expression and it died where it was. What could she say when Emma was right? Everyone had their own way of coping, her’s just happened to be humor.
    Before either of them could say anything further Dr. Berger walked in. He smiled warmly at Emma and nodded in Chantelle’s direction. A wave of hope hit Chantelle as she took in Dr. Burger’s expression. He didn’t look like a man bearing bad news. She felt her spirits lift and a feeling of calm swept through her.
    This was it, he was going to tell them that the tumor had shrunk down to nothing and there would be no need for Emma to continue with her treatment. Her little sister could finally live the life of a normal teenager. Or as normal a life as a Halflings’ life got at least.
    “Good afternoon.” He took a few sheets out of the charts, flipped through the pages and then met her eyes.
    “Now Miss Hale, it seems that there was some shrinkage from the last time.”
    Chantelle shifted in her seat, “How much?” She needed to know it had shrunk down to nearly nothing. That’s what she wanted to hear, anything else just wouldn’t do.
    Dr. Berger averted his eyes and Chantelle felt herself deflate. “A millimeter.” His eyes flashed up to meet Chantelle’s.
    Was he joking? Why hadn’t the damn thing