(Neil’s POV)
“Hey, wake up, man! You gotta take me to Wynter since I’m not on the guest list!” Jackson jumped on the bed, waking me up. I threw a pillow at him as he tripped on my leg and fell on the bed. “Why do I have to be the one to do it?!” I yelled in response. Jackson got on his knees and pushed me off the bed. “Well, whose fault is it that I’m not on the guest list? Mo- I mean- The birth vessel told me that you told them not to bother putting me on it!” I sighed, rubbed my eyes, and got up. “Fine, I’ll take you. But on one condition: You have to come to the press conference tomorrow.” He rolled his eyes, “Okay, fine. The parental units probably would’ve made me go anyway.” He said before grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the elevator.
I stopped and he almost fell over. “What!” he hissed. To which I replied, “At least let me shower first!” “Fine.” He spat back at me. His hair was messy and he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Weird to think that’s what I would look like if I lived like trash.
After I showered, combed my hair, brushed my teeth, and pulled a suit on, I entered the kitchen to see him there, eating all my food. “Hey!” I scolded. “What?! Dude, I haven’t eaten anything since, like, the day before yesterday!” I rolled my eyes as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie and grabbed my wrist, not bothering to clean up his mess. We got to the parking lot and I unlocked the car while Jackson gave me a death glare. “Are we seriously taking a Mustang? You’ve really got to be kidding me.” I returned the glare and said, “What, do you wanna take your dirty old van instead?”
He crossed his arms as I sat in the driver’s seat. “What? You’re the one who wants to go see Wynter, so get in!” He huffed and plopped down into the passenger seat before plugging his iPod in to the stereo. “What are you doing?” I asked. “None of your business.” He replied curtly. Some kind of annoying music came on and I immediately turned it off. “Dude, what are you doing? That’s Muse!” He said combatively. I turned on actual music and he responded by turning that off. “What the heck?!” I yelled. “Hey, we’re not listening to that crap!” He yelled back. “Fine, then we’re not listening to anything.” I pouted. “Fine!” We pulled into the hospital without any music playing and Jackson got out without saying anything. I jogged after him after turning the car off and was overwhelmed by the smell of hospital. I went to the secretary and cleared my throat. She kept reading her papers, ignoring me, and I cleared my throat again with more emphasis. “Can I help you?” She asked like a snob, still not looking up. “Yeah, I’d like to see Wynter Perkins, please.” I said sharply. Her eyes widened and she looked up at me. “Oh God—Sir, I’m so sorry— I—I didn’t know it was you.” She was flustered. I clenched my jaw as Jackson giggled. “Just give me the elevator key.” She scrambled to find it among her mess of a desk and finally seized the little white card from her drawer. “Thank you.” I said sarcastically, snatching it from her hand.
Jackson and I stood in the elevator silently and tried to avoid eye contact. It opened straight up to Wynter’s room and I went in first. Her long, wavy, and now blue hair flowed over her fragile shoulders and she clutched a light pink teddy bear I had bought her at a fair. I walked in first, Jackson behind me. “Hi, Wynt…” “Wynnie!” Jackson yelled from behind me, pushing past me and running to her. “Jack!” Her dark eyes lit up as he pulled her into his arms. Wynter was the only one in our family who actually called him Jack like he wanted. “What are you doing here, Jack-Attack?” She asked, playing with his hair. “I wanted to tell you something! You still wanted to learn how to play the bass, right? Well, my friend Mikey is really good and he can teach you!” She flung her small arms into the air. “You’re the best, big bro! Can I be just like Geddy Lee?” Jack giggled, “Close.” Jack was a completely different person around Wynter. I sat in the corner and rolled my eyes, pushing my hands into my pockets.
What’s so much better about him that I don’t have? I’m more responsible, smarter, cooler, nicer, more pleasant… Why does she love him so much? We’re both her big brothers, anyway… I was pulled out of my inner monologue by Wynter clapping her hands together. “When can he come?” Jackson giggled and held her hand in both of his. “I’ll get him to come tomorrow.” I cleared my throat. “Um… Jackson, can I talk to you for a second?” He shot me a foul look before softening his eyes and looking back at Wynter. “I’ll be back in a second, okay?” She smiled and nodded. Jack looked at me and his smile faded as I opened the door to the nurse’s quarters up for us to talk. Then, we went into the closet of the nurse’s room. I didn’t want Wynter to hear me yell.
“What are you doing?” I hissed at him. “What do you mean?” He yelled back, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you think you’re doing? You know she doesn’t have much longer, why are you giving her false hopes?!” “False hopes? She’s 13! She’s just a kid! Can’t you just give her this? All she wants is to learn how to play like a normal human being would be able to learn!” I sighed deeply. “You know she can’t do anything like a normal human being! Not anymore! Look at her! You think those little fingers can strum those thick strings easily like a normal person? No! She can’t play!” He narrowed his eyes, “How would you know that? You know she’s stubborn. You know she would do it either way. If it’s that you’re jealous about her liking me more, you can just go home. I’ll take a cab.” I felt my cheeks get hot and tears were forming in my eyes. “Fine, I will.” I pushed past him and left the hospital, not answering Wynter when she asked where I was going, and not looking back. They can both hate me for all I care.

Notes

So yeah, the Perkins twins are polar opposites and Jack can, in fact, be pretty mean.

If you didn't catch it from the title Wynter has cancer. Also, she's their little sister if you hadn't caught that either. But I'm sure you did.