Long-term plans

As children, they did not realize how poor they were until their mom sold all of her organs, only leaving a brain in a transportation jar. They did not even know such services existed until a medical worker came with explanations, documents, and the jar. Liberty remembered how her brother had been squeezing her arm so hard that it was painful. This sensation was probably, the only thing that kept her from drifting away completely.
She was the oldest in the family now; she had to protect them both, so Liberty was listening to the medical worker’s explanations about how to keep the brain alive.

Later they read mom’s letter, still holding hands.
It contained a few lines of farewells and many pages of instruction on how to spend the money. Most of it was to be paid for Lawrence’s education, while the rest should cover Liberty’s living expenses for a few months until she finds a way to provide for herself. The plan relied on many factors: Lawrence had to win a scholarship every year, Liberty had to find a way to accommodate Lawrence during the holidays, and some distant relative had to sign papers required to keep juvenile protection – but more of juvenile exploitation – organizations away. The education was supposed to get Lawrence a high-paying job, allowing him to pay for a new functioning body to accommodate their mom’s brain.
They didn’t read the letter in one go. Lawrence cried himself to sleep after half a page on their first attempt. But after a little while, they knew it by heart.

At first, they followed it to the letter. Liberty attempted to save even more by cooking the plainest dishes, and Lawrence never complained as he used to before the mom was gone. Lawrence was studying every day, and Liberty was either looking for side jobs or researching a topic of increasing productivity of one’s studying.

Then Christmas came.
With the holiday came a shortage of part-time workers everywhere, so Liberty was busier than ever and making more. As she was finally getting home, she saw it. It was a holiday cake in the very center of a showcase stand. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful one she had ever seen. And it was also sold for half the price because Christmas had already ended. Even half of the price was a lot more than Liberty had saved on cutting the costs, but this time she decided that it was not that important. She still had money planned for her use, and she could just work hard later to compensate for this spending. But she wouldn’t have a chance to compensate for not giving Lawrence anything for this Christmas while leaving him home all alone. So she bought the cake.

All she could think of was her brother’s reaction. Would he be mad? Would he be happy? She didn’t remember lying to Lawrence before, but she could always claim to have spent less and talk about how sweets are good for one’s brain. Only at the doorway did she realize that he was probably still sleeping, as it was early morning. She entered noiselessly into a quiet apartment. This apartment only had one room and one bed. Liberty could see right away that her brother was sleeping. However, as she closed the door with a little click, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Without locking the door or taking off her jacket, Liberty shook off her boots and approached Lawrence with a big carton. His eyes widened, probably of a sudden movement, but when she kneeled before the bed and revealed the cake, she could not see anything but the delight on her brother’s face. She brought plates and forks right to their bed.

She offered Lawrence the first bite of this glorious meal, a strawberry covered in cream. The little brother didn’t bite but put another berry on his fork for her. They locked eyes, and with a little nod, each took a bite of the sibling’s offering. It surprised Liberty that the taste was not only sweet as she expected but also a bit sour and somehow fresh. The combination was wonderful. They locked eyes again, each of them smiling, and dug in. When Liberty could not eat anymore, she started to watch Lawrence. He was eating slowly, as always. Despite this, his nose was covered in cream.
“You thought I would come without a present, didn’t you?”
He lifted his head and put a piece he was about to bite back on his plate. Then he slowly swallowed.
“No, I didn’t think about this at all. There is no reason for us to celebrate Christmas.”
“We could always celebrate post-Christmas! This way, I could get extra pay for working on the holiday, and we could get sweets for a lower price!”
Lawrence blinked and laughed, and his piece of cake fell from his fork. He tried to catch it but ended up pushing it onto their bed, which made Liberty laugh too. The door opened. Three young men were wearing masks. Despite covered faces, they looked disappointed with the apartment. 

“Yo, cake lovers!” started the one who opened the door “how come you have money to spend on fancy dessert but no money to get” he waved his hand around “anything?”
Liberty froze in place. Did they follow her here from the shop? They did not have any cash, so the impostors could not just take the money, but there still were numerous ways to force a transaction. However, would not they expose themselves this way?
 “Our life is miserable, so we spent everything we had on the last meal before our double suicide,” Lawrence said calmly, putting some more cake into his mouth and slowly chewing. “There is nothing here to take, but I still called the police. Leave us in peace”.
Liberty glanced at him in surprise, and the thug who spoke before laughed.
“And why is the girl so shocked to hear your plans?”
The guys were coming inside now, and Liberty could not help but think that they did not take off their shoes.

Lawrence put a knife handle into her right hand, which was not visible from the door, and made a light tap. Another tap. With a third tap, he turned on the lights, and Liberty jumped up, slicing randomly before herself. Somebody cried in pain; she got hit in the head, everything spun, at least two people were shouting something, the guy in front of her got a cake on his face, there was a gunshot and curses and sharp pain in her right shoulder. Liberty was screaming and slashing, but her attention was not there. She was trying to focus on Lawrence. How much time does he need to open his laptop and call for help? Was he able to do so? Liberty noticed that her right hand was not moving as she wished and was not holding the knife. Something heavy fell; there was a sound of shattering glass and a thud. She could not see what it was. Someone was shouting outside, but it was not easy to concentrate on it. It was difficult to focus on standing, too. Liberty had to sit down, no, to lay down. It was wet on the floor, but it was relaxing anyway, and she just had to close her eyes for a moment.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the whitest ceiling she had ever seen. The walls were also incredibly white. Liberty was clothed in an unfamiliar white garment, lying in a white bed covered with white sheets. It was too uncomfortable to be paradise but also didn’t hurt enough to be hell. So, she was alive. She took her left hand out and scratched her head. Then she attempted to sit up, leaning on her right arm, and had an unusual sensation. Liberty looked at her right arm.
“What. Is. That”
“If you allow, ma’am, this is the latest Fujitora-Lahache arm prosthesis, a teenage premium package allowing to use the same unit despite changes in a body.”
Whatever it was, it sounded expensive. And permanent.
“I am here, ma’am, to perform a check-up. Is this okay with you?”
“Could you answer some questions first?”
“Of course, ma’am, I will be glad to be of help.”
“How did I get there?”
“Emergency mobile”
“Was I alone?”
“Yes”
Liberty did not want to know, but she had to ask.
“At which point I am to pay for your services, and how much?”
“You don’t have to worry about that, ma’am. Your expenses are covered. In fact, we offer a number of discounts and free products for customers installing the latest generation of FLC full-arm or full-leg models. I could help you navigate the options, or you could browse our catalog.”
“What is FLC?”
“Fujitora-Lahache corporation, the producer of your prosthesis.”
Liberty thought that she would probably need to remember this name from now on. At least she was not in debt. However, it likely meant that Lawrence spent his education money, so they would need to figure out how to live together without sending him to school. Staying together was not an unpleasant thought. They simply need to find another way to pay for restoring mom’s body, and everything will be perfect.
“When will I be allowed to take visitors?”
“If the check-up goes without surprises, it will be allowed from two days after tomorrow.”
“But if the check-up is today, could not you allow visits starting tomorrow?”.
The nurse gave Liberty a long look.
“I am sorry to say so, ma’am, but we kept you unconscious for two twenty-two days, and no one requested information on your wellbeing or tried to contact you. I don’t want to discourage you, but you probably have overly optimistic expectations. In any case, the earliest possible visit will be no earlier than two days from now.”
Liberty just smiled. The nurse did not know Lawrence and how much he did for her or what he gave up for her.
Nevertheless, the nurse turned out to be right. Lawrence never answered her calls or messages and did not visit her even once. When Liberty was discharged, she went to the apartment they rented and found a lonely writer living there who knew nothing of previous tenants.