Chapter 4

Anne shifted slightly in her bed and slowly opened her eyes. She looked over and saw WD sleeping in a chair next to her bed. 'What happened? Weren't we rehearsing the new routine?' thought Anne. She shifted a little more, reaching out for her brother's hand that was hanging down his side. As soon as she made contact, WD startled awake. He looked around for a second, before his eyes landed on his sister's eyes.
"Anne, you are awake. How are you feeling?" He quickly sat up straight in the chair, leaning in closer to his sister.
Anne shrugged slightly "I'm ok. A bit confused. What happened?" Then suddenly recognition formed on her face and turned her head into her pillow.
"Nooooo, damn it! Did anyone see? How bad was it?"
WD squeezed her hand tightly "No one besides Carlyle saw. It wasn't too bad. About five seconds. You were out for a couple of hours. The show has just finished I think. You can hear the crowd cheering. I've told him about your condition and he thinks it's time we tell the troupe. Carlyle was a bit upset we didn't tell him before. He didn't even mention pulling you from the show. Just that he wanted you save. I think they all really care about us, Annie. I think it's ok to tell them all. Then we can all look after you if needed and might notice the signs a bit earlier next time."
A single tear dripped down Anne's face "I just don't want them to treat me any different."
WD chuckled sadly "I don't think you have to worry about that. They know how horrible it is to be treated differently because of something you can't help. We'll tell them when you are ready but I really think that everything is going to be ok."
WD leaned over and wrapped his arms around his sister, drawing her tightly into a hug.
Anne nodded softly into his chest "We will tell them when everything settled down after the show"

Once all the audience had left the tent, the troupe grouped around Philip, bombarding him with questions about Anne's and WD's whereabouts
"Where are Anne and WD? I thought they were going to do that new routine today. Did something go wrong at their last practise? Did one of them get hurt?" The questions were coming from all sides and Philip raised his hands, signalling for silence.
"Anne wasn't feeling very well after their last practise so the two thought it was better to sit out for today. I haven't checked on her yet but WD was with her. How about you guys all get changed out of your costumes and we meet back here after. I'll see how she is feeling and get you an update."
Everyone mumbled their agreement and filed out of the circus tent, quickly making their way to their rooms to get changed. Everyone was worried about the siblings and wanted to know what was going on.

Philip made his way to Anne's room and could hear quiet talking inside.
He knocked on the door and entered after a moment. To his relief, Anne was sitting up in bed, talking to her brother quietly. The pair turned towards him when they heard the knock and Anne smiled shyly at Philip.
The man gave a warm smile back and walked slowly over to the bed.
"Anne, I'm glad to see you up. You gave us a bit of a fright earlier. How are you feeling?"
Anne sighed sadly "I'm feeling much better, thank you. I'm so sorry that we couldn't be there for the show. How did it go? Really, I'm so sorry. I should have seen this coming much earlier."
But Philip cut her off quickly "No need to worry. The show was fine. Everyone is just worried about you though when you guys didn't perform. WD has told me about your condition. You really don't have to worry at all. You guys are part of this circus, of this family, and will be as long as you want to be. We would have never cast you out because of this. But now that I know, and hopefully you'll be able to tell the rest as well, we will be able to help if this every happens again. We'll know what to look out for. We were terrible worried. We were terribly worried about you. I'm glad you are feeling better."
The woman smiled thankfully at Philip and slipped her legs out of bed "WD and I have decided that it is time everyone knows. It will take a lot of pressure of my brother if he isn't the only one that knows what is going on. Is everyone getting together to celebrate after the show? We were going to go over and just let them know about everything." WD nodded in agreement.
Philip shook his head "They were all worried about you so they sent me to get an update. They are all meeting in the ring after they get changed so that I can tell them how you are feeling. You should come if you are feeling up for it. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you"
Anne stood up slowly, still feeling a bit weak, and together they all made their way to the circus tent where voices could be heard.

As soon as Anne walked in, everyone turned and quickly surrounded the girl. WD pushed their way through his friends and led Anne to the bleachers to sit down.
It was heart-warming how concerned all their friends were and Anne told everyone that night about her health condition. Everyone was very understanding and WD and Anne never thought that they would be part of such a great family, that would support them through anything.
They truly had found home…

The end...