Megan and Ben’s sibling relationship

Megan and Ben’s sibling relationship is presented through Megan’s retrospective account of his death and its aftermath. Ben Mills is her brother, and his killing leaves a lasting imprint on how she remembers home and, years later, approaches medical care.

Loss and its imprint

Megan recalls that after Ben’s death, the family home became a place where everything reminded her of him. At seventeen, she was glad to get away from her parents and that house. Her account links the loss not to a detailed description of their sibling bond, but to the absence Ben left behind and the difficulty of remaining among its reminders.

Life after Ben’s death

In describing her time with Mac, Megan says he took her in, loved her, and kept her safe. She remembers being happy with him, while acknowledging that their life included heavy drug use. At seventeen, she did not need that happiness to last; she needed it in that moment. Her recollection places Mac’s care in the period after Ben’s death, when leaving home offered distance from the grief attached to it.

The loss’s continuing presence

Ben’s death remains present in Megan’s later account of giving birth to Libby. She explains that she had a fear of hospitals because the last time she had been in one was when Ben was killed. During her pregnancy, she avoided scans and medical advice, saying she could not face the lectures or the situation itself. She also describes the pregnancy as unreal to her until its end. Her memories therefore connect her brother’s death to a later, consequential avoidance of medical care, while making clear that this was one part of a wider difficulty confronting the pregnancy.