Kevin awoke the next morning to his brother missing. He whipped around to find him, forgetting what had happened to him the day before. He lied on his back down and moaned in pain. 'I have to go for food,' he thought trying to sit up and move. It was too much pain for him. 'I’m sorry Eli, I can't go today,' he thought as tears fell over his cheeks. He fell back into a dreamless sleep.

            Eli came back a few hours later with food. He was back to his normal self and was able to snatch enough food for both of them to eat. He walked into their room and saw that Kevin was still asleep.

            “Hey, sleepy head, it’s time to wake up.” He said as his poked his brother.  Kevin groaned in response to Eli.

            “Where did you go?” Kevin asked.

            “I went out to get food. I figured that you were doing it so much while I wasn’t well. So now I’m doing the same thing.” Eli stated as he pushed a piece of bread in Kevin’s hands. “Eat. I don’t know what happened to you, but I’ll take care no matter what.”  Eli sat down next to his brother. He rubbed his back as Kevin ate the little amount of bread he could hold down. He was ashamed of what he did and how he made his brother worry.

            “I’m sorry,” Kevin whispered. He leaned into his brother’s side. “How long were you gone?” he asked.

            “I was gone for a few hours. What did you do?” Eli asked. It looked like his brother was , but he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

            “I don’t want to talk about it.” Kevin replied quickly.

            “Please tell me. You look like you were .” Eli didn’t miss the shutter from his brother as he said rapped. “So you were?” Kevin started crying.

            “They were going to take me! I didn’t want to leave you to die alone. What else could I do?” Kevin sobbed. Eli took him in his arms and held him tight.

            “Shhh. It’s okay.” Eli soothed him.

            “I couldn’t let you die!” Kevin mumbled into his brother’s chest.

            “I know.” Eli reassured him. He rubbed his back trying to get Kevin to go back to sleep. “Sleep. You need it to heal.” He smiled at his brother. Kevin’s eyes fluttered close. He was exhausted from everything. Eli placed him back on the bed. He knew who he had to talk to if he wanted to understand what Kevin was going through.

            “So what do you need?” The girl asked. She was one of the only girls left in the area because she cut her hair short and dressed like a guy.

            “You know Kevin right? He was…. He was yesterday…. A-and I want to….”

            “You want to know how to help him right?” she finished for him.

            “Yeah Amber. How do I help him?”

            She ruffeled through her bag and pulled out a small bag. She opened it and dumped two white round pills into her hand. “These will help his pain for two days. Give him one as soon as he wakes up then give him the next one tomorrow. If that doesn’t help him come back.” She ordered.

            “But I can’t pay you.” Eli replied. Amber blushed.

            “It’s nothing. Kevin’s helped me out a lot, so it’s my turn to help him.” She said shyly.

            Eli smiled. “Thanks.”

            “Yah! Get going with that!” She barked as her face started to turn even more red.

            Eli walked into their room to see Kevin thrashing and sweat running down his face.

            “Not again,” Eli sighed as he rushed over to his brother. “Kevin! Kevin! Wake up!” He yelled as he shook him. Kevin’s eyes shot open as he huffed. He looked at his brother with fear in his eyes. His fear formed tears. “It’s okay.” Eli said as he pulled his brother back into his arms.

            “I had a dream that you left and never came back like mom and dad.” Kevin sobbed. Eli just sat there waiting for his brother to calm down.

            “Here.” Eli said as he handed Kevin one of the pills Amber gave him. “I got this from Amber. She said it’ll help with the pain.”

            “Thanks.” Kevin replied. He took the pill and swallowed it dry. “Do we have food?”

            Eli smiled. “Yeah,” he said. He handed Kevin a piece of the bread he snatched earlier. “Eat” he ordered. Kevin ate the piece slowly.

            Kevin finished then looked at his brother. “Is it okay if I sleep some more?” he asked.

            “Sure. I’m just going to fix these pants for like the twentieth time.” Eli replied smiling at his brother. He was glad that Kevin was getting the sleep he missed while he was taking care of him.

            “Thanks,” Kevin smiled as he drifted back to sleep.

I'm so so so sorry for not keeping up with this story. I'll try to keep it going! Thank you for all who stayed while I wasn't working on it! (Deepest bow ever!) Thank you!!!! TT_TT