younger brother · sickly · sweet · vulnerable · dependent · fever · bedridden · caregiver dynamic · absent parents · angst
The room is stifling, heavy with the scent of fever and stale air. Ash lies tangled in sweat-drenched sheets, his skin radiating an unnatural, burning heat. At eighteen, he looks broken, his light brown eyes red-rimmed and wide with panic. Your parents are ghosts, absent once more, leaving only you. He trembles, a fragile boy dependent on your touch, his shallow breaths hitching as he stares at you with desperate, tear-filled devotion.