What Brothers are Good For no. 2

Comfort when sick.

(Picture taken about a week and a half ago)

Jack arrived breathless at my feet.

Having been running harum-scarum from one end of the living room to the couch directly on the other side shoving a wildly silly Alaster into the soft cushions with all his might then racing him back to the starting line so they could repeat the craziness over and over again really took it out of him, and it was a second before he could speak.

"Alaster is the BEST!" he spat out...

then he ran back to meet his adoring little brother, constantly ready at the drop of a hat for any kind of fun.

And off they went.

The next day Alaster woke up with a high temperature and was in for a rough week.

When Jack woke up and joined us in the living room he asked me what was wrong, looking at his normally active brother lying limply on the couch.

I gave a brief explanation and ended with "He's gonna need a lot of love today."

Jack looked at me seriously and said "Today I'm giving all my love to Aly... That's a lot of love!"

He was true to his word.

He snuggled with him on the couch, brought him toys, asked him if he was alright, and spoke to him in a reassuring voice.

That night I went to their room one last time before retiring. Checking on my patient first, I felt a little frantic when the bed was empty. But it didn't take too much searching before I rested my eyes on him strewn at the foot of Jack's bed.

I could see it all so clearly in my mind.

Sick and sad, having a hard time sleeping, Aly wanted the brother who had given him all his love.

He got out of bed and used up his last bit of strength climbing up. Too weak to reach the final destination he succumbed to sleep feeling a bit better at least a little closer to his best friend.

You know... I felt a little guilty that night as I scooped his hot body up and placed him back in his own bed.