I had this idea and wanted to share it with you. A One-Shot about Jack and Bobby and their brotherly love =). Please bear in mind that I am not a native speaker of English, in fact, I am seventeen years old and still learning. So if you spot any mistakes, feel free to keep them =). Now, on with the story...
Jack is 16 and Bobby is 12
Enjoy :)
It was saturday morning and Jack woke up quite early. Even though it was only 7:30 a.m, he was in a good mood already. Grace had gone out of town and him and Bobby would have the entire house to themselves until monday evening. He got up and took a shower, careful not to wake Bobby, who was still asleep under his covers. After he had finished, he fixed some breakfast and settled in front of the couch.
There were only re-runs playing and once he had finished his breakfast, which consisted of a simple bowl of cereal, it was already 9:30. Bobby usually didn't sleep any longer than 8, even on weekends. Jack went upstairs to see if everything was alright.
"Hey Bobby, you plannin' on staying in bed all day?" he called.
"No, I'm up! I'll be right there!" Bobby shouted with what sounded quite like a hoarse voice.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked once he entered the room. Bobby lay there in his bed, sweat forming on his forehead and he looked pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.
"Yeah, I'm fine! I wanna take a shower.." with that he tried to get out of bed but Jack pushed him back into the covers by placing his right hand on his younger brothers' forehead.
"You feel kind of hot. I think you may have a fever!" Jack said in a worried voice. Great! Just great. That was just what he needed. The weekend off and then this! Now he would have to take care of his pain-in-the-ass little brother for the whole time, instead of doing what he had planned: partying with his friends and having fun. Jack had even planned on meeting with Courtney, since he still liked her and wanted her to give him a second chance. But with Bobby sick, there was little chance of getting out of the house now! Jack started to get annoyed and Bobby, being his usual self, didn't help, at all.
"Jack, stop it! Just leave me alone. I wanna take a shower. I'll be fine!" his weak attempt to get up failed when Jack pushed him down again.
Bobby usually became quite grouchy when he got sick.
"Alright fine, but right after that you get back into bed. I'm gonna call Mom and ask her what to do." Jack didn't know what to do now, for he had never been really sick and normally their Mom took care of Bobby whenever he was.
Jack was walking down the stairs when he heard Bobby coughing and, at last, vomiting in the bathroom. Immediately, he rushed upstairs again and opened the bathroom door.
"Whoa! Hey, alright! It's okay!" He tried to calm his younger brother, because with his asthma, this could go bad very easily. The disgust he felt upon the smell and look of Bobby's barf faded when his concern took the greater of him. He saw a tear in Bobby's eyes and knew that he must have felt really bad. Bobby barely ever cried in front of him, and Jack could tell by his reaction now that he was scared.
After he had flushed, Jack helped Bobby rinse out his mouth with water and put him back into bed.
"Okay, just stay here. I'll be right back." He wanted to make his brother feel comfortable but he just couldn't baby him like his mom always did. So he just stayed his cool self and covered Bobby with the blanket. Next, he picked up the phone and called his mother.
"Hello?"
"Mom? It's Jack!"
"Jack? Is everything alright? How are you guys doing at home?"
"Not so good, Bobby's sick."
"What? What's wrong with him?"
"I think he has a fever and he just threw up! Can you come home?"
"Jack, I'm in the middle of a work day here, I can't come home until monday. I told you. But I'll tell you what: Just call Mrs Mallican, her number's pinned to the fridge. She'll come over and help you."
"Alright. You sure she knows what to do?"
"Well, she may be an old lady but she's always helped me out. Believe me, she'll know what to do.. okay sweetheart, I have to go, I'll check in on you later, okay?!
"Okay." and with that, he hung up, just to pick the phone up again and call their neighbour, Mrs Mallican. She'd been in the neighbourhood forever and Jack had known her his entire life, but he had never been really close to her or anything. She was just an old lady he occasionally said 'hi' to.
"Hello?" a familiar voice answered.
"Hello, Mrs Mallican. This is Jack McCallister."
"Oh, hello dear. How are you all doing?"
"Well , my mom told me to call you. My brother's sick and she thought you might know what to do. She's out of town for the weekend..."
"Well of course, I'll be right over. Don't worry."
"Okay thanks"
Jack walked up the stairs again to check on his baby brother, and felt knid of sorry for him. Of course, he wold never show that to anyone, but he did..in his own way..
"Alright, Mrs Mallican will be here soon. Mom told me to call her. She said she would help you"
"What? Why? I don't even know her. I don't want her help. I'm fine!" Bobby said in a defiant way. Typical Bobby, Jack thought. He knew his brother well enough to be able to tell that Bobby was just saying that because he was actually scared. But whatever, he had to go through this. And anyways, what was there to be scared of? It wasn't like the 55-year old lady was going to kill him, was she?
"It's alright, she is just gonna come over for a couple of minutes and leave soon after... Don't be such a baby, Bobby!"
"I am not! I just don't want a stranger to come by."
"She's not a stranger. And anyways, I don't know what to do. I've never really been sick. So just suck it up!" With that the bell rang. Jack went downstairs to get the door. In the meantime, Bobby got out of bed and listened at the door frame. He could hear them talk about him being sick and theit mom being on business. Then they came upstairs. Jack saw Bobby standing at the door frame and guided him back into the room. Bobby didn't sit or lie down, he just stood there, leaned against his big brothers side.
"So, what seems to be the problem, Bobby? I heard you weren't feeling too good."
"I'm fine!" he said but Jack took over for him.
"Well, I think he has a fever and he just threw up this morning. He looks kind of sweatty, too."
"I see, well, then why don't you just lie down for a moment."
When Bobby wasn't making any attempts to lie down, Jack gave him a stern look and Bobby knew he had to obey. While he sat down on the bed, Jack instantly felt bad for his little brother. He could even see tears forming in his eyes.
Bobby was feeling like sh*t and scared, his mother wasn't around, their neighbour was in his bedroom, telling him to do things and Jack wasn't helping either...He just made things worse by being so cold all the time. He sat down with Bobby in order to make him feel better and Bobby looked up to his brother with his puppy dog eyes nobody could resist. He wrapped one arm around his younger brothers shoulders. That was something he rarely or never did, but given the circumstances...
"Okay, dear. First, I'm gonna take your temperature to see how high you fever is." Jack could have smacked himself at that moment. Of course! Something he hadn't even thought of..
Bobby opened his mouth a little, when Mrs Mallican said:
"Oh, no dear! I need you to turn over and lie on your side or your stomach for that. This is a rectal thermometer, which means it goes in your bottom." Before she had even finished the last sentence Bobby looked up to Jack in fear. Even Jack was speechless, like he got hit by a ton of bricks. And he could perfectly understand his brother. He would never (!) allow anybody to do something like this to him. Not even his mother.
Mrs Mallican must have seen the facial expressions on both of their faces because she asked:
"Well, it's the most accurate way, you know. Has this never been done to any of you?"
Jack shook his head and could see two tears running down his brothers cheeks. So he finally cracked.
"No, Jack! Please, don't let her do it!" Bobby was sobbing and started to panic. This was all too much for him. His breathing increased and his cheeks turned red. His eyes were glassy by now.
"It's alright, don't be scared! This won't hurt a bit. I've done this plenty of times. Come on. I'll help you!"
But Bobby just backed away further and further until he could feel the wall pressing against his back. He cried and hid his face in his arms, not wanting anyone to tough him.
"Mrs Mallican, is this really necessary? Can't you do it the other way? In the mouth."
"Yes, I'm afraid it is necessary. You see, Jack, his nose is stuffy and he can't breathe through it, so he won't be able to hold the thermometer under his tongue and since he's been sweating I can't rely on the axillary method either. He is just scared. But I promise, I'm not gonna hurt him. It'll only take three minutes."
Jack sighed. He would never get his brother to cooperate. There was only one possibility he saw, and he didn't like it one bit.
"Alright, can you do it with me first?" Bobby immediately looked up and saw his brothers' embarrassed look.
"Ehm, well, of course, if you want to. No problem."
"Okay Bobby. I'll let her do it to me first, so you see it doesn't hurt, alright? Then it's your turn, understand?"
Without waiting for an answer, he laid on the bed, next to his little brother.
"So, it doesn't hurt, right?" he asked Mrs Mallican
"Not one bit, I promise."
"Just get it over with." Jack began to unbutton his pants, when Bobby watched in disbelief. His brother was doing this for him? No way! He couldn't let Jack take all this embarrassment just to show him that it was alright. He wasn't even sick. When Jack was about to pull down his pants, Bobby said, sobbing:
"Wait! You dont have to. I'll let her do it!" More tears streamed down his face as Jack got up and sat of the bed again, grateful.
"You sure?" he asked. Bobby didn't respond and just lied down on his stomach. His body was shaking slightly with fear and the fact that he was crying. He just buried his face in his arms and hoped that it would be over soon. Suddenly, he felt a weight pressing down the mattress next to him. As he looked up it was Jack. He wrapped one arm around his little brother and pulled him to his chest. Bobby cried even harder and wanted to run and hide somewhere, but feeling Jack next to him was nice. Jack's heart broke by the sound of his brother's crying. He could tell that Bobby was scared and embarrassed. But mostly scared. He pulled him even closer and stoked his hair. Then Jack felt the tears through his now wet T-Shirt, but it was alright with him. Bobby just held on to him, as if it was his last day to live.
Jack kept stroking his little brothers hair and gave a slight nod in Mrs Mallican's direction. She then slowly lowered Bobby's pants and underwear. Bobby just lay there, crying. Jack watched as Mrs Mallican put some lubricant on the thermometer and held on to Bobby's hip. She then spread his cheeks gently and inserted the thermometer slowly. Bobby flinched at the cold sensation and Jack just lay there, helpless. They lay on the bed for about three minutes and Jack tried to calm his brother as much as possible by talking to him in a calm voice. Next, Mrs Mallican gently took the thermometer out and pulled Bobby's pants back up. He didn't move though, he just lay there cuddling up to his big brother. Mrs Mallican said:
"102. That's high, but nothing to be worried about- yet! You need to get his temperature down. Just get him some Tylenol and an aspirin. He should lay in bed and rest the next couple of days, until your mom gets back and if the temperature gets any higher you can call me. I'll leave the thermometer here so you can check on him every 4 hours. okay?"
"Yes, thank you, I think we'll be fine!"
Mrs Mallican left without waiting for Jack to get up. Bobby just lay there, still crying and he felt a bit like a baby. At the moment, he just didn't care. Jack slowly got up and left Bobby alone on the bed. Shortly after, he returned with some Tylenol and a glass of water.
"Hey, Bobby! Come on. Take this. She's gone, okay? It's alright now."
Bobby still didn't turn around. He wanted to be left alone. He was too embarrassed to look into his brothers' eyes. But Jack just grabbed him and turned him around. And he was scared that Jack would do the same thing Mrs Mallican had just done to him in 4 hours. He was too afraid to ask Jack if he was going to do it the same way, so he kept quiet.
"Hey, Bobby! Calm down! I told you, it's not a big deal, okay? It's alright. Come on, now. Take this, it'll make you feel better."
Wiping the tears out of his face Bobby took all the courage he had and asked:
"Are you gonna do it again?" Jack knew what he meant, but didn't want to answer. Of course he was, but he didn't want his little brother to worry about that right now. He just made such a big deal out of it. It wasn't like Jack had never seen Bobby naked before, even though he had to admit this was something different.
"Just take this again and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Bobby took the medicine with shaky hands and then lay down again. Soon after, he fell asleep, because he had gotten tired from all the crying and the fever.
At about 2 p.m., Jack softly woke Bobby again, ready to take advantage of the dizziness Bobby was feeling.
"What? Jack?"
"Yeah, come on Bobby! Just roll over for a second. Then you can go back to sleep."
Bobby was awake at once.
"No! You're not gonna do it. You promised!"
"I said we were gonna cross that bridge when we came to it. So come on, it's not that big of a deal. It won't hurt. You've been through this before. Don't make a fuss."
"No, go away, I'll wait until mom gets back! I don't want to."
"Listen Bobby, either you turn around by yourself, or I'll do it for you. Don't fight with me, you know I'm stronger. Your choice."
Tears started to form in Bobby's eyes again. Oh God! Not again, Jack thought. This would just make it harder. So Jack decided to get it over with and started to turn Bobby around. But Bobby wasn't too keen of the idea and fought him. Jack was getting annoyed and had Bobby turned over in a second. He was still his big brother..
He sat on Bobby's thighs, when Bobby started crying again.
"No! Please Jack! Don't do it! I swear I won't bug you again. Please, Jack. Get off me!" Jack could hear the panic in his baby brothers' voice but he just had to suck it up. Jack pulled down Bobby's pants and was about to do the same with his underwear, when Bobbys hands clung to his and he looked over his shoulder with a pleading look. Jack sighed, but he had to go on. He hated to see his little brother like this. He simply took both of Bobby's hands in one of his, and quickly pulled down his underwear. Bobby tried to wiggle free, but it was no use. He couldn't fight the inevitable. So he just cried until he felt Jacks hand on his backside. He gently spread Bobby's cheeks apart and inserted the thermometer. Therefore, he let go of Bobby's hands, who used this opportunity to grab the thermometer and take it out.
"It hurts! Stop it. I don't want this!"
Jack just placed the thermometer in his brothers rectum again, knowing that he was lying and grabbed his hands. Bobby was forced to lie still and continued to cry and whine. Jack said:
"I'm sorry Bobby, but I want you to get better. Okay little brother? I'll make it up to you I promise."
Bobby didn't answer. He felt so humiliated and just wanted to die right then.
After three minutes Jack let go of his brothers hands and took out the thermometer. He read. "101.6! A little better than before."
He jumped off his brothers legs and pulled up his pants again.
"I hate you!" Bobby said.
"I know, I'll be back. Just lay there!" He knew Bobby was just saying that because he felt embarrassed so he didn't respond anything to it. He would try to make his brother feel better. No matter what.