I jolt awake to the sound of a whip crack. I shake, curl into a ball, and hope it would just go away.
What did he find this time?
It used to be only once a month but now it's been only a week. Father hopes to teach Shane a lesson, so that he would follow my father's dream. Frankly I think otherwise. This is only the work of a madman who is stuck in the past, but if I really said anything... I trembled at the thought of what might happen.
I pull a blanket over my head as I hear another crack and thud.
Right as I think of how bad Shane's condition would be this time I hear father's feet storm out of the room. I wait a few seconds before reluctantly grabbing my makeshift first aid kit that I always take with me. Thanks to all the packages we receive of my father's medication, I have been able to slowly accumulate supplies in hopes to help my brother. Someday I wish I could let someone but my brother know about my interest in medicine, but that's a conflict that can wait till another time. I slowly creep down the hall to Shane's room. Since this isn't a rare occasion, I've learned all the boards that creak and groan when stepped on.
I slowly crack the door open and hold back my shock as my eyes land on Shane's back. The beatings are getting worse each time, opening the wounds that were close to healing.
Shane looks up from the wood floor and sighs with relief. I carefully turn him on his stomach with a groan and begin cleaning all the gash marks.
"What was it this time?" I whisper as he tenses from the pain of the antiseptic.
"I was just doodling on some homework when he came in. He completely exploded"
"Maybe you should try to play it a little bit safer?" I suggested
"At least you don't have to get whipped every time you come close to medicine or medical books. Let's just stop talking about it." He snapped
I finish wrapping his wounds in silence, then help him maneuver over to his bed. When He adjusts himself in order to get comfortable, he looks at me with a stupid grin on his face, "You're going to sign up for The Selection, right?"
"I don't know. Wait, how did you know I got a letter?"
"Don't think that I'm not watching out for you," he points at me jokingly," Who do you think put the letter in your room without anyone noticing?"
"Thank you" I say quietly.
I carefully hug him as to not touch any of his injuries and slowly creep down the hallway. I lay down on my old mattress and stare at the ceiling knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night.
What am I going to do? I think to myself as I slowly drift in and out of sleep.