"I'm sorry Alexis!" David panicked, picking her up under her arms and hauling her back to her feet. "I'm sorry!"
He had one job. He had to protect his baby sister, and he went and broke her. He'd bounced her off the trampoline- seven year olds didn't have a great grasp on physics, but he'd just watched his sister soar like an eagle, and she had not landed well.
"Ouch, David!" she complained, and he stared, wide eyed, at her knees.
She was bleeding. Their dad had told him to protect her, and he went and broke his baby sister.
"Come on". And he grabbed her skinny wrist, tugging her back towards the house.
Perhaps he was a hypochondriac, but all he could think about was Alexis's knees getting infected.
He'd never disinfected anyone's knees before, but he'd watched Adelina do it many times before.
He also knew he wasn't supposed to be climbing into the medicine cupboard, and he was caught between wanting to help Alexis and risking the wrath of Adelina.
He pulled her little step stool out, helping her up onto the vanity. "Sit here, Alexis".
"Is it gonna hurt, David?" her eyes widened, and he frowned slightly.
"No, no its not".
He picked up the hand soap, pumping the liquid into his hand, smearing it over her knees.
"I'm sorry Alexis", he repeated.
The way she was sitting there silently made him think that hand soap from their bathroom did not do the same thing as whatever Adelina used to paint over his wounds- either that or Alexis had a higher pain tolerance- but her grazed knees would be clean. He grabbed a washer and scrubbed the soap away, inspecting them carefully.
"I'm sorry, Alexis", he said again, and she looked at her knees.
"Thank you David".
He helped her off the vanity, and she threw her little arms around his waist, squeezing him tight.
"Can we keep playing?"
He stared at her, incredulous. Had Alexis done that to him, he'd be in the back of an ambulance wailing. She was a lot tougher than she looked.
But from that day on, she always came to her brother over Adelina to tend to her wounds.