"fedya, are you awake?"abel heard his brother grumble and turn over towards his direction. a tired sigh escaped his mouth, and abel knew that fedya was now awake.
"mmmm, i am now," he murmured. "what is it?"
"i heard footsteps," abel said. "i'm scared."
"no one's out there," fedya yawned. "and if there is someone, they're not out to get you."
"b-but what if they take me away from you?" abel's voice was laced with genuine fear. "or-or they take you away?"
fedya sat up, and let out a sigh. he slid out of his bed and walked over to abel's. the older boy hopped into bed with abel, and slung his arm around the worried boy.
"listen, no one is gonna take you away again," fedya reassured his little brother. "you're going to be okay, i promise you. do you want me to sleep next to you?"
abel nodded slowly, and fedya snuggled under the covers, close to abel. having his brother close to him made him feel safer, but it didn't completely extinguish the fear. slowly, abel fell asleep.
โฉโฉโฉ
"your daughter has PTSD," the professional woman explained.
"she-she what?"
"she has post-traumatic stress disorder,"
"yes, yes, i know what that means!" abel's mother snapped. "but how? how does she have PTSD? nothing happened to her!"
"i'm not a girl," abel muttered under his breath.
"you don't know that for sure ma'am," the psychologist said. "she may have experienced something traumatic. even little things such as bullying can be traumatic to children and teens."
"mom can i go outside and sit in the waiting room with fedya?" abel asked. he just wanted to get out of the room. he didn't want to listen to the doctor-lady diagnose him.
"no, you're going to sit right here and tell me what happened to you," his mother demanded.
"nothing happened!" abel snapped back.
"has she lost a loved one recently?" the psychologist asked.
"well- yes," abel's mother's voice cracked. "her little brother- he passed away on her birthday- christmas."
"was she close to him?"
"well both of them were- her and her other brother. they were inseparable."
"that can traumatize her, losing a loved one."
"but then why isn't fedya traumatized?" his mother questioned.
"people handle loss in different ways."
โฉโฉโฉ
"mom can we get mcdonald's?" fedya asked.
rain dripped down the windows as the family drove down the wet highway. abel traced the raindrops with his fingers, blinking slowly as it slid off the car window.
"sure," she sighed. "what do you want?"
"i want a chocolate milkshake and fries," fedya stated. "abel, what do you want?"
"her name isn't abel," his mother reprimanded.
"yes,
his name is
abel," fedya countered.
abel cringed. he appreciated fedya standing up for him, but it made him sick to his stomach. he felt sick hearing his mother so defiant, so against calling him abel.
"i'm not fighting with you," his mother hissed.
the rest of the car ride through mcdonald's and to home was silent. no one spoke at all. abel liked the quiet.
