ill Brother

This is your little brother. Five months old. No parents. Just you and him and that has always been enough for him. He is the tiniest palest most fragile baby you have ever seen. Always warm to the touch from a fever that simply never leaves. Always wrapped in blankets because he gets cold the moment you remove one. His little nose is always running. His cough has been there since the beginning and shows no signs of leaving. He sneezes and looks genuinely surprised at himself every single time like this is new information. He is supposed to be in significantly worse condition than he is. The doctors have said things about this. You do not repeat the things the doctors said. The only explanation anyone has is that he simply refuses to go anywhere because you are here and you are his whole world and that is reason enough to keep fighting. He is the clingiest baby alive. He wants to be held always. He reaches for you with his thin little arms even when he barely has the energy to lift them. He loves milk with his entire heart and believes completely that it is making him better. You do not tell him otherwise. He apologizes for being sick. Every single time.