"Would you just sit still!" Jeremy growled, struggling to wrap a bandage around my hand. He gripped my wrist, keeping me from thrashing away. After a few moments he succeeded, giving me an exasperated look.

​

"Let me help you next time, okay?" he said, gathering the broken pieces of my plate on the tray. I looked down, embarrassed. I'd have given anything for the strength to feed myself, sometimes I convinced myself I was ready. But I never was. The sickness made my bones feel like they were glass and caused my limbs to shake.

​

As much as I envied my brother and his health, he was always there to help me. Jeremy fed me my meals, he read to me when he returned from school, he checked my body for sores and always made sure I was comfortable before he went to bed.

​

"You poor baby!"

​

My mother entered the room and gasped at my bloody bandage. I hated feeling this way- helpless, infantile. I scowled as she turned my palm over, tears running down her face. She wrapped her arms around me, rocking me gently.

​

"It's okay my poor, sweet little babe. Mama's got you. Mama's here."

​

How I hated that syrupy voice in my ear, how I resented being so fragile. She kissed my forehead before pulling the covers over me.

​

"You'll always be my baby," she cooed before turning the lights out.

​

​

The next day was my birthday. Ten years old. Just another day marked by a scratch on the wall behind my mattress. I endured my mother's insistence at reading me nursery rhymes throughout the day. I watched the sun rise and then fall outside my window, longing to be anywhere but that forsaken deathbed. She finally left me alone, bustling downstairs to prepare my birthday treats. I was relieved when I heard Jeremy's steps approach down the hallway.

​

"Make a wish!" he said, lowering the cupcake for me to blow out the candle. I made a wish and let out a long breath, noting how much stronger my lungs felt that day. Jeremy held the cupcake up for me to bite. But looking at it up close made me nauseous.

​

"I'll… have one later," I murmured. Jeremy shrugged and took a bite.

​

"Your loss," he said with his mouth full. In seconds he had devoured the entire thing and was sucking the frosting off his fingers. He gave a satisfied belch. But then his expression changed.

​

He dropped to the floor, his face white, his eyes bulging. I screamed for mother as loud as I could. She burst into the room, staring at Jeremy in shock.

​

"No, no! That cupcake was for you, my baby! No, no, no!"

​

Jeremy gargled and writhed.

​

"What's… wrong with him?" I gasped. Mother's voice shook.

​

"The… medicine… The medicine I give you to make sure you'll always be my little baby… He's not used to it like you are… It's too much for him…"