Switch ~ jake brooks

1.5

Beau's Pov

I tightly squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for mum to tell Jai. Soon enough the dreaded words rolled off of her tongue, the biggest secret she had ever kept was now out and I was petrified to see Jai's reaction.

I mentally timed myself and on the count of three, opened my eyes. I was slightly concerned due to Jai's prolonged silence, though a state of pure shock was obviously expected.

When I glanced at Jai I could see hundreds of emotions in his eyes though, shock, confusion, anger and worry were most prominent. His face matched the emotion in his deep brown eyes, as it was contorted in confusion. Seeing my poor baby brother in this state was heart breaking, his life had been flipped upside down and at that moment, I honestly couldn't tell whether it was for the better.

Due to being exposed to Jai's vulnerability, at that very moment I vowed never to let my brother get hurt by anyone ever again. I would protect him at all costs.

My never ending train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by my mum. She let out a loud gasp, whilst her eyes were still fixated upon Jai. She appeared to be frozen, not moving, not speaking, only watching Jai.

As I looked over I noticed both of Jai's crutches were on the floor and he was gripping onto the counter top for stability. His eyes were squeezed shut and every ounce of colour seemed to have drained from his face. He looked as if he was going to faint, as his frail body began swaying back and forth slightly, due to dizziness.

As I steadily walked over to him, ensuring I didn't startle him anymore, his whole body began to fall forward. His once ebony eyes were now closed forbidding anyone from seeing the beauty that lies within them, the strong grip that he had once possessed on the marble counter top had loosened and his one and only fully working leg buckled beneath him. He was falling.

I acted on instinct and quickly lunged forward in order to break his otherwise painful fall. Luckily, I was successful and Jai's limp body collapsed into my hands. Even though I knew he would be fine, I had no way of preventing the tears that  spilled down my cheeks as soon as I caught him.

I was overwhelmed, feelings of guilt, pain, worry and relief washed over my body, causing me to tighten my grip on Jai. My salty tears were landing in Jai's hair and were soon accompanied by my mother's, as she jumped out of her frozen state of shock and ran over to check he was ok.

She wrapped us both in a heart warming hug, after placing continuous gentle kisses atop Jai's head.

My quiet promises to always keep Jai safe were muffled, not only by his damp hair, but by my mother's erratic breathing and many grateful thank yous, due to me saving Jai from anymore physical pain.

We decided it would be best to lie Jai on the sofa and so, with slightly shaking hands I picked my brother up bridal style and manoeuvred him to the living room.

Mum darted around Jai attempting to make him as comfortable as she could. Finally, after much worry, she put the last velvet cushion beneath his head, readjusted the damp cloth covering his forehead and sat back.

The tension between me and my mum was beyond obvious. Neither of us knew what to say, so instead retorted to sitting silently and waiting in anticipation for Jai to awake. The worry etched into my mother's face was heart-wrenching.

We both wanted Jai to instantly wake up and reassure us of his health, though at the same time neither of us wanted him to wake up just yet, in fear of the arguments and unanswerable questions we would be faced with.

After minutes of waiting, I let out an audible sigh and caved in, I couldn't stand sitting here in silence to deal with worry filled thoughts any longer and I didn't doubt that my mother felt the same, so without further hesitation, I scooted over to her and engulfed her into a tight hug