'Dysfunctional: not operating normally or properly'
That was one way to describe Clara Campbells family. Dysfunctional; not operating properly. That was just what happened when your older siblings leave you.
Or that's what Clara had always believed...
Йой! Нажаль, це зображення не відповідає нашим правилам. Щоб продовжити публікацію, будь ласка, видаліть його або завантажте інше.
| Clara Campbell |
I had watched, as my brother had laid beside me underneath my bed, his eyes shuttering, before Ethan had pulled him out and I was in Kaiden's arms, balancing on one leg. We stood, as he squirmed in pain as Auston felt around his body for injuries that I was sure he wasn't going to fine. Colton wasn't that type of person.
He would hide it all, and just hide, hide, hide. It was his instinct to come here and hide, and to not go to Auston, and now, here I was, watching him get stitched back up as he fell asleep in the arms of Ethan. Tears gathered in my eyes at the fact that I had hated on my brother for so long, and we had gone through a patch where it was like we could see one another, before he disappeared and came back.
But now, here he was, slumped against our brother, as Auston cared for him. The word cared, was probably something that wasn't what I would consider Auston doing. Yes, he was stopping the bleeding from his stomach and trying to relieve him of the pain in his ribs, but the rushed way he was doing it, was not the same way he had cared for me.
There was no gentle touch to his movements, like there would have been if it was me in Colton's position. This made me think of the boy that I had always felt like we were more than different. There was nothing that we had in common, and the same went for Elias. Because Colton wanted to be so much like Elias, there was no chance of a connection, and now I saw why.
I saw the direct reason as to why Colton was the way he was towards me, and maybe a few of my brothers. I knew why my brothers were so distant to me, and sometimes Caleb. Everything was starting to make sense, right here in front of me. It was so blatantly obvious, that I don't know why I had never noticed it in the first place, but maybe that was because I was so wrapped up in Auston's safety blanket, that I didn't realize some of the others didn't get the same treatment.
Yes, Auston spread himself so thin he turned thin himself, but that didn't mean that people missed out. It was clear as day, that Elias and Colton weren't given that same comfort that when they did get a small ounce, they rejected it, thinking it was probably a joke or a prank on them. I don't think I had ever seen Auston be so rough, but I had hoped that he was just on adrenaline and not because he didn't really care.
"Take him to the couch downstairs so I can do a full assessment" and with that, Ethan was maneuvering around our passed out brother, whom still had blood pouring out of his mouth, looking as if it was getting faster and faster by the second. "How about we get you set up for bed?" Kaiden was quick to try and usher me towards the bed as the others closed the door, but I immediately shook my head.
"I'm going with Colton" the shock on Kaiden's face was evident, as I had never wanted to be immediately close to Colton like I was right now. I wanted to change that for my big brother. "Lara, you've just been in hospital, you can't be going up and down the stairs" he sighed in annoyance when I picked up my crutches and pushed them under my arms, as I hobbled towards the door.
