Meeting Jack - Rewritten

Ch.5 - Ollie

We must have sat out there for two hours because everyone was up and running about once we got back.

I had to take care of Ollie today because Mother and Father went to town for the day and will be home late this evening. He's still a sweetie, so it wasn't much of a struggle.

The thing was... Jack still wanted to be with me for the day. With Ollie or not, he wanted to spend his time with me. But there were three good things about it. One, Ollie loved it; I think for the first time, Ollie was more excited about someone else while I watched him. Second, we still managed to have a wonderful time, and still are. It was only noon. And third, Jack is great with children. I've never seen my baby brother this happy.

Jack has been helping him walk straight and still laughs for the past two hours. Ollie had been unloaded on me the moment we came back to shore. I didn't mind; I've always liked watching my little siblings... Well, when they were toddlers. But currently, we're all sitting in the grass, Ollie taking his time while switching back and forth between mine and Jack's laps. His smile at my brother's silly tactics makes me think I must have misjudged him entirely. I mean, I've never been more wrong.

For now, Ollie is sitting in my lap, but Jack has decided to wrap an arm around me. And it feels like my entire body has this undying buzz. And it feels incredible. So, I'm not complaining.

"Ellie, can I take Ollie for a little bit. I want to play with him." Katie asks. I was kneeling beside me and pushing back Ollie's hair.

"Yeah, if he wants to. But stay where I can see you, okay?"

"Yes, Ellie." She picks him up and walks to the porch at the bottom of the stairs.

"Your brother's cute." Jack smiles and leans his head on mine.

"Thank you. He's my favorite. He's the only one that wasn't a crier. And he was cuter." Whispering the last part. And he chuckles. I lean further against him and collapse in comfort.

"It's only been two weeks, but I already know. That this is my favorite summer." He fell over my shoulder and into my ear. Why is this so easy? Go on vacation, meet the prince of the story, and live happily ever after? This doesn't make sense to my brain, but my soul and heart are fighting against that. I need help. And I don't know what to do.

"I'm glad. I can say the same thing." Smiling at how it felt to say those words.

"Have I accomplished it?"

"Nope. Not even close if you're going to walk away right now." I laugh. And he nearly chokes at my comment as well.

"Got it. Long way to go." Kissing my head.

This makes three times in a single day.

And I love it so much more than I should.

"Good."

...

We moved to the dining room for lunch because he said he was hungry, which caused me to remember to be hungry. It's hard to remember things when I'm around him since when I'm with him, all of me is with him. And it may be a burden most times, but I won't do anything about it for now.

"Thank you for the food. It was good."

"It's the first thing I learned. Thank you." Smiling at him from the other side of the table. He sits at the end, and I sit at the corner closest to him.

Suddenly, I hear an ear-hurtling cry from the other room, and instantly, I'm on my feet and running out the door to where I hear it coming from. I halt when I see that it's Ollie, and he's fallen off the rocker he was sleeping in. I feel a hand softly hit my back, knowing Jack needed balance after running and halting so swiftly. I lunge over to my brother and pick him up, only to see him bleeding from the back of his head. It's bleeding a lot. And with that, I'm rushing to the kitchen to wipe him down.

"Jack, can you grab me two clean rags from the cabinet above the ice box!" I try to remain calm as I say it over the screams coming from Ollie. I have to get him to calm down.

Honestly, I've never had to deal with a hurt toddler when mom isn't home. So I'm just trying to remember what she does when one of us gets hurt and is bleeding badly.

Deciding I needed to water it down, I turned on the sink and let it run down his head like he was bathing. Jack handed me the rags, and I drenched one in water, giving him the other needed to stay dry. The water is cold, so Ollie gets fussy but no longer screams. The poor thing has tears pouring down his little face. Now, the trick will be to find the cut with all his hair in the way. So softly I feel around his head with the dry rag, Jack turns off the sink. Then, I know I've found it when he lets out a bigger whine.

"Here, can you take him? Hold him up and distract him while I clean it?" Jack nods and does exactly as I say. "Hold the rag to his head right where it is."

I ran out of the room, up the stairs, and went to the bathroom. I fumble

through the cabinet, hearing the glass bottles hit against one another. Finally, I found what I needed: alcohol. This will hurt him and make me feel terrible, but it has to be cleaned because an infection would hurt him more. Trust me, I know.

When I return to the kitchen, Jack still does as I told him to. But Ollie is silent except for the sniffles from his tears. Ollie has his little hands on his face, but he reaches out to Jack's. And he lets him feel his face, anything to keep him quiet.

"Good boy, Ollie." I cue the boy as I pour the alcohol onto a piece of cloth. I give Jack one final look, making eye contact to tell him now is when to distract him. He nods, and the fabric is put to Ollie's cut.

My baby brother cries once more, and Jack practically loses his voice from shushing the child to death. But the second I feel comfortable about how long and how well I rubbed, I take it off and throw it in the waste bin.

"All better, buddy. All better." I smiled, grabbing him from Jack, who surprisingly was a better help than I thought he would have been. I walk Ollie outside. I carried him on my hip and paced slowly on the porch. After bouncing, whispering, and tickling, my brother returns to his playful, cute self.

And I consider it a mission accomplished. Jack comes outside and smiles at my now happy Ollie.

"Good job, Ollie." He says with enthusiasm. "Great work, Eleanor."

"Are you kidding? You did the best part and got him to stop crying."

"I'm used to it. But that doesn't mean you didn't do a great job." He argued back, holding Ollie's hand and rubbing his thumb back and forth over it.

"Thank you."

"Now let's go over and get him something sweet from my house, yeah?" And, once again, Ollie is shuffling on his feet, followed by Jack holding my hand as we guide him to the Kennedy summer home.