The Unbreakable Bond

Chapter Sixteen

Around two hours passed when Majed started to twitch in his sleep, Maaz studies him carefully to understand if he was waking up or having a nightmare. When Majed stretched his arms, Maaz sighed in relief, glad it wasn't a Panic attack or a bad dream.

Majed rolled on the bed to lay on his stomach hiding his face in the blankets to avoid the blinding lights. "Baby?!" Majed jumped, whining, "Kya hai bhaiya, you scared me"

"Sorry baccha, I was just checking if you were awake. Abb kaise lag raha hai?" Maaz questioned carefully and that's when all the memories of yesterday started to come back.

{How are you feeling now?}

Looking at the visible change of Majed's face, Maaz promptly pulled Majed's face in his hands to cease him from the upcoming panic. "Shh...relax, tum theek ho, apne ghar ho!"

{Shh... relax, you're ok, you're at home!}

Majed stared at him so naively and purely looking for comfort in his elder brother that it pulled at Maaz's heartstrings. Maaz wrapped his arms around him in a hug, failing to notice the temperature of Majed's body.

"Bhaiya!" Majed's voice was so quiet that Maaz wouldn't have heard it, if it wasn't for him sitting so close.

"Yes baby?" Maaz stroked Majed's hair lovingly, removing the ones that fell into his eyes. Majed looked up at him with teary eyes startling Maaz, "Bhaiya, mene baba ko raat me bohot disturb kia na?"

{I disturbed Baba a lot last night, right?}

His voice was so vulnerable, Maaz wished he could take all the pain away this child was going through. Shaking his head, "No sweetheart, baba would never be disturbed when it comes to any three of us and you know that very well. Did you forget we are family, and family sticks together may it be good or bad times."

He gently ran his hand through Majed's hair before softly caressing his cheek but frowned to find his temperature higher. Majed grumbled, pushing his hand away, "No....your hand is cold!"

Maaz ignored Majed's whines and moved his hand to his forehead, and then his neck confirmed his suspicion that he was coming down with a fever. Yesterday must have taken a toll on his health, sighing he stood off the bed and put his hand forwards for Majed to hold, "Ajao, lets freshen up then we can have breakfast"

Majed shook his head nodding in no, "Mujhe bhookh nahi hai, app jao" with that he dropped back on the bed and started to curl himself in the blankets but was pulled up again by Maaz, "Bhaiya!!"

{I'm not hungry, you go!}

"Baby please listen to me, freshen up and then you can rest for as long as you like, seems fair?" Majed nodded gloomily but held onto Maaz's hand who smiled in appreciation. Taking him to the bathroom, Maaz passed him a pair of comfortable trousers and T-shirt before turning to leave but instantly stopped in his tracks when Majed yelled, "No!!"

Majed rushed to him taking a hold of his hand and shook his head rapidly only to wince when he felt a headache forming, "Bhaiya please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone. App baba ko bulao na, kaha pe hai vo." Maaz's eyes softened, he held onto his hand and led him inside, filling the bath with water of warm temperature before turning back to respond, "Bhai has already left for work and Mirza is at college"

{Call Baba, where is he?}

"Why did he go without me? Wait,he must need me there right? I should get ready quickly, so I can g-" Maaz cut off the frantic Majed by placing his hand on his shoulder, "Tum kahi pe nahi ja rahe ho, freshen up and then we can have breakfast"

{You're not going anywhere}

"But bha-"

"No Majed, bhai ne kaha he tume rest karne ko and you know he will be really angry if he finds out you disobeyed him. Aur vese bhi, tum ni keh rahe the, bhai hitler ban jate hai kaam pe, so you can escape Mr.Hitler for a day" His voice was firm at first but then he added a tease to get a reaction out of him but Majed just nodded his head.