My Brother.

Chapter 8: A bad dream?

My head is banging, I feel like I've been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. I can hear a screeching high pitch murmur in my left ear that slowly fades away as I open my eyes readjusting to the world around me.
I'm in my bed,my hair is damp and my head is throbbing, I reach my hand out to the side of my head and feel a lump and dried blood. It's dark but I can see slight light from my purple lava lamp in my room and a dark figure reflecting in its shadow, Eli.
Then I remember running from him in the bathroom and hitting my head and then, and then. I woke up here,in my room,in my pj's and I don't remember what happened after I fell, I must've hit my head so hard I fell unconscious. "Eli? My head hurts so bad" I wriggle as I struggle to sit up the pain from my head radiating through my body. Eli crouches next to me and holds an ice pack to my head "thank god Ellie! You scared me! I mean,I knew you'd be okay but,still" the pain subsides as he holds the ice pack to the lump "im in so much pain, I feel sick,I feel confused, have you called an ambulance?" I feel myself feeling weary,vulnerable,like I could pass out again at any moment,like my room doesn't look familiar,I don't feel right at all and hope an ambulance comes soon. "Eli? When is the ambulance coming?" I slur in a tired voice. Eli releases the ice pack from my head and pulls out some pills and a juice cartoon with speed "this pain killer will help and I read online that you should keep your blood sugar up so you don't faint again so drink this" his face looks scared and his hair messy like he's been tearing at it with stress, where is the ambulance? "Eli,where is the ambulance? I need help." I shake a little as my weak hands lift the pills to my mouth and the juice box straw to my lips. Then I know, I see Eli's face drop with shame,he hasn't called them. "You haven't called,have you?" I look down to the phone by his side where he's crouching and he looks at me with his eyes pleading as he reaches his hands to mine and says "please,please don't say anything to anyone. I haven't called but...only because I knew you'd be okay! I looked it up online,see?" He lifts his phone to show me a website with advice on what to do after head trauma. I barely have the energy to speak so instead I try and use the little energy I have to reach out and grab Eli's phone to call emergency services,ignoring my juice box that spills on my lap and with my weak body missing his phone with my hands as he pulls it back "Ellie! Your going to be okay,look. I can't lose you and...and if we call an ambulance they're going to want to know what happened and then..." Eli starts to cry small whimpers. I'd never seen Eli cry like this since we were both little,it's a strange sight and I don't quite know how to react, but I can feel the throbbing of my head becoming intense again so instead I reach for the ice pack and gently press it against my head. "And then your going to tell them what happened and they won't understand" Eli cries out as he puts his phone in his back pocket to try and hide it from me "I'll go to jail Ellie. So I can't call an ambulance, but you'll be okay" he crouches down to me again as I start to regain my strength and tumble my legs over my bed, getting ready to stand. "Okay Eli don't call an ambulance,but mum and dad are going to wonder what happened when they see the lump on my head" I look him in the eyes,all the fear I'd previously felt flies away in the moment and I become fearless "Eli, I slipped,but I slipped because I was trying to get away from YOU" I shove his chest hard with my hand and go to stand,feeling light and fainty on my feet I hold onto the desk by my bed to keep myself steady. "Ellie sit down please,I don't want you to fall again"Eli tugs at my arm to pull me back to my bed but I shove him off "No Eli! You left me on the floor unconscious and yes I'm okay at the moment but I could've died! And you didn't think to call an ambulance?" I shake my head in anger at him as he shakes his head back in disagreement "no,ellie,no i-" "you would've rather let me DIE than have the truth come out?" I yell in a weak screech at him as he shakes his head more "no,no" and looks baffled by my newfound confidence "the truth that you are disgusting, that you'd" Eli shouts "shut up!" I hesitate before admitting the gross reality to myself and saying it out loud "you'd touch me,your own sister." I cry out to him "that you'd hurt me!".
Eli's face is hard to make out he's definitely angry,disgusted at himself maybe? regretful I hope.
"Shut up!" He grabs me fiercely by the shoulders and drags me back to the bed pushing me down with his hands and standing beside me as I lay there vulnerable and in danger but in control, he wants to threaten me like when he cut my hand? Well now I can threaten him with when he left me for dead to hide that he tried to wash me in the shower, or I dread to think worse if I hadn't gotten out when I did.
"Eli you can't hurt me anymore. Mum and dad are going to be back soon and I'm going to tell them everything" I glare up at him from my bed, he's hurting me with the pressure he's pushing onto my arms. Eli let's go off me before sitting beside me,he wipes his eyes and then lifts the juice box up from earlier,the one that spilled when I reached for his phone before waving it lightly infront of my face in a demonstration "everything I've done,has been for you. You slipped and hit your head tonight,that was an accident not my fault,I brought you out of the bathroom, got you dressed, put you in bed,wiped the blood from your head!" He gestures to my head stroking my hair out the way and speaks in a calm manner with a smile "I helped you. I care about you in a way no one else ever will. I'd never hurt you, and mum and dad would never think I'd hurt you,they'd never believe that Ellie. Especially if you had an concussion and thought something happened that didn't." His smile drops as he leans into me "you could tell mum and dad,have them not believe you,and make me very angry.". "They will believe me Eli, I will tell them,you can't stop me" I scowl and move my face to the side as his face gets uncomfortably close. "Or,Ellie. You could pretend this was a bad dream and I won't...touch you,or hurt you again...ever. I promise." Eli's eyes are darting around me,he looks seriously stressed anyone would think he had hit his head as hard as mine. "You won't? Eli,you promise you won't, ever again?" I sit up as I think about his words and whether I can trust them. "I promise Ellie, so long as you don't tell anyone about this" he looks me dead in the eyes and his face tells me he is scared I will tell,I finally have the control now,not him. "Eli, you stay out my way and keep to your promise, I will keep your perverted disgusting actions to myself." I push the ice pack back to my aching head and glare at Eli as he starts to relax a little with relief "I promise Ellie" he nods to me before reaching out to stroke my hair "stop! Not at all Eli" I slap his hand away and he nods again before lifting his hands up in surrender and heading towards my door. "For what it's worth,im sorry Ellie" he shakes his head before leaving my room and closing the door gently. Is this relief? Did it take a hard hit to the head for me to find some peace? Have I finally found some space from eli? I hope so.