Separated

You Promised...

"Roman! I don't wanna be in the ambulance! I wanna be with Mom and Dad and you!" A small five-year old cried out in a raspy voice, struggling against the bonds holding down to a stretcher. He had a coughing fit every few minutes but had otherwise escaped the fire relatively unharmed.

"It'll be okay Remus! We'll be together again, I promise!" A seven-year old called back in an even raspier voice. He had bad burns on his arms from trying to keep his little brother safe from the fire. He had also inhaled so much smoke that those ten little words took all of his effort and he lapsed into a coughing fit that left him shaky and weak.

Their parents hadn't been seen since they'd run back into the apartment to save the elderly couple that lived next door. Burning pieces of timber had fallen down and blocked the door before any of them could get out.

Now they were being taken to the hospital in separate ambulances. Remus had calmed down a little after his brother's promise, but was still causing enough of a ruckus that they put him to sleep.

It had been a few days at the hospital, and both brothers had been informed that their parents were indeed dead. Remus was well enough to go to the orphanage after simply a day of treatment, but the boy refused to leave unless he had his big brother with him.

Finally, Roman was well enough to leave the hospital. He still had bandages wrapped around his arms, but as long as they were changed every few days, it would be fine. Both brothers were saddened by the news of their parents deaths and didn't want to go to the orphanage, but they knew they had to.

After about a month, Roman started trying to adjust and managed to make friends with some of his his peers while Remus mostly kept to himself. He always stayed close to Roman but didn't talk to most of the other kids. That was fine with them, for he was widely considered strange and said and did some weird things.

Over the next few years, many things changed at the orphanage. Some kids left or were adopted, new kids came in. But the brothers always stayed. Most  couples didn't want Remus as he was too much of a "troublemaker", but Roman refused to leave without him.

*After 5 years at the orphanage*

Remus was drawing while Roman sat nearby, talking to some of the older kids. The conversation was going fine and the fourteen year olds didn't mind the younger twelve year old talking to them.

"Dude, your brother is, like, really weird." One of them said. Roman's smile dropped immediately, and he began to look uncomfortable.

"Yeah, he never talks to any of us, but we've heard the weird things he says to you. What kind of ten year old just randomly says stuff like 'The assassin bug, Acanthaspis petax, wears the corpses of ants to confuse predators'? That's not even one of the weirder things! Seriously, what's his deal with weird animal facts?" Another guy added on. Roman chuckled nervously, glancing over at Remus, who was clearly listening in and had stopped drawing. He then made a stupid decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.

"I mean, yeah he can be a bit weird sometimes." Roman said, weakly smiling, wanting the older boys to like him. Before any of them could say more, they heard Remus let out a sob and the boy ran past them out of the room. Roman stood up to run after him, but two of the older boys held him back.

"Remus! Wait!" He called after his brother, already regretting what he'd said. "Let me go!" He yelled at the older boys, struggling against their grip. Meanwhile, Remus was blindly running through the halls.

*flashback to two years ago*

"Hey Remus, how were classes today?" Roman asked his younger brother, falling in step next to him as they walked from the classrooms to their shared boys' dorm.