My wayward brother (The Wanted Fic)

Chapter 13 - Darkest secrets

Chapter 12 - Tom turned back looking at Nathan sleeping. Since childhood itself Nathan and Tom had seen a lot of difficult times but they had each other at that time and they’ll still have each other now also. “We’re here too mate” Siva said, squeezing Tom’s shoulder.

“Excuse Mr. Parker?” the doctor said, walking in the room. “Did you know your brother has an eating disorder?” the doctor asked.

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*Nathan’s hospital room*

“What?” Tom asked. Nathan has an eating disorder? But since when? Why didn’t he know anything about that? “Are you sure doctor?” Max asked, seeing that Tom looked in shock.  “Look boys, he is underweight and malnourished. There are scratches at the back of his throat that indicates he forces himself to throw up. All this can only deduce that he do have an eating disorder.” The doctor said, “Well boys, all I can tell you is that this seems to be something from long time but you need to put a stop to it before it aggravates” The doctor said. “We will doc” Siva assured the doctor. The doctor nodded and left Nathan’s file with Jay as he left the boys to their thoughts.

Jay flipped through the file and sighed loudly. It was just a proof of how Nathan had been wrongly raised by his parents. “How? How could I not see it?” Tom asked. “Tom, it wasn’t your fault. Maybe it was after you left that Nathan…” Max said but was cut off by Tom, “No, Max… This started when I was there also. It was me who couldn’t see it” Tom said. “Tom” Max sighed, giving Tom a much needed hug. “We’ll fix this Tom. We’ll fix this” Siva said. Tom sighed, looking over at Nathan. He had failed his brother. “Boys, I need some time alone” Tom said, heading out of the door. “Tom, wait up” Jay said, but Tom was already gone. “Let him go. He will come back. He knows Nathan needs him” Max said and the boys could only watch over Nathan for this time.

*Outside the hospital*

Tom walked and kept walking until his feet hurt. All what was going on in his mind was that how could he not see that his brother was going through this much. How much blind could he be?

 

*Flashback*

5 year old Nathan sat at the dinner table. He was determined to finish everything in his plate before his brother. 14 year old, Tom chuckled as his brother finished dinner before him. He would always try to trick Nathan in that ‘let’s see who finishes his meal first’ to get the boy to eat. “Finished” Nathan said, proudly. “Nuh huh, you still got your glass of water to finish” Tom said. Nathan gulped down his water and smiled back at his brother. “Can I have milk later?” He asked his brother. Tom was about to say yes when their father interrupted them, “you eat too much and drink too much. That’s the reason you cannot keep your pants dry” Jason shouted at Nathan. Tom didn’t miss the tears that Nathan held back in his eyes. Later at night when he was changing Nathan’s diaper also, he saw that the boy was too quiet. “Want your milk?” Tom asked. “No” Nathan said. “Nathan…” Tom trailed off. “No, I just want cuddles” Nathan lied making Tom believe him.

 

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7 year old Nathan pushed the food around in his plate not really feeling like eating. Tom made a mental note to talk to his brother later. When he reached his brother’s room later in the night he found the boy pinching his stomach. “What are you doing?” Tom asked. “Am I fat, Tom?” Nathan asked. “Obviously not. Why are you asking?” Tom asked. “They keep saying that at school” Nathan whispered. “Who? Bullies?” Tom asked. Nathan nodded. “They won’t anymore. I will take care of that” Tom said hugging his brother.