He walked into the room and saw his sister eating the porridge he had brought home yesterday.
She sat on the floor next to their mother's bed with legs crossed as she ate the food on her plate.
When she said she wasn't in the mood to eat, he knew that was her selfless side speaking. She was saving the food for him even though she knew he would rather she didnt.
Walking to where she sat, he joined her on the mat she had brought from the living room and they sat in the silence.
She moved the plate closer to him and brought out an extra spoon she had brought from the kitchen for him.
" Join me. I'd feel terrible if you went through all that stress of the day for our family and I still can't offer you anything." Her words came out a bit ruffled as her cheeks were full of food, but Axel understood her.
"You really don't give up do you?" He shook his head with a smile.
she shrugged and swallowed the food in her mouth "Nope. Runs in the family" She chuckled.
He took the spoon from her hand and joined her in eating the porridge which tasted a bit sour.
He took the plate away from her and walked to the wall he placed his back pack.
" Hey I was eating that!" She complained behind him.
So she had been hungry but was in denial all this while? He shook his head.
" I know but this is way past eating point.Like I said I brought some food from the bar's kitchen. Some officers from the next district were passing by and had a party at the bar. There was a lot of left overs today so I brought all I could get home." He searched through his bag and brought out a blue plastic bag.
Her mood brightened by a hundred degrees when she heard the mention of fresh food.
"Must have been quite a party for you to have gathered that much food." She nodded her head towards the bag in his hands.
"Yeah it was. To be honest I don't think they were city officials. Those men looked suspicious. They were wearing suits but its been ages since anyone of high standing stepped foot in this district not to mention that bar" He paused searching his bag as he thought of the odd occurrence.
"That does sound odd..." Ana admitted even though she knew very little of the world outside. She was always indoors while Axel was the one who worked to feed the house after their mom fell ill so he had more experience than her.
He brought out some paper plates and brought the food to the soft mat he and his sister were sitting on.
"Well.." He continued.
"That shouldn't bother us. Either good or bad guys, at least we have some extra food today".
They dished the food on their plates and ate in a comforting silence.
After they were done with their meal, Ana cleaned out the room and took the paper plates to the kitchen were it could be used for something instead of disposing it immediately.
She returned back to the room and met her brother already lying on the bed with his legs crossed, one over the other and his right hand over his eyes.
She checked the clock on the wall to see if it was time to feed their mother medicine again.
She was supposed to be fed medicine every four hours and it was just about time for the next dose.
She waited for the right time and then took the medicine on the table and prepared to feed their mother.
She couldn't wake her mother now because if she did she was afraid that their mom would not be able to sleep anymore.
The clock read 19:47. If awakened at this time of the day, their mother would find it difficult to regain her sleep and that could lead to a fever.
The pain of which which would last for days. She had learned the hard way so couldn't let her mother go through that, again.
She slipped the drops of medicine through her mother's parted lips and closed the bottle cap then placed it on the table.
She took two pillows from the foot of the bed their mother lay on placed them on their mat.
Seeing her brother had drifted off to sleep without a pillow to wedge his head, she decided to help him.
She took one of the tawny pillows and lifted her brother's head so she could place the pillow underneath his head but when she did that, his eyes sprang open.
He was a shallow sleeper and moving on the streets had taught him to always be alert. Even his subconscious learned that.
"Oh" She tried to give an explanation for her actions.
" I was trying to place a pillow under you head.
I was worried you would wake up with a headache tomorrow and George won't be the cause of it this time."
He smiled and sat up while she lay down simultaneously.
She placed her hands on the pillow she was using and lay her head on them while she watched her brother who seemed to be in deep thought.
His gaze shifted to his mother sound asleep on the bed." What's wrong" She asked curiously.
" I need to go meet Dr Oswald tomorrow. At least to help us in anyway we can. Mother's health isn't making any improvements. In fact. on the contrary it's deteriorating and I can't stand seeing that happen." He looked pained and Diana understood his pain. She was pained too.
The cruel pain that their mother was going through was too much for them to handle at this age but surprisingly they were managing fairly well.
After she fell ill, they had to grow into shoes which were for their future selves at an early age because they needed to survive.
Axel got a job and Diana grew into the family's caretaker.
Very few people lived in their neighborhood and fewer knew about what was happening to them right now.
Even if they knew, it wouldn't change much as everybody here took the phrase 'mind your business' to new heights.
" I know but can we afford to buy anymore medicine now?"
Silence reigned before he answered " I have a few Xyrones left from the bonus I was given at work. Maybe I can work for him in exchange for medicine for mother." She nodded but her eyes disagreed.
" You work in the bar most hours of the day. When will you have time to work for Mr Oswald?"
He seemed to realise what she was thinking " I don't know yet. I'll figure something out" He said and lay down to sleep.