As if awoken by a silent alarm heard only by him. Axel's eyes popped open in the fairly lit room. He spent a few minutes looking at the ceiling before his gaze shifted to the side where his sister lay.
Most of the room was shrouded with darkness which he had gotten acquainted to all his life.
With the electricity off, the only light source was the soft glow of a burning candle placed on a candle stand, hanging on the first wall in the room, few inches away from the door.
Ana usually lit the candle when electric power wasn't available which might be what had happened.
It seemed the power supply for their district had gone off again. It was either that or their electric bills were due for payment.
He grunted and pushed himself off the mat, then rubbed his callous hands over his face.
Looking at the little beeping watch he was able to acquire while cleaning the bar, the time was 3:40.
He needed to be up early because the Stanton bar is a 2 hour walk from their house and going late could cause him to lose his job.
His sister was sleeping with her slender back to him. The slow rhythmic rise and fall of the sides of her belly told him she was fast asleep.
He stretched his skinny limbs and yawned loudly which caused a little layer of salty tears to appear in his eyes, reflecting the orange lights in the room.
He reached for the matches laying by their mat which his sister had kept there on purpose in case of emergencies like now.
He struck the matchstick on the matchbox and hovered the flaming stick over the white candle which was almost completely exhausted.
Using the candlelight as a guide, he reached for the chest laying on the table by the bed their mother was sleeping on.
Within the chest were a few pair of clothes of his and Ana which were not much different from the rags they had on.
He picked a change of clothes and tiptoed out of the room in an effort not to wake his sister and mother who were sound asleep.
Standing by the door of their bathroom, which was nothing but a small space containing a toilet, a sink and a little tub-like depression in the floor where he was supposed to clean his body, he moved to do his business.
Water was one of the scarce resources in their district so they couldn't afford to waste any.
Hence he only used a little for his feet and a few wet towels to clean his essential body parts.
After he was done cleaning himself he wore his change of clothes and left the bathroom .
When he got back to the room, his mother whom had been asleep was now awake and coughing painfully.
Diana was beside her, trying to raise her limp body which wasn't a big chore as their mother had lost a lot of weight. She was basically skin on bones at this point.
Diana held her by the shoulders with her left hand and tried feeding her the water with her right hand.
Dropping his clothes on the metal table by the door, he rushed to his mother's side to help the situation.
"Sorry.Just try to drink it and you'll feel better. " Diana said as she tried to pacify their mother's cough.
"What happened to her" He rushed to their side and sat on the bedside trying to help Diana with the situation at hand.
Diana seemed like she was well experienced in this situation as her facial expression was calmer than his.
She spent more time with their mother so had seen occurrences like this multiple times.
" I don't know. I was sleeping and woke up to the sound of her coughing" Now that he was closer, he could see the red stains on her inner lip. Blood.
He reached for the glass Diana was struggling to feed their mother and helped hold their mother's neck in place as they fed her the water.
She managed to drink the water after which her cough died down.
She panted slowly as she calmed down from the climax she had experienced.
"Oh Axel. I haven't seen you in a while " She said weakly, her black orbs looking hollow.
She raised her bony fingers and ran her knuckles on his cheek.
" I know mom. I have been working " He smiled, placing his hand over hers and squeezing them but not too tight.
" Always working. But you're not made of steel and I hate that I'm one of the reasons you have to go through this. " She spoke with pain laced in her low hoarse voice.
" Just take sometime to rest. Please" She pleaded. Axel nodded to pacify her troubled heart.
Axel was at work most hours of the day, which gave him very little opportunities to meet his mother. Most times he saw her, she was asleep as her body couldn't cope with staying awake for so long.
And as time went on, she had been sleeping for longer and more frequently.
Sometimes they feared she would sleep forever.
" I will when I can"
She smiled bitterly as she looked at him and his sister with regret in her eyes.
"This is wrong and it's all my fault. You both have to take up these responsibilities at such a young age" Diana shook her head as she looked at her mother
" No mom. Don't so say that. We are opportuned to take care of our own mother. You have loved us so much that it would be criminal not to reciprocate that love and care you've shown us." She smiled down at her mom while Axel stared at the duo.
He had never been good with expressing his emotions.
Life had taught him to be reserved and self-dependent.
" Mom. This is nothing compared to what you have done for us. " He stated as a matter of fact which was true.
Their mother had bore them in tough times and lost her husband at a very delicate phase of her life. He died before they were born in a work hazard.
" You have grown so much. You both have" She smiled. A look of pride enveloped her skinny face.
---------------------
After feeding her medicine, Diana was about to feed her some food when Axel said he was ready to go.
"I'm leaving. Avoid going outdoors and take care of mom." He said the same lines he said to her everyday and then hugged her goodbye before leaving the house.
Stepping outside the door, he jammed the metal door shut and stood by the door, staring into the dark street that was now illuminated by the electric power which was restored a while ago.
Its a relief the power was back as he couldn't move around easily without it.
He walked down the pavement made of rusty iron underneath the layer of dust.
The lived in the least populated part of the district with just one neighboring house which was currently empty.
His mind raced with his plans for today. After wortk he planned to go to the outskirts of Ferrous, where a renowned doctor lived.
He had purchased the medicine for his mother from the man as he seemed trustworthy and professional.
The drugs were expensive but he hoped he would get positive results from them but the results weren't forthcoming.
Each and everyday he returned home, he got nothing but bad news. Her health was deteriorating daily.
It was a frustrating cycle. He was working harder daily but she was breaking down at a faster rate.
He speed walked to work which was over a two hour walk from their home. Checking the watch on his hand that read 6:32, he groaned as he realized he was going to be late for work.
He was required to report to work at 8:00 but he needed at least two hours to get there.
After over half an hour of walking, the neon lights from different signs shone from afar welcoming him to the commercial centre of the district.