The Only Brother by Caias Ward Read Free Book Online Page A

concern, and trying to find out why something had happened, and what we could do to make it better.
    Maybe the other doctors were concerned as well, but I couldn’t see it in them. Perhaps you just need to find the right fit between patient and doctor.
    ‘You think it was a good reaction to Hayden?’
    ‘Not really,’ I said, ‘thinking back on it. But it’s the past.’
    ‘Yes, it is,’ Dr Wright said. ‘Can’t change it…’
    ‘But we can learn from it,’ I finished his sentence.
    Dr Wright smiled. ‘So what did you learn?’
    ‘Hayden doesn’t like it when he doesn’t seem important.’
    ‘Anything else?’ Dr Wright continued.
    ‘I wish I could have had a normal relationship with my brother. Not necessarily love, just…’ I struggled with how to word this, ‘a better deal on both sides. Him not hating me, me not hating him, my parents just treating us both the same.’
    ‘That’s good. And it’s something we can work on. So tell me more about the girl who rescued you.’
    ‘Caroline? She’s fit, and easy to talk to. Forgot how great she smells,’ I said. I shifted in my seat, excited just thinking about her. ‘I think she still fancies me.’
    ‘That sounds positive,’ Dr Wright said. ‘Are you going to try to go out with her again?’
    ‘Hell no,’ I said. ‘Hayden’s still pissed off at me, and his crew just follows. Caroline fancies me, I think, but I don’t think she fancies me enough to deal with everyone hassling her.’
    ‘Only way you will know is if you ask.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I agreed. ‘It’s just that I’m not like everyone else; especially that group. I don’t really fit that well with them.’
    ‘I don’t think you are so different, Andrew. You maybe need to fine tune your reactions to what people say, though. You’ve had a rough couple of months, on top of all the years of having had a much higher bar set for you than for your brother. It’s goingto take some time, but these adjustments are things we can work on together.’
    ‘Yeah. I guess.’
    ‘So you have the summer, and then your final year?’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Want to get at least four A Levels.’
    ‘I’m sure you are up to it. You seem bright enough. Anything still bothering you though, anything that’s standing out?’
    I nodded. Lots of stuff was still bothering me, but I didn’t quite know where to start. Best to start small.
    ‘My olds are making me clean out my brother’s place in London,’ I told him. ‘I have to sort out all the stuff, list it on eBay, handle the money and hope I get paid back for the postage and fees.’
    ‘That’s a lot of work,’ the doctor nodded. ‘Doesn’t leave you much time for yoursummer, especially if they have you working.’
    ‘I know, but what can I do?’ I shrugged.
    ‘Have you talked to them about it? Have you let them know that you need a life of your own as well?’
    ‘Every time I try to bring up something like that, I get told that “we all have to pull together”, that “we need to be strong, we have to make some sacrifices”. I guess, like you said, they keep setting the bar high for me… something needs to be done in the house, I always have to do it. Even when my brother was able to do it, it was always me they called on. My brother was the lighting tech with all the electrical experience, for example, but they’d expect me to put a new power point in the wall. Made no sense at all…’
    ‘Receiving and accepting appreciation from others is important for growth, Andrew. But how old are your parents? Fifty-five? They aren’t going to change much.’ He scribbled a few notes. ‘Like I said, the best thing you can do is handlehow you react, and seek other sources of appreciation, other relationships. You have your friends, like Trevor, and Sara. Just work on giving other people a shot, like Caroline; try to expand friendships with co-workers and other people you might only know in passing.’
    I nodded. This sounded all too