Theo nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his brother's coughing. Gasping and coughing was definitely an improvement on corpse-like silence, but Theo thought it sounded all too much like a death rattle and he had to force himself to be extra careful when lifting his head up as their father instructed rather than blundering in and moving his head around like a sock puppet in a desperate attempt to keep his brother on the right side of death.

With a surprisingly steady hand, Theo took the laudanum bottle and with his other hand holding Lou's head, he set to the awkward task of trying to pour the liquid down his brother's throat without drowning him. As the laudanum started to trickle into his mouth, Theo's steady hand became less steady and the realization of this only made it worse. He poured a little too much and then he spilled it down Lou's chin. Disgusted with himself, he put the bottle down for a moment and maneuvered his lap beneath his brother's head so he might at least make that more comfortable for him. "I'm sorry, Lou," he muttered quietly, hoping his father wouldn't hear. He doubted Lou could even hear him but he felt the tiniest bit better for having said it.

With a deep breath to steady himself, he picked the laudanum up again and set to feeding it to his unconscious brother. "When should I stop?" Was it even going down all the way? Swallow, damn it! Please!

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