Alvaro-

I close the door to the guest room where Elias now lies. Our cameras came in so right now there's one in the guest room so we can see when Elias wakes up. He doesn't need to be alone right now, he's gone through so much and we've only had him home for about 4 days. My brothers and I go into my office which is on the first floor.

"Okay what the hell was that?" Marco asks us.

I sit in my chair and sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"That my brother is a schizophrenic episode. We mentioned to you guys that he might have schizophrenia, now we're almost certain." Leo explains to them.

"So what? We have a crazy brother? What are we supposed to do when he comes running down the hallway screaming agin, or if there's an attack and he thinks it's all in his head. What are we supposed to do?" Marco asks us. He's angry I can see it but I need to make sure he's not upset with Elias, just the situation.

"The first steps we are going to take is getting him on medication to help him manage his condition. We also need to make sure he's aware that he has schizophrenia. There is a condition associated with schizophrenia where the patients aren't aware and refuse to acknowledge that they have schizophrenia. We need to make sure that doesn't happen. It will only hurt him more. We also need to understand what his main hallucinations are. What he deals with normally. I believe this hallucination is a first." Leo tells us.

"He's been here 4 days and we're going to shove him in more doctors offices, more appointments shoved in his face. Cause that's smart. Eventually our enemies will see us taking him to all these appointments and see him as our weak link." Alexander says.

Sadly he makes a good point. There are eyes everywhere, we can't just do what we want when we want. Not if we're going to give him as normal as a childhood that we can.

"I can have most of his appointments done here. I have some doctor friends that can help me out and come to our house. We will need to upgrade our clinical room for him though." Leo says.

"Okay so he'll have his own set of doctors at his beck and call then. He will definitely know if something's up." Alexander says.

"There is no perfect solution here. We won't tell him about our jobs yet but eventually we will. We can slowly mention it to him over time so when we do tell him it's not a complete shock. His safety comes first. And if that means having all of his doctors appointments here then so be it. But that's what is safest for Elias right now." I tell them all sternly.

We can try to find a perfect solution but we can't. There is no perfect solution here so we do what is the safest.

"Leo can your friend come and evaluate Elias tomorrow?" I ask him. I want to get him on medication as soon as possible. The quicker we sort through this and get him into some sense of stability the quicker he can start to be a normal kid. He can start to learn to read and write, is he can socialize with kids his age.

"I can ask so we will have to wait and see but for now there's going to be some rules here." Leo says.

"What do you men rules?" I ask him. What he is talking about?

"Rules about Elias. We can't baby him or let him know we're suspicious of something. We have to be open and honest with him if he's going to trust us completely. When he's in the middle of an episode do NOT leave him alone. Understand? If he's left alone then that could cause more damage than we need. Stay with him, don't try and convince him it's not real, not when he's breaking down. You need to get on his level, stay calm, and understanding. If you try to convince him nothings there then that will only make him spiral more. If he's hurting himself like he did when he was covering his ears replace his hands with yours, try and redirect him." Leo tells us.

Okay that makes sense I guess....

We all nod at him. If anyone's going to understand how to deal with this it's Leo.

"The medication will not fully stop him from having hallucinations. He will always have them. But it will help manage them, curb the worst of them. It's all in his head, so the best way to help him is to stay calm, be understanding, and redirect him. Not distract him but redirect him. Don't act like everything's fine because to Elias someone might be trying to kill him, like we saw today."

We continue to talk about strategies to help Elias when he's in an episode. I'm keeping close eye on Marco, his face is slight and his nose is flaring.

Marco has always been hotheaded and irrational. If I say the sky is blue he argues that it's black, or a midnight blue. When our mother left he took it the hardest. He was a mama's boy through and through. She didn't care about him but he stuck to her like glue. He was mad when she left without him. He never liked our father so having his only parent gone left him in state I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I look at the security footage on my phone and see Elias moving a lot. We've been talking for over an hour by now.

"Elias is waking up and I'm going to help him. Let me know about that doctor friend Leo." I tell him as I walk to the room where Elias is.

I sit on the bed and brush my fingers through his hair. It's late afternoon by now and I have a feeling he won't sleep tonight. As Elias comes to consciousness I look at his hair, it's really greasy and dirty. He could really use a shower.

"Elias, hey you need to wake up Hermano." I tell him.

He opens his eyes and stares at me, his eyes unfocused, obviously still waking up.

I help him sit up and I see him scratching his skin a lot, I see a rash forming on his arm. His skin is no doubt dirty and it needs a washing.

"Hey do you want to take a shower?" I ask him.

He looks at me and nods. "Yeah I can smell myself from here." He says.

I chuckle and help him stand up as we make our way to his room. He tries to take the stairs by himself but I don't let him. He's done enough running around for today. He grumbles at me as we walk into his room. I set him down in the bathroom and text Alexander to bring me some of his clothes. We really need to buy him his own...

"I can shower by myself you know?" He tells me snarkily.

"No actually you can't. Between your shoulder, fingers, ribs, and multiple sets of stitches you're going to need help." I tell him as I set out the soaps he will need. His doctor prescribed use an antibacterial soap to keep the stitches clean so he will have to use that.

"I can shower by myself. I don't need you to baby me." He tells me while huffing. He's pouting.

I chuckle at him and get his bath ready. He can't be moving that much so a shower will really tire him out. A bath will be much easier.

"Well you need a bath and I'm here to help. You can wear your boxers if you want, it makes no difference for me, just what you're comfortable with." I tell him as I wait for the water to heat up.

He goes to say something but that's stopped once someone knocks on the door. I open it and see its Alexander with the clothes I asked for. Sweatpants, a muscle shirt, hoodie, brand new pair of boxer briefs. "Thank you Alexander."

"No problem, anything for my little brother." He winks at Elias before walking out.

"Can I help you take your clothes and braces off?" I ask him.

He looks between me and his clothes before trying to take them off himself. He needs to understand he needs help but I won't force it on him. He struggles for a few minutes before his shoulder slump and he sighs really loudly. His head is stuck in the hoodie, no doubt the hoodie being stuck in the brace.

"....can you help me?....." he asks me quietly.

"Yes I can." I walk over to him and help him get the hoodie and other shirt off. I see his scars, the old faint white lines, some are raised red welts, some look like burns, others look like a whip of some sort.

I swallow back the lump in throat and continue helping him get his clothes off. He decides to take his boxers off, saying how he wants to wash everything.

I take the braces and all the bandages off before helping him lay down in the water. I hand him a wash cloth with his soaps and turn around as he washed his body. His ears were tipped red and his entire face was flushed when he was in the water. I would have out bubbles or a bath bomb in but he's not allowed to use any scented washes until his stitches are dissolved. Leo says he's got a few more weeks with them.

I hear him hiss out and turn around to see him washing is back. If I thought the welts were bad on the front...

His back is covered in the raised welts...

They all look painful...

"My dad- stepdad used to hit me with his belt when I didn't listen or was in his way...." He tells me quietly while running the wash cloth over his back again, missing most of it.

I grab the washcloth from him and start to gently wash his back.

"They still hurt..... and from time to time it feels like I can feel them like it was yesterday." He tells me

We sit in silence as I help him wash his shoulders and back.

"What happened to our stepfather?" I ask him.

He stays silent not answering my question.

"You don't have to answer but what happened when you ran away? Where did you go?"

He stays silent for a minute before answering.

"I just ran. I ran for weeks. It was the middle of winter and I wasn't prepared but I just ran. I slept under bridges, on park benches, in trees, anywhere and everywhere. Eventually I ran into Chicago and that's where Liam found me. I was in an alleyway with a group of men guys trying to have some fun. I started hitting and punching them and then Liam came and told me I could work for him and have a warm bed at night and food." He tells me.

My little brother's home life was so bad he'd rather sleep in a tree than go to the house he was at.

"You don't ever have to worry about that again Hermano. This is your home, we are your familia. We will take care of you and love you no matter what. Understood?" I turn his head around so I can see his eyes. They're sad, and cold. He's been through to much for his age. I will never let him be cold again.

"What happened earlier?" He asks me.

"What do you mean?" I ask him back, wanting to understand exactly what he's asking.

"I mean why were you guys acting like I was going crazy? Why was I going crazy?" He asks me, his eyes confused and upset.

"Do you want me to be honest with you? Or do you want me to sugar coat it? It's not anything easy thing to understand." I tell him. I want him to know that this information will change his life. That if he wants to live in ignorance for a little while longer he can.

"Tell me what the fuck is going on with me."

"The doctors at the hospital told us to keep an eye on it. They saw you mumbling and talking to no one, they saw your fear and paranoia as you stared at the wall. Then after your episode it confirmed our suspicions. We believe you have a condition called schizophrenia. It's a mental disorder that causes intense hallucinations, disorganization, mood swings. You hear and see things that aren't there. Your brain doesn't understand the difference between in your head and reality. It causes your moods to be unpredictable and t makes it hard for your brain to focus." I tell him while looking straight in his eyes.

A range of emotions goes through his face. Anger, confusion, sadness, but also understanding. Like how all of this makes sense to him.

"So you're saying I'm fucked up." He tells me.

"No, it just means your brain is different. It's a genetic disorder that is passed down. We believe our mother had it and passed it onto you. You are not fucked up Elias I need you to understand that. You will live with this for your entire life but there are ways to help you understand it. This diagnosis will only help us and everyone else understand you." I tell him clearly. Still looking in his eyes.

"Mamma was always all over the place. I thought it was the drugs but now that I think of it.... She was always causing people of something, yelling at the air, saying the craziest thing, and I could never guess what mood she would be in. Her moods changed at the drop of a hat." He tells me while looking at the bath wall tile. Lost in his own mind.

"Are you upset with this information Elias? You need to know that me and your brothers are here to help you, support you, and love you. We love you. And if you have schizophrenia then so be it, we will all learn how to help you, and how to manage this." I tell him.

He looks back and forth between me and the wall, like he's debating on telling me something.

"What is it hermanito?"

"...I've......I've been hearing voices for years..... at first it was whispers.... Like someone was talking about me but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Then over the years it became voices sometimes. I could hear them sometimes but others it was like walking on a busy street. My head would be so loud and it felt like my ears were ringing. I don't remember my hallucinations. I don't know what was hallucinations and what wasn't. Then I started seeing shadow people. The shadows would start talking and over time they could become like human shapes. But they weren't humans. They always lurked in the corners, in the back. Training helped keep them at bay. It would quiet the buzzing in my head, all the chaos going on. Does that makes sense?" He asks me.

"No it doesn't but I can understand how upsetting all of that was. You need to know you aren't alone in this. You have me and your Hermanos. You have your familia now. We are here to support you. Do you understand that?" I ask him.

He nods and I see the tears in his waterline. I move to help him finish washing up. We stay silent the rest of the time. He leans into my hands as I wash his scalp, sighing in contently. I help him get out of the bath and in the new clothes.

"Can't I just stay laying down and not have to wear my braces? They are uncomfortable and they hurt and I'll just stay laying down." He begs me.

"I'll ask Leo but for now let's get you comfortable." I help him get comfortable in bed and turn on the tv, turning on his favorite, The Lady and the Tramp.

"I've never watched movies before." He tells me.

"I figured as much, you didn't have the time or money to have all the streaming services. But now you don't have to worry about that. Now you can watch as many movies as you want." I tell him.

He just nods and starts watching the tv again. Leo walks in shortly after and he doesn't even move.

"You need to be wearing your rib brace when you're laying down and your arm needs to be in the correct position." Leo tries to tell him but Elias doesn't acknowledge his words. Choosing to ignore him. I try to stifle a laugh but fail because Elias is acting like a kid. After trying to be tough he's coming out of his shell.

Leo tries to get him to talk to him, to listen to him but Elias just ignores him the entire time.

"Alvaro some help please? Alvaro this isn't funny he's ignoring me, get him to stop." Leo pleads. Whining as he does so. I grab the braces and walk over to Elias.

"Okay I know you don't want to wear them but you need to. If you want to get them off faster then you have to wear them more." I tell him.

I am now being ignored.

Leo laughs at me and I see Elias lips curl up. Oh so he's being cheeky huh?

I laugh and grab Elias and pull him over to me. And start tickling him. His laughs fill the room as he tries to get away. Leo is trying to get me to stop but Elis is fine, Leo is very overprotective and doesn't want any harm to come to Elias.

"FINE FINE I'LL WEAR TH-THEM JUST-JUST STO-STOP!" He screams as he laughs, tears coming out of his eyes.

We get the braces on and get him comfortable as we all lay down watching the movie.

And another movie

And another one.

As the movies went on the twins came in and joined us, with popcorn.

The movies went on all night, everyone arguing over what to watch next before they all fell asleep one by one.

I stare at my familia and smile.

We're finally home.

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I'm in love with this chapter. Took me an hour to write this because I was googling how schizophrenia affects people. Again I am not a medical professional! So don't come for me if its nit exactly correct.

We are officially 4 for 4. I've posted a new chapter the past 4 days. Maybe I'll make it 5. We will see.

Don't forget to comment/vote

Please recommend some more stories, I've read them all it seems like.