A gentle touch upon my shoulder violently startled me awake, but almost instantly, my eyes started to close again. Even though I recognized my big brother's hand upon me, it took several heartbeats for me to realize that I sat at the table, my arms folded atop a thick textbook.
"Come to bed, baby sister," I heard softly as the familiar hand gently caressed my shoulder. "You won't do yourself any good at all by studying all night, especially if you're this tired just after midnight. Come to bed, please."
I shook my head, partially in response to him, partially to try to clear my head. "I've got to keep going," I replied. "I'll be done in about two hours, I promise."
Through simply my big brother's touch upon me shoulder, I could feel his hesitation; I could tell that he did not truly believe me. "Two hours," he warned, his tone clearly harsher than usual.
A few heartbeats later, a gently touch upon my shoulder once again violently startled me awake. Once again, almost instantly, my eyes started to close again.
"Come to bed," I heard, this time not nearly as gently.
Slowly, I turned my eyes toward the clock on the VCR, and saw that it was only 12:30AM.
He must have sensed that I was checking the time. "You're too damn tired, baby sister. Come to bed, now."
The exam was so important to me, however, that I slowly shook my head in the negative.
Reaching underneath my arm, my big brother roughly seized a breast, and, despite my fatigue, a soft sound immediately flowed past my lips.
Then, however, I winced and grunted with pain as his hand clamped ferociously upon my breast. "You're coming to bed, now!" he insisted.
"No! I can't!"