(FEATURED)
It's been months since the unceremonious fall of Kimie Sato's older sister. The whole of Ridgerock High knows it, and by now, the majority have moved on. But Kimie still watches those who had a hand in it continue to walk free, and the mo...
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I'd been in the hospital for almost two weeks, so when I was finally told that I could leave, I almost didn't want to.
Leaving meant I'd have to face reality. A reality where my sister was in a different kind of hospital. It came as a shock to me when I found out after waking up. They said she was "mentally unstable" because of everything she'd been through, and it caused her to have "violent episodes" that were fueled by her need for revenge.
Kairi went through a lot, but none of us realized how much it affected her mental health. Things started to make a lot of sense when Eliza told me; how my sister seemed happy one minute and haunted the next, how she spent most of her time alone, with her thoughts, with her emotions.
I gripped the edge of the hospital bed, screwing my eyes shut. I wasn't trying to chase away the memories anymore; they were a part of me now, and I couldn't magically erase them. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, I wasn't sure.
"It almost looks like you don't wanna leave."
I let my eyes remain closed for a second longer, reveling in that voice and the feeling it sent rippling through me. I could now feel it in the tips of my pale fingers. If I liked West before all this, then I couldn't say for sure what I was feeling now. He was here everyday, making me laugh so I wouldn't think too much about things. It worked—most of the time. It was almost like he had become a permanent fixture in my life.
"I was just thinking about my sister," I told him, and he took it as permission to fully walk in. He gently shut the door behind him.
The room was a little dark, the curtains drawn closed because I liked them that way. Sunlight reminded me of Kairi—her beautiful face and delicate dresses, her contagious smile. I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry today, but as West lowered himself next to me, I felt my eyes burn.
"I wish I could make you feel better," he said, his voice delicate.
"You're here."
I looked at him, and he gave me a smile I wanted to put in my pocket for later.
"Your dad asked me to talk to you . . . and maybe tell you to come out."
I'd told them—West, Eliza, and my dad—to give me a minute about fifteen minutes ago, so I understood that they'd be worried and probably tired of waiting for me in this disinfectant-smelling place.
I turned away from West, then focused on a spot on the tiled floor. "West?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I'm . . . bad?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him move closer to me before I felt his hand on mine. "I think you're amazing, Kim."
"Why don't I feel that way? It was my fault." My voice cracked at the very end, because that was the first time I was admitting it out loud. Kairi said it—though indirectly—and it was written in her journal.
