The Story Of Daniel

/t h i r t y/

Chapter 30

One Year After

It had been a month since Amelia's last visit to the hospital. She couldn't bring herself to walk through those hallways, to sit in that chair, and to talk to Daniel like he was going to wake up sometime soon. She couldn't look at him without feeling guilty for what she had done. But one month was too long, she had to go. Just to check on him.

When she arrived at the hospital, she dragged her feet to the door where she knew Daniel was on the other side of. She sighed, and then turned the handle. It was the same as many other times she had visited; white walls, white bed. Everything was white or gray, everything was clean and sterile, and amongst it all was a head of fiery red hair.

Amelia didn't speak. She just looked at him. When it got to be too much, she looked away. Her mind swirled with thoughts of regret, guilt, and remorse. It was too much to bear, but she felt as if she deserved it. So she went back to her house, ignoring her aunt's voice telling her to get lost. Amelia locked herself in the bathroom, maybe she would be safe there. But she could never escape her thoughts.

It's all my fault. I could have saved him. Danny doesn't deserve this, I do.

Her head was pounding, the headache was almost unbearable. Amelia opened the door to the medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of pain relievers.

Instead of taking the correct dosage of pills, she swallowed the whole bottle of them.

Now

Amelia was sitting on the same roof of the same apartment. She was drinking tea and writing in German on the paper in front of her. Her family spoke German, one of the official languages in Switzerland, along with English. Most of the people there spoke German, so Amelia decided to learn the language. She had taken French in high school which is another language in Switzerland, but German was more common.

Learning German had busied her over the months but now that she was familiar with the language, Amelia was starting to get bored. And with boredom came intense thinking. And with that, came the homesickness. Amelia had written in her letter that she would like to pay a visit. But what if he said no?

The letter should've been getting to Danny by now. And Amelia wondered if he was reading it right then, miles and miles away. She wondered if he was angry with the things she had said or if he would want her to come. Danny had always been a predictable person. But he had changed.

For the first time since she had known him, Amelia had no idea what Danny would choose to do.

***

Dear Danny,

Thank you for the pictures, it means a lot to me that you sent them, even though I'm not sure that they have cured my homesickness. I still miss Kansas and I think I may have to pay a visit soon.

I'm so glad that you want to exchange letters, I was feeling a bit lonely here in Zürich. I love my relatives that live here, but they don't celebrate Christmas. There's nothing wrong with that, I just think I'd miss the holiday if I didn't get to celebrate it. Maybe I could visit you and your family for Christmas? If not, I understand. You all must be very busy these days.