TW: Take care of yourselves.
"I almost did something stupid last week," The young, college-aged woman on Liza's computer screen—she thought her name was Bailey, or something similar—confessed, twiddling her manicured fingers just under her chin. "Like, I feel like I should have been killed too, you know? Why was it everyone else? Why not me? So, I thought maybe I should just take care of it myself."
Liza shifted in her seat, her eyes darting to the door of her apartment. She was thinking about moving. There were too many noises in the apartment—too many strangers bustling about, able to hurt her if given the chance.
"I see that you didn't follow through with those thoughts, and I'm very glad for that." the group leader, Drew, noted, rubbing at his stubble as he peered at the girl through his own computer screen. "May I ask why you chose to stay?"
Bailey looked older than she should have when she blew out a heavy, defeated sigh. "It's so dumb," she grumbled.
"Remember that none of your thoughts are dumb," Drew chided in that gentle, therapist way.
Liza almost rolled her eyes, but she was actually curious about why the girl wanted to stay. If she recalled correctly, then Bailey's entire family had died in a horrible boating accident. Liza could only imagine the pain that came from losing one's whole family.
She struggled immensely, after all, and she still had her mom.
"Right," Bailey huffed. "Well, anyway, I met this guy in one of my classes. We're in a group for a project together, and we've been getting along really well, so, like, he asked me on a date, and I just thought that I want to at least go on that, first."
Drew hummed thoughtfully. "I think that it's very good to find things to look forward to, Bailey. We have to remember that those who died," nearly every member in the group, Liza included, flinched at the word, hating the memories associated with it, "would want us to continue living, even in their absence. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?"
One of the men in the group started talking about an event that he was looking forward to—a skiing trip with his church group—and how that kept him focused on something, but Liza had stopped listening.
Instead, she pondered over Bailey's words.
A date, huh?
Liza certainly wasn't about to go out and meet someone—she hadn't really looked forward to leaving the safety of her apartment since she'd been released from the hospital—but it was still an interesting idea, to meet someone or make plans that had such an impact.
She wondered, would she ever find something like that again? Something—or someone—that gave her purpose?
YOU ARE READING
The Expansion of the Universe {Completed}
Romance"My name's Elijah, by the way. It's nice to meet you, window-girl." She liked that name: Elijah. "I doubt you're even listening, but, look, I'm not here to cause problems, you know? I'm just here to chat. It can get lonely when we segregate ourselv...
