The Story Of Daniel

/t h i r t y - t h r e e/

Chapter 33

Five Years After

Before Amelia met Naomi, she had been counting down the days till she could be released. In every therapy session, she pretended she was over the incident and that she was happy. It was a lie, but Amelia wanted to get out of the place as soon as possible. She hadn't visited Daniel in years. She didn't know anything. He could still be in a coma, he could be awake, he could be dead. Amelia wouldn't know unless she got out of that mental hospital.

But now that she had made a friend, Amelia found herself not wanting to leave as much. Naomi was a sociopath, so Amelia knew that Naomi would never truly care about her. But it was worth pretending that she had a friend.

Naomi would lie, blame things on other people, and generally not care about anything or anyone. But she was the only one that made an effort to talk to Amelia, so she would take what she could get.

"Hey," Naomi said. Amelia had been sitting in the common room, staring out the window.

"Oh, hey," Amelia said. "What's up?"

"I'm leaving," she said. Amelia was shocked. What was she talking about? She didn't get released for another few months.

"You aren't released yet."

"I'm breaking out," she whispered. "And I want you to come with me."

Amelia froze. She couldn't do that. Yes, she wanted to leave. But if she broke out, she would be a criminal, and she couldn't keep running all of her life. This was her only friend in this place, but she had to turn Naomi's offer down. "I'm not going with you."

"What? I have it all worked out. It's a safe-proof plan."

"I can't do that. But I won't tell anyone." Naomi looked shocked but she just shrugged and walked away.

The next day, Amelia learned that Naomi hadn't gotten out. She was caught. And Naomi seemed to think that Amelia had told a nurse, and that's how she had been caught. So she told everyone that Amelia had been the one that contacted someone from outside of the institution. She was trying to drag Amelia down with her.

Luckily, no one believed Naomi since she was an impulsive liar.

But now Amelia was alone. Her only friend had betrayed her and Amelia was sad all over again.

Now

"Give me a week," he said. "Just let me have seven days to think this over." Daniel wasn't even looking her in the eye. He stared just past her shoulder like someone would do in a horror film when they see a ghost or demon behind the other character. It was very unsettling for Amelia to see her friend like this.

"Do you want me to stay in here with you a little while longer? To see if you have any questions?" Amelia was worried about Daniel. He had never acted like this in previous months when he woke up to this shocking news. He always took it in calmly and jumped back into his life within a few days; or at least that's what Daniel's parents had told her. But now he was requesting an entire week to think this over when they had a plane to catch in four days.

"No. I think I can handle it, Amelia. I just need to be alone for a while." His words were sharp like knives and he still wasn't looking at her. "I don't need a babysitter." Daniel said the last part under his breath but it wasn't quite enough to go unheard by Amelia. She was shocked and hurt by his words but she decided to let them go by as Daniel intended them to; unheard. He was confused. He was frustrated. He just needed some head space so he could calm down, and Amelia would give it to him. If he wanted her to leave for a while, she would.