The Last Night

Ohana

(A/N: This is officially the first chapter of 2016! Thanks for reading guys! Happy New Year!)

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Chapter Sixteen

"The last night I wanted to stop something this bad was the night I made an important realization."

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"Okay, what's up? You've been really spacey since we dropped off Cindy at the hospital," I said, looking at Ame who was sitting on her bed.

"Have not."

I sat next to her. "Yes, you have. It's obvious. You've had this downcast look for a while now."

She looked away from me.

"What's eating at you? Are you thinking that what happened earlier was your fault?"

She said nothing.

"Is that it? If so, it wasn't."

"But they were hoping to shoot me. Not Cindy. They mistook her for me because they couldn't see me. I ended up dragging more people into this. What happens if she dies? It really will be my fault. I'll indirectly be responsible for her death. It's almost the same thing as killing her with my own hands," she said, her voice breaking.

"Ame, look at me." I grabbed her shoulders to make sure she wouldn't avoid me. I looked straight into her eyes. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Do I need to repeat myself? Because I will if that's what it takes to make it sink in. It wasn't your fault. And you may think it's almost the same as killing her, but that's just it. Almost. Almost isn't the same. You didn't directly kill her. The sniper did."

"How would you know what this guilt feels like?"

I let go of her since I was sure she wouldn't try to avoid me anymore. "Trust me. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone else's accident. At least I do now, anyway." I thought back to the other day. "I felt the same way when you got shot."

Surprise was written all over her face. "But that was my own fault."

"You may think that, but I felt responsible because I just stood there in shock. I couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening. You even fell off a cliff because of that moment I couldn't do anything. It was almost like a movie moment where something tragic happens in slow motion."

"But you saved me." A faint pink dusted her cheeks. So she did remember. "Twice already."

"Maybe I did, but I won't go tooting my own horn. I still felt responsible then," I said. "But on the boat while the medics were operating on you, I talked with Kate. She told me, 'Things you can't do anything about just happen so it's not your fault.' Whatever happens, happens. It is not your fault, Ame."

She looked like she was searching for some kind of refute, but a soft knock on the door interrupted us before she could think of it. I stood up and looked out the peephole. It was just Alice. I reached for the doorknob but froze when I realized what kind of problem we'd be facing afterwards.

Shoot.

Ame saw my expression and knew something was up. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Alice. Should I open it? It could look pretty misleading."

"Do it. Them finding out was inevitable."

I opened the door. Alice had a cart of boxes with her.

"Erik? Isn't this Ame's room?" She looked at her list, thinking it'd be impossible for her to mistake it.

"She's in here," I said.

"Oh, okay." She took a box off the cart. "Could you get her for me?"

"Ame, delivery for you," I called.