Brett Battles - The Silenced

“You know, you’re going to have to go in and talk to her at some point,” Orlando said.

He shook his head. “She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“She wants to talk to you more than anything in the world.”

Smiling without feeling, he said, “She wants Nate to get better more than anything, I think.”

“She can want both.”

He stared at the floor, unsure.

“If you don’t do it for yourself, or even for her, you need to do it for Nate. He nearly sacrificed his life to save her. He did that for you.”

Quinn rubbed his hands across his face. “I know,” he whispered.

“So make it right,” Orlando said.

She got up and walked out of the room.

Make it right. For the third time in his life, he was responsible for nearly getting his sister killed. Make it right? He should just walk away, like he did before. That would make it right, wouldn’t it?

But ten minutes later, he found himself standing in front of Nate’s door, not sure how he got there. He remembered getting up. He remembered walking down the hall. But he didn’t remember choosing to do either.

Make it right, he thought, breaking the trance.

He placed his palm against the door and pushed, hoping that for some reason it would be locked. But it swung inward.

He took a step forward. And then another.

His sister was there, her chair pulled up next to Nate’s bed, his hand in hers. It was as if she hadn’t heard Quinn come in. Then, finally, she seemed to sense that she was no longer alone, and turned to see who it was, her face blank.

Quinn hesitated a moment, then took the last step into the room, and let the door swing shut behind him.