I don't know how you stayed.

The evening brings with it a rare feeling of peace and tranquility, a rarity for my broken mind and my heavy heart. You saved my family, you kept your promise, but I... I wasn't able to protect you. I should have been there, I should have come back sooner. These are the thoughts swirling in my head as I turn to you, your stiff but calm figure, your serene face, as you rest on the bed next to me. The only way to keep from having a panic attack every time you wake up in the dark, alone, in a house you no longer recognize.

"You've been through a lot... Both for me and for the other poor people in the Seed. How many beatings did your father give you because you always helped all the poor, even though we couldn't afford the medicine and the help you provided?" I whispered, looking at her calm face, feeling the softness of your pale city-girl skin. "Then why..." I whispered, my fingertips resting on the hideous 'X' scar over your now-lost right eye. "Why, when you needed me most... I wasn't there?" I whisper again, my heart heavy with the guilt of this brutal truth. She needed me, and I wasn't there.