It was the drunk girl from the beach party; the one who had warned me about Jared. "My brother is dying." She replied. The girl looked much younger and much less tough. Mascara was running down her cheeks, and she wore a clean lavender crew neck shirt. She had arranged her black hair into a ponytail, and it made her look only 18 or so. I got up from my seat and went to where Kuru was getting me something to eat. "Kuru, it's her." I said in a shaky voice. "Who?" He asked. "The girl, her brother is... he's the one who... he's dying and he's here in this hospital. I'm a monster; I've killed him!" I whispered to him. Kuru's eyes widened with disbelief. "You didn't kill anyone, Princess." "But it's my fault. I-I have to do something! I have to comfort her." "Must you?" "Of course I must. She was kind to me, I must help if I can." "Wait, let me go with you." "No. I have to do this on my own. Trust me please." "I do." I sat don beside the crying girl and spoke. "What is your name?" "Lilia. I'm Lilia Collins." She replied through her tears. "I'm Alex Wilson." I said, moving to shake her hand; but she drew back, with a look of horror on her face. "I-it's you! But you're dead!" She exclaimed. "What?" I asked, confused. "Everything was washed away. They found my brother, unconscious, but they never found you. You were presumed dead." "No, Kuru came and go me before that happened. But that is not why you're afraid of me." "Don't you hate me?" She asked genuinely. "What have you done that I should hate you? You helped me." "But, my brother... because of what he did... I thought..." She trailed off. "What he did is no reason to hate you." "Do you hate him?" "I do not wish him to suffer, no. I do not wish anyone to die either. But I am certainly not a fan." I answered truthfully. She began to cry again and mutter all sorts of things like, 'I've failed. I've failed him!' Then she looked up at me and started to speak. " Our parents died when I was 13 and he was 11. We went to live with our Aunt and Uncle, but they were both drunks. My uncle, you can't imagine what I- well, I suppose you can now." She said, looking at my bruises and remembering what her brother had done to me. She continued, "My brother followed in my uncle's footsteps. By the time he was 14, he had been charged twice with... When he was 15, he got a motor bike from our uncle. It was worse after that. He would drag me along, I had no choice; he is stronger than I am. It was terrible, and my brother didn't care what happened to me, all he cared about was... as long as I was left alive, he let his friends do whatever they wished. It was terrible, and I thought that if I drank a little before, it would numb the pain. Sometimes it worked, others it didn't. It still hurt. By the time I was 21, I had three... I lost three..." She couldn't continue because she was sobbing. She gripped her stomach with one hand, and her mouth with the other. I looked on with horror. Finally she spoke. "I lost three little unborn babies. Before they could even have a breath of air in this world, they were killed. My brother forced me to... to... to abort them. All of them. I lost my babies!" She screamed in agony, and cried without saying anymore. I hugged her then, and said I was so sorry. Once she calmed down, I went to Kuru. He saw that I was crying and asked me what was wrong. After crying a bit and Kuru caressing my back to calm me, I told him everything that Lilia had said. He looked disgusted and horrified. "What are we to do? She has no one else but him." I asked as Kuru held me in his arms. "I don't know, but we can't leave her like this." He responded, the hurt showing through his voice. We walked back over to where Lilia sat, and sat down beside her. "He loves you very much. And he is so gentle! How can that be? I've never known a gentle man, except one I met a couple of years ago. His name was... well his last name was Dikes. He had curly brown hair, and a sweet smile. He was my friend. He told me he wasn't accepted into music school, and he was sad because he couldn't be with his friends. He also told me about a beautiful girl whom he loved. The love he spoke of seemed so pure and beautiful. I will never forget that girl's name. It was strange, but pretty. Cosma was the name." She rambled on. Kuru and I looked at each other in disbelief. J.B. knew her? "Was this boy, J.B. Dikes by chance?" Asked Kuru. "Why, yes! It was. Do you know him?" She replied, surprised. We chuckled. "Yes. We know him." I answered. Kuru continued to rub my back, and Lilia noticed. "Why are you so gentle with her? Are you so strong in willpower? Or do you not care for her." She asked. Funny, quite the same question I asked myself this morning. "I love her very much, and I respect her too. She is an angel to me. A perfect star straight from Heaven. I could not harm her. Even if she wished me to be harsher, I could not bear it. Thank goodness she doesn't." He said, throwing a glance at me. One of those ' Right, Alex?' looks that make me wonder if he's joking or being serious. Definitely serious this time though. I can tell. "Of course." I replied. Kuru put his hand on Lilia's arm, and she shuddered. He removed his hand and looked questioningly at me. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to Lilia. "Lilia, it's okay. He does that all the time. It's his way of comforting people when he's too sad to actually talk to them about it." I said softly, not wanting to hurt Kuru's feelings. "Actually, I was going to speak." Said Kuru, defensively. "Of course you were. But, Kuru, you're not very straightforward on touchy subjects." I responded, quietly. "You are correct. But I will talk now, if you'll let me? Good. Now, Lilia, do you want to stay with your bother- I mean brother? You are only going to get hurt." "But I promised my mother before she died that I would take care of him. He's my little brother." She replied. "But he needs to be in a hospital. And he'll be taken care of there. We need to find somewhere for you to stay. Some place safe from his friends and your Uncle. Is there anywhere you can go?" Asked Kuru. "There is a place that I've dreampt of my whole life... but it's very expensive, and I don't want charity." "It wouldn't have to be charity. You could find work, and repay us later. Where is it that you want to go?" I asked. "T-to the art university. To Julliard." She replied.