January 20, 2014
Here Without You—3 Doors Down (3:56)
Firefly
Simon
He turned onto his back for the seventh time in ten minutes and stared up at the ceiling. His brain wouldn't stop racing. River was hurting. He knew it. The letters proved it, if only to him.
She was asking for help. River never asked for help. Never. His parents conveniently forgot that little fact. How could they just dismiss both of their children this way?
He glared up at the ceiling a bit more. He would go and fetch her. It was the only way to stop his worries. In the morning he'd travel to the Academy and ask to see her. Once he assured himself that she was safe then he could sleep. Maybe.
He should have talked her out of going to a school so far away. He should have made her stay here. She was just a little girl. She should have stayed with her family. With him. He was her ge ge. He was supposed to keep her safe and happy. He had the sinking feeling that he'd failed spectacularly.
They wouldn't let him see her. They said she was away on a trip with her classmates. He knew they were lying. He didn't know how he knew but he knew they were lying to him. They told him to come back in a month. Her class had gone out to the rim for some life experience. He didn't believe them but he agreed. He would get to her some other way.
He couldn't stop dreaming of her screaming for him. Begging him to get her out. To help her. Night had become his worst enemy. Sleep never came easily anymore and it was plagued with her screams. He had to get to her.
The nightmares didn't stop when the others came forward to help. They only got worse. They didn't stop when he finally rescued her. Now he knew some of what they'd done to his beloved mei mei. And the images appeared every time he closed his eyes.
Still, she was here. Safe finally. With him. He would protect her this time. He would keep her safe like he should have done in the first place. He was determined not to fail again. He would do anything for her. Anything to make up for not protecting her before. His mei mei was all that mattered and no sacrifice was too much for her.
The nightmares didn't matter. He would fight those demons if it meant he could keep her next to him. And she needed him. Needed him more than she ever had. He would keep her safe and happy no matter what.