A/N: Chapter is not edited. Sue me, today has been hectic and I've not had time to edit this yet.
~~~~~~

It takes a while for us to stumble, quite literally, onto another human being, at which point Dimitri all but interrogates the guy to learn where the apothecary lives.

I feel like I should tell Dimitri not to be so harsh, but I can't make myself care enough to speak. Right now I don't feel a thing, and I can't help wondering if this is how It's supposed to be. Surely I shouldn't be like this, as emotionless as some kind of robot.

I really don't remember how long it took to find the east side of Florence. I do remember how, for what has to have been hours, we stumbled around the city.

Eventually we find the border wall, and we follow its curve for a while. It's during this part of the trip when we notice the rundown house. The light from countless candles makes its way to the street from the windows of the small home.

They must not be rich enough to have a generator, or choose to turn it off for part of the night.

We're standing in front of the house now, the oldest members of the group arguing about whether or not it's worth checking out, whether someone who is seemingly so poor could possibly be the person we're looking for.

Dimitri keeps complaining that this seems suspicious with Shemik informing him that at this point she doesn't care. Theo and Lili are staring straight ahead, about as zoned out as I've been for the majority of the walk. My sister's expression is completely blank, and I can't help adding her to my list of worries.

Dimitri has lost the argument, and I end up falling into step behind Theo as we make our way to the door. Shemik is the one to try the handle, finding it to be unlocked.

The home's front door swings open with an awful creaking sound, and we find ourselves standing in what has to be a kitchen.

A candle rests in the center of the table, with two more perched a little dangerously on the counter in the corner.

Two pairs of shoes are placed next to the door, and with a sense of relief I recognize Emilio's boots next to the pair of beaten-up sneakers.

The guy on the street was right, then.

This has to be the apothecary's home.

A second after noticing the boots, I catch sight of the figure slumped at the kitchen table, their head resting on the smooth surface.

"Where's Rose?" Shemik is the one to speak, causing Emilio's head to shoot upward. He takes us in silently, inclining his head to one of three doors leading out of the kitchen. It is the only one to remain closed, and I can just make out the sound of someone's footsteps from somewhere on the other side. A moment or so later, a young woman steps through the doorway, closing it again behind her.

"Ah," She looks at Emilio, then glances to the rest of us, "the rest of your friends?"

Emilio gives her a nod, and the woman continues in our direction.

"If your friend wakes up, she'll have a nice chance of recovering." she says, gaze sweeping over us again as she speaks, "It could be hours, it could be days. I do not know what was used to poison her, so I had to try several different antidotes. I am hoping that one of them works. You all look exhausted, and seeing as it appears that you have nowhere else to go, you can stay with me until we see how your friend reacts to the treatment."

She gestures for us to leave our shoes next to Emilio's, all of us moving to follow the command at the same time.

All I want to do is see Rose, apologize because she saved my life once and ignoring my vision could have cost Rose hers.

~*~

The woman, Siena, tells us that there are exactly five rooms in her little house. She has the kitchen, bathroom, her bedroom and closet, plus the spare room where her guests stay when she has them. This was her mother's house, she says, and she's never needed or wanted to move into something bigger.

Most of us, with the exception of the oldest kids, spend our time completely checked out of the conversation until Siena opens the guest room door again.

The room isn't really large, but there's just enough space to cram all the necessities into the area.

A table sits against the nearest wall, next to the door, a handful of candles filling the room with light from their place on its surface. There's a window high in one wall, a couch situated underneath it. Another smaller couch is positioned on the opposite wall with the bed filling the gap between them. There is just enough space on either side of the bed frame to reach each couch, and I can't help wondering how Siena made this happen.

It only takes a few seconds for me to catch sight of Rose, still wearing her jacket and boots and sprawled across the bed. I don't think I've ever seen somebody who is alive looking this pale, and in the candlelight she seems that much closer to being a ghost.

I'm suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to cry, the realization that this is completely on me seeming to hit hard.

It was your vision, Jason. You saw her. You didn't know if or when it would happen, but you didn't care enough to watch her.

Maybe I am nothing more than a little kid. A little kid would ignore their problems, decide there's nothing to worry about despite the evidence that something might be wrong. Little kids expect someone else to fix the problem, or for the problem to fix itself.

Why didn't I think about it more?

Why didn't I watch Rose?

Why?

I somehow find myself sitting down on the larger couch. Lili, Theo, and Dimitri have taken up the one across from me, all of us listening but not really paying attention as Siena talks to Shemik and Emilio.

Eventually she leaves, telling us she's going to bed and that we should wake her if anything changes at all.

Shemik takes up a position next to me, Emilio sitting down on her other side.

Not one of us seems to know what to do, what to say now. Theo and Dimitri don't bother trying to come up with something to talk about, choosing to try for sleep instead. Lili keeps looking at Emilio, glancing away whenever Shemik takes notice and resuming the action as soon as the older girl glances away again.

My sister appears as though she's dying to say something, but she knows it's not a good idea. If there's one thing I've learned being Lil's brother, it's that when she wants to say something bad enough, no one's warnings can stop her from saying it.

Lil stumbles to her feet, leaving her place between Theo and Dimitri to come stand in front of Emilio.

"I-I h-have to tell you s-something." Lili manages, taking a deep breath, "A-Alessa killed your parents. I-I know my timing's awful, but you might as well find out now rather than ages later when everything is less crazy."

Emilio is on his feet so fast that my sister goes scrambling back, escaping to her place on the small couch as Emilio all but runs for the door. He disappears through it without a word to any of us, the front door of Siena's house slamming a few moments later.

Lil looks exhausted, seeming about fifty years old when she gazes at the bedroom door.

"I ..." she squeaks, "Should I ..."

Next to me, Shemik gets to her feet, ignoring Lili's question as she retraces Emilio's steps to the bedroom door, through it, and out the front door.

I wait several seconds before deciding to follow, unable to stand looking at Lili's guilty expression or Rose's unmoving form a second longer.

This is all my fault, all of it!

Why didn't I pay attention? If I'd been more worried about the vision, Rose wouldn't be like this. If I'd been watching her, I would have seen how evil Alessa is, maybe prevented some of the things she was planning to do.

I stumble across the room, reaching for the doorknob in a blur.

"Jason?" Lili's concerned voice calls from behind me, "Where are you going?"

"Out." My voice sounds small, not like mine at all.

I step into the kitchen, walking past the table to get to Siena's front door. Peeking through the window, I can just make out the shadows of two figures in the distance.

I pull open the door, closing it as quietly as I can behind me as I move silently down the sidewalk.

I come to a stop a few paces from Shemik and Emilio, who are so caught up in their own face-to-face argument that they don't notice me.

"Don't do that!" Emilio is complaining, "I can't keep anything from you because you always know what I am thinking!"

"Emilio," Shemik has her back to me, so I can't make out her expression, but she sounds incredibly tired, "it doesn't take a mind reader to tell that you are drowning in guilt."

"So what if I am?" Emilio snaps, "It's my fault isn't it? I tell Jason that he shouldn't worry about the vision, I drag all of you back to Florence, to Alessa ... No, don't give me that look! It is my fault."

"Don't say th-"

"It is," Emilio snarls, looking angrier than I've ever seen him, "everything that has happened in the past few weeks, it is all because of me. Jason takes my advice, Rose could die. I come home, Alessa kills my parents and may still end up killing Rose. Even before that ... Brynn died because of me. No, don't even try to tell me it was your fault she was in that compound, Shem. It was all my fault, because I was stupid enough to get myself caught, and not smart enough to find a way for Lili, Theo, and me to get away. You had to drag the others into that mess because of me, the same way I have been dragging you into situations ever since!"

"I should have watched her." Shemik's voice is little more than a whisper, and I can't help noticing that she sounds two seconds away from crying, "I should have ... She's too young, too smart to die like this. She survived what the Russians did to her and caught the train to Poland as a five-year-old. She doesn't deserve this, no one does."

The look on Emilio's face says he feels the exact same way.

Before I realize it, my feet are carrying me forward, taking me closer to the two of them until I'm standing next to Shemik.

"It's my fault." I hear myself say, "I had the vision, I was supposed to watch her."

"How long have you been listening?" Emilio takes me in, his gaze a mixture of pity and something I can't figure out.

"Pretty much the whole time, I guess." I admit, grimacing.

He sighs, one hand running ceaselessly through his hair.

He doesn't look angry anymore, he just seems done with it all.

"Why," he wonders, "why is it so hard to catch a break?"

I can't help wondering the same thing as the three of us return to our room, taking up our old position on the larger of the two couches. Lili, Theo, and Dimitri have somehow managed to fall asleep, but instinctively I know that will take me a while to do.

What feels like hours later, I do manage it. Everything seems to disappear, the reality of the situation no longer threatening to drive me crazy as I find myself in a dreamless sleep.