Toby

As we stumble away from the wreck, I struggle to comfort my sobbing daughter, but I'm barely staying upright myself as everything that just happened truly sinks in. He's gonna die. A teenage boy is about to die.

I look up to see Truett, standing with a familiar figure, a friend of mine. Danny Gokey. But how...

"Danny?" I gasp. "How..."

"His was the car that flipped," Truett explains quickly. "But he was by himself, and he's mostly alright thanks to his seat belt and airbag."

"Now what about you, Toby?" Danny steps in. "What just happened over there?"

I swallow hard, struggling to keep it together. "That... that was the boy who... who raped Bri." I look down at her, still sobbing into my chest as I hold her with both arms. "Who we just got out of a court session fighting against. And now he... he's gonna die." I can hear my voice shaking as I say the words.

Danny steps forward, hugging me while I hug Bri.

"You led him to Jesus, then?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah, but..."

"Then you did all you could do," Danny tells me simply. "I know it's hard, Toby, but you just gave that boy all he could ask for."

I nod slowly, feeling my heartbeat beginning to return to normal. "I... alright. Thanks, Danny."

He returns the gesture as he releases me and steps back, and I turn to Bri, kneeling down and taking her with me, placing both of my hands on her shoulders.

"Talk to me, Baby," I murmur.

"This is all my fault," she chokes out. "I... I shouldn't have..."

"Hey, hey, hey," I cut her off gently. "Bri. This is not your fault, okay? I know that's what Satan is screaming at you right now, but it's. Not. True."

"Toby, this is what I always do!" she gasps. "Everywhere I go, there's just this trail of destruction behind me! This is why I just need to die!"

"Hey." It's not me, but Danny, that says the gentle word as he kneels down with us. "I know how that feels."

Her eyes snap up to him in confusion and fear, but she doesn't say anything.

"I know you don't know me," he goes on softly. "But I just want you to know that you are not alone in feeling like that. I struggled for so long, thinking that it would be better for everyone if I just died. But that was a lie, the same lie you are believing right now. Jesus is working, even in this. He's making a masterpiece out of you, because he loves you."

She squeezes her eyes shut, shaking her head. "If I hadn't have taken him to court, he'd be okay. He said he was sorry. I... I can't... I'm so..."

I exhale slowly. "Bri, Baby, listen, okay? I am so glad that Lincoln accepted Jesus. I am so glad he apologized to you. But he knew what was happening, and he was scared. Maybe this was the only thing that he would have responded to. If it wasn't for this, he would still be shameless in what he did to you, still be ready and willing to do it again. So don't blame yourself. Don't feel guilty. It's not your fault, and what he did to you, and the blatant way he lied about, were still there. I'm not saying you can't forgive him, but all I'm saying is don't forgive him just to hate yourself instead. Okay?"

She looks at me for a long moment, before she finally collapses in tears. I catch her and pull her against me, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her face into my shoulder.

"I just wanna die," she sobs. "I just... I just..."

"I know," I whisper. "I know. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be just fine."

And we stay like this, in the middle of the street, both of us crying, with my arms around Bri and Danny's hand on my shoulder. 

That was super short, but I decided to just go with it. I'm back, guys, hopefully to keep up this one. While my writing schedule did (See my Update Schedule book), this book's place did not, so I will still be attempting to update every Monday. If that turns out to be too much, I'll switch to every other Monday.