The room I was waiting in was dreadfully drab. The walls were a standard mix of gray and white and held no pictures of any sort. The most interesting thing going on was a little clunk that echoed every once in a while.

Beside me, Annie murmured, "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon enough."

I mumbled, "If that were the case, we wouldn't even make it past her office door."

Creak.

The door opened, revealing Dr. Rebecca. She was dark-skinned, with a thick hair of curls encompassing her angular face. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled when she saw me, adjusting her blazer.

My heartbeat sped up.

I forced a smirk onto my face. "Doctor Rebecca, what a pleasure it is to see you again. You're looking as young as ever."

"Angelo, it's wonderful to see you as well."

"Hi," Getting up, Annie walked over and gave Dr. Rebecca a handshake, "thanks for seeing us."

"No problem at all. Shall we go in?"

No.

I drawled, "Of course. The sooner we do, the sooner you can quell Annie's fears, then we can go home."

. . .

Dr. Rebecca's office was not as drab as the waiting room. While it didn't have any pictures in it or stuff like that, it did have a library. Annie and I sat down on a sofa, whilst Doctor Rebecca sat down on the seat behind her desk.

Dr. Rebecca smiled at me. "So, Angelo, how are you doing?"

I sighed. "Look, can you just let Annie know I'm doing alright?"

Annie said, "I don't think you're doing as well as you make yourself out to be."

I glared at her. "Oh? Please tell me, since you're so psychic, why am I supposed to answer questions?"

"It's obvious, Angelo. After all, you wouldn't be trying to avoid-"

"I'm not avoiding anything!"

Silence took ahold of the room. Doctor Rebecca rose an eyebrow.

Fuck.

I slowed down my breathing, then laughed. "Sorry about that; I'm eager to be out of here."

Doctor Rebecca asked, "You're sure that you're doing fine?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am. Look, I know you think doing the play would affect my mental health, but it's not. I'm completely over...the incident."

"Completely over it?"

"One hundred percent." I got up, turning away. "I'll like to be going now. Come on, Annie. Doctor Rebecca has her answer."

"Just a moment, please. Before you go, since you're completely over it, why don't we discuss the manner of your parents' death?"

I froze.

After a moment, I replied, "What's there to talk about? They lived, then they died. End of story."

"It's a lot more complex than you're making it out to be. Your mother, Angela Smith, passed away from an unknown disease. Whereas, your father-"

'Forgive me...'

My fists clenched. "We don't need to talk about my father's cowardice." Looking at her, I smirked. "While we're on the subject of deaths, tell me, how is your marriage life going? Everything rosy at home?"

'Angelo!" Annie gasped. "Doctor Rebecca, I'm so sorry, I don't know how he could have found out about the divorce. I didn't tell him!"

I smirked at her. "The way you talk on the phone, you might as well-"

"No, it's alright," Doctor Rebecca interrupted. "This is an expected reaction-."

I snarled, "You can go fuck yourself with your expectations, because your ex-husband sure won't!"

Annie yelled, "Angelo, that's enough!"

Dr. Rebecca shook her head. "Annie, it's alright, really. But you should take Angelo home now. We won't be able to get any work done if he's not willing to co-operate."

My fingernails dug into my palms. Damn it, why is she still so calm? How does she expect me to open up if she doesn't even understand how I feel?

"You know, that's the first sensible thing you've said today, Doctor." I spat. "Annie, I'll see you outside."

I stomped out of Doctor Rebecca's office, not bothering to close the door on my way out.

. . .

The silence that hung during the first few moments of the ride home was deafening.

Without the sound of voices to cover them up, every other sound was loud. From the whir of the engine to my thoughts, everything seemed to scream at me.

After an eternity, I growled, "Well?"

Not taking her eyes off the road, Annie replied, "Well, what?"

"Get on with it. We both know you want to yell at me."

"Actually, I don't."

I scoffed. "Is that meant to be a joke? I can feel the tension between us, so why don't you just get it out of your system?"

Annie didn't reply.

I gritted my teeth. "Dammit, why won't you say anything! I tried to humiliate Doctor Rebecca, remember? I even rudely left the office!"

She replied, "I know-"

"So why aren't you screaming at me?"

"Because that's not going to help, okay! I have tried different methods to help you for so long, but nothing seems to be working, and I'm honestly sick of it!"

Silence rushed in once again.

My heart sunk. "You've given up on me, haven't you?"

"What?" Annie's eyes widened. "No, how can you even think that! I'm not angry at you; I'm angry at myself!"

"Sure," I murmured, slumping in my seat and facing the window.

A moment later, she said, "There's something you should know. That summer, when Max and I- that is, when we-" Her voice cracked. "Shit, I'm sorry. I thought, after all these years, this won't be so hard to say."

She took a few deep breaths, then continued. "The truth is, I was the one who suggested to Max that we send you to that institution."

I rose an eyebrow at her. "That's it? I already guessed as much."

"Yes, bu- but, you don't know why I sent you there." She gripped the steering wheel tighter, keeping her eyes on the road. "I didn't send you there because I couldn't help you, I- I sent you there because I didn't want to! After your mother died, I was suddenly placed as your legal guardian, and I felt like it was 0so m- much pressure. I mean, I already had to start taking evening classes, and th- then you were going through your issues. I love you like a brother, but I...I couldn't handle it-"

"And so you had me sent away."

Tears streaming down her face, she nodded. "I'm so sorry! When you came back, you were so quiet, only speaking when spoken to. You were eating a lot more than you had been before, but you still weren't you, and that was all my fault! I- I've wanted to apologize to you for years, but I- I couldn't work up the courage. I thought interfering in your life and trying to do what's best for you would somehow make up for it." She scoffed, "You can see how well that's been working."

"Annie, stop the car."

"B- but, we have to get home!"

I sighed, "You are not in the right mindset to be driving right now. Stop the car."

She nodded, then parked at the side of the road.

"Thank you." After a moment, I added, "Do- do you need some time to...you know...get it out of your system?"

Wiping her eyes, Annie shook her head. "No, I think I've exhausted my tears quota for the day."

My shoulders relaxed. "If that's the case, then it's best I let you know that you have no reason to apologize. You were a nineteen-year-old who in charge of an unstable twelve-year-old child-"

"No! Don't try and justify what I did."

I held up my hands. "Alright then, I won't. But this doesn't make you a bad person now, in my eyes at least. You've been trying to make up for it since then, and I can't recall a time in recent years that you haven't been there for me. As far as I'm concerned, mistakes are only bad when they go unacknowledged. So while you can learn from your past mistakes, you shouldn't let it define who you are."

At the end of my speech, tears were leaking from Annie's eyes again.

I winced. "I thought you'd exhausted your tears quota for the day?"

She smiled. "So did I, but that was before I realized how wise you've grown up to be."

My face warmed. "I have always been wise! Anyways, I have a date with Pierre's cooking and the living room couch, so we should start going now."

Wiping the last of the tears off her face, Annie nodded. "I haven't given him shit in a while; I'll change that."

On that note, the engine whirred to life. Soon, we were back on the road.

I rested my eyes against the window beside me, closing my eyes. If Annie hadn't sent me away that summer though...would I be alive today?

. . .

If he hadn't tripped, he wouldn't have seen the note.

He frowned as he looked at the words. He thought about dismissing them. After all, they were much less important than his real mission: gloating as he woke his mother up. She was always scolding him about how Annie had to wake him up, so he was proud that he'd woken up by himself.

Based on the chattering he'd heard on his way, he'd guessed that Annie had abandoned waking him for gossip. Unusual, but possible for her. After all, it was the last week of the school year, so maybe she wasn't all too bothered about his attendance. Max was probably out of the house already, so expecting him to cover for his sister was a dead end.

Annie turned away from his mother, her eyes widening. "Shit! A-Angelo, you shouldn't be here right now!"

The boy frowned. He didn't understand why Annie was shaking as she tugged him out of the room, nor did he understand why tears were running down her face. Sure, his mum constantly needed rest, but he always hugged her before heading to school. She always saw him off.

As he was being dragged away, he focused on the obstacle he had tripped on earlier: his father's body. The boy couldn't see his face, but decided that he must have had too much too drink. What the boy assumed to be spilled red wine slowly sipped out from underneath the body, and there was a stained piece of broken glass not too far from it...

As Angelo stared at the body of his father, his brow furrowed as the messily-scrawled words he'd read on the note came to mind:

'Forgive me, Angelo.'