Cameron looked at them, his mouth hung slightly open as if he was left dumbfounded in front of the couple. The only thing to snap him out of it was the doctor who sat up to greet them. She held her hand out, introducing herself as the couple did the same.
Susan turned to the boy, his mouth closing when he made eye contact with the doctor. "Do.. do you want them here Cameron?"
Cameron turned to the couple, taking in their state of unease. The woman's hair was messy, her eyes baggy with red eyes and her clothes were unkempt. The man looked similar, he had his skin a pasty pale even with the dark tone, his eyes held a sense of misery that Cameron knew too well. He saw no point in kicking them out.
"It's okay."
Susan turned to them and nodded, allowing the pair to get comfortable on Cameron's side. While they tried to stabilize themselves, Cameron did see the similarities between them and Marie. The dark skin of the father, the bright blue eyes of the mother that was hidden behind a red soaked skin. Her hair was a fuzzy blonde, matching the fathers poofy natural hair style. They did indeed look like her parents, making the boy feel even more guilty at the memory of Marie.
"Your.. Marie's parents?" The boy slightly stuttered out, "I can see the resemblance.."
"Yeah…" The mother let a breathy laugh escape. Her body trembled ever so slightly, "Cameron right? I'm sorry about us barging in like this, it's just… Marie.. you were with her." Her bright eyes looked up to the boy. "She- how..?"
The boy gulped in the face of the two, seeing the women hunch over slightly. The man came in, pushing his body close to her. "What she means is.. how was Marie?"
What? Cameron looked between the two, his mind sudddeny feeling fuzzy. Like, how was her condition before passing away? Or how was she in general?
Cameron didn't want t ask outloud, he felt like he didn't have the place to. All he could do was slightly rub his hands down on the blanket.
"Marie.. she got really close with Vinh. A girl that was with us as well.." He took a glance at them, seeing the small nods of acknowledgement of the tall girl. "Vinh.. she took care of Marie the best that she could. All of us did, it didn't make sense to us why she was there in the first place. I have no right to ask you guys why she was.."
"She had a detachment issue." The father said out loud, making the boy look back up. "She has horrible anxiety about everything. She would lash out if she was alone, freak out and hurt anything. Sometimes herself. Me and my wife believed it would be best if she went to professionals-" he sucked in a deep breath. "We realize now that we were wrong. They were not professionals in the slightest. Allowing a child to leave the grownups and the guards eyes and getting lost and-"
"Honey…" The woman gently caressed his arm, forcing his eyes to her. He nodded, allowing himself to take a breath.
Cameron thought for a moment, making sure the pair were focused on him before speaking. "Getting lost yeah.. the kids I was with decided to actually leave the eyes of the guards. Marie- she came along with Vinh. She never left her side, latching onto her until the very end…" His eyes lowered once again, his vision slightly blurry with threatening tears.
"Vinh.." The woman clapped her hands down on her lap. A faint smile on her face. "I wish I could thank her, she- she did much more than we could ever do."
Cameron gave the girl a weird stare, not understanding her words.
"Marie was hard to raise to say the least. We got so desperate that we put her in a school that had its own Delinquent Cord in hope that it would help her." The father let out, "we were stupid and rash. We were bad parents…"
Their heads hung low, a mist of air that held both the feeling of failure and a strong taste of sadness made the boy feel queasy. He wanted to say more about Marie, he didn't know if the parents would want to hear about what she had gone through. Like almost drowning, falling down a cliff, and watching Vinh being killed in front of her.
By the state of the older people, he took the sign as to not do it. But with his knuckles turning an icy white at the force he held the blanket, his mind couldn't help to start to wander.
He thought back to when he was told to run by the older boy, dashing away in front of the chaos, a loud shriek of pain completely stopped him in his tracks.
It was stupid. Marie was already running a dangerous fever…
"I-"
The pair along with the concerned doctor turned to him, seeing the brown hair cover his dropped face. Cameron tried to stabilize himself, his eyes feeling hot and heavy along with his chest coming up.
He placed the limp girl in the bush, trying to hide her from view, he didn't think twice, turning around and running away from her. No noise was heard, he had just left her like that. Without even looking back.
"I left her there…" He let out a shaky breath, looking up to the parents who looked back at him. "I- she was already running a fever. Already short on breath but I- I was stupid and selfish… I left her there. Alone when she was dying… She died alone." His watering eyes looked to take in the pair's expression. "I'm sorry…"
"Cameron.." Susan gently wrapped her hand around his wrist, allowing him to shakily release his death grip on the sheets.
The parents looked back at him, the expression on their faces unreadable. Cameron regretted telling them this, it made no sense why he did anyway. But he was feeling so much guilt, so much hatred for himself for keeping it in. For leaving Marie alone in the first place.
He didn't even accomplish anything, Kim Seo.. he was unable to save the boy anyway…
"Cameron calm down, it's not your fault." Susan gently wiped away the tears pooling down his cheek.
The teenager shook his head quickly, "no- no it is-"
"No it's not." The mother's voice suddenly spoke out loud, causing the boy to look over at her. He saw him look at him with a sweet sad smile, tears running down, along with his own. "You're just a child.. It was the adults involved. None of you guys did anything wrong, you were too young, all of you…"
The father quickly hugged her, seeing the woman burst into tears. Cameron wiped his eyes, his chest opening up to the weird mixture of feelings.
"It wasn't your fault either.." Cameron spoke out, making the man look over to him with the same teary eyes. "You did what you thought was best. That's all that counts…"
The man gave a tired smile, seeing a bit of the jolly guy that was held behind that smile. He was hugging his wife again, trying to console her as he wept silent tears. "Marie was a wonderful girl. She was happy.. Vinh made her as happy as she could be…" Cameron's eyes were wet, his memories flooded with the happiness Vinh had whenever she was with Marie. He hoped that they were happy now, wherever they are…
"Vinh Bui… I wonder if we could meet her parents when we are the memory service for the students.." The woman looked over to her husband, a light smile on her lips. Cameron looked back at her, confusion in his eyes.
"What? Memory service? What memory service?" He looked over to the doctor with the same questioning look.
"Thank you guys for showing up," the doctor stood up, allowing the parents to follow. Cameron tried to follow after, only to be lightly pushed back into the mattress. "Thank you again. I should let him rest," she escorted them out, turning back around to be faced with a stubborn looking teenager.
"What were they talking about?"
"Cameron-"
"No!" He denied the small touch from the adult, "what did she mean? What memory service?"
Susan sighed, sitting back down with slow movements so it didn't startle the slightly shaking boy. "The.. it's a funeral for them. Your friends…" Cameron kept staring at her, his expression slightly relaxing with a look of shock. "Michi wanted to honor them, to tell their story at their funeral since it only seemed right.."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Cameron huffed out, his breath coming short.
"I- I didn't know about it until yesterday. It's too much for you- so I kept it in favor for you to relax. I don't want you to stress."
"When.. when is it?"
Susan sighed, her chest tightening at the sad voice that came out of him. "I don't know when it is.." She immediately saw his face fall even harder, his red eyes puffing up at the news. Susan regretted it, and wanted to console him quickly. "I can find out for you?"
Cameron looked back up, the sad look in his eyes relaxed but was still present. He nodded his head, wiping at his wet lashes. Susan giggled, giving the softest smile she could before patting his head with a gentle hand. Cameron sunk into the hand moving a bit closer with weak movements due to his attachment to the monitors. Susan noticed, moving onto the bed so the teenager could snuggle himself into her.
They sat like that, Susan silently rubbing his head while Cameron seemed to snooze off into sleep. Susan believed he would have fallen asleep if not for the slow mumble from his lips, "thank you.."
Her face warmed, the relaxed feeling of the boy fell asleep on her. Her chest warmed, the feeling of love and ongoing growth inside her. She ruffled his head once again, pecking his forehead with a small kiss as he drifted off to sleep.
The woman looked up to the roof, the realization of the attachment she was having growing. The words from the therapist came back to her, a low pit in her chest mixed with her warmth. While she silently stroked the boy's hair, she allowed her mind and body to rest.
The weeks decided to fly by fast, the same routine going over and over again. The only thing that seemed to change was Susan and Cameron, she decided to stay longer periods of time, to stay with the teenager for the most she could. Bringing him light snacks, some blankets and usually would fall asleep with the boy at her side.
She was becoming more comfortable around him, the days growing into weeks. The usual visits of Ms. Chirp began to go more smoothly as long as Susan was in the room. The doctor and therapist had seen the young boy start to improve more and more. He wasn't as pale now that Susan was giving him more sweet snacks.
The new medication he had was working well, so much that Susan decided to go along with Ms. Chirps words and allow those to be his new medication. She had spent a lot for the boy, growing more and more close to the idea of taking him fully into her care.
On one of the times Ms. Chirp had come in, Cameron lit up as he was reading a book, he looked up to her. Ms. Chirp smiled as well, seeing the boy in a good mood. "You look happy today," she set the board down on her lap before looking at the teen.
"Susan gave me this nice book," he showed it to her. Ms. Chirp silently read the cover before a smile lifted her lips.
"Ahh- Cinder is it?"
"Yeah, Susan said it was like a modern, or future version of Cinderella." He made a small laugh, flipping the page before setting it down to face the therapist.
"So you like Cinderella?"
"Well.. not her like that, I just like Disney in general." His face slightly warmed with embarrassment.
Ms. Chirp responded with a giggle. "What is your favorite Disney movie?"
"You can't ask me that.. there are too many to choose from!"
"Alright," the woman crossed her legs, playing into the boys game. "Can you tell me one of your favorite princesses then?"
Cameron looked away, his face still warm with the hindering embarrassment. He felt that it was weird for a boy to like princesses, he would be so embarrassed to tell anyone. But, it was just him and the therapist in the room.
"It will have to be Merida."
"Oh, from Brave right? I do love her as well, her hair is very cool."
"She has a nice attitude that I think is funny." The boy swirled his fingers around with a bit of embarrassment, the teacher caught his actions seeing him slowly grow anxious.
"Cameron, can I go back to that moment with you?"
"What?"
Ms. Chirp put her pen down, making herself seem as comfortable and relaxed as she could. "I know Susan isn't here right now, but.. do you feel comfortable with discussing your experience without her?"
Cameron gulped, feeling his head move around. He didn't know what the therapist meant, did she not have faith in him to handle it? He could, he knew he could.
"It's fine." He braced himself to relive the experience once again.
"I want to know, your friends. You have said before a few times that you blame yourself. You blame yourself for what happened to them. Why?" Cameron stiffened, his eyes leaving hers to calm himself. "You told me what happened. None of it was your fault, your friends chose to do what they wanted. You had no control of that."
"It's not-" Cameron huffed to himself, pressing his fingers into his skin until the pressure started to hurt. "It's not really like that. It's just- I left Marie, I left her alone.."
"To try and save your other friend. That was not selfish."
"I didn't stop Loire from leaving off like that, to leave us-"
"She went with her other friend, you were too busy and unable to stop them."
Cameron clenched his teeth, feeling annoyance rolling off his skin at the words. "I- I just left without looking back for Vinh. She was alone, we split up and I didn't try to look for her or even Marie.."
"She was scared. She ran off without warning to try and save herself just like you did."
"No- that's not it!" He seethed out, his eyes feeling hot and heavy. "Even so, I was unable to save Kim Seo. I left Marie alone to save him, but I couldn't. He still died and I couldn't do anything to stop it!"
"You tried.." Her voice was soft, the gentle look in her eyes boring into the trembling boy.
He huffed, wiping his eyes. "I don't get why we are even talking about this still. What about the fucking asshole who killed them!?" He turned back to her, his eyes narrowed. "He deserves the worst to come! It was his fault from the very beginning."
"Putting all the blame on him won't make you feel better-"
"It is right now," Cameron rolled his eyes.
Ms. Chirp bit her lip, the words of Cameron coming to her sent her mind in waves. "Cameron.."
"He should just die…" The boy pulled his knees up to his chest, tears once again welling up in his eyes. He quickly pushed his head into his knees, cursing at himself for crying once again. He was such a baby, crying over and over constantly like it is going to help him.
"Cameron. Having hate for the one in charge is not gonna help you. Him dying isn't going to-"
"I don't care if I get better at all!" He shouted out, flinching away from her when she tried to sooth him. "All I want is for him to pay! For him to die! I don't care if it wont help me or not, it's just not fair. None of what he did and isn't punished for is fair..!"
Ms. Chirp took in a breath, trying to figure out a way to calm him. The monitors connected to him had spiked. "Hate is only going to make it worse for you Cameron.. you don't have to forgive, but don't let this hold you back from getting better."
"I don't care…" He pushed himself into his knees, closing himself off from the woman.
Ms. Chirp tried to continue in the session, but the clear racing heart and shaking form, she knew it was better to drop it at that. With a heavy heart, she stood to exit the room, the door shutting gently behind her just as Susan showed up next to the room.
"Ms. Chirp? What's going on?"
"I'm sorry. I started asking Cameron questions before you showed up. He got too stressed so I decided to leave it at that."
Susan looked behind her, concern stretched into her face. Before she could maneuver around her, the therapist stopped in front of her. "Susan. Cameron is harboring too much hate for the man. If it becomes too much, it might become impossible to allow him to heal." The doctor looked at her, an unreadable expression on her face. "No amount of medication will help him. He needs to see things from a new perspective."
"Again- Ms. Chirp, I do not see how it will be bad for him."
The woman let out a hard sigh, her eyebrows pressed together. "No one seems to see it. Cameron is far too young to be feeling so much hatred. He will start to focus on his hate rather than the thought of change, the change that he needs to heal and respond positively with the trauma he has."
The doctor pressed her lips together, looking off to the side with a look of indifference. All the therapist could do was let out a hard sigh, seeing the change of expression creased into the other.
"I want to adopt him." She suddenly spoke out, causing the other woman to stand with her mouth open. Susan took in her reaction, only seeing the response of shock. "I can do it. I have all the paperwork, requirements and the pass of children. I can take care of him."
"But will he allow it? Does he want it?"
Susan flinched at the words, trying to avoid the eyes of the other. She let out a sigh, seeing the concern fold into greatness within the woman. Ms.Chirp gently slid a hand on her shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. "Ask him."
"I don't know if he does honestly.."
"Susan, just ask him." The woman looked to the therapist, she slightly nodded, regained herself with a hard sigh. As Ms. Chirp retracted her hand, she gave a gruff laugh, "also, I do suggest that we give some time for Cameron to go outside. He has been held up in that bed for over a month."
"I was thinking the same." Susan nodded to her, heading to the door. "Can I arrange that next session?"
"Of course." The therapist nodded to the other, turning to leave just as the doctor entered the room. She noticed Cameron sitting up with his knees in his chest, the book she gave him at his side, forgotten.
Susan came over to his side, placing the stack of papers she was holding down by the side as she gently stroked his head. "Hey, are you doing okay?"
"..mm hungry.." His voice was muffled, his eyes red with recent tears.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here," Susan gently apologized, forcing his head up with a sweet voice. "What do you want to eat?"
"Uhm.. crackers and cheese?"
She giggled, nodding to him while standing back up. "Making me leave once again huh? Alright, I'll be right back." She ruffled his head, heading back to the door, "finish reading the book alright?"
The teen nodded, grabbing the book before flipping back to his page. The sound of Susan leaving lifted his head, he set the book back down just as soon. His head hit the pillow, eyes drifting back to the white roof he had gotten used to seeing. He had been in the room for so long his legs felt numb at the medication along with laziness in his veins.
He was stuck in this place, staying bed ridden for almost a month. It was to heal of course, but he couldn't help but feel so trapped. The only thing stopping that feeling was Susan constantly coming to see him, she made him feel nice and free.
He smiled lightly, turning his head to the side. His eye caught a bit of fluttering papers, his curious and bored mind forced his hand to reach out for the stack. Susan was carrying it, so he thought he would be allowed to see it. He thought for a moment that it might have been his own files, but to his shock, it was a newspaper article.
He sat up, his head suddenly feeling light as the words on the cover crashed into him.
Along with the words, it was the images. It was the image of him and the words all together.
"Tail Creek Forest killer"
"Missing kid all the way back to 1990"
"Clay Dair - masked killer caught for the murders of 3 teenagers"