by Lily Garner

Created on: June 30, 2009

Guilt

It was time to face the consequences of his actions.

"There was nothing you could have done, Danny."

His aunt's words swirled around in his head, but they didn't sink in. His brain resisted hearing them.

In his mind, there was so much more that he could have done. So much more.

It was his little brother, after all, who was now lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines, fighting for his life. If he could fight; Danny was pretty sure Sam was incapable of fighting for anything. He couldn't stick up for himself; that was the problem. A weedy, insecure kid; he had no clue how to cope with the real world, the cruel, harsh world.

Look where it had led him. Perhaps Danny should have taught him to fight. Kids with big brothers were generally tough; they had to learn to defend themselves before they learnt to walk. Not Sam. He was the baby of the family, the precious baby. More brains than the rest of his class put together, but the muscles of a caterpillar. He was an easy target.

"Look, this wasn't your fault. You need to pull yourself together and go see your parents, they're worried about you. And don't you think they have enough to worry about?"

"Just give me a second!" It came out louder than he meant it to. Patients and nurses jumped at his loud tone. He rolled his eyes at them, he would give no apologies for being upset.

"Look, Danny, it's been an hour and you've hardly said a thing, you've just been sitting there..."

What did she want him to do? Cry? Bang his head against the wall? Knowing his aunty, she probably thought he should be praying to God, or sitting in that hospital room, clutching his brother's hand and talking to him. As if, in his comatose state, he had a clue that any of that was happening. There was nothing he could do now, it was far too late for any of that. He had already failed Sam, there was nothing he could do.

"I just think you should talk about it, love. To me, or your parents..."

"My parents have enough to deal with without me whining on at them." He snapped. Plus, he was pretty sure he was the last person his parents wanted to see.

"Well, I could get one of the doctors to arrange a counsellor to talk to. I just think that..."

"I do not need a shrink!" What he needed was for her to leave him alone. He had things to think about, things to work out in his head. Without the help of her, his parents or any useless shrink that this run down hospital offered. His aunt, sensing his anger, patted his shoulder and walked

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