Page 190 of Fractured Allegiance

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You watch people suffer and you don't help them.

Because helping them gets everyone killed.

I close my eyes.

And I hate myself more than I've ever hated anyone.

At 4:32 AM, the crying stops.

Silence.

Then I feel it.

A shift.

She's on the other side of the door.

I don't know how I know. I just do.

I can feel her there. Close. Maybe leaning against it. Maybe sitting with her back pressed to the wood.

I look at the cameras.

Still recording.

Still watching.

The key is in my pocket.

I could open the door.

I could—

Stop.

I take a breath.

And I move.

Slowly. Carefully.

I cross the hallway and lean against her door.

Back pressed to the wood.

Same as her.

Two inches between us.

And a key in my pocket I can't use.

I close my eyes.

And I stay there.

For an hour.

Maybe more.

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