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North Taylor 3 years ago
"What?" I barked harshly, my hands tightened into fists to keep away the shaking. "How could you let her leave like that?"
Uncle's eyes studied the ground, not wanting to meet my own. "What did you expect me to do, North? She was deteriorating staying here! Surrounded by nothing but things that reminded her of you! She stopped working, stopped visiting, stopped taking assignments. I did the only thing that would save her from herself, and you!" Uncle ended with a stern finger pointed in Luke and I's direction. I reeled back, dumbstruck at his harsh words.
"Why didn't she wait?" My voiced cracked. It felt like my entire world went up in a blaze of flames as I watched, helpless to the ashes that remained. "She promised."
He looked at me with pity. If I wasn't so angry, and tortured, I might have been able to recognize the heartbreak Uncle carried as well. "She did wait, North. For an entire year." He shook his head from side to side. "You stopped all contact with her months ago. When the Academy board refused to give her any information, she shut down, thinking the worst."
"We couldn't contact her!" I yelled, my hands now fisting my hair in frustration. "The Academy officials forbade it."
Luke sat quietly off to the side, staring at the wall blankly.
"You broke one of the most important rules when you listened to them. Family is supposed to come first, but you, and the rest of your team, abandoned her."
"How is that fair? We couldn't go against their wishes in the middle of such a dangerous assignment," I frantically argued. I needed to grasp onto anything that would save me from the wave of guilt that insisted on drowning me. I was becoming desperate.
"That's enough, North," Luke demanded quietly. His expression was broken, and I vividly watched as he wiped away a tear that fell down from his eye. "Stop trying to make yourself feel better by coming up with excuses. We all failed her as a family."
"Don't," I barked. "Do not blame yourself. Or me. Or any of our brothers. We had no choice."
"Really? We had no choice? With Victor's computer skills, we could have avoided the Academy and contacted her. We could have mailed her a letter. Could have sent her a damn note in a bottle for that matter! The point is, we chose the Academy over her."
I couldn't believe my ears, and I could only look at him in disbelief. How could he suggest such a thing? He's being too hard on himself. There was no way any of us, my brothers and I, could willingly leave her alone and heartbroken.
