Spiritual War

CHAPTER 14

Sean was relieved to see his sister come out of the school as everyone else was.
She wasn't crying, nor was she happy. Her reaction was neutral.

Sean smiled at her as she walked slowly towards him.
"Today wasn't too bad, huh?" He asked her.

"Who told you that?" She groaned.

"So, you're just putting on a disguise...?"

"Mm- could be that." She replied, shrugging her shoulders, hastily.

"Alright, then."

Just as they were walking towards their house, Sean caught sight of his old group of friends, along with Rita. They were at the very end of the sidewalk that he and his sister were supposed to take to get home.

Sean's eyes widened, and his heart started to race. Even his sister started to slow down in her steps.
With his mouth glued shut, he motioned for her to cross the road as quick as possible.

"But, I don't want to get ran over!" She whined.

"Look at both your left and your right side, and you should be alright!" Sean commanded.

"That's not enough...!" She started to sob.

"Trust me." He assured to her. "It'll be quick. I promise... you would rather want to cross the street than to be in the middle of this. Just trust me!"
And with that, he walked right down the sidewalk, leaving his sister behind to cross the road, all alone.

Trying as hard as he could to not make any eye contact with them, he started to busy himself, by counting every step that he took in order to get to the end of the sidewalk.

"Hey!"
Rita crashed into him, trying to get his complete attention.

"Oh, hey." He waved at her, shyly.

"So, I was guessing you probably might've been a little heart broken the last time we spoke today. Maybe you already knew that I was cheating on you from the start, or somethin'." She had her hands on her hips, and was both blushing and smirking all at the same time.
However, Sean wasn't anywhere near being convinced to be with her again.

"No ma'am. I wasn't. I knew what all of this was about, but I don't think feeling bad is really necessary." He replied with all due respect. "If I'm okay with leaving you, then I'm guessing you feel the same way too- especially since you have already found a fellow someone to be with." He pointed at Quinn who stood next to her with his arm around both of her shoulders.

Next thing you know, Quinn stepped into the picture to spice things up a little.
"Sounds true, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I think Rita really did deserve to be with me rather than with you!" He added, now placing his arm around Rita's neck. "This woman is so hard to miss out on."

"Well, Mister church boy... I don't care how much you try and ruin my life and conceal it when you are around others, but I will never stop being who I was truly called to be. Your actions do not surprise me."

"If you care so much about who you ought to be and who you believe to be, doesn't that surprise you?" Quinn asked, pointing to Amy who was standing in the middle of the road.
She had a worried look on her face and was shaking a lot.
Then out of the blue, a small yellow pickup truck that was driving over the speed limit, andran towards her.

Although, The driver slammed on to his brakes so hard, he still ended up hitting Amy- knocking her over and on to the ground.

With the group laughing and Rita chuckling in an evil way, Sean threw his book bag to the ground and rushed to help his sister.

"You tried, wuss!" Rita shouted.

***

The sound of the heart monitor and the constant clicking of the clock, made Sean and his parents very nervous.
Ever since the incident, Sean's mouth was glued shut. He was seen but not heard.

There was a cloth wrapped all around Amy's head, and there was a cast on each of her legs.

Sean would constantly remind himself that everything was going to be okay, but another thought would intrude that current thought, and deny the fact that his sister would even live.

"... Brain damage, and possibly won't be able to walk again." Her nurse admitted to Mister and Misses Sawyer. "Her legs aren't in too bad of a condition. She can start putting pressure on them by later next week. But then after that, she's going to have to use a walker... I am very sorry."

"Hey, we're just glad that you all treated her. You know?" Mr. Sawyer said, giving the nurse a handshake.

"Well, I am glad you are satisfied, sir." She replied, grinning softly.

Sean struggled to even smile. He felt the power of guilt, all over again. He even denied that he would even be able to change. Besides, he acted stupid his whole entire life, well of course he believed so.
But not only that, but the voice inside of him that used to tell him that he was different and just needed to take courage, somewhat hadn't said a single word to him since the week before.

"C'mon, Sean." His mother called out, as she pushed Amy down the hall on a wheelchair.

Sean obeyed his mother, but walked a couple of feet away from them.
As he was walking, he saw several of other patients in a couple of rooms. They were either weeping over a loved one or just waiting patiently for a doctor, while their loved one lied in bed with a breathing mask on.

Just thinking about it, made Sean realize that life was really short. He clinched his fists and his jaw at the thought of him always making mistakes. Nothing was good about him and no one ever saw anything good from him, either.

***

Late that very night, Sean sacrificed his bedtime to go and sit with his sister. He had to argue with his mind, constantly- to push away the thought of guilt, and to at least show some compassion to her.

Amy sat still on her bed. She had her head laid back on to the headboard.
Her body was very stiff, but she could still move her mouth quite slowly, and wiggle her fingers normally.
Altogether, she seemed to have a damaged brain, and wasn't able to respond to anyone right away.

Sean held her hands and gently played with her fingers, only whispering the words, "I'm sorry...".
Just then, Mr. Sawyer came in to the room to take a look at the two. Once he saw that all was well, he slowly walked over to where Sean was sitting at, and knelt down beside him.
Sean turned to face his dad, and with a still and silent voice, he said, "I am so sorry, dad. I should have-"

"Nothing. You should have- nothing, Sean." He interrupted him. "I'm glad you've came into this moment of realization. That's all that matters..."

"Well, what do you mean?" His son asked, almost tearing up. He took his hands off of his sister's hand, and paid full attention to his dad.

"God wants us all to come to the point where we've realized that we have been arrogant all along and are in need of him. When we notice that we thought that we had it all together without him, we come to the realization that we truly need him. We're like illegitimate children, Sean. We think we have it all under control, but we really don't. We need him alone to use us and guide us. You just have to let God in, knowing that you cannot try and do anything on your own."

Sean turned his face towards his sister, slowly, watching her drift off to sleep.
"I see...." He replied, sorrowfully.