Another Life, Another Me

26. Scared of Myself

All I knew was...that...she was the most important person to me.

When I looked around the area where Cordelia was, I wasn't surprised to see the cracks in the ground and the debris scattered everywhere. I had already known that Cordelia was near the explosion.

But what surprised me was the bodies of two men lying on the ground.

Their legs were obviously disconnected to their bodies and they had various different scratches around their torso, arms, and face.

...Did Cordelia do this to them?

For some miracle, they were still breathing. Cordelia didn't kill anyone.

When I finished taking in the surroundings, I looked at Cordelia and froze.

Her...leg...it was...broken.

For a moment, I didn't know what to think. One of her legs was twisted backward and snapped at the joint.

Did she feel any pain?

Was she okay?

Why wasn't she saying anything...?

Just looking at her injury made me irritated...It was so frustrating.

Her leg was broken and there was no way that she could move by herself.

Why didn't she call for me sooner?!

Not only that but...there was the scent of another human on her.

The scent...didn't belong to one of the men on the ground...it belonged to another person...someone that I have never met before.

It was the scent of a little boy.

...But who...?

Judging by how awkwardly Cordelia was sitting, I assumed that she wasn't going to tell me anything about what happened.

I could feel my irritation rise.

I was upset that she was hurt, that she probably wouldn't tell me anything, and at myself for not finding her sooner.

If I had found her sooner...maybe...she wouldn't have gotten hurt. Maybe, nothing extreme would have happened.

I hated it.

While I was stiff in anger and surprise, Cordelia began to chuckle awkwardly to me.

Did she think this was funny...?!

"H-Hey there...buddy. Um...If it's possible...Can you not tell Dad what happened?" Cordelia stuttered in her signature sarcastic chuckle.

After everything that has happened, the first thing she says is...this...?

She doesn't even know how much I was worried about her...about how much I panicked when I realized when she was gone.

I hated it.

I hated it so much.

And I hated myself even more for being unable to hate her...for being unable to properly get angry at her...and for finding the sound of her voice so soothing to my ears.

"...Ace? Are you okay?" Cordelia asked with confusion when I didn't respond.

She looked up to me with her big sapphire eyes with worry clearly etched into her face.

It irritated me that she looked as if she was more worried for me than I was for her.

"...After getting yourself hurt...you're asking if I'm okay...?" I murmured out loud by accident.