"You know he's right" said the now familiar voice next to him as they sat on the shore watching the crashing waves, "You need to go back".
"Why didn't you?" he asked, staring at the waves.
"Circumstances were different" they told him. "The pain and suffering was too great, for everyone" they replied.
"Exactly why I can't go back" he retorted.
"No, mine was different, his was different. Ours couldn't be fixed. You've been given a chance that we never had" they replied softly.
"What if it didn't work, what of it's the same....or worse" he replied solemnly.
"You concentrate too much on the what if's" they told him.
"Just being realistic " he said.
They sat there in silence until a voice was heard in the distance. The familiar voice began to cry. "Why are you crying, I didn't think that happened here" he asked.
"Listen" they told him, catching the tears and throwing them into the ocean.
"He's angry" he replied.
"Yes, at himself, at you for giving up" they told him standing up. Holding out their hand they said "Come, I want to show you something".
They took a few steps and suddenly were looking through a window. He recognized the area, a place that brought him much joy. Family, friends gathered with laughter and music. He smiled at the vision before him.
The voice led him through the window. Now before them, just him and his best friend. Explaining what he was dealing with. A lump formed in his throat "that was very hard to do" he whispered. "I understand" said the voice leading him to another window. A hospital, his best friend sleeping on a hard bench in a waiting room. They turned, another window... Punches, screaming, yelling on the other side, but yet the best friend held him while he calmed.
They guided him down a hallway. An ocean view once again with a pier, rock ledges and another scuffle.
"Why do you continue to show me this. Can't you see what I've done to him. All the more reason to not go back" he said with anger.
They took him again by the hand. This time an area he didn't recognize. He suddenly realized it was his friends life, before. He could feel the love between the two before him. Music, laughter, beautiful images flashed before him making him smile. Suddenly a storm of emotions engulfed him. Darkness overtook the pair and continued to surround them, horrible images surfaced. "Why?" he asked "they didn't deserve that".
They walked together along another hallway. The image of a hand signing papers flashed before him. Tears suddenly dampened the documents under the hand. He recognized what they were. "Mine?" he asked. "No" the voice replied. "I should never have burdened him with that, how selfish of me. If I'd only known..."
"It wouldn't have made any difference if you had. Have you not realized what type of man he truly is" they asked him.
"Why me, though. Why is he so concerned with taking care of me" he asked.
"Because...you saved him" they stated.
"What are you talking about, how could I save him" he asked.
"You gave him a purpose, you brought the love of music back into his life. You filled a void he'd had for many years" they replied "You were his second chance"
"Second chance? For what?" he asked.
"To live" they told him.