40 Promises

"What is going on, Issac?" Zadie asked, slamming the milk cartoon onto the table with a loud thud.

The bandages around her wrist and waist almost came loose with the force she exerted.

"Is something supposed to be going on?" Issac asked, not backing down as well.

"You know what I mean." She frowned at him. "Something is wrong isn't it?"

"Zadie. Issac. Enough." Soren quickly stood up, trying to get the two to calm down but they ignored him.

"Why can't you just be honest for once?" Zadie asked, sneering at Issac. "Something happened to Haiti, didn't it?"

"Are you asking me to confirm your suspicions or are you asking me?" Issac retorted back, shoving more ice cream into his mouth.

"Issac. Come on, don't be stubborn."

"Either is fine," Zadie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Or do you need a prosthetic tongue to do either?"

"Zadie. That was uncalled for."

"Seems you have a lot of untreated trauma, Zadie," Issac said, smiling lazily. "I think you should schedule an appointment with me. Not like it would do you any good."

"What does that even mean?"

"Your obsession with psychoanalysing everyone around you is exactly what fuels your paranoia." Zadie scoffed. "No matter how much you look like you do not care, we all know that you care too much."

"Now that is an insult." Issac pointed the empty spoon at her. "Saying that I am psychoanalysing too much while you are doing the same thing. Ironic."

"You tend to act all high and mighty, Issac," Zadie said, walking to them and stopping only inches from his face. "But you know you are the weakest of us all."

"And?" Issac asked looking right into her eyes. "At least I do not try to pretend I am stronger than I know I am. Then end up overestimating myself and have to be rescued."

"Ok. You two-"

"I did what I had to do," Zadie said, looking away from Issac. "What about you? Trying to plan it out and then coming in too late?"

"Then you are willing to take the brunt of what happened?" Issac said, frowning as he stood up. He took Zadie's chin in his hands and made her look at him in the eye. "The after-effects? Everything. Are you willing to take that on yourself?"

"I don't regret it." She said, pulling her chin from his grasp. "If I had waited for you, she would have died."

Issac stared at Zadie for a second before walking past her.

"Issac?" Soren called as he passed him, not even turning in his direction as he paused.

"Haiti is dead, Zadie." He said, looking at her from the corner of his eyes as disbelief set in on her face.

"No. She can't be." Zadie said, turning to Soren who looked at her apologetically. Horror filled her as she fell back on the couch. "No. Sh- she should have lived. She said-"

Issac and Soren stood there, unmoving as Zadie tried to reason everything out.

"She is not that weak that she can be taken down- maybe she is just in a comma." She turned up to Issac, desperation written all over her face. "Maybe ... Soren can check her right? Maybe-"

Issac ignored her and walked up the stairs, leaving Soren to deal with Zadie mumbling to herself blankly.

"Hey, snap out of it," Soren said, not willing to get too close to her in case she snapped his head by mistake. The memory of what happened in the basement with Araya flashed across his mind. I don't have any healing powers, I will die. "Zadie."

"Soren." She quickly latched onto the man before he could move away from her. "Did you see her? She might still be alive. If you saw her then-"

Soren's fear of Zadie faded when he stared at her frantic face. The same face she made when he heard that Issac's father died due to unknown circumstances back in the last year of high school.

"Zadie." He said, apologetically as dread filled the woman in front of him.

She pushed him to the side like he was made of paper, causing him to crash into the edge of the couch and he heard something snap as pain filled his side.

"Ouch," Soren mumbled, grabbing his side in pain.

"No. I told her that I would come back for her." She mumbled, getting to her feet. "I am going to go back there and see. She can't be dead."

"Don't!" Soren shouted, grabbing her arm.

"Soren. Let. Go."

"That place is swarming with police and investigators," Soren said, still holding on to his side as every movement hurt. "If you go there, it could be trouble."

"I don't care! Let me go." She tried to struggle out of Soren's grasp but he held tight.

"No," Soren said, firmly looking into her eyes. "Remember that day we met in front of the bridge?"

"What does that have to do-"

"I promised you that I would stop you from doing anything stupid." He said, frowning as he held her arm tighter. "So this is me keeping my promise."

"Soren-"

"If you insist on going. You will have to break my fingers yourself." He said, not backing down as his hands trembled uncontrollably.

Zadie stared at him blankly before grabbing his arm and trying to pry it off, "I do not leave anyone behind, Soren. I promise to be careful."

"Zadie, no-"

"There you go again, being selfish," Issac said, walking to them with a bundle in his arms.

"You can't stop me, Issac." She said, still trying to pull Soren's hand from her arms though she is ten times gentler than before.

"If you go there, you run the risk of bringing people here." He said coldly. "Jadin and I had to kill twelve more people, besides the ones that I killed on the way to you, just to bring you out of that place."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you." Issac walked until he was right in front of her and began poking her on the shoulder. "The more people you kill, the more lives are placed on your shoulders. Neither you nor Orion seems to understand that."

"I don't ca-"

"Don't you dare say that?" He said, fuming. "If you could see the lives of the people that you killed, would you be able to say that?"

"What does that have to do with Haiti?" She asked, Issac signalling Soren to let go of Zadie which he did, happily.

"You tell me," Issac asked back. "Will you take away the lives of more people just because of your grief over one person?"

"ONE person?" Zadie, grabbed Issac by the collar. "You know who Haiti is to you right? What she was to US!! How can you say she is just ONE PERSON?!"

"I can," Issac said, shoving the bundle in her hands. "Because of this."

"W-what is this?" Zadie asked, looking at the red liquid dripping from the bundle. "Issac?"

"Open it." He said, walking to Soren with his arms crossed.

Reluctantly, Zadie began to unwrap the cloth, undoing the tight knots made almost all over the cloth.

"What is that?" Soren asked Issac who only placed a hand over his lips as they watched Zadie open the cloth.

As soon as the last piece of cloth fell, Zadie burst into tears, falling to the ground with a loud cry.

The two stared at her, Soren growing worried as her crying became overtaken by hiccups and coughing.

"Shouldn't we do something?" He asked Issac.

"She is strong," Issac said, looking at her blankly. "She will be fine."

"I don't know about that," Soren mumbled, turning back to Zadie.

No matter how crazy strong she is, she is still his friend from high school and he quickly wrapped his hands around her, "I am so sorry, Zadie."

"No." She whispered, as her body began to tremble. "She … I failed her. I … I couldn't- I am a failure, Soren."

"You aren't." Soren insisted, hugging her tighter.

"How do you know that?" She asked, hiccupping as he pulled away, smiling softly at her.

"I only met Haiti recently and I was able to observe some of the aftermaths of what happened." H said, wiping her face with his sleeve. "Isn't it a miracle that you are alive?"

"I don't know, Soren. I don't know anything about anything anymore."

"Well, you don't have to." He said brightly. "Just cry all you want. Issac and I will be here. So take your time."

_______________

Two hours later,

"Feeling better?" Soren asked as the two sat opposite to each other at the dining table. A pile of tissues laid on the table while Zadie looked at him with swollen eyes.

"Yeah." She said, sniffling. "Thanks, Soren."

"Hey, all I did was say you can cry." He shrugged as Issac placed cups of steaming hot tea in front of them. "Thanks, Issac."

"I didn't add sugar." He said, putting a small pot of sugar next to the cups. "Put however much you want."

"Thank you," Soren said, as Zadie stared at her drink blankly. "Issac."

"Hmm?"

"What were you talking about- no, wait. What did you mean about the lives and Haiti?"

Issac sighed, pulling a chair up from himself and sat down like he was carrying something heavy on his shoulders.