ALL RISE

04 - PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , WASHINGTON , D.C.

PRESENT

DALIA

The only sound of significance that I hear was the irregular water drip on the floor that was a few feet away from where I was sitting which only made me wonder if it had annoyed the others as much as it had annoyed me.

"Dalia?" , I looked up as I heard the soft voice call out my name across from me.

"Would you like to share something with us today?" The coordinator of the meeting , Anna , asked me yet another question.

I wrapped the cardigan that fell off my body around my shoulders and sniffed before answering her question "No."

"No?" , she raised her eyebrows at me and glanced quickly at my legs and lingered on my bruised hands, making me immediately slip them in my pockets as she asked "No ups? No downs? Nothing new?"

And suddenly it didn't seem like a harmless question anymore - she wanted me to 'share'. But what was I expected to say to her? Am I meant to lie and tell her that I'm fine? Or be honest and tell her that I'd rather be at work right now than stuck in a room with a bunch of other people that I know don't wanna be here and talk about their struggles with strangers? She sees my beaten up hands and legs , she knows that all there is to my life is simple downs. Did she want me to be positive? Or was she trying to show the other people here that at least their lives aren't as bad as mine?

"I feel fine," came out what felt like thousandth lie I've told and double that of how many times I've repeated that sentence "I mean, I get that I won't be able to do everything I used to do but that's-"

Before I could continue my sentence , I saw one of my best friends, Kai , enter the room and look at me with a smile before muttering an apology with his hands in surrender and rush to an empty chair in the circle.

Anna only ignored him and continued to pester me "Dalia?" Anna said my name again but all I could see was Kai. They were only a few moments but I felt like I'd been staring at him forever. I didn't understand why he was here. I didn't care that he was late , I cared about why he was here with me instead of the hospital or work or his own house.

"Dalia?" Anna repeated herself , snapping me out of my trance. "Are you waiting for someone?"

I was waiting for Kai to speak up , to help me and rescue me away from this hell but he couldn't.

He can't help me.

He can't help me.

He won't help me.

But I can.

I looked around one last time, hoping that one of those miracles would happen but everything was the same and I think that maybe even the water dripping became regular for a minute. But , this was real life and the only way out of this awkward moment was through.

"No, I'm not, I'm...I'm not okay?" I looked at Anna "I'm not okay because I'm sitting here, unable to do anything about anything. People are dying and I can't do anything. Instead of being out there and helping them, I'm here in this stupid room with no option but to talk and talk and talk. So no, I'm definitely not okay."