Forgotten Lyrics: A Watersong Story by Amanda Hocking Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t listen. And he was my older brother. What was I supposed to do?”
    Daniel looked at Lydia then with tears standing in his eyes. The anguish in his face was overwhelming. He so desperately needed the answers to his questions, to find some absolution for his brother’s mistakes, and for himself for being unable to save John.
    “You did everything you could.” Lydia reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You did everything right. Your brother was a good guy, but he made a mistake that night, and that’s not your fault. And one mistake doesn’t make him a bad person.”
    “Sorry.” Daniel sniffled, then pulled his hand back, looking embarrassed by his display of emotion. “I just wish I remembered what happened better that night. So much of it is missing.”
    “Maybe I can help,” Lydia said. “What do you remember?”
    She made the offer before she thought about it, but now that she had, she wondered if it was such a good idea. She wanted to help him, but parts of the night felt like a blur to her, too. The only thing she remembered with real clarity was being at the hospital with him. She didn’t even know why she’d woken up in the middle of the night anymore.
    “I remember getting on the boat and then being out on the water. I was talking to Mackenzie,” Daniel said. “Then…the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with my mom and her telling me what happened.
    “I’ve pieced together a couple things from talking to Mackenzie—she was one of the girls on the boat that night,” Daniel explained. “She and her friend swam back to shore, while I stayed out looking for John, but I don’t remember any of that. The boat must’ve hit me, but I don’t know how or when.
    “And I guess I never found John, so I swam back to shore somehow.” He shook his head. “But that doesn’t feel right to me. I never would’ve left, not until I found John. I would’ve drowned out there before I gave up.”
    “Maybe someone helped you,” Lydia suggested, and something about that idea made her head tingle, as if deep down she knew she’d gotten it right. “We found you on the side of the road, but who’s to say another person hadn’t taken you that far, then run to get help? They probably just never came forward.”
    “Maybe,” Daniel said, and that seemed to satisfy him a bit.
    “I know things are hard now, and they don’t seem to make sense,” Lydia said. “What you’ve been through was really terrible, but you were really brave that night. Mackenzie told me how you saved her and helped her friend Zoë. And how old are you?”
    “Fifteen,” Daniel said.
    “You’re only fifteen,” Lydia said, genuinely impressed. “It hurts now, but it won’t always hurt. And you’re strong enough to make it through the pain.”
    “Yeah?” Daniel asked, and there was a hopeful glint in his eye, a little spark that proved he hadn’t given up yet.
    “Definitely.” Lydia smiled at him. “I’m really glad that I met you that night, and I’m even happier that I saw you today. You’re a really good guy, Daniel.”
    “You’re leaving?” Daniel asked as she got up. “Aren’t you gonna get some food?”
    “No, I was actually on my way to the library to visit a friend of mine who works there.” Lydia pointed to it. “Then I saw you, so I thought I’d stop in.”
    “I can buy you lunch,” Daniel said. “It’s the least I could do after you saved my life.”
    “I would, but I just ate. Maybe another time,” she said.
    “Sure,” Daniel said. Lydia had turned to walk away when he asked, “Hey…did I say anything that night?”
    She paused at the end of the booth and turned back to him. “No, not really. Why?”
    “I just feel like something’s missing, like something important happened, or…I don’t know how to explain it.”
    “Something did happen, and you can’t remember it,” Lydia pointed out.
    “No, I know, but it’s more than that. I get that I