Speechless.

Amelia had been silent until John’s bus came into view and she began to whimper. John knew that if he dropped his cold, indifferent exterior he’d turn into an apologetic mess right there, but his bus was only a few feet away and he couldn’t falter now.

“Please, John.” She whimpered, her head limp against his shoulder as her hand held a fist of his grey V-neck. She was torn between craving the comfort he offered and fighting him away for wanting to be close to her.

John could have broken right then. In his arms, so limp, so lifeless, if it weren’t for the steady beat of her heart he would swear she was slowly dying. But maybe that was the problem. Maybe Amelia was slowly dying. Not physically sure, but emotionally? John was pretty sure that the girl in his arms was stuck somewhere between alive and dead. Whatever happened to her had almost killed her, and maybe still was. The thought made John surge with an overwhelming need to protect the frail girl.

John managed to unlock the bus door and pulled it open with Amelia still in his arms. He made his way slowly to the back of his bus as Amelia began to tremble. He lowered her gently into his bunk and then sat down on the floor beside her. He watched her tremble, never moving from the position he’d placed her in.

John wanted to make her feel better more than anything else in the world. He wanted to see her smile, a vision he imagined would be a contagious thing. He imagined her smile touching her eyes and making her coffee colored eyes sparkle. But John had nothing to ease her pain, he didn’t know the right words to lift her spirits. He was awkward and clumsy and he stumbled over his words from time to time. The only talent John saw in himself was his voice and the song he’d sing.

John watched her eyes shimmer with tears and wanted to, more desperately than before, to make her feel better, safe—to ease her pain.

“This world
This world is cold
But you don't
You don't have to go
You're feeling sad, you're feeling lonely, and no one seems to care,”

Amelia closed her eyes, listening to the sound of John’s voice, tears falling lazily down her face, over her blotchy cheeks, and dipping down to fall on her neck. She listened to the softness of his voice, the warmth and the care that leaked into every word he sung for her and only her.

“Hold on if you feel like letting go
Hold on it gets better than you know

Your days
You say they're way too long
And your nights
You can't sleep at all
Hold on
And you're not sure what you're waiting for, but you don't want to know more
And you're not sure what you're looking for, but you don't want to know more”

Amelia drifted into something close to sleep. It was the most peaceful sleep she’d had in years. Even though her instincts had her muscles frozen by the close proximity of John near where she lay, her heart told her that John would never harm her. Somehow her muscles relaxed and her mind drifted into sleep by the sound of John’s voice and the nightmares which had always plagued her mind never came. She slept peacefully, hearing John’s voice even in sleep. She knew John wanted to help her, chase the nightmares of her life away, but Amelia knew better; John could not fight the nightmares of her life away, but he could fight the ones that plagued her in sleep.

And so Amelia slept and John sat loyally beside her, singing away the demons in her head…at least for a little while anyway.