"What do you want me to do?" Blood on the glass- messy, streaky stuff, all lurid and red. Blood on the tiles, on the carpet- red, red, dripping, seeping. "I mean, damn it- what can I do?" Hands beat against the glass, useless, futile. Dim eyes stare back. "You're bleeding all over everything- and I can't touch you. Why am I even here?"

No answer.

"Why? God damn it, what more do you want from me? I can't save you- I never could. I can only do so much, I can only keep so little for myself- how can you expect me to help you this time?" Hands bruised, aching. A cut under a fingernail bleeds. "I can't help you- I have to worry about everyone else. I can't do anything for them, either. All I can do is love them, and worry- and I love too much, and worry even more. You're the only one who ever wondered what I was supposed to do. None of the others ever cared. How am I supposed to save you, this time? I don't know how. I don't know if I want to."

Knowing looks, from half shut eyes. Blood lapping at the walls, hungry, seething.

"You should have just stayed away! You should never have said anything- I wouldn't have come, if you hadn't said something. You knew I couldn't help. You knew it! You just wanted me to see you here, to keep you company...you wanted me to watch you bleed to death. Why?" Window panes fogging beneath desperate breath.

No answer.

"Fuck it, the least you could do is tell me why! Do you want to make me hurt even more? I can't spare the time or the energy to watch you die! I can't! You know I can't. Why are you doing this to me- I have to help the others. They need me so much more than you ever did. I don't know how to help them, but I'll be there for them, anything they ask. I was there for you, too. I'm here for you now. Why are you doing this to me?"

You didn't have a choice this time, said the reflection. You didn't have a choice. Voices echoing in the blank white room- white and scarlet, blood and tile and mirrors. So many mirrors. No choice, this time. Voices still echoed, blood sped in slow motion across the floor.

Only one voice. One reflection.

No choice, this time.