Echoes of the Sea: Part Four

Echo and I spent the entire day in my room. My parents left us alone. Toni, however, always dropped by to check on me. I'd just have Echo hide and pretend to be getting sick in the bathroom of my cabin. He'd leave me after that.
The storm had ended after only a few hours.
Echo could not read or write. That was something I learned from spending time with her. She was terrified of practically everything. My need to protect her grew even stronger as I got closer to her.
I always caught her staring out the window, at the ocean.
"Sometime soon," I promised her, "I'll take you up onto the deck and we can watch the ocean together… Would you like that?" I sat on the bed beside her, running my fingers through her silky hair.
Echo sat close to me, her head resting on my shoulder. She grinned up at me when I offered that promise to her. She gave me a nod. She scooted closer to me. I heard air escape through her lips as she attempted to speak. As always, there were no words. In my mind, I heard them clearly.
As the day passed, I had taken my meals from Toni, feeding them all to Echo. She ate very little. She always forced me to eat the rest of the meal. Toni still checked in on me, but I kept up the sick act quite well.
I watched slowly as the sun began to set. As the night approached, so did the songs the ocean sang to me. Echo and I changed into different clothes. After watching me dress several times, Echo finally got the hang of it. She was able to dress herself for bed. She left the little white ribbon in her hair, which made me smile.
As I lay beside Echo that night, watching her sleep, I heard the ocean speak a name. It kept me awake, causing me to feel an empty feeling in my heart.
As I dreamed, Echo seemed to vanish from my side. Another beautiful woman entered my dream, she was like Echo. Her hair was a deep, chocolate brown. Her eyes were the same hypnotizing blue. Her skin was just as pale, almost translucent. Her voice wove its way into my heart and stuck there.
Her name was clearest of all. It stuck with me.
She was like some beautiful angel; just like Echo. Their eyes were the same. It made me wonder about exactly who Echo was and why she and this angel were somehow related in my mind. I wondered if this angel even existed.
I was captivated by this angel; her eyes, her voice, everything about her. I wanted to be by her side. No, it was a need. I needed to be by her side. I asked myself why I needed this, I couldn't explain it. It was something I couldn't piece together. My heart called out for this angel, and she called out for me.
I was woken from my dream by a cry of pain. My eyes shot open. I quickly sat up, turning to see Echo crying. My need to stand with that angel was whisked away, and my need to protect Echo filled up my heart once more.
I realized she was sleeping. I shook her gently, trying to awaken her from her nightmare.
"Echo," I whispered urgently. "Echo, wake up."
Her eyelids flew open. She stared into my eyes and shook with her silent sobs. She squeezed her eyes shut, her hand flying to grip the name carved into her wrist. She was in pain.
I held her face gently in my hands. I cooed to her, trying to get her to open her eyes and look at me. I hoped she could somehow tell me what was wrong.
But it soon became obvious to me that she couldn't tell me what was hurting her. She just cried. After a few moments, I became content with just holding her as she did. I easily pulled her little body into my lap and held her. She buried her face in my shoulder, whimpering like a little puppy.
I ran my fingers through her silky hair, just watching her. It hurt me to see her in pain. All I wanted was to make things better for her, but I couldn't. I had no idea how to, and I didn't even know what was hurting her.
"Echo," I whispered to her. "I'm sorry… It's going to be okay." Why I apologized, I wasn't too sure of. I felt like her pain was somehow my fault. Maybe that was just because I couldn't stop it.
After a long while, her cried softened and she fell back asleep. By this time, it was early in the morning. The sun had risen. Echo was sleeping in my arms. Her tears still fell even though she was asleep.
I wondered if the songs the ocean sang to me could help Echo.