Thunder

Alex's brown eyes widened the second he heard the news. This was all a joke... it had to be. She wasn't gone. She couldn't be. He'd wake up soon and this would all just be some sick, twisted nightmare, right?

Wrong.

This wasn't a nightmare. He wasn't waking up from this. This was all reality.

"W-what?" Jack's voice broke the silence that had fallen upon the trio of friends and the doctor. "You're joking, right? I mean... she's Abigail. She has to be fine."

Alex had so many questions for Abigail; wanted so many answers. It was too late, though. He'd never get to ask and he'd never get to find out the truth. She was gone... this time, she really wasn't coming back...

"I'm sorry, boys..." the doctor's own voice shook at the tragedy that had been cursed upon the teenagers. "I wish I wasn't being serious... but she lost too much blood... We did everything we could."

"No!" Alex's voice finally shoved its way through his throat; his suddenly booming voice startling his friends. "You're lying! Abigail's fine; she has to be!"

"'Lex..." Rian tried his best to find some kind of comforting words, but he knew there wasn't. There wasn't anything he could say to make this better for anyone.

"C-can I see her?" Alex lowered his voice, his eyes welling with what felt like a hundred pounds of tears, just begging to fall.

"Of course," the doctor nodded solemnly.

*****

After a few minutes, the doctor, Jack, and Rian had left to give Alex alone time with Abigail. Choking back the several sobs that clogged his throat, Alex squeezed the girl's limp, pale hand. "Abigail, please... don't do this. I can't do this without you, Abigail. I love you; please don't do this. Please wake up... something. You know I'm not strong enough to do this. You're what made me me again... You broke down my own walls and I know if you wake up, I can do the same for you. Please..."

Alex begged for some kind of response from the girl he loved. For her to squeeze his hand back. For her to say she loved him too; even if it was just one last time. It's all he wanted to hear at the moment.

Several minutes passed before Alex gave up hope. She wasn't waking up. Abigail was gone... really gone.

Alex ran out the large, white door, tears streaming down his face. He ignored the various calls from his friends. He couldn't do this right now. He wanted to be alone. Fuck, he just wanted Abigail.

Thirty minutes later, Alex found him at the lake that he had seen Abigail at just earlier that day. Plopping himself down on the ground in front of the water, he began speaking. To no one in particular but not necessarily to himself. More or less to Abigail.

"This isn't fair, Abigail. Why'd you do it? We could've worked through your problems... I could have saved you, even if you didn't think you could be saved. You saved me, you know? You made me feel like... like I had a purpose now. I was happy with you around. Still... you thought that you did nothing but hurt me and make me upset... You didn't, really. You made me so fucking happy. This isn't fair. This isn't fucking fair at all...." Alex couldn't fight the sob that escaped his throat just as he finished speaking. He felt like someone had taken a hammer and slammed into his chest, resulting in a huge hole in his chest. "I love you, Abigail."

*****

Rian wasn't exactly taking Abigail's death easy, either; not as hard as Alex was taking it, but he was still mourning for his friend.

Sitting down in front of her lifeless body at the hospital, Jack sitting next to him, Rian didn't know where to begin. Like Alex, Rian, too, had so many questions that pleaded answers. Deep down, Rian knew that she could've made it. Abigail was the strongest girl he knew; she had gotten through so much shit... He thought she was getting better. She really seemed like it. She had a few bumps in the road, but he knew she could've pulled through. Abigail could have been saved, if only she had believed that herself.

Jack was still in disbelief. The skunk haired boy didn't know Abigail as well as his other two friends had, but he knew her well enough to be upset about losing her. The image of her lifeless body lying on the tiled floor with the empty pills bottles and the blood stained blade lying on the floor next to her wouldn't get out of his mind. He wanted this all to be some cruel, sick joke. Or just a nightmare. Something. Something that wasn't reality.

"Jack, I just... I don't get what happened..." was all Rian could say before the tears fell.

Jack, on the other hand, couldn't say anything. He just wrapped his arm around his best friend's shoulders while they both cried for the lost life of their new friend.