David slammed the salon door shut, and shut his eyes as a few solitary tears streaked down his face. He finally looked in the mirror, and just spent the next few moments staring, unblinking, unable to collect his thoughts. Josh's ambivalence to what he'd done..everyone loving him..they didn't know the real him, like David knew him.

In the mirror, he spotted a pair of scissors sitting on the counter, and David's thoughts travelled. He had never contemplated something like self harm, but things were different now. He'd broken up with his girlfriend, and the man who drugged and raped him was roaming the street, surrounded by those who adored him.

David whipped off his jacket, snatched the scissors, opened them, and pressed the blade on his arm. However, he remained as such, unable to actually do it. His hands shook as the blade ghosted his skin slightly, travelling to his wrist. No, this was too far, it really was-

However, like nails on a chalkboard, Josh's laughter floated through the walls of the salon, joined by Tyrone's. David froze, and he no longer shook as he spotted the vague figures pass by the salon windows.

Josh. The reason for all his problems. He could picture him now, a smug smile on his face, no matter if he was talking about the weather or callously commenting on how he raped David.

And in that moment, cutting didn't seem so difficult.

David simply wanted to die

In one fluid motion, he dragged the blade of the scissors across his wrist, and blood spurred from them, instantly covering his hand and arm in a matter of seconds. The anger, sorrow, shame and resentment David felt towards Josh, himself and the world spurned him to do the same to his other wrist, although in a much more unclean fashion.

David dropped the scissors as his hands shook. Blood was now dripping to the floor, and squirting into the air, though it quickly landed on everything surrounding him. David leant against the counter, though any use of his arms only caused his body, particularly his wrists, to protest.

David closed his eyes and felt more tears slip out of his eyes and eventually, he descended into sobbing, full blown sobbing. Why him?! Why was he Josh's victim? He had done bad things, yes, but this was hardly deserved in any sense! He just wished Josh left him alone, he wished he had never met him!

Through the sounds of David's sobbing, came the sound of laughter. It was a child's laughter, from beyond the salon. Suddenly, images of Max and Lily swam in David's vision. His son and daughter, his kids..could he really make them lose another parent this way? He couldn't.

David got up, though his stance was weak. He stumbled to the door, though he had no plan for what he was to do once he got out? Go to the house? Get help? He didn't even know. He just needed to get to a place where if he couldn't call an ambulance, someone else could see him and call one.

However, that was easier said than done as he grew weaker and weaker as he approached the door. The rapid blood loss from his wrists was proving to be a great liability. He clutched the desk of the salon, his skin pale.

David's vision swam, and his hearing started to fade as objects faded from concise shapes to vague shadows. David hit the floor and his eyes closed slowly. He felt his body shutting down and his consciousness soon followed.

"Sorry Audrey, sorry Audrey," Maria said to herself as she headed towards the salon "god, I should not have had lunch with Carla. What was the point? I don't even talk to her anymore!" Maria searched for the key in her pocket, and was remiss to find it wasn't there.

"Oh come on," Maria sighed, searching through her handbag too for the key "you have got to be kidding me.." Maria eventually located the golden coloured key and went to unlock the salon door, but was puzzled to find it was unlocked already. She opened it tentatively, not knowing what she would find.

The first thing she saw was blood. Blood was in the back of the salon, but grew greater as it trailed to something -or someone- near the desk. "A-Audrey? David? Did one of you hurt yourselves," Maria asked, as she fully opened the door.

She let out a deafening shriek as she finally saw David, passed out, face down, in a pool of blood, with his wrists offering more of it as the puddle grew bigger. Maria fell to her knees, not caring if they got ruined, and turned David over to face her.

"Oh my god, David," Maria gasped as she saw the jagged slashes in David's wrists. She whipped out her phone and called an ambulance.

"Please, somebody I know has slit their wrists," Maria exclaimed into the phone "yes, Audrey's salon, Coronation Street." Maria was surprised somebody hadn't wandered in from all the noise she was making. But as soon she thought this up, she saw a shadow appear from behind her.

"What's with all the noise- oh my god," Rita exclaimed as she wandered in, but Maria turned to the elderly woman pleadingly, as her hands tried to grasp anything she could to stem the blood flow.

"G-Go get Gail, Audrey, all of them," Maria ordered, her face slick with tears "go, now!" The woman nodded, clinging closely to her jacket, as she jogged quickly to the Platt's house, dreading bringing the news to the house.

It was Gail who answered her with a smile, but it dissolved when she saw Rita's solemn face. "Rita, love, what's happened," Gail asked, and Rita walked in hurriedly, to see Bethany and Sarah gathered around the sitting room, watching television, with Max and Lily on the floor.

"Sarah, Gail, you have to come to the salon," Rita said with a grim face "just please come. Bethany, love, you watch the kids, alright?" The two women looked confounded, but came anyway, with Bethany looking bewildered, though she remained on the couch.

Gail and Sarah demanded explanation, but Rita refused to give it to them. How could she? How could she tell them David has slit his own wrists to try and kill himself. As they reached the salon, Rita squeezed each of their shoulders comfortingly as they reached the salon door.

Sarah's reaction was a screech, covering her mouth, while Gail's eyes went large and she shook her head, falling to her knees next to Maria, who had placed towels beneath David's wrists, though they were quickly becoming drenched with blood.

"What happened," Gail demanded to Maria, who had calmed herself, but was still hiccuping.

"I-I found him like this," Maria said "a-and these.." she held up a pair of scissors that had specks of blood along the blade. Gail covered her mouth in horror, as Sarah went into another series of sobbing.

People were beginning to gather around the salon entrance, muttering, though most in shock and horror. Sarah attempted unsuccessfully to shoo them away, as most remained.

Shona had noticed the commotion as the ambulance came roaring down the cobbled street. Roy had sent her to see what the matter was, and with a sinking heart, she noticed the ambulance stop outside the salon with a large crowd surrounding the entrance, that parted for the paramedics.

Shona jogged over, and the crowd parted for her too, something that made her stomach clench. Did something happen to David? Why did they let her through, of all people?

She took in the sight of David, bloody, unconscious pale with a gasp. Her boyfriend -well, ex boyfriend-, was with slashed wrists in the salon, with his family and friends crying. How was she to react? She joined Sarah's side, shaking.

"W-What happened," Shona croaked and Sarah let out a quivering breath.

"They, uh, found him like this," Sarah explained, gesturing to David "h-he c-cut his.." she ended the sentence prematurely with a round of sobbing, and Shona shook her head.

"H-He...he wouldn't..he couldn't.." Shona refused to believe David would do such a thing. But with David in front of her like this, what was she supposed to believe?

The paramedics loaded David into the ambulance with everyone watching. They agreed that Gail should go in the ambulance with him, while Shona would follow on in a taxi. Sarah would do the same later, but Bethany and Audrey would have to have everything explained to them as soon as possible. Bethany was at home while Audrey was out with a friend.

As the ambulance pulled away, Shona didn't move like the rest of the crowd, instead opting to stand beside the salon, which was still covered in blood. Shona's eyes raked over the salon, the scissors which still lay on the floor and the people going to the pub or their places of work. Deep in her heart, Shona knew David wouldn't do this, no matter how hard things got. Something exceptionally bad must've happened to cause him to do this.

And Shona was determined to find out what.