How To Save A Life

Number One: Love

The wind was harsh, forcing the teenage girl back as she struggled forward. It was if the universe was willing to give everything it had to not let her get to the hospital. But she was determined to see him. She needed her answers. And as she battled her way through the strong gale force, she became more adamant with every move she made.

It was hard enough getting to the hospital, but as she walked through the front doors it was as if everything came to a sudden realization; this was real. It was too real. Things like this happen on TV shows and in movies. It didn't happen to people you knew, especially not the people you count as your family. It was surreal. The very thought of him lying up in that hospital room, so alone and so frightened, it chilled Gwen to her bones. Duncan was her best friend. He would have told her-should have told her-if he was going to do something like this.

"Miss?" The petite teenager snapped back to life at the sight of the blonde burse standing beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Gwen stuttered, struggling to find words. She was clearly not okay, and a hospital would usually be the right place to be if you weren't okay. But it wasn't an illness. It was a deep feeling, an emotion she hadn't discovered before. Guilt? Regret? Is this what it felt like when you lost the one you loved? But Duncan wasn't lost; he was still here-barely, but still here.

Gwen nodded at the concerned nurse and slowly trotted over to the front desk. All thoughts left her body, as if she was draining with every step she took. The receptionist didn't look friendly at all; she looked impatient from dealing with obnoxious people for so long. So Gwen slowed down. Her steps became minimum and eventually stopped again.

This was more painful than she had imagined it would be, but she needed to summon up all her courage and go through with it. Duncan needed her. She needed to see him.

"Excuse me," her words were quiet, her voice hoarse, but Gwen's confidence was hiding behind it all. The old woman rolled her eyes to the side to look at the nervous teenage girl instead of turning her head. "I'm looking for Duncan Evans. He came in yesterday." The old woman regarded Gwen for a moment, not sure what to make of the shivering and nervous arm scratching. But she tapped away at the keys and hit a few buttons for good measure anyway.

"He's in room 8C on floor 6. Double check with the receptionist up there." Gwen nodded at her bitter tone, too scared to say anything else. She just moved as fast as she could towards the elevator and prayed that time would inevitably slow down so she could have a few more minutes or speed up so she could pass the whole ordeal without thought. But the metal doors parted ways and she had to step out into the sterile hall of floor 6. There wasn't enough time to stop and double check. Gwen was determined to be brave about this. She was going to face him now and make sure he knew exactly how much pain and worry he had put her through in the past twenty-four hours.

She saw him before he saw her. Pale and lying in the pure white room. There was a drip attached to his arm and Gwen made a mental note to stay away from it. The last thing she wanted to do was knock it over with her clumsiness. But as she lost herself in thought, anything to avoid moving any closer to him, he moved. Lifeless blue eyes shot to find her deep green ones. Duncan knew of her presence and wasn't going to let Gwen go unnoticed now.

"Hey," she offered her voice small.

"Hey," he replied, no emotion left.

They stayed in awkward silence, their gaze never faltering. That was until the blonde in the chair in the corner of the room closed her magazine and excused herself. Now they were free to talk without the distraction of his older sister in the way.

"How you feeling?" Gwen asked, tepidly moving to sit on the end of the bed. She didn't know how close he would let her, or even how close she wanted to be. The best friend Gwen had known two days ago wasn't the same teenager she sat before now. Duncan had changed in ways she couldn't imagine.

He was silent for a moment, a far off look in his washed-out eyes, "Remember when we went to Cony Island?" Gwen nodded. "And you dared me to eat that hotdog?" Another nod. "I want to go through that pain ten times over. It's better than this."

Gwen inhaled deeply. She knew he would never want to relive that hotdog moment again, it wasn't the best of their ideas. But she had no idea what could have driven him to so much pain that he would try to take his own life. That wasn't the Duncan she knew. Sure, his life wasn't as perfect as some of the people they knew, but there was nothing so bad in it that he would no longer want to live.

"What happened, Duncan?" The scared teenage girl asked, her voice straining to stay void of her own feelings. "One day me and you are kicking ass on Assassin's Creed and the next my mom tells me that you overdosed, that you had to have your stomach pumped!" She couldn't keep calm for much longer, her words coated in an emotion crossed between anger and devastation. This was her best friend, someone she had known since she was five years old. They told each other everything and never did something stupid without consulting the other. They were inseparable, always had been. But now Duncan had pushed a line.

"Do you know how horrible I felt yesterday?" Gwen asked, "And I know you clearly felt worse, but thinking that I would never get to see you again-Knowing that I would never hear your laugh when you beat me on the X-Box or see your smile when I get on the school bus each morning...Those moments mean the world to me." Duncan stayed silent as Gwen tried to catch her breath and not let her eyeliner smudge. He was an empty husk now. There wasn't a lot of feeling left in him. He was numb. But Gwen was going to keep trying to get through to him.

Reaching out, Gwen took Duncan's hand-the one without the drip-and clenched her palm to the back of his knuckles, pushing her fingers through the gaps between his. She lifted them both and pushed his palm to his chest.

"I can feel your heart beat, can you?" The damn was ready to break. "That means I still have you. And for as long as I still have you, I am going to make sure you know just how much I love you. Because I do, Duncan, I love you. You are my best friend and I never want to lose you. You are so very loved."

A/N: :(

I didn't cry while writing this.
Is that weird?
I think it is...I usually cry over these sorts of things...

ANYWAY!

Hello and welcome to my first oneshot series!

If you don't know, this is based on the song How To Save A Life by The Fray. In the music video there is a list of 99 ways to save a life and I hope to write a chapter for each with a little oneshot.

This was a sad little D and G oneshot...But it is going to be with ALL different couples. So, if you have a couple you like, leave a review and let me know. If I find a way to save a life that I think would go well with a certain couple, I will use it (:

This will not be frequently updated and is more of a way of getting my feelings out. But I hope you like it regardless.

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X