A/N - I use 'Marx' and 'Leon' instead of 'Xander' and 'Leo'
Soapy uses all pronouns - Camilla refers to them with they/them pronouns, and Marx refers to her with she/her pronouns
TW: attempted suicide
I apologize in advance if any facts or details are wrong. If it seems like I'm romanticizing suicide, please know that that's NOT what I'm trying to do and you should tell me if that's what it feels like because that's not my intention. Please talk to someone and try to get help if you're feeling down on yourself and are considering anything like this.
When Elise woke up that Saturday morning, she felt as if nothing in the world could slow her down or ruin her day. She stayed in her pajamas, hopping down the stairs and humming to herself. Upon entering the dining room, she found a delectable plate of crepes waiting for her whilst surrounded by a large variety of fruit. The meal was likely cooked by their maid. Elise had only ever seen glimpses of her short blonde hair, and a small part of her wondered if she was Flora and Felicia's mother. Her father was sitting there, focused on some important looking papers. Surprised to see the man there, Elise clapped her hands in excitement.
"Father, you're having breakfast so late!" Garon looked at her, a small smile making its way onto his tired face.
"I let myself sleep in. Why don't you have a bite?" He gestured to the food. Elise nearly sat down when she had a sudden thought.
"Oh my gosh, we can have a nice family breakfast! I'll go get Leon, don't leave!"
She practically ran towards the stairs, and Garon chuckled at her excitement. Sometimes he couldn't believe she was his child. Elise pounded on her brother's door, shouting for him to get up and eat breakfast with them. She waited for nearly a minute with no response before trying the doorknob, seeing that it was unlocked for once. Confused, she opened the door, freezing when she looked in the room.
"Father!" She screamed, running downstairs. Garon looked up at her, startled.
"What's going on?"
"It's Leon, we have to call the hospital!" She looked scared, and Garon stood up.
"Elise, take my phone and call the hospital. Tell your siblings what's going on, I'm going to Leon's room."
He didn't ask her what was going on. That would take up time, and he didn't know how much they had. He trusted that the situation was serious enough for the hospital, especially considering her aspiration to become a doctor when she grew up. When she read books, they were usually thick books detailing medical procedures or world history. Elise nodded, taking the phone from his hand and sniffling. First, she called the hospital, shakily telling them what she found. Next, she dialed Camilla's number. Her sister almost didn't pick up.
"Hmm, Elise?" She yawned. "It's a little early, isn't it?" Elise sniffed, having a hard time trying to say what she just told the hospital. "What's wrong?"
"It's L-Leon, he-" She choked back a sob. "He took a lot of p-pills, Camilla, I'm scared!"
"Oh gods." Camilla said, covering her mouth. "I didn't realize he was in such bad shape. I-I'll call Marx for you, just try to calm down." Elise sniffed.
"O-okay sis… I'm so scared…" Camilla shushed her gently.
"Marx and I will try to get there as soon as we can."
Elise mumbled an 'okay' before Camilla hung up. The woman got out of bed, pulling her leather jacket on as she dialed Marx's number. She momentarily put him on speaker as she dressed herself the rest of the way. Camilla practically growled as she received his voicemail. She put the phone to her ear after taking it off speaker mode.
"Hello, this is Marx's personal cell phone. I'm probably in a meeting right now. If it's an emergency, call again and I'll pick up-" She immediately hung up on his voicemail, calling again. When she heard that he'd picked up, she didn't wait for him to say anything.
"Marx! Fly your ass back home right now!" She practically shouted, grabbing her helmet as she ran out the door.
"Wha- Camilla I'm in a-"
"To hell with your meeting, our little brother is trying to kill himself!" Camilla heard his phone drop on the other end, and put her helmet on in a way that it would secure her own phone against her ear. She could hear everything on the other side, including the rustling of papers.
"- you can't just leave! This is an extremely important-" Something was slammed closed, likely a briefcase.
"I'd like to think my brother's life is more important than making a deal with your company, now if you'll excuse me…" He picked up the phone and spoke directly to sister, who had started driving. "Are you still there?"
"Yes. I hear you've left your meeting?" Marx made a sound of confirmation.
"What happened?" She heard the bustle of people. Marx was probably heading to the private jet Garon gave him.
"Elise called me, but all she could get out was that he overdosed. Probably on painkillers, knowing him. He would want something he could get easily and does the job, regardless of how unpleasant it is." Marx was quiet for a moment.
"... Aren't you driving?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes." She sighed. "Don't worry, I'm paying attention to the road."
"Well, I'm getting on the jet. Don't crash, I'll try to be there as soon as I can."
"Thank you."
Marx hung up, and Camilla continued on her way to her hometown. Thankfully, she didn't live too far, but she had to stop for gas. She took the opportunity to call her father as she refilled the gas tank. It had been approximately four hours since Elise called her, so she needed to find out which hospital they were at. Garon picked up momentarily.
"Camilla. Are you in town?" She nodded before remembering he couldn't see her.
"Yes, I just stopped to get gas. What hospital are you at?"
"Windmire."
"I'll be right there."
Camilla put her helmet back on, hanging up and putting her phone in her jacket before hopping on her bike. Windmire was the closest hospital to the house, and if she remembered correctly, that was where Marx had been born all those years ago. She parked as quickly as she could, walking at a quick pace as she arrived in the lobby. Camilla made a beeline for the reception table.
"My younger brother was admitted here around four hours ago." The receptionist looked up at her.
"Name and reason?"
"His name is Leon." She dropped her voice. "He overdosed." The receptionist nodded.
"You said you're his sister?" Camilla nodded. "One of our nurses will take you to the waiting room to join your father and sister."
Camilla nodded, and she didn't have to wait long for the nurse to arrive. She followed him to the waiting room, where Elise and Garon were. Elise was curled up on one of the hard, plastic chairs, and Garon was sitting near the door to the operation room, where they were getting the content of the pills out of Leon's system. Garon nodded at her, and she did the same, confirming that she knew as much about the situation as he did. Camilla sat next to Elise, gently putting an arm around her. The young girl immediately latched onto her older sister, hugging her tightly, but not crying, as she'd run out of tears.
Marx entered the room soon after, but none of them spoke. The blond man started pacing after a while, feeling restless and uneasy. It felt like an eternity before a doctor walked out of the room. She tapped her clipboard and sighed before scanning the room. Her gaze fell on Garon, who stood up to meet her eyes. Everyone but Elise looked at the doctor expectantly, and soon, she spoke.
"He's not dead." A small feeling of relief spread through them. "We believe he will recover in time, but…" She looked around at the inhabitants of the room. "It would be for the best if you could keep anything he could harm himself with out of his reach." Garon nodded.
"When do you think he'll be waking up?"
"Within a few days, though you have to keep in mind that his body needs to recuperate from the shock. We suggest getting him to see a therapist and trying to figure out what would cause him to do this to himself." Camilla bit her lip, an action that Marx didn't miss. "If you'd like, we could call you with any updates."
"Thank you." The doctor nodded.
"If you want to see him, I request that you wait until tomorrow. By then we'll have moved him to a different room and he'll be more stable."
The family left, Camilla getting on her bike to drive to the house, and the others in Garon's car. Marx had taken a taxi cab to the hospital, not wanting to waste time on finding keys to his own car when the driver was right there. Camilla arrived slightly before her siblings and father, parking her bike in the garage. She waited for the others at the front door, and they arrived soon after. It was strange to see how nice out it seemed considering everything that had happened. Elise sat herself on the couch, wrapping herself in her favorite blanket and getting her phone out. She began to text her closest friends, though she only told Sakura why she was actually upset. Garon left to make calls to Leon's school, explaining why he would be missing for at least a week.
Camilla sighed, looking out the window. It almost felt wrong, to see the sky so clear and blue with her brother in such a terrible state. Birds chirped and trilled without a care in the world, when all she could think about was whether she could have prevented the current situation. Marx joined her, the two elder siblings looking out into the strangely happy outside world.
"... Do you know why?" Was the first thing to come out of his mouth. Camilla turned to make eye contact with him.
"I may have an idea." She returned her gaze to outside. "Leon's never had many friends outside of the family, and lately it's felt like he's cutting off from me. Last year he seemed a lot happier, and I think that was because he was very close to Soapy."
"Soapy? Is she the one Leon followed around like a lost puppy during our business's holiday dinner last year?"
"Mm, yes, they had a rather nice dress that night, didn't they?" She smiled at the memory. "Leon was quite close to them last year. He would ramble on about them to me, though he'd get embarrassed when he realized what he was doing. Even through the summer when he was busy at his music camp, he would call me and tell me some ridiculous story Soapy had told him."
"... Did he really?" Marx frowned. He'd never been very close to his younger siblings.
"He hasn't called me in quite some time, and the last time he did, he didn't mention Soapy once. I have to wonder if something happened between them."
"Well… We have no way of knowing unless we talk to one of them, and I doubt Leon will want to talk about it when he wakes up."
"You're right. I suppose Soapy is our only choice." She sent a small smile towards him. "You know, they've always wanted to get to know you better. They've always wanted an older brother." Marx laughed shortly and quietly.
"Well, I hope she knows I'm not a very attentive sibling." Camilla pushed him lightly.
"You have big things on your plate. Inheriting father's company is a huge responsibility."
"I know, I know." He sighed. "I don't want to talk about me right now, though. Are you going to call her?"
"Let's see, I should still have the number in my phone…" She unlocked the electronic, scrolling through her contacts until she reached the one she was looking for. "Yes, I can call them."
"Well, I hope you learn something. I'm going to see if I can help Elise. I've barely seen her at all." He firmly pat Camilla on the arm before joining Elise on the couch.
The only woman in the house made her way to the front porch, walking around absentmindedly as she dialed up Soapy's number. She hadn't spoken to them since she graduated the previous year, and she sort of regretted that the reason she was calling them was to get information on why her brother attempted suicide. The younger didn't pick up their phone initially, and Camilla sighed. Perhaps she shouldn't tell them what had happened. Her phone rang, showing that Soapy was calling her back.
"Hello." She greeted pleasantly, choosing her words.
"Hey, Cami." Soapy yawned. They were probably still sleeping when she called. "How've you been?"
"Well, I've been better I suppose." She kept speaking before Soapy could respond. "I actually had a few questions for you."
"I mean, I'm not very good at questions and stuff, but I can try my best?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine, dearie. I was just curious to see if you and Leon are still talking. He hasn't said anything about you in quite some time."
"Oh, I…" Soapy paused, and Camilla sensed that they were embarrassed by something. "I haven't been talking to him a lot lately."
"Did something happen?"
"Not really." Camilla frowned. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's…" She sighed, hoping what she was about to say didn't sound rude. "It's not your business. Thank you, I'll try to stay in better contact, darling." Soapy giggled.
"Me too! Talk to you later, Cami."
Soapy yawned before hanging up, likely going back to sleep. Camilla went back inside, and she was greeted by Elise clinging to her. The blonde girl was very quiet, and Camilla had to coax her into speaking.
"... I want to go see Sakura."
"Ah, and I'm the only one with a vehicle with me besides father." Elise nodded. "Are you going to spend the night?" Camilla looked at the clock, noting that it was already past three. It wasn't exactly late, but the day felt long. Elise nodded. "Well, I can drive you just as soon as you have your things ready."
Elise went up to her room, getting her bag ready with a change of clothes and other things. They didn't speak at all during the drive, and their goodbye consisted of a brief, yet tight hug. The young girl walked up the sidewalk to the front door, and was greeted by Sumeragi at the door. Camilla waited until the man waved at her in a polite manner, a wave she returned after a moment. After she was completely sure Elise was accounted for, she pushed off into the street, driving back to her childhood home. Her thoughts were almost completely blank, and she hated not being able to do anything until Leon woke up. By the time she'd parked and returned to the house, she realized she missed a call. A sigh escaped her lips as she redialed the number. She certainly had some explaining to do.
"Camilla, is everything okay?" Came the scratchy voice of her girlfriend.
"Oh, I certainly hope so, Hinoka…"
Word Count: 2,490
So, there's that... The conclusion will be posted on Monday. Sorry if this is a bit of a cliffhanger? (doesn't feel like one to me but idk)
I'm honestly nervous about posting this because it's REALLY touchy subject matter and I'm kind of out of my depth here. I purposefully stayed out of Leon's PoV because I wouldn't know how to write for someone who legitimately wanted to kill themself, but I've also never had to cope with someone I'm close to trying to commit suicide, so I still can't say if I captured the emotions properly? I don't even know if I got the hospital procedure correctly here, so I just hope nothing feels odd and clunky...
Reminder to check out my poll/profile if you haven't already...
Thank you for reading.
