Catherine awoke the next morning, or more struggled awake the next morning. Her hair was disheveled, and her face felt tight and drawn. She took a ragged breath and hobbled to her mirror. The fair maiden she expected to greet her was instead looking old, haggard, and ugly. Her delicate fingers probed her face, feeling the bones beneath the surface, and her mouth opened in a silent scream of anguish. Her hands clawed down on the counter until they grasped the end of the letter opener. She pressed the point to her neck. "One quick thrust…that's it, then this will all be over," she thought. She hurled the letter opener with all her strength, and it buried itself in the opposite wall. "Coward." Then came the pain…a great stabbing pain in her midsection; she bared her teeth in effort to resist it. The room started to become dark…so tired…she crawled to her bedside and found her phone. She pressed the speed-dial…the room started to go black. His voice came on the phone, she elicited a groan of pain, and then the blessed blackness took her.
The braided boy flipped his cell-phone with a rush and dialed 911. His fingers were trembling…the Caller ID had said Catherine's number. He watched the road and bit his lip, his black Mustang speeding down the highway at 85 mph.
"911 Emergencies"
"There's an emergency at 513 Lorraine Apartment 4, I think my friend's been hurt!"
"Alright sir, we're dispatching an ambulance, can you inform us of the severity of the injuries?"
"I…I'm not sure, she called me and screamed and then the phone went dead."
"The Police and an ambulance are on the way, sir."
"Thank you." He clasped the cell-phone closed and focused on the road.
Ten minutes later, he was banging on Catherine's door. "Catherine, its Duo! Open up Catherine!" He waited for a second before taking a step back. He delivered a kick to the door's lock and jarred the door open. He sprinted inside.
"Catherine! Where are you? Catherine, answer me!" He found her, sprawled next to her bed, unconscious. She looked terrible, as though she was starved to death.
He shook her, "Catherine, c'mon Catherine, answer me." Her pale lips remained motionless and her eyes were like deadweights. He buried her head in his shoulder and stroked her hair.
"You're gonna be ok…c'mon Cat, hold on, just hold on…" The ambulance pulled up with a squeal, and the medics took Catherine, leaving him behind on his knees. As they hooked her up to life-support, he did something he hadn't done since they took down Deathscythe…he cried…
She awoke in a bed, in a strange white room, with white walls, a white Tv, and white bedsheets. It depressed her to look at all the white, it made her feel all empty inside. Her eyes shifted to her arm, and she saw the needle embedded in her wrist, and she knew they were feeding and hydrating her intravenously. She sighed…no point in hiding the truth now…at least the horrible pains in her stomach were gone. A nurse came in and tapped her IV's testing the readings and looking at her charts. She smiled at Catherine, before she walked out. Catherine would have mouthed out as many obscenities as she could, had she the strength to form words with her mouth. Later that day, another nurse knocked on the door, before leading in a strange young man in a doctor's coat.
"Ms. Bloom? You have a new therapist who will be taking care of you when you go home." She motioned with her hand, and he stepped forward, his long braid swinging as he stepped. Her eyes widened a bit in shocked recognition.
"Catherine Bloom, meet Dr. Duo Maxwell."