High School. A Teens Best Friend. Yeah Right.

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: Nope, not ours.

Summary: Oh come on…

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(Billee's POV)

I was relieved when Jaime told me that Emma seemed a bit better, but my relief was short-lived. I knew from past experiences, that it wasn't her body that needed healing so much as her mind. And as long as she was depressed, she would attempt to kill herself again and again. I desperately wanted to see her, but I wasn't sure that I could face it. Not after what had happened to my older brother…Hospitals just freak me out now.

I wasn't the only one badly affected. Legolas was very worried, although we both tried to put on a brave face for Colan. Boromir was a complete mess, he wouldn't talk to anyone. As for Jaime, well I heard her crying during the night. Frodo was with her, so I didn't go in.

The evening after Jaime had been to see Emma, I couldn't sleep. Colan was snuggled up with Legolas and Laddie was lying on the end of my bed, watching me as I paced backwards and forwards across the room. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Emma in a pool of blood. I couldn't face even trying to sleep.

"Laddie" I said softly. "Want to come and get a drink?"

Quietly, we went down to the kitchen. Jaime and Frodo were also in there. Both of them looked completely exhausted. I probably didn't look much better myself. I poured myself a cup of cocoa and sat down at the table with them. None of us spoke for a while.

"Billee" Jaime asked finally. "Do you think Emma will be okay?"

"I don't know" I shrugged. "You are the one who went to see her today"

"I don't mean that" Jaime said her voice low. "I mean, do you think she'll be okay mentally?"

"Impossible to tell" I said softly. "Maybe, if someone could just get through to her. On the other hand, maybe she is too far-gone for that. You want to know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think they should have just let her die"

"Billee!" Frodo sounded shocked. "How can you say that?"

"She wants to die," I said quietly, tightening my grip on my cup. "Surely that is her right?"

"And what about the people she leaves behind?" Jaime snapped. "How are we supposed to deal with this?"

"Any way we can" I replied calmly. "But look at it this way. After graduation, you are going to marry Frodo. Colan and me are going to live with Elrond. He wants to adopt us and he says he'll fight my father all the way. And what's she got to look forward to? Nothing. Looking at it that way, I'm not surprised she wanted to die"

"So what are you saying?" Jaime glared at me. "You want her to die?"

"I don't want to lose her," I said quietly. "But wanting to keep her here just because we don't want to lose her is purely selfish. I'm trying to see both sides here. The life she's living at the moment is plainly hell for her. Maybe she didn't feel that she had any choice. At least if she dies, maybe she'll finally find peace"

"What made you think like that, Billee?" I hadn't heard Elrond come in until he spoke. As I turned to look at him, I was shocked. He looked like he had been crying. And like the rest of us, he looked completely worn out. "That is a rather adult speech for one so young"

"I know sir" I waited while he sat down and then I continued. "When my brother had an accident, I watched doctors battle for days to try and keep him alive. And all they were doing was prolonging his pain. He was meant to die; they knew that they couldn't save him. They should have let him die straight away. Would have saved us all a lot of pain"

We all sat there in silence again. I guess that there wasn't really a lot to say.

"Do you think Emma will be okay?" Jaime asked Elrond. Our principal didn't reply straight away. When he did, his voice was strained.

"I've tried many times to help her," he confessed. "And now I'm beginning to wonder if anyone can help her. I can't say Jamie. I really can't"

The sound of the phone ringing startled us all. It was picked up almost immediately, and then two minutes later, Gandalf looked round the door.

"Phone for you, Elrond sir," he said with a yawn. "In your office. It's the hospital. They say it's urgent…"

Elrond jumped up immediately and hurried out of the room. Me, Jamie and Frodo glanced at each other and ran after him. We reached his office just as he hung up. He sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. I was worried, something had obviously gone wrong.

After a moment, Elrond looked up at us briefly and ordered us to sit down. Although he did his best to keep us from seeing it, I could tell from his voice that he was crying.

"That was the hospital, wasn't it?" Frodo said carefully. "Has something happened?"

"Emma has got a lot worse," Elrond said quietly. "After we left this afternoon, they gave her some food and she threw up. She's been throwing up blood ever since. They believe that she has damaged the lining of her stomach. Then she fell unconscious and her heart stopped. She hasn't woken up since and she's having trouble breathing on her own" He paused and I suddenly knew what he was going to say next. "They say that her chances of survival are very low" he whispered. "They said that we should definitely prepare ourselves for the worst"

Next to me, Jaime gave a cry and collapsed in Frodo's arms. He held her tightly as tears slid down both of their cheeks. I couldn't cry, I just felt numb. I couldn't believe that it was really happening…

"I have to go down there now" Elrond's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Billee, do you think you could handle coming with me?"

"Yeah, I can handle it" I whispered. "Laddie, go find Legolas"

The dog whined and ran out of the room. I asked Frodo to tell Legolas were I had gone. He just nodded. None of us were in the mood for speaking. I think we were all privately wondering how it had come to this.