Author's note:

I have never seen Greg in the series before, so I have absolutely no idea what his personality is like, so forgive me if I portray him completely wrong. And nope, I still do not own any of the stuff mentioned at the top of page 1 (although I wish Raye was mine... *starts daydreaming*).

Chapter II: Night of Dispair

South Tokyo Hospital, Accident and Emergency Ward. September 9th 2001 - 11:30pm.

"I... I just don't get it..." stuttered Serena, still shaking from the audeal. Darien had his arm tightly wrapped around her sholders. "Why... why would she do something as stupid as this?"
"This is just so unlike her..." replied Amy solemnly, looking at the floor. "I can't see any reason at all why she would resort to-"
She was interupted by the sound of Greg's mobile phone.
"Sorry. Guess I forgot to turn it off..." Greg began to read the message he had just recieved. "Good lord..." He looked on in disbelief as he read through the message.
"What is it?" Asked Michelle, holding a tissue to her eyes.
"I think I found out why she just OD'd. It's Chad."
The group looked at Greg in disbelief.
"Says here he's just landed in Los Angeles airport for a new life and says his goodbyes to the lads."
The group went silent for a few moments as they looked on in total shock. It was Darien that broke that silence.
"That... bastard..." It was apparant that the situation was getting to him. It was very rarely that he got upset, but this was not any normal occasion. "I don't believe it! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T HE SAY GOODBYE IN PERSON?!?! AND DIDN'T HE HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT HOW MUCH HE WOULD HURT RAYE?!?!"
"Darien, calm down!" barked Serena. "Why don't you just go outside and catch some fresh air?"
"CALM DOWN?!?!" Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT HE'S DRIVEN ONE OF OUR BEST FRIENDS TO SUICIDE?!?!"
"C'mon mate, let's just take a walk outside." Greg grabbed the arm of Darien's coat and lead him outside before he caused any trouble.

"I should have seen it coming..." said Serena quietly. "Her grandpa, her father and now Chad. I knew she was going downhill. Why the hell didn't I do somethig about it?" Tears had begun to form again in her eyes. Mina handed her a tissue.
"I don't think even you would have been able to stop what happened. It was inevitable. As horrible as that seems, that's the truth." Lita was trying her best to calm Serena down.
"No. I could have done something. I could have actually cared about her for once."
"And when haven't you cared for her?" asked Mina. "She's like a sister to you. It's you two that have the strongest friendship out of any other pair in this room. Whenever she needed help, you helped her. Whenever you were feeling low, you came to her for advice. Sure, you were anything but good to each other at first, but realise this: If you didn't care for her, you wouldn't be feeling this way right now. Right?"
Mina turned away. "Anyway, the best we can hope for at the moment is that she comes round. Until then we just pray."

That night the weather had turned extremely vicious as heavy rain and high winds lashed the high-rise buildings. Under the entrance of south Tokyo Hospital's A & E ward Darien and Greg were discussing why Chad would leave without saying goodbye.

"Why? I mean, why just leave all of a sudden? He knew that he meant everything to Raye, so why do something so heartless?" Darien had calmed down slightly from his earlier outburst.
"But haven't you contributed to that in a way? What about that fling you had with her?" Greg knew he was treading thin ice by asking that question, but he did believe that it may have been a part of the breakdown of her personality.
Darien stared at Greg with a look that could shread a diamond.
"What, exactly, does that have to do with this?"
"C'mon. You broke the girl's heart. How can that not be a factor?" Greg knew that he was extremely close to overstepping the mark.
"It was just something that happened! What's done is done. Anyway, I'd rather not talk about it." He was speaking in a particulary sour tone of voice.
Greg was becoming extremely intimidated by Darien's ever-mounting fury. He decided to change the subject.
"So..." Greg was desperately trying to think of a topic that didn't involve the girls. "I've heard that they've lined up Peter Day to play the next James Bond."

The mood in A & E was solemn, bar the other patients and their families waiting for a doctor to examine their injuries. For the past two hours all the senshi could think about was whether their friend would survive. However, the anxiousness of the friends was nowhere near that of Serena. All through the night she kept repeating to herself "Why didn't I stop her?". The agony of not knowing what was going on in the treatment rooms was eating away at her conscience. She was interupted by a voice behind her.
"Serena Tsukino?"
Serena turned around to see a doctor holding a clipboard. He was very tall and wore a white coat over his grey t-shirt and black trousers.
"Yes? Is it about Raye?"
"It is. May you come with me a second? I need to ask you a few questions." The doctor seemed very calm. It was just another day for him, so it didn't bother him too much.
Serena slowly rose from her seat, her agony clearly expressed on her face. The group looked at her as she walked away, knowing that this would be the moment of truth. They knew that she was either dead or that her life was no longer in danger. The tension was unbearable.

The doctor's office happened to be just down the corridoor from where the group were waiting. It was fairly small; A desk and three filing cabinets took up the majority of the space.
"Please sit down." Serena did so, bracing herself for the worst.
"Do... do..." She paused. "Do you know how she is at the moment?"
"Yes." The doctor had a very slight look of anxiety on his face. On seeing this she instantly assumed that it was over. Raye was dead. He continued. "She's still alive, but only just. I must warn you she's not quite out of the woods yet." A look of extreme relief overcame Serena. "We've pumped her stomach and found five partially digested tablets. We just need you to confirm a few things."
"Fire away." Serena had a smile on her face.
"First thing. Do you know what substance Miss Hino has taken?"
"Paracetamol, that's what it said on the bottle." replied Serena instantly.
"Right." The doctor wrote something down on his clipboard. "Next, do you have any reason as to why Miss Hino would decide to commit suicide?"
Serena took a deep breath before explaining the whole story of Raye's transformation from happiness to loneliness. It had taken her nearly fifteen minutes before she had finished.
"... and the boyfriend of a friend of mine, Greg Urawa, recieved a text message about two hours ago saying that Chad had flown off to Los Angeles. I think that Chad must have said goodbye to Raye in person. What they had going was a beautiful romance, even I have to admit, and when Chad left for the final time, it just pushed Raye over the edge. From what I can guess, she just trashed the place in rage and discovered the paracetamol in the kitchen by accident. She was so upset that she just wanted to end it all." Serena paused and looked down at her feet. "And here she is now..."

There was a knock at the door.
"Enter." Another doctor in green robes came in thorough the door with a yellow piece of paper, which he then handed to the doctor who Serena was talking to.
"Status report on Hino, Raye." said the doctor in green. Serena suddenly looked up upon hearing Raye being mentioned.
"Thank you." The doctor in green left the office while the doctor sitting at the desk examined what was written.
"Is it good news?" asked Serena with a very worried tone in her voice.
"Looks like it. Your friend is in a stable condition but still unconscious. You can go see her when you're finished here."
"Thank you." Even more tears had begun to form in Serena's eyes.
"I personally believe that Miss Hino requires some counciling. It is rather clear that she has been very depressed as of late. However, I also believe that this may not be completely neccessary, seeing as you are a very good friend to her. What I suggest to you if at all possible is that you stay with Miss Hino when she is discharged from hospital and try and help her to recover her self-confidence. She'll probably listen more to her best friend than a psychiatrist she doesn't know."
"I think that would defiately be the case. You wouldn't believe how stubborn she can be." said Serena, trying to act light-heartedly to cheer herself up.
"Right then. That's all I need to know." He said while yawning. "I'll lead you to her bed now." Serena felt extremely happy to see her friend alive again, but was nervous at what to expect. Would she be the same old Raye when she woke up? Would she wake up? An infinate amount of questions rushed through her head as she left the small office.

Serena looked towards her friends as she entered the corridoor. All looked up at her, anxious as to what was said. Hotaru just couldn't take it any longer as she shouted at Serena.
"Goddamnit Serena! What did the doc say? Is Raye alright?"
Serena didn't say anything, but pointed two thumbs at her as she turned the corner. The group went wild, cheering as the news sunk in: Raye was alive. Amy rushed outside to tell Greg and Darien as the rest held a toast.

Everything seemed to go silent for Serena as she took the long trek to the recovery wards. On the way she passed many people, some with broken bones, some with bandaged cuts and bruises, one man was even being treated by the hospital crash team after he had collapsed. All these things made Serena very squeamish, but still she continued following the doctor, longing to see Raye again. It was then that she came into view. Serena paused before rushing over to her bedside.

"Oh Raye... What have you done to yourself?"
She was unconscious, wrapped in several bed sheets. Her facial expression looked like she was in agony. Her face had gone a slight tint of purple and had large tired markings underneath her eyes. She was no longer the Raye that Serena had known for five happy years. What she saw in front of her was someone completely different. Someone who was so hurt and distressed that she had decided to take her life into her own hands.

All was silent in that room apart from the "bleep!" of the heart monitor above Raye's head. It was like something out of a tragedy. Serena was expecting the grim reaper to rear his ugly head at any moment and take away one of the people that matter most to her. He never did.
"You... look so hurt..." She reached over to hold her hand, noticing the it was bandaged up.
"Men, eh? They tell you they love you and then they go running off whenever it suits them..." The silence of Raye was severly affecting Serena, who yet again was close to tears.
"I know you can hear me..." Serena smiled. "I'll tell you what, if you wake up, I will personally forgive you for everything that you've ever done to me."
Serena fell silent for a few minutes, remembering all the good times they had spent together over the years. First meeting Raye, who accused her of being a nega monster, putting up with years of petty arguments, battling the Negaverse alongside Sailor Mars. All that seemed worlds away from this moment.

As strage as it seemed, Serena actually wanted to see the Negaverse make a comeback. She had missed the days of being Sailor Moon, but more importantly, it would give her friend something to live for. Sure, being a Sailor Scout was sometimes a pain in the arse when the Negaverse attacked at the most incovenient of moments, but it was still fun. There was a thrill about it that made you proud to be defending the universe. It was something to do, and now that was no more, there was nothing to do except to carry on as a normal civilian doing day-to-day ordinary things. Serena was certain that had the Negerverse still been around at that time, Raye wouldn't have done what she did.

"Thought about it yet?" She asked Raye in a light hearted tone of voice. Still no reply came. Serena thought long and hard before another thought sprung to mind. It was visibly hurting Serena, but it had to be said. Serena was willing to try anything to get her friend back.
"Okay... I'll forgive absolutely everything... even..." She paused to find her words. "...even that whole Darien incident... My friends are always more important than my lover..."
What happened at that moment seemed like something out of one of those Hollywood movies. Serena could feel Raye's fingers twitching. She though that Raye was dreaming at first, but as she looked at Raye's pale purple face she looked in disbelief as she slowly but surely opened her left eye. Serena noticed that Raye was trying her hardest to smile, her mouth twitching. She was alive and awake. At that moment it seemed that nothing else mattered to Serena at all. Her best friend was alive.

"Thank... you..." Raye spoke in a very quiet, tired voice with a long gap in between each word.. "Sorry... put... you... through... this..."
Serena was just overcome by all this. She got up and hugged Raye, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't worry Raye... You're gonna be alright now... No-one can hurt you..."
It was at this moment the two best friends realised that they were true friends and that all that arguing they had done over the years were meaningless. Serena knew that things were going to be different from that moment onwards, and even though she felt slightly sour for forgiving Raye for her affair with Darien, she knew how close to losing the only person closer to her than Darien. If there was a time to forgive and forget everything, this was it.

Serena had spent most of that night by Raye's side, leaving the group in the dark as to what exactly Raye's condition was. It was 6 a.m. the following morning, and most of the group were still waiting in the A & E ward. Amy was fast asleep on Greg's lap, as was Lita on Ken's. Hotaru and Trista had gone home to get some shut-eye. Darien was leaning against a wall, staring into his cup of coffee, more anxious about Raye's condition than anyone else in the group. Mina was eating a blueberry muffin that she bought from the canteen. No-one spoke; Everyone was either too nervous to speak or was asleep. It was Darien who spotted Serena at the end of the corridoor walking towards him.

"How is she?" Darien was still staring at his coffee, which had begun to turn cold.
"Good news." She spoke quietly. Darien looked up at her. "She's alive and has regained consciousness." Darien downed the rest of his coffee before hugging Serena.
"That's wonderful news, honey." said Darien, still hugging her.
"As for that Chad, next time I see that piece of dirt he'll be sorry he ever messed with her!"
"*scoff* Same here." Mina was still in the middle of eating her muffin.
"Whaddya say we go home for a bit, eh, Serena?" Darien seemed very tired, only kept awake by the vast amount of coffee he had drunk.
"Nah. You go on without me." Darien's smile turned to a faint frown. "Raye needs me here. Doctor's order. I'll probably be staying at her's for a few days after she comes home. You won't mind, will you?" Serena gave Darien a puppy dog eyes look that he instantly gave into.
"Okay then. I'll get a cab home. I'm too tired to drive. I'll come back for the car after I've caught some Z's." Darien kissed Serena goodbye before leaving for the taxi rank.

"You go get yourself something to eat. You look starved." Mina smiled when Serena looked towards her. "I'll tell the others when they wake up." Mina threw her purse over to a suprised Serena, who juggled it for a bit before finally catching it. "It's on me. It's the least I could do after you saved Raye."
Serena nodded at Mina as if to say thanks, before walking away to find the canteen.

It was a week before Raye was finally discharged, and what a tragic week that was. Raye and Serena had decided to watch a bit of TV in the early hours of the 11th to see if there was any good action movies on. Instead they watched in horror as they watched the attacks on New York and Washington unfolded.
"How horrible! Using planes as missiles?!?! That's more evil than any of the Negaverse's work!" Serena was overwhelmed in disgust.
"There's no excuse... for the murder of innocents..." Raye was still weak, but was clearly mortified.
"Those poor people..."
Serena shook her head in disbelief as news of the Pentagon attack and flight 93 were read out.
"This is just sick... If I knew who was behind this I'd turn them to moon dust before they can say 'Sailor Moon'! No-one who does this sort of thing deserves to live!"
"You can say... that again..." Raye stared at the TV screen wondering if it was all just a nightmare. She just wished that her good-for-nothing father lived in New York and not San Francisco. She would miss him and his *new* family the least out of all the people she knew.

The week seemed to fly by as Raye returned to her normal colour. She had made a full recovery, and had often decided to take walks around her ward. She seemed fairly happy enough, but the past returned to haunt her on her return to the temple.

"We've made a start of cleaning it up, but we haven't really had that much time. We've all been glued to the TV because of the news." Lita looked quite worried as she lead Raye and Serena towards the temple and opened the front door. Raye looked in at the total carnage she had caused.
"Shit..." Raye looked around her amazed by what she was seeing while Serena was blushing from Raye's explicit outburst. "Did I really cause all this?"
"You're the one with the bandaged hands, so I presume so." Lita smiled as Raye looked on, checking if there was still anything left intact.
"I'd best find the broom then, if I didn't set it alight, that is." chuckled Raye, startled by her sheer destructiveness.

From that day on Raye was no longer short-fused and bad-mannered towards her friends. She was still pretty rude to other people, but now she had grown respect for Serena, and likewise back. However, she had grown a rather big distrust of men, most notibly Chad, although in the back of her heart she still longed for his return. She still loved him despite what he had done, but was too afraid to tell Serena in case she branded her a lovestruck fool. However, the love of her friends was stronger that it ever was, and that's all she ever needed for the coming year.

End of Chapter 2.