"Hope, you haven't touched your dinner. Are you okay?" Bo asked when he noticed Hope was staring off into space, leaving her steak and potatoes to go cold.
"You haven't been yourself tonight." Bo tried again when Hope didn't answer him the first time. Hope turned to face her worried husband.
"Bo I have a bad feeling." She said in a low, quiet voice. Bo puckered his brow.
"What do you mean?" He asked curiously. Hope shook her head.
"I don't know. I just have this bad feeling about Alyssa. Bo, I'm sorry. I really feel like we should go home. I feel like something has happened." She said, her voice becoming shaky. Bo knew better than to argue. Hope and Alyssa were really close and Hope knew her only daughter better than anybody else did. Whether it was a sixth sense or a mother's intuition, Bo trusted it. He paid the check and took Hope out to the car.
"Maybe we should call." Bo suggested, trying to give Hope some reassurance. Hope nodded as she clutched herself for warmth. Bo took out his cell phone and dialed their home number. Bo waited as it rang two times, three times, four times, five times, six times. There was no answer! Bo suddenly started to panic.
"There's no answer." He said as he fumbled to put the cell phone in his coat pocket.
"What?" Hope's eyes filled with fear and she could see the same fear in her husband's eyes as well.
"We gotta get to the house right away." Bo announced as he and Hope hurried into the car.
They pulled into the driveway of their house and saw Shawn at the front door, with Belle, pulling out his key. Hope and Bo ran up the walk to the front stoop.
"Mom, dad. You're home early. What's going on?" Shawn asked curiously.
"Why are you home? Did something happen?" Hope asked, out of breath. Shawn began to worry, knowing that something was wrong.
"Belle and I decided we didn't want to see a movie. We decided to come home and hang out with Alyssa." Shawn said.
"Maybe help her with her homework, make popcorn, watch a movie." Belle added cheerfully. Bo and Hope pushed through the couple and unlocked the door.
"What's going on?" Shawn demanded to know.
"I think something happened to Alyssa. She wasn't answering the phone and I have a bad feeling." Hope answered quickly as she scanned the living room quickly, looking for Alyssa.
"Alyssa!" Bo called out. No answer. No sound of movement either. Hope stifled back tears.
"Something is really wrong." She cried. Bo held her close.
"Shawn, Belle, can you check upstairs please? We'll check down here." Bo said, trying to remain calm for his family. Shawn and Belle ran up the stairs, and Bo helped a shaken up Hope into the kitchen. The table hadn't been cleared from dinner.
"Oh gosh Bo! Alyssa is so clean, but everything's a mess. Something must have happened. It's not like her to leave a mess." Hope tried hard not to cry.
Just then, Bo and Hope heard a high-pitched scream coming from upstairs. Bo and Hope turned their heads quickly and knew it was Belle.
"Oh my gosh Bo!" Hope and Bo ran into the living room and up the stairs.
"Mom, dad!" Shawn yelled out. Bo and Hope followed the sound of his voice into Alyssa's bedroom. Belle blocked the doorway; she was crying and breathing heavily. Bo and Hope moved past her and saw them.
Alyssa was lying limp on her bed, with her arms spread out. Her wrists were covered in deep cuts, and her white bedspread had become a bloody red.
Shawn was right beside her, checking for a pulse.
"Alyssa! My baby." Hope could barely get the words out as she ran over to her only daughter. Bo joined them, and touched his daughter's tangled hair. He fought back tears.
"Belle, call 911 now!" He yelled. Belle ran from the room to the nearest telephone in Bo and Hope's bedroom.
"Dad, she's still breathing. She has a pulse." Shawn said as he removed his shaking hand from his sister's bloody wrist, his hand now covered in her blood. Hope was crying, as she took Alyssa's face into her hands.
"You're gonna be okay. We won't let you die. Not like this." She stared down at the bloody wrists and saw her butcher knife on the floor, also doused in blood. Hope began to choke on her tears. Bo tried to fight back his own, so he could comfort his family. He was so angry at himself for leaving her alone; for thinking she was alright.
Belle came running back, tears streaming down her face.
"The ambulance is on its way." She reported as she watched the family try everything they could to wake Alyssa up. Blood was still flowing from her wrists. Upon seeing this, Bo jumped up and grabbed some Kleenex from Alyssa's Kleenex box and gently pressed them onto the deep wounds to stop the bleeding.
"Shawn, press down on that arm, I'll take care of this one!" Bo ordered as he and Shawn pressed down on the bleeding cuts.
"How could she do this to herself? We love her so much." Hope cried out as she stroked her baby's hair. Alyssa lay motionless.
In the distance, they could hear sirens.
"Belle, can you go down and tell the paramedics where we are?" Bo's voice had become shaky. His fear could no longer be contained. His baby girl was slowly bleeding to death in front of him. The rosy cheeks Alyssa usually had were drained of all color, leaving her face a pasty white. Her lips were purple and her hair was tangled and sweaty. It was like looking down at a different girl.
Belle ran from the room. She nearly fell down the stairs as she hurried. She threw the front door open and saw flashing lights enter the Brady's driveway. The ambulance is here. Thank You God. She waited as two paramedics ran up the walk. A man and a woman.
"Where is she, young lady?" The man asked in a hurry. Belle turned back into the house without answering. She didn't want to waste any time, especially when Alyssa may not make it. Belle stopped herself from thinking that way. She loved Alyssa so much. Her and Shawn always tried so hard to include her and help her feel like she had friends. What went wrong? She wondered as she quickly led the paramedics up to Alyssa's room.
Only moments passed and the paramedics had carefully carried Alyssa down to the ambulance and drove away, leaving Bo, Hope, Shawn and Belle in a state of panic.
"We have to get to the hospital right now!" Hope cried out as she leaned against her husband for support.
"Yeah, let's go. Shawn, Belle, you can come in our car." Bo announced and the four ran out to the car that Bo and Hope had arrived home in not more than fifteen minutes ago.
"Oh Shawn. Would you please run up to Alyssa's bedroom and grab her jacket? If she's...when she's alright, it might be cold when we bring her home. I don't want my baby to freeze." Hope began to cry again as Shawn silently got out of the car. Hope was beginning to blame herself. I knew something wasn't right before I left. I knew we shouldn't have left her alone, but I did and she tried to kill herself. What kind of a mother am I? She couldn't lose her daughter. She just had to be alright.
Five minutes passed and Shawn still hadn't returned to the car.
"He must not be able to find her jacket. I'd better go see what's keeping him." Hope said, trying not to think about Alyssa's suicide attempt. Bo and Belle were silent as Hope got out of the car and ran to the house. The front door was still open and when Hope walked into the house, she saw Shawn sitting on the staircase, crying as he clutched a pink piece of paper in his hand.
"Honey, what's the matter? We have to get to the hospital." Hope watched as her sobbing son slowly got up. He tried to hide the piece of paper in his pocket, but Hope noticed.
"Shawn, what is that?" She asked nervously, fearing the worst.
"Mom, no, I don't think you should read it. Not now. You're too upset." Shawn tried.
"We are a family. We don't hide things from each other. It's from Alyssa, isn't it?" Hope asked, fighting back the tears that were for her little girl. Shawn sniffled, but handed the note to his mother. The words stabbed through her heart like a sharp dagger.
Dear mom, dad, Shawn and Zac,
I know how sad this will be for you. I didn't want to leave because of you, so please don't blame yourselves. You never knew what was going on at school because I never told you. I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just wanted to try to be normal.
You guys will miss me, and I'll miss you more than you can ever imagine, but there were people who teased and tormented me. I couldn't take it anymore. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the pain I caused. I love you so much. Dad, you're my protector, always making sure I'm okay. I'm okay now. No more pain. Mom, you were the closest person. I could tell you anything. Please don't think that it was your fault I didn't open up, nothing is your fault. Shawn, thanks for being my best friend, and for always caring for me and including me in your activities. Thank Belle for me too, who was always like a big sister. And Zac, sorry I won't be there to see you grow up. Remember that I loved you so much, and please remember that your sister cared for you deeply.
I love you all. I just couldn't take the pain anymore. I'm sorry.
Love Alyssa
Hope's tears smudged the ink on the letter written by Alyssa only moments before she had made the first cut.
"Oh Alyssa, why?" Hope cried out. Shawn embraced her quickly and they cried together.
"It's not too late. She was still breathing. We have to get to the hospital." Shawn said, stopping his tears for a moment. Hope nodded, and left the house, clutching the note. Shawn bent down and picked up Alyssa's blue jacket that he brought downstairs from her bedroom, only to find Alyssa's note in the left pocket. Shawn held the coat close and prayed silently as he closed the door behind him and ran to the car.