When they arrived at the hospital, they were directed to the emergency wing. There wasn't a dry face among them. They were all crying now. Hope remembered back to only a few hours ago when she and Bo were about to take off.
"Of course I'll be alright. I'm 15, mom. I'm old enough to take care of myself." Alyssa had said. We should have stayed home. If only we had stayed home. She wouldn't have done it. Hope choked on her tears and cuddled to Bo for support. As much as he tried to be strong for his family, Bo couldn't do it. Alyssa meant everything to him. He remembered how much that little girl was wanted. After Shawn, they prayed for a baby girl, and four years after Shawn entered the world, Alyssa came. She was a miracle. Their only daughter. We can't lose her now! Don't take her now! He looked over at Shawn, whose eyes were wide, a habit he had to stop himself from crying. He and Belle were huddled close together as Hope began to wonder if she would ever be able to hold her little girl again. Her note said she had people tormenting her. If she makes it, I'll make it my number one goal to take care of this. That school is going to hear from me. The note. Hope gasped. She hadn't shown it to Bo yet.
"Hope, what's the matter?" Bo asked, noticing the despair splashed across his wife's beautiful face. Hope turned to Bo, and pulled the pink piece of paper out of her pocket. Bo looked at it and narrowed his eyebrows.
"What's that?" He asked, already recognizing Alyssa's notebook paper. He remembered the day he took Alyssa to Salem Place to do some shopping and when Alyssa spotted a pad of light pink paper, she begged her dad for it, saying she wanted the stories she liked to write so much to look more decorative. Bo didn't argue. As much as he hated to admit to it, he spoiled his kids. So he bought it for her.
He stared at the now crumpled piece of paper and knew it had been ripped out of that pad.
"Honey, I think you should read this." Hope said silently, as her tears stopped for a moment to watch her husband's reaction. Bo swallowed hard and carefully took the paper. As he opened it, he immediately recognized Alyssa's penmanship and tried to steady his shaking hands.
He read over the letter, each word brought a new tear to his eyes. It was about halfway through the letter when he started breathing heavily and more tears came. He covered his face with his hands and cried.
"Alyssa no! Don't die, you can't." He managed to say. He had tried so hard to be brave for his family, but Alyssa's letter that was meant to be her last words to her family struck him hard. Especially the part that was written just for him. The part that set him off.
Dad, you're my protector, always making sure I'm okay. I'm okay now. No more pain.
"I could've stopped her. I should have stopped her. I'm her father." He said as Hope leaned in, tears falling down her own cheeks.
As they cried together, Shawn leaned over to Belle.
"She mentioned you in her note." He said in a low whisper, fighting back the tears. Belle turned to him and stared at him with moist eyes.
"Really? What did she say?" She asked, biting her lip to stop herself from crying.
"She told me to thank you for always including her. She said you were like a big sister to her." Shawn began to cry again, and Belle did too.
"Oh Shawn." She wrapped her arms around him.
Half an hour had passed. Bo, Hope, Shawn and Belle were tired and emotionally drained. It felt as though there were no tears left. The worry and despair were still there, but pushed aside for the time being. They had to fight off sleep. They were getting tired. Alyssa had been in the emergency room for a half an hour and with each passing moment, Bo, Hope, Shawn and Belle wondered and worried about whether or not Alyssa would be okay.
They all jumped to their feet and held each other close when Dr. Wesley came out of the emergency room and approached them. Craig Wesley was also a friend of the family. His daughter Chloe was good friends with Shawn and Belle and Craig was a well respected doctor. Bo and Hope had taken comfort in knowing that their daughter was in good hands.
"Craig, how is she? Please tell us you have good news." Hope bravely said as she clutched Bo's hand. Craig pulled his plastic gloves off and combed his fingers through his hair.
"Alyssa cut her wrists really deep. Luckily she didn't severe any arteries, although she came very close. However, she lost a lot of blood, but we gave her a transfusion. Your daughter is going to be okay." Craig explained. Bo, Hope and Shawn sighed quickly and embraced each other.
"Our baby's alright." Hope cried out, and a small smile crossed her face.
"Can I make a suggestion? Considering the circumstances, I would highly recommend that Alyssa see a psychiatrist before she sees anybody else. I know it sounds strange, but we've had suicidals who have freaked out when they find out their attempt has failed. Alyssa is unconscious, but I think that a psychiatrist should be there when she wakes up. So I can get one down here who's on call." Craig suggested.
"No. If our daughter has to wake up to a psychiatrist, I'd rather it be somebody she's familiar with. We'll call Marlena Black." Bo announced.
"My mom's probably still here." Belle said. "She said she had to work late. Should I go get her?"
"Please Belle, that would be great. I really want Marlena to be there if we can't be." Hope replied and Belle ran off.
"Alyssa is being moved right now to ICU 4 if you want to head up there. I'll tell Dr. Black and Belle where she is." Craig offered.
"Thank you for saving her life Craig." Hope whispered.
"Thank these guys Hope." Craig said, as he pointed to Bo and Shawn. "If they hadn't stopped the bleeding when they did, she wouldn't have made it." Craig smiled at the family and walked away. Hope turned to her husband and her son and began to cry.
"She's okay guys. Thanks to you, she's going to be okay." Hope stretched her arms out and squeezed Bo and Shawn.
"Come on. Let's go." Bo suggested as the family slowly made their way to the elevator.