Carter stormed angrily into his room, slamming his door. God he hated his parents some times. Not to mention the fact he was quite worried about Abby. Susan called him before to say that she had spoken to her, and she was ok, but so far he hadn't heard from Abby himself. Not that he really could of…as he had been fighting with his parents for over an hour. He looked at his cell phone just in case. Seeing there was a text message, he sat down on his bed. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was from Abby.
Hi Carter. I rang, but you didn't answer. I just needed to tell you that I love you. I love you more than you will ever know. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything.
Carter sat stiff, his face pale. He suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. He knew what kind of message that was. Sure they had gotten the message of her letter wrong, but this time he knew there was no mistake. He felt like crying, but stopped himself. What's the use of him sitting at home crying? He had to see if she was ok. He swung open his door, running out of his house. He could hear the shocked cries of his parents behind him, but he couldn't go back to explain. There was no time for that. His instincts had taken over.
All he could hear was the steady thumping of his footsteps as he ran through the cold night. Thump, thump, followed by a long shaky breath. He was sweating all over…but not from running. It was a cold sweat.
He finally reached her house, although with the amount of adrenalin in his body, he felt like he could keep running forever. Her house was dark and still and he sprinted up her front steps. He banged on the door, and then waited. Nothing. He banged again.
"Abby?" he shouted out this time.
Still nothing.
"Abby are you in there?"
Complete silence. All he could hear was the rasping of his breathing.
He looked in one of the windows but couldn't see anything. He darted around, but couldn't find a way into the house. His hands were shaking with fear, and he was so panicked he didn't even realize what he was doing. He picked up a pot plant from the porch, throwing it through the front window. His heart was beating so fast he was pretty sure he could hear that as well. He stuck his hand through the broken window, snipping the lock on the door. Opening the door wide, he scanned the room.
"Abby?" he shouted again.
He suddenly felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw the broken glass in the kitchen. This feeling was much worse than what he was feeling before. Before it could have just been his imagination running wild. Now it was real, and it was unfolding in front of his eyes. He took a few more cautious steps towards the kitchen, before his entire world began to spin. He looked down at the motionless body lying amidst the glass. In a daze, he dropped to the floor, rolling her over. She had blood all over her hands, and her eyes were closed.
"Abby?" he said.
"Abby can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me" he whispered, his voice breaking.
He waited, but got no response. He raced to her phone, punching in the emergency number.
"Hello. I need an ambulance, quickly…"
After Carter had finished with the details, he hung up, unsure of what to do next. Bending down again, he tried to feel for Abby's pulse. Tears began to fall down his cheeks when he couldn't find it. He kept trying though, and almost fell over when he finally felt a weak beat. He waited for another, but it seemed to take an eternity,
'Why did you do this Abby?' he whispered, taking her hand.
"I mean. I love you. I love you so much."
Just as he'd finished speaking, he heard sirens in the distance. He kissed her lightly on the lips, before jumping up and running out the front of her house.
The next part happened all so fast. Carter didn't even have time to work out what he was doing. He felt like he was watching the world go by without him. The paramedics carried Abby out to the back of the ambulance on a stretcher, her pale and motionless body looking so fragile. Just as they loaded her on, Carter saw Susan in the distance. She was at her front gate, but Carter could tell she didn't want to come any further. He saw her look on in horror, then suddenly swing open her gate and tear across the road.
"Abby" she screamed, running towards her house.
"Abby! Oh my God what's happening?" she said hurriedly, tears falling from her cheeks.
Susan ran straight towards the crowd of paramedics, demanding to know what was going on.
Carter followed her, taking her by the arms and leading her away. He took her back to Abby's front steps, and made her sit down.
"Susan…" he began carefully. "I'm really sorry…" His voice began to crack, and he realized this was a lot harder than he thought it would be.
"She tried to kill herself didn't she?" she asked, taking him by surprise. She turned to face him, waiting for his reaction. She watched him put his hand over his face, and nod. Truthfully, she'd known as soon as she saw the ambulance pull up.
"I came over…and I found her on the floor. I didn't know what to do…" he stuttered, tears falling freely from his eyes.
Susan turned to him, and began to cry as well. The two of them sat on the steps, crying and holding each other close.
