Thank you so much to everyone for reviewing and faving my story! You guys rock! Please enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Reliving the Pain

I stared in shock as the paramedics took Clare away on a stretcher. It was more painful to watch the blood pour from her side than hearing the news about Julia's death. I pushed myself of the ground to come face to face with the female cop.

"What's happened here, son?" She asked in a serious monotone.

"Me and the guy back there, Mark Fitzgerald, didn't exactly see eye to eye. I played a seemingly harmless prank on him and… he wanted to get back at me by scaring me. He never wanted to hurt anyone but Clare, the girl, didn't know that. She risked her life for… mine," I choked out. The cop nodded in an understanding response.

"Where are they taking her?"

"The hospital a few blocks away… You want to go and make sure she's alright?" the cop asked.

"Yes," I said quietly. I need to see Clare… to tell her how much I care about her.

"Well then…" the cop began as she gestured to me.

"Eli… Goldsworthy."

"Well Eli, I'll make sure that you'll be allowed to see your friend."

"Thank you." I replied. I watched the cop walk down the long, dark hall and turn right, probably headed for the exit. I have to get to the hospital now… I should tell Adam…

I ran through the halls of Degrassi looking for him. Once back at the entrance of the school, I found Adam standing with his mother.

"Adam," I said taking him by the arm a step away from his mother.

"Eli, you okay? Where's Clare?" Adam asked. He looked pretty worried too.

"Fitz stabbed Clare. We need to go now. We have to get to the hospital." I explained in a panicked tone. Adam stared back at me with fear.

"We have to go then." Adam said with a stiff nod.

"Go where?" Ms. Torres bursted in. I honestly was not her biggest fan…

"Mom, my friend was stabbed and I need to go make sure she's okay!" Adam said heading for the door. I began to follow.

"Oh, no you don't!" She shouted, pulling Adam back by his arm. "Your brother is somewhere in the school looking for you. When he comes back, we are leaving and going home. I will not let you run around town with this freakish delinquent to find your 'little friend'" What the hell did I do to make her call me a "freakish delinquent?

"MOM! I don't care what you think of my friends! I'm going!" Adam yelled as he shoved his mom out of the way and rammed out the door… My best bet was to follow him. Cop cars lined the building… but no ambulance in sight… they must have gotten Clare and gotten out of here.

"Where'd you park Morty?" Adam asked. I pointed over to the parking lot and he took of in a run towards the vintage hearse. I feel like my own car was a bad omen for Clare's life.

"Adam, that was really brave back there… what you said to your mom," I said unlocking the car and getting in.

"Thanks," Adam said, shuffling into the passenger seat and buckling in. "So, what happened exactly?" I had been in such a rush that I didn't get to fully reflect on what happened… I thought back to the incident as we took off down the road.

"Fitz cornered me and Clare… I pushed her aside and waited for the worst to come. But… I didn't expect her to jump in front of me…" I began. Adam gasped. Clare's scream when the knife pierced her still rang in my ears…

"Then when he swung the knife… it stabbed her. It should have been me…"

"Where did it stab her? Do you think she's okay?" Adam asked quietly.

"She passed out… I don't know if she's okay… I can't lose her… not like…" I took a deep breath. "Not like I lost Julia. Me and Julia had broken up in the fight… she dumped me, so I still cared about her, so I felt guilty about her death. In this case… Clare was dying in my arms…" I felt my eyes begin to water again. I tried to focus on the road.

"Eli, calm down. Here, pull over." Adam instructed. I followed his orders and pulled over onto a patch of grass.

"I love Clare, Adam. I can't let her die… because of me." I forced out. A tear rolled down my cheek. "It's like Julia all over again… but worse. This hurts twice as much or even more. I never loved Julia like I love Clare…"

"Take a deep breath, Eli." Adam said, placing a hand on my shoulder. His eyes looked like he wanted to shed a tear as well. "If you care about Clare as much as you say you do, then you'll relax, focus, and get to the hospital!"

"You're… you're right," I mumbled. I wiped the tears from my eyes and drove off the patch of grass. I thought of Clare, happy and healthy, and well… not dead. I saw the road clearly and sped towards the hospital. Adam would usually have warned me about speeding, but I didn't think he cared too much right now.

P.S. just a shout out to all my readers and to the reviews: thank you so much =) it means a lot to know you like reading my story! I luv you all!