by Sabrina Kanavatsas, staff reporter
Katherine’s dad dropped Chris, Patrick, and Katherine off at the front of the hospital, then drove off to find parking. Chris rushed to the desk to find out what was happening and where his brother was. Katherine and Patrick were following him, but were not close enough to hear what a nurse and doctor were talking to him about. After a few moments, Chris rushed down the hall, ignoring the fact that Patrick and Katherine were there.
It was hard to keep up with Chris but Katherine and Patrick continued to follow him. He turned a corner and then entered a nearby room. Then, silence. The tears that Chris were holding back the entire car ride finally came out. He wasn’t holding back any kind of emotions anymore. All the nurses except one left, and the doctor remained. The doctor unplugged the monitor to stop the asystole.
Chris’s crying became hysterical as all his emotions were taking over him as he leaned over the bed Dill laid on. Katherine and Patrick both stood by the doorway, trying to process what had just happened. Tears began pouring down their faces too, but unlike Chris, they were still trying to hide it.
Chris was holding Dill’s hand and was constantly apologizing, and telling himself that this is all just a dream, that none of this was really happening. The nurse then took a white sheet and covered Dill completely. She gave a sorrowful look at the doctor, then walked out with her head down. The doctor put his hand on Chris’s shoulder, apologized with a sympathetic look, and then followed the nurse out the room.
Just Chris, Katherine, and Patrick remained. Chris’s crying began to slow down as he tried to pull himself together. He then, very slowly, stood up and sat on the chair behind him. Katherine and Patrick came over to him and tried to comfort him.
“I’m so sorry, I know how close you guys were. I’m really sorry,” Katherine said.
“This isn’t real. He can’t just be gone. We were going to the city this weekend. This isn’t happening,” Chris sobbingly responded.
“It’s ok. Everything will be ok. I’m sorry,” Patrick said.
After what had felt like hours of complete silence, Chris, Katherine, and Patrick left the room. They went into the lobby where the doctors were talking to Chris’s parents. Chris went over to them and he hugged his mother. He was going to go home with his parents, so Katherine and Patrick left and went into the parking lot to look for Katherine’s dad. No one spoke for the entire car ride. Patrick was dropped off at his house, and then Katherine went home. None of the three friends spoke to each other until the next day, when Chris called Katherine.
“Katherine, my mom just got off the phone with a cop. You gotta come over. I’ll call Patrick,” Chris nervously said, then hung up.
After a short while, Katherine arrived at Chris’s house. He opened the door, and then ran up the stairs into his room. Katherine closed the door behind her, and then followed. When she got to his room, she saw Patrick sitting on Chris’s bed on his phone and Chris sitting on a chair. Katherine sat on the other side of the bed, greeted Patrick, and then looked up to Chris.
“So why exactly did you call us here?” Katherine asked.
“A cop found a note in Willow’s car. He said it sounded like a suicide note. Someone is coming over soon to show my mom the note, I thought you guys would wanna see it too,” Chris hastily responded.
“Are you serious? Do you have any idea what it said?” Patrick said.
“Not yet.”
A few moments passed, and then the doorbell rang. Chris rushed down the stairs and answered the door, and as expected, it was the officers, the same ones that were there when the accident happened. Chris welcomed them in and brought them into the living room. He sat down on a chair, as his parents walked in. Katherine and Patrick stayed in his room, but were still able to hear the conversation.
“So what is this about a suicide letter?” Chris’s step-father asked.
“I brought a copy of the letter with me, but it seems as if this might have been planned in some way,” one officer said.
“Can you show us the note?” Chris interrupted.
“Yes.”
The officer turned to his bag and took out a piece of paper. He then read the letter out loud.
“I can’t do any of this anymore. I’m losing everyone. My two closest friends hurt me, and I can’t take it anymore. I thought I would go shopping a little to get my mind off it, but as I was getting out of my car, I saw them. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I want to hurt them. I think I’m just gonna do it. I’m gonna do it. If I can’t, then I’ll just end my own pain by ending myself. I’m sorry, but I can’t take it anymore. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“That sounds like suicide to me. What’s going to happen now? When did she even have time to write this?” Chris’s step-father asked.
“She probably wrote it when she got back into her car, before she began driving toward Dill and his friends. We thought we should talk to you about it and see if we should press any kind of charges.”
Chris’s step-father looked over to his wife, and then Chris. He told Chris to go up to his room as they spoke the officer alone. Chris nodded, and then went up to his room and closed the door.
“I think Willow was trying to hurt you guys. Apparently she-”
“We know, we heard him reading it. I’m so sorry that this happened, it’s all our faults,” Patrick interrupted.
“No, it’s not. She’s just crazy. It’s not any of our faults. We need to realize that.” Chris responded.
“I still want to say I’m sorry. I’m gonna miss him,” Katherine emotionally said.
“I know, I will too. I think for now you guys should go home while my parents talk to the cop.”
“Ok, but if you need to talk, we’re here. Don’t think you’re alone in this,” Patrick said, as he nodded towards Katherine.
“Thanks guys.”
Chris let them out the back door. Katherine and Patrick both turned to look at him, then hugged him. They both gave him a reassuring smile, and he gave one back. They then turned away and started walking. They don’t know where they were going, all they knew was that they were walking away from Chris’s house.
It was dark at this point. They don’t know what time it was, and they didn’t want to check. They had no conversation for the entire walk, until the very end. They had blank stares looking in front of them the whole time, walking the same direction with no true indication to each other where they were walking to. It felt as if they were walking for days. Then, Patrick spoke.
“It’s our fault. She saw us and got mad and tried hurting us but got Dill. I feel so bad.”
“I was thinking that too. But we can’t blame ourselves. It’s all over now and we can get through this.”
They both nodded at each other. Then, they turned their separate ways. They went home, and nobody made any communications the rest of the night. The night was calm with no noise and no breeze, just silence and darkness. Katherine was laying on her bed, the same way she was the day she went to the arcade with Willow. The day everything for Katherine and her friends changed permanently.
