Even Angels Fall (47 page)

“I know… It’ll take time, but that’s OK. We’ll get there, all of us… ” Abbey smiles and Alex kisses her forcefully on the lips before pulling away and holding her face between his hands.

“I love you…”

“I know. I love you too…” She replies, and as their lips meet softly again a flying cushion courtesy of Darren hits them both in the side of the face.

“Come on Al, you were the one who fucking agreed to this…!” Alex stands with Abbey in his arms and gently places her back down before rolling up his sleeves and taking his position in front of the TV screen.

“Watch and learn children… watch and learn…” He states as he jogs on the spot confidently, and Abbey shakes her head in amusement, “Lucy can’t miss this…” She laughs, as Sophie picks up her glass and skips towards the door.

“I need a refill, I’ll get her…”

Alex - although Abbey hates to admit it - is actually pretty good. ‘Is there anything this man can’t do?’ She wonders to herself as the others form a semi-circle around him, cheering him on, or in Liam’s case, shouting insults at him in an attempt to put him off. Gemma is right, it is hilarious, and although they were reluctant to play at first the boy’s competitive sides are already starting to come out. Typical!

Sophie stumbles through the door with two bottles of wine tucked carefully in her arms along with a six pack of beer in her hands. She places the drinks down on the table and uses the distraction of the game to slide over to Abbey.

“Did Lucy say anything about going home?”

“What? No. Why?” Abbey frowns as her heart sinks with disappointment, “She hasn’t left has she?”

“I can’t find her…”

“She was in Tom’s room…”

“I know but she isn’t in there I checked, she’s not in the bathroom either…”

“Is she in our en suite?”

“I didn’t look, but I doubt it…”

“I’ll go…” Abbey hops over the sofa without anyone noticing and heads straight for Tom’s bedroom across the hall. Sophie is right; there is no sign of her. She quickly sticks her head around the bathroom door before checking in her and Alex’s room. It is in total darkness apart from the dim glow that is radiating from the en suite but the light is only on because Abbey left it earlier by mistake. ‘Where the hell is she?’ Sophie joins Abbey outside the bedroom and instantly reads the panic on her face.

“Was she alright when you spoke to her earlier?” She asks, with a sudden sense of urgency.

“Yeah, I thought she was… I don’t know… Are you sure she isn’t in the kitchen?” Without another word Sophie races down the hallway to check again, leaving Abbey standing with her hands on her hips, questioning whether she missed any obvious signs.

The laughter and music coming from inside the living room appear distant and detached in comparison to the dread that is suddenly coursing through her. Obviously Lucy wasn’t completely OK but she didn’t think she was upset enough to pull a disappearing act? She should tell the others. Maybe Lucy didn’t want to bring everyone down, so she took herself off home and has text Nathan to let him know? That must be it. It has to be… this is so unlike her.

Before Abbey can break the news to the others she hears a faint, muffled noise from inside Tom’s bedroom and freezes on the spot. She can’t still be in there can she? She wasn’t on the bed when she looked in a minute ago, she is certain of it. Abbey slowly opens the door and stands half in half out of the room, suddenly terrified of what she might see. There is definite movement. It is quiet and muffled, but constant, like a steady, dull thud.

Abbey takes a few steps forward and something catches her eye. There is a green bag on the floor by the foot of the bed with several pills scattered around it. As she strides over to take a closer look her heart stops and her breath catches in her throat. She can hardly move, hardly speak, as her blood runs ice cold and her eyes fill with horrified tears. Lucy is on the floor, her eyes are rolled back and her body is rigid as she shakes violently back and forth. The dull thud is the sound of her elbow repeatedly hitting the edge of the radiator as she rocks from side to side. Everything is happening in slow motion like time is standing still, and after what seems like forever, Abbey eventually finds her voice, takes a huge, deep breath… and screams.

“ALEX… NATHAN…” She sounds unrecognizable even to herself as her voice twists into an animal like wail and the fear and panic take over. She drops to her knees and grabs hold of Lucy’s head, trying to turn her onto her side so that she doesn’t choke. Her jaw is locked and her lips are turning blue.

“Oh god no, Lucy please…” She begs between broken sobs. She can hear the loud, thundering sound of approaching footsteps before the door flies open and the others burst in. Nathan throws himself across the room and immediately pushes Abbey out of the way. Grabbing hold of Lucy and lifting her head, he turns her onto her side and reaches into her mouth in an attempt to clear her air way. Darren is right next to him with a look of sheer horror on his face.

“What the hell did she take?” He gasps.

“I don’t know; she didn’t have anything on her when we were talking but these were on the floor…” Abbey hands Darren the bag of pills and Alex snatches it away. She hadn’t even noticed him standing there but he is right beside them, looking down at Lucy with his face pale and his eyes wide as Gemma and Sophie sob quietly in the doorway and a shell-shocked Liam tries his best to calm them down.

“We need to call a fucking ambulance now…!” Nathan screams and Darren backs away, shaking his head and holding his hands over his tear stained face in utter disbelief. Alex sees that he is going into shock and quickly steps forward, snapping into action and taking charge like he always does. There is no time to panic and lose focus now.

“We can’t…”

“What…?!” Nathan gasps.

“There’s no time for that, we have to move her. Liam, bring the van around…”Alex drops to his knees and grabs hold of Lucy’s shoulders as he tries in vain to keep her still.

“But…” Liam is about to protest when Alex’s head snaps up and the look on his face instantly stops him from arguing.

“NOW…” He shouts and Liam does as he is told without question. Alex’s eyes are so dark they are almost black and he has never looked more frightened, or more dangerous. Nathan’s breathing is heavy and broken as he pins Lucy’s legs to the floor, trying his best to keep it together despite the tears that are now streaming down his face.

“Oh please, please baby, please…” He prays, over and over with quiet desperation, as the others look on helplessly.

A
single drop of rain runs slowly down the window, picking up speed and growing in size as it merges with other droplets that are dotted across the glass. Abbey absentmindedly traces her finger along its path, watching as it glides disjointedly all the way down to the bottom and pools in the corner of the wooden frame. The streetlights outside shimmer through the downpour - blurring the view into an almost abstract pattern - as she silently prays for her best friend.

By the time they had gotten Lucy into the van she had stopped fitting. Her breathing was shallow and her lips pale. They had raced to the hospital and made it to the emergency room in less than five minutes but it still felt like a lifetime. Liam had barely touched the breaks before Alex had kicked open the door and thrown himself out; followed immediately by Nathan, who stepped down with Lucy in his arms and sprinted through the automatic doors, screaming frantically for anyone to help. A doctor who had been filling in charts at the reception desk was the first one to run over to them.

“What happened?” He asked, while checking for Lucy's pulse.

“She took something… we don't know what…” Nathan's tone had been fraught and panicked but he was telling the truth, they really don't know what is in those pills or how many she has swallowed.

“How long has she been like this…?”

“We found her about 10 minutes ago…”

Two nurses had then appeared with a gurney and Nathan stepped forward without hesitation, gently laying Lucy's limp and lifeless body onto the hard green mattress. He had run alongside them as they wheeled her through the hospital ward, until a nurse held out her arm and blocked him from entering through a set of double doors that were clearly labelled ‘staff only'. Abbey can't get the image of Nathan's face out of her mind as he was forced to let go of Lucy's hand and watch her disappear down the corridor away from him. His pain was almost unbearable.

“You can wait in the family room…” The nurse had offered kindly, “We will come through and update you as soon as we can…” And that's exactly where they have been waiting for almost an hour and a half now. It is becoming insufferable, the not knowing, and Abbey isn't sure how much more of this she can take as she hugs her chest and watches the rain lash against the window.

Darren is sitting quietly against the far wall, resting his head on Sophie's shoulder as she gently rubs his back and Gemma and Liam are sitting on either side of Nathan, who is staring blankly at a scuff mark on the carpet in front of his feet. He hasn't looked up, spoken or even blinked for the last thirty minutes. God knows how he must be feeling. If Abbey were in his place and it was Alex they were waiting to hear about, well, she can barely handle the thought. It is heart-breaking enough waiting on the fate of her best friend.

Alex is pacing. Up and down, back and forth. It is a typical response for him; it's how he almost always reacts to a stressful situation that is completely out of his hands. Power, authority, control… that's what he knows, but once again he finds himself in a situation that he is incapable of changing or making any better. So all he can do is wait, like the rest of them. He sits down in a chair over in the corner and anxiously runs his hands through his hair for the hundredth time.

“They must know something by now…” Liam sighs, breaking the silent tension that is coursing through the room.

“I'm sure they'll tell us when they do…” Gemma smiles meekly and Alex shakes his head in exasperation, leaning back in his seat and raising a weary hand to his face.

“Not necessarily…” He mumbles, almost to himself and Nathan finally looks up, staring at him with subdued anger in his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Darren asks, confused.

“With something like this they're gonna have questions. They might not tell us how she's doing or let us see her until we've spoken to the doctors… and the police…”

“Can they do that?” Sophie gasps, “I mean Darren's her brother, they have to tell him don't they?”

“They'll tell him… but they might try and get more information out of us first…”

“Then we'll give it to them…” Nathan states under his breath in a defiant tone. Alex stares at him for a moment, but decides not to retaliate. Everything could implode so easily right now. Tensions and emotions are running high and it isn't the time or place to get into a debate about what they are going to do if they are asked uncomfortable questions they can't answer.

“Let's hope it doesn't come to that…” Sophie whispers, turning her head towards Darren and running her nose through his hair, “She'll be fine babe…”

“She should have known better…” He despairs, “She's smarter than this what the fuck was she thinking?”

“This isn't her fault…” Nathan snaps.

“Well whose fault is it then…?” He shouts back, “I couldn't reach her, for three weeks, I couldn't see her and you promised me she'd be fine…”

“You're putting this on me…?” Nathan gasps in revulsion, “I tried, I WAS there for her, but she kept on pushing me away…”

“Then you should have tried harder…”

“She hid it, Daz. She hid it from me. But as soon as I found out I did try, I begged her to talk to me but she was hurting too much. About Tom, about not seeing you, about the group splitting up, your parents… EVERYTHING. I fucking tried…”

“You should have taken better care of her…”

“Yeah, well so should you…”

“I couldn't see her…” Darren yells again, furiously.

“And that isn't on me…” Nathan's answering tone is much quieter but it is still laced with suppressed rage, “That isn't on me…”

Abbey closes her eyes and rests her head against the window frame, refusing to turn around, refusing to be drawn in. She can't stand this. It is all falling apart again, it is all unravelling… and this isn't helping anyone, especially not Lucy.

“You think I wanted this?” Alex asks, his voice almost inaudible, “Do you seriously think I wanted any of this to fucking happen?”

“It's happened anyway hasn't it…” Nathan shrugs, “All of it… first Tom, now Lucy…”

“Alright, I think we all just need to calm the fuck down…” Liam interjects, but Alex stares at Nathan, no longer listening to anyone else as his scathing accusation breaks his heart.