Author's Comments:

In the last scene… I'll admit, I've never woken up from a suicide attempt in the hospital, so I have no idea what it's like… nor can I really find first-hand accounts of it online… But I can go with what little I have experienced personally, what I have been told, etc…

I just can't get away from this story… I just kind of need to just get it all out, I think… so that's just going to be what I do today.

Chapter 2: Feliz Navidad?

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Christmas Day, 1991

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Eric Preston was awoken in his attic room by his mother opening the door.

It was far too early to be awake, even for Christmas Day.

"Eric. Phonecall," his mother said with her sharp Mexican accent."

"Mrrrugh…" Eric responded, pressing his face into his pillows, with hope that would make his mom walk away and tell whoever was calling to try again later. Who the fuck would be calling at 6 o clock in the morning on Christmas Day? If it was Nana, he would start killing people…

But his mother stepped up into his room, crouching beneath the angled ceiling and holding the phone towards him.

"Eric. It's Brian's mom. She needs to talk to you. Now."

Brian's mom…?

And his own mother's urgent voice…

Eric raised his head and looked towards her, his face twisted in an ugly scowl of grogginess. He looked down at the phone a long moment, still glowering a bit with drowsiness as he reached out and grabbed the receiver.

"'Lo…?" he asked in a grumble, rubbing the palm of his hand against his eye, trying to massage the bleariness from his vision.

"Eric? It's… it's Mrs. Lackey."

He pushed himself up in bed, his mother lingering by his side as he sat up fully, frowning at his sheets.

"Yeah," he mumbled dumbly, stifling a yawn. "What's up?"

"I… Brian was with you last night… Did-Did he say anything to you…? Anything at all…?"

Eric's slow, sleep-encumbered brain took a few moments to churn her words over, to take note of her strained voice. "Not… really… I mean he didn't say a thing at all when we…" He thought back to last night, to when he picked up Neil and Brian from that house… his nerdy new friend had said absolutely nothing the whole trip back, Neil speaking for him the whole time – saying that his nose had "simply started bleeding", that nothing had happened in the house, telling Eric to take Brian back home…

…but something had happened. He could tell.

He was suddenly wide awake.

"Mrs. Lackey? What's going on?" he asked, his chest seizing up with dread. "Did something happen to Brian?"

"Yes… he…" Her voice shook into silence, and Eric's grip tightened on the phone, eyes widening. That could only mean one thing… "…he tried to kill himself last night."

"Oh, Jesus…" Eric breathed, eyes staring wide straight before him, his limbs running cold. Panic gripped him as he clutched the phone in both hands, swinging his feet from the bed, covers cascading to the floor as his feet touched down on its wooden surface, leaning over his knees with eyes still wider in shock as the full weight of the situation dropped on him. It just didn't make sense… Brian, of all people…? "H-How?! I- is he alright? Is he going to be okay?"

Silence over the receiver. Eric held his breath waiting for the response, praying that the silence didn't mean what he thought it might.

"We… we don't know if he'll…" Brian's mother sounded as though she was fighting hard not to cry, her voice heavily strained. "He- his sister found him bleeding in the cellar last night, and now he's in the hospital. He will recover physically, but he wont talk to the doctor's… or us… We're just trying to figure all this out… and, I mean, w-we thought, as his friend…"

"Yeah… I… I… Oh god, I'm so sorry, Mrs. Lackey," Eric said, feeling like he was blabbering as he pressed a hand to his cheek, clutching the telephone tighter in his other grasp. He stared dumbly down at his bare feet with disbelief taking over his mind. "But, I… I had no idea he would ever… I don't know why he would…" His eyes flickered again, his mind involuntarily recalling last night once more…

…Brian had been fine before he and Neil went into that house…

…and then afterwards…

Eric swallowed hard, growing stern, almost determined. "But… I may know someone who might know… I-I'll talk to him and… and I'll come down to the hospital later, okay?"

"Kay… Thank you, Eric…" Mrs. Lackey said, her Midwestern drawl trembling as she spoke. "You're… you've been such a good friend to Brian… thank you…"

Eric swallowed hard, feeling unwarranted tears coming to his eyes at the stark sincerity of her words.

"I… It's…it's no problem, Mrs. Lackey…" he replied quietly, trying to keep his voice steady. "I…I'll see you later…" He hesitated a long moment before pulling the phone from his ear and pressing the off button.

"Eric… what's going on?"

Eric didn't respond to his mother, staring down at the floor for a long while… then, with sudden urgency, he stood up, snatching up a shirt and his wallet and keys, scrambling clumsily for his shoes as he made his way to his door.

"Eric! Miho! What are you—"

"I have to go…" he said quickly, hopping on one foot as he struggled to pull his shoe on without unlacing it.

"But it's Christmas morning and your brothers—"

"Please, Mom. This is important," Eric interrupted, bending to untie his shoe and pull it on his foot. He looked over his shoulder, and he was certain his fear and desperation was etched into his face. "Brian… he tried to kill himself… and I know Neil knows something about why... I know he does. I have to go see him." He straightened, tugging his tank top over his head and rubbing his hair to hopefully make it less bedheady – or more intentionally bedhead like he'd usually gel it.

"B-Brian…? Oh… oh my god.." his mother hissed as Eric snatched up his jacket and pulled it on, turning to look at her as he pocketed his keys and wallet. He paused in his haste, face falling at her horrified expression.

He thought of Brian's mom… how much pain could be heard in her voice…

He let out a sigh and stepped to his mother, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, nestling his head beside her bushy mass of curly hair.

"I'm sorry, Mom… I'll try to be back for dinner, okay?"

"Okay," she said in a nasally voice, hugging him tight to her large body for a long moment. "Tell Brian's family that I'll be doing very little but praying for them today, okay?"

"I will…" He pulled away and turned, snatching up his backpack and throwing a few more items into it before rushing out the door, bounding down the stairs and shoving one of his excited little brothers out of the way as he tore through the front door and out of the house, headed towards his Podunk little car.

What did you do to him, Neil… he kept asking as he chucked his bag through the open window, yanking the cardoor open, settling down into his seat and not even bothering with his seatbelt as he turned the key in the ignition. What the fuck have you done…?

He hit one red stoplight on his way to the McCormick's house. He sat waiting for it to turn green, the amount of time it took seeming to take an eternity… he gripped the steering wheel tightly in both hands, rage and frustration and despair boiling up inside him to the point he couldn't hold it anymore. He gave a cry of pure anguish and slammed his hand down as hard as he could on the side of the steering wheel, sending a resonating spasm of pain up his arm. But he didn't care. He pressed a hand to his face, the other still holding onto the steering wheel.

Brian… the one real friend he'd had in a long time…

"What the fuck did you do to him, Neil?!" he shouted to his dashboard, the stoplight having long turned green, those behind him honking completely unawares. After a second to get himself under control, he floored it, barreling ahead like a madman. "Fuck you, Neil… fuck you… you fucking… you fucking bastard…" he kept whispering under his breath, trying to hold back his tears… glad he had been too hurried to bother with makeup, because it would have been running by now…