Down Under

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

          I tapped my fist against the door of Harmony’s apartment. The minutes ticked by, but she never answered.

          I swear if I find her in the same condition I found Damon, I’m giving up on life all together! I thought as I tried the knob to see if it was locked. The door creaked open. My heart rate increased; Harm always locked up if she was alone. There was no way she would leave the door open like this.

          I called her name through the crack I had made.

          No answer.

          I stepped inside, pushing the door shut behind me. “Harm? Are you here?”

          Heart hammering against my chest, I took a couple of steps down the hallway. I was about to open the door to her bedroom when Harmony appeared, raking her wet hair into a ponytail. She jumped back a little when she saw me, obviously startled, before she smiled and waved.

          “Oh, hey, B. Sorry, I must not have heard you. I just got out of the shower.”

          I sighed in relief upon seeing the auburn haired girl. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I came in, but the door was unlocked and I was worried something might have happened to you.”

          She hit her forehead with the heel of her palm. “Did I forget to lock it again? Shoot. I’ve been doing that an awful lot lately. Must be from the-err, so, why did you come over?” She grinned up at me, acting as though she hadn’t just cut herself off in the middle of that sentence. She gave me a look that I assumed meant she would not be elaborating on whatever she was just saying. I raised my eyebrows, but decided it was better not to press the matter. I could interrogate her later.

          I considered lying, giving her some excuse about just needing someone to hang out with, but changed my mind. The truth was best at this point. “I needed to talk to you.”

          Her eyes widened at the tone of my voice. “Sounds serious. Let’s go sit down.” She led me over to the plush, white lounge I remembered her and Jesse picking out earlier this year when they were going to move in together. Then things happened and Jesse ended up continuing to live with me, but that was a story for a different time.

          “What do you need to talk about?” Harmony questioned as she folded her legs under herself.

          “Damon tried committing suicide this morning,” I blurted, knowing no other way to break the news.

          A loud gasp escaped her mouth before she clamped her hand over it. When she spoke, her voice was muffled by her fingers. “No! Is he okay? What happened? Why would he do that?”

          “He’s going to be alright,” I started to explain. “I found him in time to call a paramedic and they were able to get him to the hospital before anything serious could happen. He tried to overdose and he cut one of his wrists deep, but he’ll be okay. The problem is there’s new scars from where he’s been cutting a lot lately. I think I figured out he did it because he thinks we don’t care anymore. He thinks we’ve abandoned him like everyone else has in his life.”

          Harmony let her hand slide from her face, shaking her head. “None of us have bothered checking on him, have we? We should have learned from the last time he hurt himself. We were supposed to learn from the last time. I feel awful.”

          “How do you think I feel? The boys and I promised to always be there for him since he didn’t have anyone else. He was supposed to be able to rely on us. We were his family and we just left him alone. I can’t believe we were so stupid…”