Fatal: Part 1 (The First Snow)

Chapter 19 (Trigger Warning)

"What?" Angelo asks.

The officer nods, "According to Miss McClain herself, this was a suicide attempt."

Everyone's eyes widen and their stomachs drop.

"Oh my God..." Carlie croaks.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Chris asks.

"Your friend will make a full recovery. She's got a fractured foot, but luckily, that's all. She's very lucky. I've never seen someone escape a crash like that with so little injuries. And with enough good physical therapy, she'll be up and dancing again in no time." The officer assures them, "Now. Onto business. Has Miss McClain ever had a history of depression?"

Everyone thinks.

"I guess so." Angelo says, "When she first moved to Scranton, her brother had just died; and her dad left a couple months after that."

"And she has been acting kind of weird lately." Kelly says.

"Yeah, but we never thought that..." Carlie trails.

"So then you're saying that even though Miss McClain was depressed, she has never had a history of suicide attempts? She never talked about it?"

"No." Kelly says.

"Not that I know of." Carlie says.

"I've never heard anything." Angelo says.

Chris looks down at his hands, folded in his lap.

"Has Miss McClain ever said anything to you about depression or suicide?" The officer asks.

Chris pauses, then swallows and looks up, "Yes."

Carlie, Kelly and Anglo all just stare at him, wide eyed.

The officer speaks, "Okay, tell me what happened."

Chris lets out a shaky breath, "In July, she almost jumped off the bridge on the other side of town. I found her there and she was crying about her brother. I don't know if she really would have jumped, but...I convinced her to come down and promised not to tell anyone."

Everyone pauses, taking this in.

x

After a few more questions asked, the four teenagers were finally permitted to see McKayla. They walk into the room and find her wide awake. She had a few bandages on her arms and one on her forehead, and her left leg was in a cast.

McKayla looks over and gives a small, nervous smile, "Hey..." She says, sheepishly. She felt so guilty, watching as tears ran down her friends' faces.

There's a pause, then Chris is the first one to step up. He walks up to McKayla's bed, gets down on his knees in front of her and pulls her into an embrace. McKayla wasn't quite expecting this, but she hugs him back as tightly as she possibly could.

For a moment, they just...stayed there like that. Chris held her as close to him as he could manage to get her and finally let his tears fall, not caring if his friends or Carlie saw.

"Please don't ever do something like this again." Chris says to her, his voice shaking.

"I won't."

"I mean it, McKayla." Chris says, "I can't lose you. You're too important." He says before breaking the embrace.

The rest of them all shared hugs and tears, asked a lot of questions - most of them McKayla had to answer on the spot - then Chris took McKayla's hand.

"I'm sorry we haven't been acting the same lately." He says, "God, if I'd known that this was what was going through your head - "

"No, Chris, don't even start with that. This isn't your fault. This isn't any of your faults." McKayla says. She looks to Chris, "Can we go back to being the way we were before?"

Chris manages a smile, "Absolutely." He says before hugging her, "I think the vending machines have Oreos. I'll go get us some to celebrate."

x

Chris was on his way back to McKayla's room, when Sophie walks up to him.

"Oh, God, Sophie. How're you doing?" Chris asks.

Sophie sighs, "Well I've certainly been better." She says, "Anyway, I was actually looking for you. I wanted to talk to you...The officers told me about McKayla almost jumping off that bridge, and what you did to help her."

"Oh. Well, I just, I mean - " But Chris gets cut off by Sophie hugging him.

"Thank you." She says, "I don't know what I'd do without her. She's all I have left..."

A/N: So wait a minute? Did McKayla actually try to commit suicide? The answer: NO! It is stated in this chapter, so I'm not giving spoilers. MCKAYLA DID NOT ACTUALLY TRY TO COMMIT SUICIDE. The McClains and the police are all staging it to be a suicide to keep people safe. But why? You'll have to wait for the next chapter ;) I promise everything will be explained then.

IMPORTANT! I am currently out of a laptop at the moment and likely will not get one until Christmas. I can continue to write on my tablet, but I'll still be very behind. So, starting next week, I will ONLY be updating on Mondays and Fridays in hopes that that will give me extra time to catch up. I'm sorry, but that's just how I have to do it.

Leave me lots of votes and comments telling me what you thought!

xoxo, Scissorhands.