Runaway Train

How to Save A Life

Tw: mentions of Blood, suicide/death, self harm.

Chapter 7

How to Save A Life

Derek was not prepared for the sight he walked in on. He expected a broken window, maybe some debris in the house and a few things missing.

He certainly wasn't expecting to see his baby sister lying on the bathroom floor, barely conscious. He saw the dark red blood flowing freely from her wrist and felt his stomach churn.

He dialed 911 and quickly grabbed a towel, trying to slow the bleeding while he waited for the paramedics to show up. He briefly pondered what exactly she had done to herself, but when he saw it he felt his eyes cloud with tears. A glass shard from the broken window was lying nearby, and his medical training told him his worst fears were confirmed - this probably wasn't an accident.

"Come on, Amy! Look at me! You need to stay awake... Please Amy, please stay awake. I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry. I need you, I- please don't leave me." He sobbed, pleading with her and with whatever higher power he could think of.

He knew he had been a giant jerk and that he needed to be a better big brother to her, but she needed to stay with him and give him that chance.

"Why didn't you tell us you were hurting like this? We would've gotten you help! You didn't need to run away again or-or hurt yourself." He babbled, trying to keep her glassy eyes focused on him while keeping firm pressure on her wound.

When he saw her eyes slipping closed he got more insistent, shaking her forcefully.

"No! Keep those eyes open, don't you do this to me, Amelia!" he screamed. "Don't you die in my arms like dad!"

He held her frail lifeless body in his arms as he sobbed brokenly. He couldn't be too late, he couldn't be.

He didn't even register the paramedics trying to take her once they'd arrived, nor would he remember later that he had screamed at them in panic as they pried her away.

"Derek!" Carolyn Shepherd called, frantically making her way down the hospital corridor to get to her son. She was well put together on the surface but anyone who knew her well would have been able to recognize the puffy red eyes and the smith tremor in her limbs that betrayed her emotions.

Hearing his mom call for him brought Derek back into focus; back to reality and the present.

"Ma?" He croaked out, looking up at her with a lost expression on his face, his own eyes red and his face covered in tears. His voice was hoarse from all the screaming and crying he had done earlier.

"What happened? Where is your little sister?" The older woman asked anxiously, emotion and fear drenched her shaking voice, despite her attempt to remain strong for her son.

"I thought she was okay, mom. She seemed better, but... We should have paid closer attention. She ran away and I don't know why." He spilled out brokenly before continuing.

"I-I found her in our Hampton's house today... They called us about a potential break in so I went out there and -" He paused, blinking back tears.

"I didn't even consider the possibility, mom. I didn't know she would be there when I went, but I keep thinking if I hadn't gone out there -" He stopped again, an agonized cry escaping his lips.

"I tried to make her stay awake, but she stopped breathing, Ma. She cut herself and she was dead in my arms." He cried, broken by the unrelenting image in his head.