Suicide Tree || ✓

8. Hailey Crawford

"I don't understand," I panted as we dashed from room to room. "What is the point in giving us clues to save them? Why go through the struggle to plant hidden clues to save them?"

"It's all a sick little game to them," Jasper said not sounding at all out of breath like me. "Hurry up," he snapped when I started falling behind. I rolled my eyes and picked up the pace. I hate that word. Finally, on the top floor, we found the right room. We barged in to see a group of doctors standing around Cindy Crawford's lifeless body in a quiet discussion amongst themselves.

"You kids aren't supposed to be here," one of the female doctors spoke with a frown.

"What are you doing to her?" Jasper demanded, ignoring her. I on the other hand, still hadn't caught my breath.

"Cindy Crawford has been in a coma for a little more than a year. With no living family members, it is up to us to decide if we should pull the plug on her life support or not," another doctor spoke up, looking slightly sympathetic.

"You-you can't just do that!" I gasped with wide eyes. "You're – that's murder, she's still alive and breathing she could wake up any moment!" I exclaimed. Jasper ran his fingers through his hair, looking equally as frustrated as I felt.

"Ma'am it is an ongoing decision that were just about to make before you kids barged in," the female doctor said, looking at us disapprovingly. I huffed, desperately thinking of ways that we could stop this.

"A raise of hands, please, for those who believe that we should execute an assisted euthanasia," the male doctor spoke. Another word to add to the hate list. One by one, almost every single hand rose to the air, causing me to let out a cry of disbelief. They are making a vote to kill someone?

"This is murder – she could still wake up!" I pleaded, but the doctors were already in motion.

"I think it is best if you and your friend step out of the room," the woman spoke gently as she placed a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," he snapped, shrugging her off. I stared with wide eyes as one of the doctors, slowly and carefully removed the mask around Cindy Crawford's nose and mouth. There were no changes in her facial expression; she didn't even move a finger. What were you expecting from a comatose patient? The only sign of life was the steady heart beat on the heart monitor that grew faster and faster until it was no more. The monitor flat-lined for a few long moments until finally, the doctor turned it off.

That was how the remaining family member of the Crawford family died.

I drew in a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to calm my racing heart. Her death is on my hands. Black dots danced in my vision and a sharp ringing sound was all I could hear. I could faintly hear Jasper, shouting my name before someone vigorously shook me out of my daze.

"Scarlett?" I opened my eyes to see a blurry Jasper looking relieved.

"What happened?" I asked, my movements extremely slow as I struggled to push myself up from my slumped position against the ground.

"You fainted for a few seconds," I crinkled my nose in disgust.

"That's pathetic," I muttered, shaking my head in an attempt to get rid of the lethargy. Jasper snorted in response before silently staring at the bed where two doctors drew a white sheet over Cindy Crawford's body.

"I could've saved her," I muttered bitterly to myself. "I could've fucking saved her."

"What would you have said?" Jasper snapped, suddenly looking very irritated. We both stood close by, leaning against the wall, but Jasper made it a point to lean even closer until his face was millimeters from my own. "As far as I know, you aren't related to her. Nothing would've stopped them," he said harshly. Is he trying to convince himself or me? I bit my lip and didn't reply.