Sophia and Vincent walked silently behind Blake as he slowly went to...somewhere. Vincent was so disoriented he didn't know where they were going anymore. They ended up in the music room, of all places. Blake sat down by the piano and sighed. "God dammit all. Vince...I hope you can't hear me. But you were right about your parents. They don't listen to anything but their own logic. I couldn't believe it at first, that you had done it without coming to me first. I was even angry until this morning, angry that you had left me, or tried to. But when I talked to your dad this morning, he said that he was gonna make you talk to the pastor about being gay. Fucking bullshit, that is, and I told him so. I also told him that he should just be happy when you wake up...as one may expect, he kicked me out. Vince...why didn't you just tell me? You know I wouldn't mind, don't you?...I don't know if you do or not...but, when you wake up, I want you to tell me everything."
By this point, Sophia had pulled out a fresh handkerchief and started dabbing her eyes. Vincent just stood with his mouth hanging open as Blake stood from the floor, shakily. "God...I don't know if you hear me... Hell, at this point, I'm questioning whether or not you're there. But, if you are, just let him wake up." "Let who?" Vincent, Sophia, and Blake all jumped as a girl with pink and blue hair sat up from behind a stereo. "Sorry if I scared you, I just prefer sleep over eating so I came in here to nap. I'm Emma." "...How much did you hear?" "Only the thing where you said 'Let him wake up' so I was wondering who you meant." Vincent saw Blake stiffen up in that way you could only see if you'd known him for many years and instantly began to worry for the girl. "Its none of your fucking business who it is." "Hoo hoo, getting all defensive now. Just thought I'd ask...are you okay dude?"
Blake's eyes widened and he punched the wall. "No. Okay? I'm not fucking okay, my best friend has been laid up in the hospital for 4 days now and I can't stay with him.... I'm scared he's gonna die." Blake's voice cracked on the last word and he fell to the floor, sobbing. Emma sank next to him and awkwardly patted his head. "It's okay, he'll probably be fine." "No. No, he's in a coma, he overdosed." Vincent watched as the tears continued to fall. "Listen, I'll check in on him later if you want. I work at the hospital after school." Emma was obviously trying her hardest to keep Blake from panicking. "Okay... listen, don't tell anyone about this. Everyone else just thinks he's got a cold and it needs to stay that way." "Okay, but right now we need to scram. People are gonna think I fucked you if they come in and see us alone."
Emma stood up and offered Blake a hand. He took it, stood, and hugged Emma tightly. As Vincent watched, he felt his heart tighten in jealousy. He wanted to be the one there for Blake, not some random ass girl. At that moment, Sophia grabbed his arm and shut her eyes tightly. Vincent saw the dark room spin and get brighter until there was just spinning, white nothingness that made him black out.
When he woke up, he wasn't able to open his eyes. He heard his mother's voice in the darkness. "...and please Lord, bring him back to us safe and happy." She had just finished her prayer when Vincent's father walked in. "Marie, we need to leave soon," he said. His father had never been the speaking type...unless, of course, he was angry. His mother just nodded as her husband left to go get the car. When he was gone, she laid her head on her son's chest, closed her eyes and breathed shakily. "Vincent, if you're in there, I promise you that your father won't yell at you for being you again."
Vincent had been fighting to open his eyes and, finally, slowly, they opened. "Mom..." Marie's eyes snapped open and she quickly raised her head to look at her son. "Vinny, baby, stay awake, please, stay awake for me, Vincent," she begged. But she could see all too well that he was slipping back already. "Vinny, wake up soon, okay, mommy loves you." "Yeah...I love...too..." His eyes rolled back and his head fell back to the pillow. Marie Flack held her son's hand and sobbed until her husband came back from the car to take her away.
Meanwhile, Vincent sat numbly by Sophia as she tried to explain what had happened. "Well, after your attempt, Blake stayed with you for three days. But his parents didn't want him to be there if something were to happen...so they made him go back. Your mother has been staying with her mother since the attempt. She says your father judged you too harshly and he doesn't care. Your room is neutral ground. After you fell back asleep, your dad came in and could just cry. He wanted to explain that all he knew from his childhood was that, if he let you be you, he would be dooming you." Vincent got up from his seat in the large theater and started pacing. "That still doesn't explain that girl...why does she care about some random guy whose friend overdosed?" he asked. Sophia couldn't help but feel that he was getting jealous without even knowing the girl. "Emma Chambers is a nurse's assistant who cares very deeply for all life, she's not after your boyfriend." Vincent snapped around to face her and yelled "I TOLD YOU, HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"
In that moment, the screen in the theater went from white noise and static to Vincent's hospital room. Emma, now dressed in a white uniform, walked in with a stuffed bear tucked under her arm. She crossed to his bed, put the bear in the crook of his elbow, and sat in the chair next to his bed. "...hey dude. You probably can't hear any of this. I was here yesterday as well, briefly... even met your mother before she asked to be alone with you..but, anyway, Blake sent me to make sure you were okay... he's pretty torn up about not being able to see you. I'm not sure exactly what's going on between the two of you but I do know that he cares for you a lot." Emma got up and bent to whisper in the ear of the sleeping Vincent on screen. "Please keep fighting. For him and your mother, not to mention you. " And, after saying that, she left the room and the screen went back to static. Sophia looked at Vincent pointedly, as if to say "I'm not the only one who sees it." He only glared. He had had a few experiences, obviously, but he knew that he didn't like Blake in that way.
