Song: Tell Her You Love Her ~Echosmith
"I can't do it. I can't fucking run any more."
I heard her strained panting as I rose from my delicate slumber, followed by the shrill and invasive sound of police sirens somewhere in the distance. When I looked up, I saw a light frame, half starved, bent double, clutching at her middle as she heaved and choked, dislodging and evicting any trace of substance from her already empty stomach. She collapsed to the ground with a light thud, eyes rolling to the back of her head, surrounded by a halo of crushed and dying daisy flowers.
I did not feel angry, or disappointed like she thought I would, I simply felt sad for her. It took everything in my power to restrain from stroking away the lilac hair that strayed across her face, breaking up her beautiful features and entwining her long eyelashes. Her lips lay pale, cracked and broken, a shadow of the former soft, red ones I knew so well. Her bones protruded from her baggy, rain-soaked clothes, scars and wounds peeking from the chewed sleeves of her jumper. This was not the girl I knew, far from the ray of pure sunshine that brightened up my life daily, the girl that always checked I ate properly, the girl that called me Chipmunk and made me smile. The barely-living person before me was a shell of the girl I was familiar with.
I watched as her eyes fluttered open, taking in her surroundings with a series of bewildered blinks. As she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, her gaze landed in my direction. I met it with an unreturned smile and nearly drowned in a wave of sadness when her vacant stare shot straight through me. She reached for her phone, sat carelessly tossed a few feet away. I heard something buzz in my pocket, feeling like I was being stabbed in the side with every ring in the knowledge that I couldn't answer her cry for help. My voicemail echoed in the silence.
"I think I've done something really bad this time, I'm sorry"
Upon hanging up, her body contorted violently, letting out a blood curdling scream of agony that sent chills rippling through every fibre of my being. I couldn't bear to watch her in such pain any longer, but as I got up to leave, she let out a strangled murmur.
"P-p-please don't leave me again"
I almost got whiplash with the speed that my head turned, only to see that her eyes had once again returned to the harsh glare of her phone screen. My heart plummeted as I watched a black tear roll down her smooth, makeup stained cheek, followed by another, and another. In the midst of her anguished sobs, she remained oblivious to the advancing sirens, oblivious to the officers trampling the precious flowers, oblivious to the cold, heartless metal around her wrists.
