Flight Through Darkness

Blood

Tifa's POV

We're only able to watch in horror as, true to Genesis' prediction, Lilly slashes her wrists and collapses to the floor mere seconds later, already unconscious when I bash the door open and pick her up, the blood already pooling on the bathroom floor and repainting it deep red.

The scary part about it?

She's smiling.

Never have I ever seen my friend like this before. There was one time when we were forced to suffer through a really boring talk about suicide in our school assembly. We'd been snickering and sighing through the whole affair and Aerith was elbowing us to try and keep us quiet. I hadn't listened at all, sure that such things would never happen to us.

Now I wish I had.

I don't even realize I've screamed until everyone else is gathered around me. Angeal's phone is out, he's already talking into it, calling for an ambulance.

"She doesn't have enough time..."

"Someone call her mum!"

"I'm on it."

"Does anyone know first-aid here?!"

"We need to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down. Tifa, any bandages or thick cloth you can get me?" Zack addresses me seriously before motioning for me to set the doll-like Lilly down. Stunned, it takes my limbs a few moments before I can move, dashing back to the bathroom and grabbing any cotton bandages in sight.

When I return, Zack is shaking his head worriedly, Genesis is pacing with his eyes fixated on the amount of blood still pouring from the gash, Cloud is talking to Lilly's mother, Angeal is nowhere in sight. I thrust the bandages at Zack, hoping maybe he can fix things before it's too late and we all lose another friend.

Frowning, Zack unrolls the bandage and starts wrapping her wrist tightly, but blood keeps seeping through the layers. His hands are trembling so badly, I want to go and help, but somehow I'm rooted to the spot, unable to look away from the fast-paling face. I told her to say goodbye to both Aerith and I if she didn't show up here. Maybe she only showed up to say farewell. Oh god, did I accidentally give her the idea to kill herself?

She's so still...is she already gone?

"Tifa..."

I look up from the puddle of blood I've been staring at. "Zack?"

"...I don't think she's going to make it."

With a ferocity I never knew he had, Angeal strides over to Zack and grips him by the shoulders. "Don't. You. Dare. Say. That. You give up hope, she dies. For sure. I bet there's loads of suicide cases like this where the victim survived." He growls, glaring at Zack's frightened eyes until the younger teen nods shakily.

Spots of red are even now still staining the white cloth. Suddenly I'm shaking too. What if she really does die? Whose fault will it be? How could we have made her believe it wasn't her who caused Aerith's death? You could say I had a part to play in it. I should've known better than to think of such a dangerous idea. It wasn't fully her fault. The questions pound in my ears, roaring through my brain, only dimly do I feel Genesis and Cloud help me to sit down beside my friend and take her hand.

What happens if she lives?

Can she forgive herself?

What will we do?

Will she even survive?

What happens to us if she dies, too?

A shrill screaming cuts through the air and I jump, startled out of my thoughts. Help is here. The door bangs open, a brunette woman whom I belatedly recognize as her mother rushes in to her child. Genesis picks Lilly up carefully and deposits her on a stretcher that medics have carried in through the door. I watch as my friend is strapped on and tipped into the great hulking compartment of the ambulance.

"Tifa." I turn towards them, plastering on a fake smile. "She'll be fine, right guys?" I try to cheer optimistically, while in reality my heart is nearly exploding from the internal pressure and my hands are trembling violently.

"Who are you trying to kid, Tifa. You need to get ready to say farewell again." Cloud's voice is flat, but he steps towards me, arms open.

For the first time in my life, instead of running into those arms, I turn away for a last look at the ambulance Lilly's in, but it's already gone, screaming down the street.

The wail of the siren sounds ominously final to me.