Beauty In The Breakdown

[mk1diva]

OMG.............. I'm speechless didnt realise i had tears running down my face til i finished reading wow I cant believe he jumped but the way you wrote it was beautiful and I cant believe your leavin us there to hang like that lol

That was AMAZING......

Update whenever you can but sooner rather than later would be good

[amz89]

Loved the last to chapters can't believe Aden jumped amazing story more soon please

[Red Ranger 1]

Oh my.Was not expecting that to happen...

I was just sitting here thinking "Yeah, they'll talk him down" and then...Gosh.

[MissOlivia22]

Update ??

[MissOlivia22]

Update today ??

[zzazzb]

oh, that was so well written, i loved it - though not the whole juming thing..

but i must admot, if it wasn't such a serious issue,

What does it look like?” Aden snapped. “I’m having a f***ing picnic!”

that would have been funny

but let him live, teach him a lesson. stupid boy.

update soon

[Broken_Ghost]

OMG i just read the whole thing and I have to say great job.

Loving it.

That last chatper had me in tears.

Update.

<3

[whispered_envy]

Thanks so much guys! I'm glad you liked that chapter! Hopefully you'll like this next one.

Warnings: Nothing specifically- just more of the general depressing angst.

Chapter Ten:

The sun rose steadily on what should have been a bright and normal Saturday. Adults would be getting out of bed, happy to enjoy the weekend after working hard all week. Children would be running around, excited at the prospect of a few days without school. Some people would be nursing hangovers, others going on a road trip, while even more would be excited at the prospect of a family picnic to their favourite spots. But one group of people were not enjoying the beginning of the sunny weekend. Four anxious and worried faces slept uneasily on the hard plastic chairs of the gloomy emergency room, waiting for the verdict of their friend, whose life had been plunged into doubt.

Roman, who had been drifting in and out of sleep all night, shifted slightly and woke up. After a momentary confusion about where he was, his eyes focused, and the bland walls of the hospital triggered his memory. He looked down at his sleeping daughter in his arms- the pale, tear stained blonde breathed heavily, and Roman knew she, too, was having trouble sleeping. Leaning his head back against the wall, Roman let his mind wander to the events of last night.

----

As Aden disappeared from view, Roman’s heart leapt out of his chest. He had jumped.

Racing around the surf club, Rachel close at his heels, he found Aden lying there, still and silent. He was lying awkwardly- on his side but on his back. It was unnervingly eerie, and it made Roman fear that Aden’s plan had actually worked. He knelt on the ground next to him, shaking him slightly. “Aden! Aden, mate- c’mon! Wake up!”

Rachel knelt beside him. “Don’t move him! He might have a spinal injury!”

“Oh, god!” Roman moaned, leaning back on his heels. “Please, god!”

Rachel leant in closer to check Aden’s vitals. After a few moments, she turned back Roman. “He’s still breathing.”

Relief washed over Roman, which was quickly replaced by fear again. Even though he was still alive, he wasn’t out of the woods yet. As Rachel continued to examine Aden, the paramedics arrived. Roman moved out of their way as they gathered around the limp body.

Roman watched as the paramedics started to work on Aden, trying to save the life of a person who had just tried to end his. His head was spinning- how could he have let this happen? He had been one of Aden’s support people, and he hadn’t even realised that he was this depressed. If anything, Roman had thought he was getting better. How could he not have noticed?

Fitzy appeared next to him, quietly taking the scene in. “We’re sorry Roman- there’s not much we could have done.”

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you.”

“We weren’t prepared that he would jump so quickly.”

“It’s not your fault.” Roman tried to reassure her.

Fitzy nodded, slowly leaving Roman’s side to talk to other police.

Roman was unsure how long had passed, till Rachel came and talked to him. “They’re taking him to the hospital now.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“We’re not sure. He’s fractured his arm pretty badly. But we need to do some tests on his head and scans on his spine before we know anything further.”

Roman nodded.

Rachel touched his arm. “Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?”

“No, thanks. I should go home and get Nicole first.” He explained.

“Will you be okay to drive?” She studied her friend’s face intently.

“I should be. Thanks, Rachel. For everything.” He added pointedly.

“No problem. I wish I could have helped more.”

“So do I.”

----

As Roman started to stroke his daughter’s hair, Nicole’s eyes fluttered open. “Is...everything okay Dad?” She muttered.

“I’m sorry, Nic. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He whispered.

“It’s okay. Have you heard anything yet?” She queried.

“Not yet. Try and get some more rest, I promise I’ll wake you as soon as I do.”

Nicole snuggled further into her dad’s arms, trying to go back to sleep. As she did, she couldn’t help but think that last night had honestly felt like a nightmare.

----

She stared blankly at the open schoolbook in front of her. Doing schoolwork on a Friday night was not something she’d normally attempt, but Nicole needed something to distract her from her thoughts.

Tapping her pen rhythmically on the paper, she looked up at her window as another car passed by her house. No, that wasn’t Roman either. He had rushed out of the house a couple of hours ago, after Irene had rung and told him that Aden was on the surf club roof, and he was planning to jump off it, and she hadn’t heard from him since. Nicole didn’t know whether to take that as a good or bad sign.

That Aden...he kept shocking her. First his confession about his grandfather, and now, a suicide attempt. He always seemed so confident, so cocky, so unbelievably sure of himself, and Nicole didn’t realise how badly he had been coping. She was not expecting him to reveal something as horrible as what he had, and it had shocked her to the core. But for him to take matters into his own hands, for him to avoid talking to them, leaving them with just a drunken revelation...he was obviously still very troubled and disturbed.

Should she have done more for him? Been a better friend than she was? Not given him so much grief about his father? Been more supportive after Belle broke up with him? She had so many questions, and all led to the guilt she felt, that- yes, she probably could have done more for him. She hoped that her father could talk him down, because if anyone could connect with Aden, it would be Roman.

Bright headlights flashed into her bedroom. Roman was back. Racing down the stairs and out the door, she ran to his car. Her stomach did back flips as she noticed Aden wasn’t in the car with him. “Dad! What happened?”

Roman turned to his daughter, sadness shining through his eyes. “I’m sorry, Nicole.”

Nicole’s mouth dried, and she swallowed, hard. “He jumped, didn’t he?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Wordlessly, Nicole scrambled into the car, and they took off, heading for the hospital. “What...I mean...how did he...why?” She trailed off helplessly.

“He was just very unhappy, Nic.”

“But...to try and kill yourself?” Nicole was in shock. She couldn’t believe he had actually done it. It was too overwhelming to think about.

“I think he was more depressed than any of us thought.” Roman told her grimly.

“Is he going to live?”

“They don’t know...they have to do some tests.”

“He better live. He better.” Nicole whispered with fierce determination. “I have to show him that there’s good in the world- that life is worth fighting for. I have to.”

Roman grabbed his daughter’s hand, and squeezed it tight.

----

Roman looked over at Irene, who was now waking up herself. They exchanged small smiles, and carefully as ever, Irene stood, so as not to disturb the sleeping Belle beside her. Irene mouthed the word ‘coffee’ to Roman, so her voice wouldn’t wake either of the two girls, but he kindly waved the offer away. She pointed down the hallway, indicating that she was going to get some, and Roman gave her an understanding nod.

Footsteps heavy against the empty corridor, Irene’s mind wandered into her thoughts, and how she had come to be sleeping overnight at a hospital.

----

Trembling slightly, Irene managed to get her key in the front door. As she made her way inside, she was instantly hounded by Geoff and Annie.

“Irene! Where have you been?” Geoff questioned.

“Yeah, we’ve been trying to call you.” Annie added.

“Oh, sorry guys, something happened.”

From the look on Irene’s face, Geoff and Annie realised that the woman was upset. “What’s wrong?” Geoff queried.

“Listen, darl, can you make me a nice strong cuppa?” She asked Annie, who obediently followed her orders. Irene turned to Geoff. “And can you get Belle? She needs to hear this.”

“Belle’s in her room with Angelo.” Geoff explained.

“Well, get them both.”

Irene didn’t say much else until the nice warm mug of tea was pressed into her hands, and Geoff, Annie, Belle and Angelo were gathered around her, all sprouting identical looks of confusion.

“What’s this all about Irene?” Belle queried.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Geoff pressured.

“Look, kids...Angelo...I have some pretty serious news. It’s not going to be nice to hear, but I figure you may as well all know now before the rumours spread tomorrow.” Irene started, not sure of how she was going to tell them.

“What is it?”

“I was coming back from the diner, and at the surf club there were police cars and everything.” She looked at Angelo, who shrugged. It had been his night off- he hadn’t heard anything. “I stopped, and was informed that there was somebody trying to jump off the roof.”

Annie gasped. Geoff looked shocked. “Like...a suicide attempt?”

“Yes, Geoff.”

All this time, Irene had been avoiding looking directly at Belle. “Who was it?” She challenged.

“It was Aden, love.”

Belle reeled back in surprise. “Aden?”

“Yes.”

Standing up, Belle abruptly walked away from the group and lent heavily on the sink. She let her mind wander. Aden. He had tried to kill himself. She knew something had been wrong when she had seen him this afternoon. She knew, but she hadn’t tried to do anything about it. She should have tried harder. She could have stopped him from taking such drastic measures.

As Irene continued to discuss the situation to a shocked Annie and Geoff, Angelo joined Belle. “You okay?”

“Not really.” She said honestly, turning her face to Angelo. “I saw him this afternoon, and I could tell he was upset. But I didn’t try and help him. I could have done something to stop this from happening!”

Angelo pulled her into a hug. “Belle, you aren’t to blame for this. This was his decision, and there was probably nothing you could have done.”

She pulled out of his hug. “I want to go see him.”

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll go by myself.”

Irene caught the end of their conversation. “No, darl, I’m coming with you. I don’t want you to be by yourself.”

Belle nodded, before turning back to Angelo. “Are you okay with that?”

“Whatever you think is best.”

Belle gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Thankyou.”

----

Belle sat up, awake and alert. “Where’s Irene?”

“She went to get coffee.” Roman explained.

“Any news?”

Roman understood she was talking about Aden. “No, not yet.”

“God, how long is this going to take?” She wondered out loud.

“Who knows?” Roman wondered with her, before he cleared his throat awkwardly. “And Belle? I am sorry about last night.”

Belle waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. You were upset- we all were.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have been so angry with you. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Belle accepted his apology, and fell back into her chair, gathering her thoughts.

----

Belle and Irene rushed into the hospital, eyes scanning for Roman. They saw him standing with Nicole, talking to a grave looking Rachel. “What’s going on?” Belle burst out, running to join them. “How’s Aden?”

“As I was just explaining to Roman, Aden is still unconscious. He has broken his arm, and the fact that his head and spinal scans have come back clear makes it a bit concerning that he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Will he be okay?”

“At the moment, he’s listed as critical, so we just have to keep an eye on him for any changes.”

Belle noticed that Rachel successfully avoided answering her question. “But will he be okay? Will he wake up?”

“We are not sure at this stage. Hopefully he will wake up soon and we’ll get some more answers about his condition.” She checked her watch. “I have to go. As soon as any news comes in, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Thanks, Rachel.” Roman told her warmly.

As she left, Belle collapsed into a seat. “This is all my fault!”

“It’s not your fault, girlie!” Irene tried to reassure her.

“Yes it is! I saw Aden today and I knew something was wrong but I let him walk away! I could have stopped him!”

“Wait a minute.” Roman frowned. “You saw Aden today?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“Well, I didn’t know that he’d go and do this!”

“Nicole or I hadn’t seen him all day, and you see him acting strangely but you do nothing about it? You didn’t think to try and help him?” Roman was getting angry.

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

“But I told you that he had told us about his past! How come you didn’t put two and two together?” Nicole spoke for the very first time since Belle and Irene had got there.

“What was I supposed to do? Aden and I had broken up, remember? He wanted nothing to do with me! He had told you guys his secret- I thought he was getting better! I never thought he’d do something like this!” Belle was shouting at them both.

“Hey, everybody, calm down!” Irene interjected in their heated argument. “Even though I saw it all, I couldn’t hear what you were talking about to Aden, so that makes me the only one here who doesn’t know his secret. However, I can see that it was something that affected him badly, and you are all blaming yourselves or one another for something none of you had any control over! I know you’re all upset and shocked, but arguing amongst one another is not the way to deal with it! We have to be here to support Aden, so if anyone has a problem with it, you can leave right now!”

Irene, as wise as ever, made the other three fall silent. The guilt that they all could have helped Aden hung over the tiny group, and put them all to shame.

----

Just as Irene came back with her much-needed coffee, Rachel appeared. Roman quickly shook Nicole awake, and they all stood up, waiting for the doctor’s latest report.

“Aden is awake. It appears he has no head or spinal trauma.”

A sigh of relief was heard through the group, with a few of them even cracking grins.

“However...” Rachel continued.

The grins disappeared.

“He is quite distressed, and his state of mind is very unbalanced.”

“Can we still see him?” Nicole asked quickly.

“Yes, but I’m warning you- he is very emotionally fragile. He might not seem like the same Aden you all know and love.”

“That doesn’t matter. We want to see him.” Roman confirmed.

“Okay. Come with me then.” Rachel motioned for them to follow.

With timid footsteps, they walked towards Aden’s room, all of them concerned for the person they were about to find in there.

[Taniya_K]

Damn, that was brilliant!

I love how they are all there for him, especially Nicole and about how she would show him the good in the world.

Am so glad that Aden's physically alright!

Can't wait for more!

xoxo

[MissOlivia22]

Thank god he's alive !!

Update ASAP