Love Scars

Ch. 9: Jared

Brianna was really starting to worry me. It seemed as though she actually cut more even though she knows it hurts me too. They're so deep and agonizing, and I actually have muscle. I don't know how a stick like her has survived this long. They appear on my thighs, my stomach, my wrists... When I go to do anything I have to make sure my wrists are covered, my shirt is long enough, and that my thighs don't show. The stress of someone finding me like this is almost unbearable...

A quiet ringing broke my thought. "Hello?" I didn't have the number in my contacts, although it seemed familiar.
"Jared I am so, so sorry, I love you and you are my best friend but I can't do this anymore! I can't live knowing that all I do is hurt you-" the person on the other line kept sobbing between sentences.
"Brianna? Where are you?" I stood up to go grab my car keys. "I'll be there in a few minutes, just please tell me where you are."
"I can't hurt you if I'm dead.." The sobbing was quieter now.
"If you die there's a good chance I will too. All this cutting isn't healthy Brianna, you need to stop. Please stop. There are other ways."
"I don't want to hurt you anymore Jared. I love you and I just want the best for you. You have always been my absolute best friend and I can't live knowing I'm hurting you.."
I heard a zipper and a bag opening. Something heavy moved from inside.
"Brianna, tell me where you are. Who's phone is this?" I had both her parents' numbers in case of an emergency. This wasn't theirs.
"Things will be better." I heard a faint rattling and a click. She was loading a gun with a single bullet.
"Brianna stop it right now." My cheeks were wet. I was crying.
"I love you..."

There was a gun shot and the line went dead.

"Brianna!!" I yelled and ran downstairs. My knees were weak and my hands were shaking. I could hear police sirens in the distance, so those were the only thing I had to let me know where she was.
I got in my car and quickly drove to the sound of the sirens. It was dark outside and you could faintly see the red and blue lights a few blocks away. They were at Daniel's house.
I didn't even park the car when I got there. I jumped out before it even stopped and ran to the ambulance.
"I'm sorry sir but you can't come in." A cop was putting up caution tape.
"I need to see Brianna!!" I was sobbing and trying to push past the guard.
He looked at his partner who pointed to the ambulance as if to remind him of something.
"Is your name Jared?"
I looked at him, hopeful. "Yes sir." I sniffled.
"She hasn't stopped saying your name since we found her."
She's alive.
"Please let me in, I need to see her."
He waved me in and walked me to the ambulance. Daniel was with her.
"You two are good kids." The cop walked away.
Daniel looked up at me with shiny eyes. "Jared thank god you're here..."
He stood up, leaving Brianna with her blanket. "She nearly... Nearly..."
Before he started crying again I hugged him. He saved my best friend and I couldn't ever repay him. "Thank you Daniel."
"I walked in and she was on my phone, gun to her head. I don't even know how she got the gun!"
"Is she hurt?" I looked at her again. She had a bandage around her head with blood stains.
"As soon as I saw her I ran to get the gun from her. She pulled the trigger but I had it angled so it wouldn't kill her. It skimmed her ear and the side of her head. No damage to the brain."
I held onto the nerd. "Thank you so much..."
After our embrace we walked back to the ambulance. She was sitting there, her eyes drained of emotion.
A nurse was checking her for further injury. "Your blood sugars are far too low and you've lost a substantial amount of blood tonight... Not all from your head," the nurse looked at us. "Were you aware of her cutting addiction?"
"Yes ma'am. I was also aware of her lack of eating-"
"Anorexia." I said for Daniel when his voice cracked.
"How often does she keep down what little food she eats?" The nurse was writing down notes.
We told her everything we knew, and when we were done we were finally able to talk to Brianna.
I sat next to her and held her head to my chest, not caring if I got blood on my shirt. She wrapped her arms around me and cried.
"Let me die Jared, please, all I do is hurt you-"
"If you're gone you'll only hurt me more."
Daniel sat on her other side checking his phone. "She only made one call. You. She didn't care to contact her family at all..."
"I love you so much Brianna, please don't do this to me."
"If you loved me you'd let me go."
"I will never let go. I'd sooner rather have you hate me."
She sniffled. "I'll never hate you."
"Then I never have to let go."