The Good Doctor | Shaun Murphy x Reader

The Girls, the Knife, and the Darkness Part 4

Sarah woke up to see hardwood floor stained by blood, Arianna's eyes puffy from crying, Mia looking more in a fury than ever, Ava resting on the bed, and Olivia looking uncomfortable. She stood up, and felt her head ache. Then she remembered what happened. Memories flooded back to her. She quickly asked "Is Ava ok?" Arianna nodded. Then she turned her head around to both sides. "Ummm... Where's Ella?" Mia looked around, with no results, for Ella was not in their vision. They continued looking, until they heard muffled whimpers from under the bed. There they saw Ella crying. She had slipped under the bed. Mia asked gently "Ella, what happened? Ella?" When Ella turned around they saw a person different from the Ella they thought they knew. Insanity took over her, and she was muttering to herself "4 hours... 4 hours... Am I dead?" Mia said, "That's IT! WHOEVER DID THE DAMNED DEED, ADMIT IT NOW!!!" Sarah, Olivia, and Mia all started bickering like siblings, accusing each other, and placing useless blame.

That's when Arianna softly spoke "It was me." They all sharply turned their heads to her. "What?" Sarah looked dumbfounded. Arianna repeated, but in a clearer voice. "I said, it was me." Mia was in total shock, just as Olivia was in utter disbelief. Arianna had none of the symptoms, and it was a total shock to everyone. No one noticed the skin peeling on Ella's hands, or the small trickle of blood beginning to drip from her mouth due to them looking away at this point, and facing Arianna. Ella now said nothing, quieter than silence itself. It was as if at this point, she didn't even know if she was alive anymore. All Ella could think about was her father in the dark corner of his room, never saying a word. She also thought of before the epidemic started, and the doctors told her about her weakened immune system, but no one knew how easily she could get sick, except Ella herself.

Ava's head was pounding. All sounds were as if she was under water, yet she was able to just make out "Arianna, you filthy scum," clearly coming from Mia's mouth. So, the first thing Ava felt, was rage. She tried to stand up, but felt immediate acute pain from her chest. It was like another stab. She collapsed back on the bed. Her vision was blurred, and she couldn't think straight. "Arianna?" She said desperately, but didn't hear any response which was unusual. She felt like her eyelids weighed tons. Sleep tempted her, and the tiredness pulled her down, and she sunk into the pillow, into sleep again. Eventually she woke up again. Her head felt better, so she stood up. Her rib still hurt, but she didn't care. She heard Sarah cry on the beanbag, so she walked over. The room was positioned so Ava did not yet witness a horrible sight. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ava asked. Sarah sniffled, then her brain jumped into action. Sarah knew this would hurt Ava more than it hurt her. She began her explanation, making sure Ava didn't look back at the tragic sight.

"Well, Arianna... she... admitted to the cough. Olivia actually had the knife, and Mia ended up noticing. Of course she took it... and in her rage..." Ava's eyes got wider and wider, still looking at Sarah, not behind her. Sarah finished, "she stabbed Arianna." Ava's brain couldn't process what Sarah had just said. Ava's head slowly turned around, and there lay Arianna. Her deep green eyes were open, but barely alive, and her small body had its limbs sprawled out in uncomfortable angles.

Ava's scream was louder and higher than in when she was stabbed, and she continued that scream until she lost her voice. Then she jumped up and knocked over the bed and punched the wall. No one saw the shine in her eyes from tears she held in. Then Ava rushed over to Arianna, knelt down and grabbed her hand. Arianna's mouth moved ever so slightly to form the words, "Goodbye. I'll miss you." Then her eyes lost the flicker of life. Ava's coarse mouth let out another scream, scratching her throat, until her lungs lost all the air. Her head spun, and the walls closed in on her. No matter how much it hurt her throat she screamed again, and again. The pain in her rib was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. As she collapsed next to Arianna her sobs drowned out any other noise. Ava looked into Arianna's sparkling eyes for the last time, then closed her own eyelids.

Her mind raced faster than a bullet to her childhood. She remembered how people would pick on Arianna, and the boiling rage it caused her. She remembered the secrets they told, and the looks, blushes, and laughs they had together. She thought of Arianna's soft spoken ways, and her shy personality and kind demeanour. Most of all, she thought of the sneaking out at night, and the walks under the moonlight. Her fondest memory was their walk by the lake, at 4am. Ava looked into her eyes so deep, she felt she could drown. The way they held hands, and the warmth Arianna gave her inside. She thought they would survive, if anyone, they thought it would be them. Sure, someone was ought to die, but did it have to be Arianna? Why, why did it have to be Arianna?

Ava looked down at Arianna, and the side of her gut was stained with velvet red, which showed even more against the white shirt. Ava didn't even notice how they were all staring at her, she just laid down her head on Arianna. Ava's long, blonde hair was soaked at the tips with blood from laying there, and Arianna was soaked in her best friend's tears. Ava pressed her hands on the wound, and realized it went straight through Arianna's body. When she lifted up her hands, she saw they were stained like her hair with blood. Ava wondered if her hands would be forever stained with the blood of Arianna. Ava's dark brown, chocolate eyes, gazed on Arianna like they always did, but this time, with more pain. She slowly lifted up her heavy head. Her gaze fell upon Mia. This was a look beyond most people's comprehension, this look was inspired by maybe the devil himself, for this look was full of hatred, well, more than hatred. This was a murderous look like no other. Mia tried to look daunting, but she could not. She wanted Ava to back down. Mia thought she was clearly the leader. What right did Ava have to threaten her like this?

No one seemed to notice Olivia. The image of Mia stabbing Arianna kept replaying in her mind. She saw Mia thrust the knife straight through Arianna. She saw the shock in Arianna's eyes as she fell slowly to the ground. First her knees went down, then the rest of her fell backwards. It replayed again and again, Olivia watching, not helping, not doing anything. She saw the blood pour out of Arianna's wound, yet she didn't go over to fix it as Arianna would have done. Arianna would have been there in an instant, and fixed it up, however she could. But Olivia had done nothing. She had just watched one of her closest friends fall to the ground and die. Death. She had witnessed death. She was even partially responsible, for she could've stopped Mia. She had the knife Mia stole. She could've kept that knife. But she didn't. And now, Arianna has to pay for her mistakes with death... Arianna would never again hug one of her tender, caring hugs. She would never again inspire people by enduring the bullying, and still being a peaceful person. She would never again experience the wonder that is life.

Ava stood up, not caring about the way Sarah and Ella were watching her. Ava's intense look was solely directed at Mia. Her fists were balling up, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She knew it wasn't Arianna. And Ava knew why Arianna did that. She sacrificed herself, so another murder wouldn't come. She died so someone else wouldn't suffer the fate she ended up suffering. And that killed Ava inside.