An Angel's Whisper

Part 4: Blackout

Neru heard a sudden loud bang from upstairs, followed by a pain-wrangled scream. Practically throwing Shizuko off of her lap, she ran upstairs, into Haku's room. The mirror was smashed, and the small parts of glass had hit her arms. None of it had stuck in, but she was bleeding.
"OH MY GOD! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"
"I- I was setting up the room and I swung my arm around with such force I hit the mirror and- and it smashed..."
"Stay here, don't- don't panic, okay?"
Neru ran into her bathroom cabinet, grabbing a small towel and taking it back to the injured girl. She wrapped it around the cuts and applied pressure.
"Owowow! It hurts!"
"I'm sure it does, but this'll stop the bleeding. I'll get some bandages to put on in a minute."
"Get off!"
"No!"
"Why?!"
"I want to help you! I want you to be okay!"
Using a suddenly calming voice, Haku said,
"Neru? Can you please listen to me for once?"
"Okay. I'm sorry," Neru sighed.
"Look. Please don't lash out on me. And I'm only saying it once. But,"
She lowered her tone to a whisper, and said something barely audible.
"I- I couldn't hear you. I'm sorry."
"Good."
Taking the towel off of Haku's arm, Neru looked at her.
Her eyes had a certain sadness about them. That was normal, a given, but today it was different. It was worse.
Almost as if she had cut herself on glass on purpose to try to kill herself.
Not wanting to assume anything, Neru decided to keep an eye on Haku.
"L- look. Seeing as this room has smashed up glass all over the floor, do you wanna.. like, you know.. sleep in my.. room?
"A-are you sure?"
"Yeah. Of- of course."
"No, I'll sleep on the sofa. I move around a lot at night. I- I get night terrors."
"Even more reason for you to stay with me."
"Really? Are you definitely sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure." Neru looked at Haku's wrist. The cuts were deep, but not deep enough to kill her. The bleeding had stopped.
"Let's get a bandage. They're downstairs, come with me," Neru said, holding out her hand for Haku. She took it.

Wrapping up Haku's wrist in bandages, Neru made sure not to hurt her. She tied a small knot in the bandage to keep it on.
"Th-thanks."
"Watch yourself, okay? I don't want you getting anymore hurt."
"Okay. I'll- I'll try."
"Go and decide where you want to sleep tonight. You can sleep wherever, on the floor, on the bed, but just don't hurt yourself."
Not replying, Haku had already began walking up the stairs. Tears filled her eyes, knowing that Neru actually did care for her, but also knowing that she could just be lying and helping because she felt bad. Haku snuck into the room where she had smashed the glass, and picked up a shard. She didn't do anything with it. She put it in her pocket and left.

Entering Neru's bedroom, she looked around. It was welcoming. There was a vanity dresser in one corner, with piles of different brands of makeups. The bed was a double, with soft cotton white bedsheets. The wall next to her bed had string fairy lights, and her bedside table had a small lamp. Haku turned around and went into the bathroom.
She opened Neru's cabinet to see what she had.
There wasn't much, just soaps and lotions, and of course the obligatory menstrual products.
She shut the cabinet, and left.
She went down the stairs.
"Neru?" She asked, quietly and tenderly.
Neru was making a sandwich.
"What's up?"
"Can we go to the bar?"
"What for?"
"I just want to pick up a bottle. That's all."
"Alright. You have to be 10 minutes. I'll wait outside for you."
Haku smiled a small smile.
"Thanks."
"The sandwich can wait. Let's go so we can get back quicker."
"Okay."

              ********************
Walking up to the small local pub, Neru said,
"As I said, 10 minutes. Go."
Haku entered. The bartender smiled at her.
"Twice in one day? Wow. What can I get you?"
"As many as I can down in 10 minutes.'
"That's- that's practically suicide."
Realising what she had just said, Haku faked a laugh.
"I was- I was joking! I'm having a party tonight. So say about.. 15 bottles?," She lied.
"Alright. That's £40."
Using contactless payment, the transaction went through immediately. The barman put the bottles in a bag, and handed them over.
"Have a good night!" He called.
"You too," Haku said.
She immediately went into the bathrooms, where she opened the first bottle. She drunk it within one and a half minutes, ish.
Then the next.
Then the next.
She was drinking faster and faster now.
Another,
another,
and then her ten minutes was up. She left the bar and stumbled over to Neru. The alcohol hadn't hit her yet. It would soon enough.
"You ready to go now?" Neru asked. Haku nodded.
"Alright. You look sleepy."
Worried that her words would slur, Haku nodded again.
"That's fine. Do you want to take a nap when we get back?"
Nod.
"Don't you want to talk?"
Haku shook her head.
"Okay. That's totally fine. Let's go."

A short while of walking later, Haku felt the affects slowly start to take her over. Her legs buckled, and she fell. The sharp piece of glass that she had put in her pocket stabbed her leg, causing a deep wound, and it started to bleed. Her head was pounding, and she couldn't hear anything, apart from Neru's faint screams. Her eyes were getting cloudy, and it felt as if she was floating.
She could hear slight phrases from what Neru was saying.
"I'm calling 999. You'll be okay. I'll be okay. We're okay."
She was struggling to breathe, and it felt as if her body was shutting in on her.
"I'm... Sorry," she spluttered as she threw up on herself.

The mix of colours that Haku could see slowly faded into darkness. She heard the indistinct sounds of sirens before she passed out.