"Ross...hey, Ross...wake up, buddy..."

"Wha...?" Ross' eyes opened slowly, and he was met with Adam's concerned and panicked face.

"Oh thank God you're alright!" Adam flashed him a relieved smile. "You scared the absolute shit outta me, Ross!"

"Hmnmg...what happened?" His senses began to slowly return. He was lying on the floor, his head and upper body being held in Adam's arms.

"Well, I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. You passed out, Ross. Guess hearing Max basically had six months to live overdid it."

"WHAT?!" Ross bolted straight up, then immediately fell back into Adam's lap, head spinning.

"Whoa, take it easy, dude! That's two times in the past three hours you've knocked yourself out! Calm down!"

"Adam..." Ross felt like the room was going in circles, spinning him around like some carnival ride. "I...I wanna see him...please..."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Ross..."

"Please!" He grabbed his friend's shirt, beginning to tear up. "I-I can't drive myself, I'll crash before I'm even out of the driveway in the state I'm in! Besides, don't we have to go to the hospital anyway to pick up Tim?"

"Yeah, but..." Adam sighed. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. It won't be pretty. And first, we gotta stop at my place. I can't show up looking like this." He nodded toward his bloody clothes. "Okay?"

"Thank you, Adam!" Ross hugged him, though it was a bit awkward because of their positioning.

"No problem, Ross. We should get going, though. Hospital visiting hours end at eight and it's almost five now. We wanna spend as much time as possible with Max, right?"

Adam helped him to his feet once again, and, after a bit of stumbling on Ross' part, they both made it outside to Adam's car. Climbing in, his friend patted the steering wheel. "Alright! First stop, my house!"

He turned on the ignition and began to back out of the driveway. Ross layed his head against the cool glass of the passenger-side window, watching the world go by. So many things were going through his head. All of them related to Max. He just couldn't wrap his around what he had done. And then there was the reason he had done it in the first place.

Max loved him.

...him...

Suddenly, Ross was jarred from his thoughts as his phone began to ring. He didn't even remember grabbing it. Still, he answered it, not bothering to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Ross! Oh my God, are you okay? I've been trying to call you for the past hour! You were supposed to come over, remember?"

Ross sighed. "I'm sorry, Sophie, but something's come up. Something important. I don't think I'll make it tonight." He noticed Adam perk up, now listening in on what Ross was saying.

"Oh my God! What happened? Are you okay, did someone get hurt?"

"I'm fine...relatively. But someone did get hurt." He swallowed as tears threatened to fall. "Listen, sweetheart, I don't want to talk about it, especially over the phone. I'll call you back later, okay?"

"Alright..." He could hear the disappointment in his girlfriend's voice. "Bye, Rossy."

"Bye."

He hung up, and pressed his forehead against the window. The cool glass felt good against his skin. Adam broke the silence by saying, "Jesus. That was a little cold, Ross. You could've at least said who got hurt."

"I don't care. I don't want to. I'm not sure if I'll even call her back. I just...want to stick with the people I'm familiar and comfortable with right now. Sophie and I...we've only been dating for about a month."

"Listen, Ross. Take it from a guy who's had his heart broken." Adam glanced at him momentarily before placing a hand on his shoulder, swallowing. Dawn wasn't someone he brought up often, even indirectly. "You could've at least been a bit more empathetic. She must've been worried about you."

Ross just shrugged. "I don't know what to feel. I'm so confused...my emotions are all mixed up..."

The rest of the ride was silent. Ross never said a word as Adam pulled up to his house and hopped out, running to the front door. Ten minutes later, he emerged again, wearing his 'I Hate Mondays' t-shirt and new jeans. Alesa came out too, holding baby Mason, who Adam kissed on the forehead before jogging back to the car.

"I hope you don't mind," Adam said as he buckled up. "I called Red and Barney. They should meet us there."

"Whatever."

Adam gave him a worried side glance. "Okay...anyway, we'll be at the hospital in like fifteen minutes."

"Okay."

There was silence again as the tension between the two men thickened. Ross felt empty, like since all his emotions had come pouring out he was just a shell. He knew Adam kept shooting him looks; it was hard not to notice, like he was waiting for him to break down again.

"Adam, I'm fine," Ross said, rolling his eyes as his friend did it yet again. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Are you sure? 'Cause the last time you said that you passed out."

"I didn't say anything."

"It was implied."

"Yes, I'm sure!" Ross closed his eyes.

"Don't bottle this up, man. This type of thing..."

"That's the problem. I've cried so much I just feel emotionally dead inside."

They pulled into the hospital parking lot. Ross was out of the car before Adam could even blink.

"Hurry up, Adam!"

"I'm coming! Jesus, dude, slow down!"

Ignoring him, the brunette raced through the parking lot and into the main building.

"Ross! Over here!"

Spinning on his heels, he whipped around, juts to be greeted by Barney and Red.

"'Sup, Ross! How you doing?" Red enveloped him in a hug.

"Where's Adam," Barney asked. Just then the man in question burst through the door.

"I'm here! I'm here! How long have you two been here?"

"We just got here," Red replied, releasing Ross. "Figured we'd wait a bit."

"Let's get Tim first," Ross said. "Then we can go."

Finding Tim wasn't too difficult. He was already halfway to the lobby when they ran into him, checked out and everything. The only thing that worried Ross was how pale his friend was.

"'Sup, bitches!" Time hugged all of them, clinging to his roommate for the longest. Suddenly, his face fell from the brief smile. "Listen, guys. I...I just got back from Max's room. He...he doesn't look good. Follow me."

Ross gulped, trailing after the shorter man, the others behind him.

Could he handle this?

Probably not.

But he had to.

He had to see Max.

Tim stopped by an adjacent door, peeking inside before nodding and pushing it open more. Ross was the first inside, shoving Tim aside and stopping dead in the doorway.

Max was lying perfectly still in the bed, sheets rolled up to his chest and his arms on either side of him. He was hooked up to what looked like at least half a dozen machines, each beeping ominously to the
red-head's heartbeat. His ginger hair contrasted greatly against his pale skin, a blood drip going directly into his arm and bypassing the black stitches running up them.

What killed Ross was the years of red, white, and recent self-harm scars that decorated his arms.

"No no no no no no no! Max!" His voice cracked with emotion and he raced forward, latching onto the comatose form of his best friend. "No no no!"

He heard the sharp gasps of his friends, but he didn't care. He just buried his face further into Max's chest.

"Ross." Adam tried to be soothing. "Hey, Ross. Calm down, buddy. Please." Ross just muttered something unintelligible. Adam stepped closer. "What?"

"It's all my fault, Adam! It's all my fault!" Ross turned and grabbed him instead, sobbing into his shirt and causing Adam to stumble back in surprise. "It's all my fault."

"Hey, Ross, of course it isn't!" The brunette suddenly shoved him away.

"Yes, it is! You read the note! You know why he attempted this! And it's all my fucking fault!"

"...he left a note?" Tim's voice was small. Ross turned to face him.

"Yeah. Yeah, he did."

Suddenly, all his sadness turned to rage. He was furious - at everyone and everything. Especially himself.

"It's time to go, Ross." Adam grabbed his wrist. He jerked away.

"If you so much as even fucking attempt to remove me from this room, Adam, you're gonna leave without an arm," he snarled. Adam backed away, hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright." He locked eyes with the brunette. "I'll check on you later."

"Yeah." Ross sat down in one of the bedside chairs, laci g his fingers together with Max's cold ones. "Sure."

His friends left, and Ross let the tears fall once more.

I did it! Are you proud of me? Anyway, great news! Finding this has inspired me to actually finish this thing! I'm gonna take down the hiatus title in a minute! Anyway, enjoy, and I'll get a new chapter out as fast as my brain can handle it! See ya guys! 👋🏻