I stood up. "Where is he?!"

Cally continued to sob and shake her head. I grabbed her shoulders, ignoring the beginning stares of other customers, and shook her. "Cally!"

She swallowed and gained some control of herself again. "The h-hospital two blocks away."

I was out of the café before I even knew my feet had moved. I ran past people, bumping into them sometimes, and frantically tried to find the hospital.

I finally saw it and burst into the lobby. I ran to the front desk. "Is there an Eliot Conners here?"

The lady looked surprised by my demand and paused. "Yes. But, he's in the emergency room right now."

"When will he be out?" I asked. She gave me a small frown. "I'm not sure. A couple hours, maybe. Who are you? I'm not allowed to let just anyone in there."

"I'm... a friend." I took a deep breath. "Can you tell me when he gets out? Please?"

She sighed. "I suppose but, if this gets me in trouble, it's the last time I do anything for a kid."

I nodded. "Thank you." I walked back to the waiting room and sat down. Cally had caught up to me and was waiting for me. "So, how is he?" She asked quietly.

"He's in the emergency room. I don't know anything else." I didn't look at her. She had stopped crying and was just shaking a little.

"What happened?" I asked.

She seemed to be anticipating my question and closed her eyes. "We were going into science and he looked horrible. I made him stay in the nurse's office for the rest of school and I came to get him later. He still seemed a little off but, I thought maybe he just needed some fun."

I watched her clench her eyes to hold down the tears. "We walked past the stairs and he stopped. He said he needed to do something and he'd meet me outside. I..." She had to pause as her voice cracked. "I thought he just needed some time. If I had only gone with him..."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault. You were just being a good friend." She sighed. "I waited outside for a good ten minutes before I got worried. I was just turning around when-" She bit her lip but, it didn't help as she began to sob again. "He fell right in front of me! I-... I didn't know what to do! I called 911 immediately and I did my best to give a statement but-" She cried harder and put her hands over her face.

I awkwardly put my arms around her and held her close to me. She was sobbing for a good hour before she calmed down and apologized. I told it was okay and stood up. "I'll be back. Want a soda?" She nodded.

I walked over to the small area set up with vending machines and got a couple sodas. I came back to Cally and handed her one of the sodas. She took it and held the cold bottle in her hand without opening it.

I sipped mine, the taste not even registering in my brain. I was just sitting down when a couple of docters passed by. "I don't know. The injuries were pretty bad."

I gripped my bottle tighter and turned away.

They can't be talking about Eliot. There's no way...

Ten minute later the front desk lady walked up. "He's in the recovery room now. You can go see him but, only for a little bit." She glanced at Cally. "Do you know where his parents are?"

We both shook our heads. "No. They're probably passed out." I mumbled.

We got the room number and hurried down the hall. I opened the door slowly, afraid of what I might see.

I felt a lump in my throat when I saw the boy, pale as can be, laying almost lifeless on the hospital bed. His right arm and leg were both in casts and he had bandages around his head and chest. I was relieved to see he didn't have a neck cast though.

I ran to him and nelt down next to him. "Eliot? Oh, God! Please be okay."

The docter was looking at me. "Are you a relative?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No. I'm just a friend. He doesn't have much of family..." I stroked his hair. It was sweaty and tangled. "Is he going to be okay?"

The docter looked grave. "His injuries are very serious. He hit the back of his head on some stairs and he has several broken bones. We've done all we can for him. If this boy wants his life, he's gonna have to fight for it. It's all up to him now. It's out of our hands."

I looked back at Eliot and held his hand. "Eliot... Please, don't leave me. Please stay with me. I know you can do this."

*******

(Eliot's POV)

I felt like I was falling but, it wasn't like falling from somewhere and landing. The ground never came and I just kept going. After what seemed like hours I slowed and just stayed floating.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked, fear filling me. I couldn't see anything. It was completely black and there was no sound except for a small, faint beeping noise.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. My eyes widened slightly when I saw... myself. I wasn't looking in a mirror though, there was an actual person standing in front of me.

He smiled. "Hi, Eliot. I'm sure you know who I am already, right?"

I frowned. "No... I don't."

He laughed. "I'm you! Everything you hate about yourself or your life makes me! I wasn't ever able to talk to you before but, now we can stay together forever!"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't understand. Where are we? What's going on?"

The boy floated around behind me and shrugged. "Nothingness. That's where. It doesn't have a name and you can do anything here. I've lived in this place ever since I came to be."

"But, why am I here?" I asked.

He shrugged again. "Remember? You were on the roof. You jumped." He smiled at me. "You were sad but, you don't have to be anymore!"

I shook my head and he sighed. "It's been rather lonely here, by myself. I don't have anyone I can talk to." He turned away for a minute but, then turned back and smiled. "But, now that you're here, we can have alot of fun! No one can tell us no either!"

Suddenly, we were no longer in darkness but, an amusement park. "This place can be anything we want it to be. You can go anywhere in the world as long as you can imagine it." It changed again and we were in a movie theater. "See? Anything at all."

I looked around awed. Then I heard the small beepig again. Slower this time, more quiet. "But, what about..."

"What about what?" The scene changed back to black and the boy came towards me. "Everything is perfect here. You don't ever have to be sad or upset. Only fun and happiness from now on!"

Something didn't feel right. "But, what about Marcus and Cally? Won't they be..."

He frowned and looked a little angry. "They don't care about you. Cally was pitying you and Marcus... He was playing with you. He never loved you. If he had he'd have waited for you."

I felt myself slowly agreeing. He smiled. "All you have to do now to stay here is to choose."

I looked up at him. "Choose?

He nodded. "It's a test. If you really want to stay you have to end it. End everything for good and you'll never be sad again."

A small pedestal light up under a dim light. I walked over to it and saw there was a pair of scissors seated on the small column. "You can make it easy. Choosing that will take away all the pain you ever felt." The boy said.

Then a dark black door appeared. There was bright light streaming through the cracks of the door. "What's that?" I asked.

The boy scowled. "Your other option. That one takes you back to how everything was before. To the pain and hurt." He said bitterly.

Suddenly, things appeared all around the door. Knives and needles trapped in wires and poking out to make a small, narrow path, cracked and brittle ground that looked ready to break at any moment. It wasn't the most beautiful sight.

I stepped away from the door and looked back down at the scissors. The boy watched me closely. "You can make it easy. Choose the scissors and you can stay here with me and we can have fun all the time."

My hand hovered over the sharp object and I swallowed as I stared at them. Distantly, I could hear the beeping getting slower and slower. It sounded like it would stop at any minute.

I slowly picked up the scissors and held them in my hands. The boy floated to my side and said, "Now use them. You know what to do."

The beeping slowed even more. I brought the scissors up and stared at them before I closed my eyes and opened the scissors.

I pressed the cold metal against my neck and took a deep breath. Then, "Eliot... Please don't leave me..."

I froze and my eyes opened, my hands dropping and my head turning towards the door. The boy shook his head. "Don't listen to that! It's lying to you!"

I could hear the beeping start going normally again and I stepped towards the door. "Please stay with me... I know you can do this..."

"Why would you listen to that? It's just trying to make you choose the wrong thing. Ignore it." The boy urged.

"But, that's Marcus..." I murmured.

"Marcus, Marcus. Would you really choose him over happiness? Get real." The boy said. "He can't possibly be that great."

"But, he is..." I stared at the door before I dropped the scissors and started running towards it. The boy looked shocked and watched me run. I gasped as a few of the knives cut my arms but, I didn't stop. When I tripped I got right back up and continued running.

I didn't slow down untlil I was at the door. It was much bigger than it looked from afar and I had to look up to see the top. I reached out to grab the handle. "Wait!"

I turned around and saw the boy, myself standing there. He looked so sad, like he wanted to cry. "Why? Are you really going to leave me? Alone?"

He had a few tears run down his face and I stepped towards him. "I'm sorry but, I can't stay here."

He looked down. "Why?! It's perfect here! It's easy and you won't have to worry about a thing!"

I pulled him into a hug and he cried into my shoulder. "Why...?"

"Because I've learned that the easy choice, isn't always the right choice. Staying here wouldn't do a thing for me. It wouldn't change a thing." I said. He stopped crying and I pulled away. "Thank you for everything. You were so kind to me and I am glad to have met you."

He smiled a little. "Don't you mean you were kind to yourself? I am just a part of you, after all."

"You're not just a part of me. You're your own person and if you ever want to talk just go ahead. I'll talk to you anytime." I said with a smile. He looked down again. "You won't foget about me?"

I shook my head. "Never."

He nodded and I turned back to the door. "Goodbye..." I said. "Bye." He replied.

I put my hand on the door nobb and turned it, pushing the door open and the light streaming into the darkness.

*******

Hey everyone! That was a really long chapter! That was a whole six hundred extra words! I know I was late with publishing but, you can't complain since I gave you alot extra! Haha! This is still not the end but, it's close. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! AS ALWAYS VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW AND STAY AWESOME!

-Nekoco