CHARACTERS

North: Alaric's brother, Lidia's uncle, Helia's husband, and the twins' father

Helia: North's wife and the twin's mother

Aylee: Alaric's wife and Lidia's mother

Alaric: North's brother, Aylee's husband, and Lidia's father

Easton: North and Helia's daughter, one of the twins, Weston's sister, Lidia's cousin

Weston: North and Helia's son, one of the twins, Easton's brother, Lidia's cousin

Lidia: Alaric and Aylee's daughter, North and Helia's niece, the twins' cousin

ACT I

SCENE I

1121 Ventura Lane at 8:40 pm. A man and his wife sit across from each other at their dining room table discussing something in low, urgent voices. The dining room consists of the table, six chairs, and a small chandelier above the table. Upstairs the couple's two young children sleep fitfully. Tides of early spring rain flood the streets. A particularly fierce clap of thunder shakes the chandelier, making the lights flicker momentarily.

HELIA [glances up at the malfunctioning lights before speaking to her husband, dismayed] Darling, what are we going to do about this situation?

NORTH .I whole heartedly do not know. I've been pondering it for days with nothing but half-baked ideas! And every hour that passes I know that it's another thing that could go south. It's driving me insane! I want to help, but I don't know how!

HELIA [reaches across the table to touch North's hand] .North, we both do. We've been mulling over it for days, but there's only so much we can do for your niece. Despite this we'll keep trying and everything will turn out perfectly fine.

The rain pounds harder against the house and the thunder becomes louder, waking the twins. Easton and Weston creep down the staircase to seek comfort from their parents.

EASTON .Mom? We can't sleep. Can we stay up with you for a little while?

WESTON .Yea, It's too noisy and bright to stay asleep!

HELIA [glances at North with concern] I don't know if that's such a good idea. It's late, and your father and I are talking about matters that do not concern little ones such as yourselves.

WESTON [squares his shoulders defiantly] .We're fourteen years old! We can handle whatever's wrong, try us!

NORTH [sighs in defeat and gives Helia a nod] .You remember your cousin Lidia? [the twins sit at the table and nod] She's been having some rough times recently, and she won't tell anyone what's going on.

EASTON [looks at her parents with concern] What's wrong with her? Will she be ok?

HELIA .She's been trying to hurt herself recently, and if we can't convince her to tell us what's happening, we don't know if we can help her.

Easton and Weston give each other concerned looks. They loved Lidia, she was their role model. Lidia seemed like she could do anything she put her mind to.

WESTON .Why would she hurt herself? Why would she want to hurt herself? It doesn't seem right! And why isn't she telling anyone?

NORTH [looks to Helia with worry] .Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and hurting themselves is how they deal with their emotions. Somehow, something's happened to Lidia that's escalated her from-

HELIA [hurriedly interrupts North] Alright, that's enough for tonight! It's off to bed with you two!

Just as Helia stood up to usher the kids out, North's cell phone rings. Nobody calls them after eight, unless it is an emergency.

NORTH [answers the phone immediately] Hello? Calm down! I can't understand what you're saying. Take a deep breath, alright? [North's face visibly pales] WHAT! Have you called the police? Alright, good. Mhm. They will probably go to St. Fredrick's. It's the best and closest to you. I will meet you there. I'll be there as soon as I can, but it may be a while due to the weather. Yes, I understand. Call me with any updates in the situation if I am not there in twenty. [hangs up phone] It's Lidia. She's being rushed to St. Fredrick's hospital. She did it [voice cracks] She actually tried to do it.

ACT II

SCENE I

Saint Fredrick's hospital, 9:29 pm. The rain hasn't let up, but the thunder has slowed to a few time every ten or so minutes. There are very few people in the waiting room. The receptionist absentmindedly clicks away at her desk as an anxious couple waits for news at the back of the room. The man paces back and forth in front of his seated wife. The woman is quietly crying into a handkerchief. She has a small bag sitting on the chair next to her. A family of four bursts through the doors and heads towards the couple.

AYLEE [stands up and approaches the newcomers] Thank goodness you've made it! It's horrible. I didn't know what to do, or how to help!

NORTH [gestures to the other side of the room] Helia, would you mind taking the twins over to there? We'll be right with you.

Helia nods and ushers the children to the far side of the waiting room. The man pulls his balling wife into his arms.

NORTH .Aylee, try to calm down enough to tell me what happened.

AYLEE [takes a deep breath to calm down a bit] You know how for weeks Alaric and I have been noticing scars all over Lidia's arms? And how we thought she had been cutting herself? Well, as you know, we confronted her about it last week and she didn't take it too well. It went so badly that she all together stopped talking to us. She comes home from school and locks herself in her bedroom. We hardly ever saw her. Well today she came home from school unbelievably late, about seven o'clock, and looked incredibly distraught, more so than I've ever seen her before. I went upstairs after her to ask her about it, and comfort her if she'd let me. When I got up to her room I could hear sobbing through the door. I knocked and asked Lidia if I could come in. She yelled at me to go away. I tried to talk to her through the door and convince her to let me in so I could help, but she just kept screaming at me that she was fine and could take care of it herself. So I eventually left, thinking that maybe she needed some space and then would come and talk to me. [starts crying hysterically, more so than when North arrived] I thought that if I gave her some time she'd calm down enough for me to try again! I shouldn't have left her!

NORTH .Calm down Aylee, what happened?!

AYLEE .I knocked on her door again about an hour later and got no response. I called out to her and got nothing but silence. Normally she would yell at me or something. I listened at the door for a second and heard absolutely nothing, I originally thought that she had run away and I got North to come and take the door off. She...she. [breaks down into tears and is unable to speak]

ALARIC .We found Lidia on her bed covered in blood. Lidia had deep cuts all over her body and there were empty bottles of pills on her nightstand. [takes a shaky breath] There was blood everywhere. So much blood even the paramedics were shocked she was still alive. She was rushed here in an ambulance. We explained the situation to the paramedics on the way here. They believe that she has been suffering from extreme depression and that something at school triggered her to react this way. [stares up at the ceiling looking utterly defeated] All this time, and we only had an inkling of an idea what was going on. My only child didn't trust us enough to talk to us about her problems. And because of that she attempted suicide. [Alaric's face is racked with guilt]

NORTH [puts an arm around Alaric] Brother, there was only so much you could do! How bad is she?

ALARIC .Awful, about the worst she could be. The cuts are deep and long. She's currently in surgery. If anything goes the slightest bit wrong in there, we could lose her.

SCENE II

Saint Fredrick's hospital, 11:48 pm. Lidia is in surgery in a small operating room. The once pristine room is now covered with blood and crowded with medical personnel. Nurses rush to and fro as the doctor yells for whatever tools he needs. Needles, wires, and IVs are all hooked up to the teenager. A nearby screen monitors her vitals.

DOCTOR .Where's the scalpel? I need it now! I can't stitch her together until I get these shards of glass out of the wound. There is no way in hell we can leave them in there!

NURSE I [offers a pristine scalpel to the Doctor] Here.

DOCTOR [grabs the instrument unceremoniously] Good.

The doctor picks up a pair of tweezers and continues his procedure. The girl on the table begins to stir and groan.

DOCTOR [urgently and loudly speaks to the nurses surrounding him without looking up from his work] Turn up the anesthesia! We need to keep her under otherwise she'll freak out. If that happens her heart rate will rise which will make the bleeding worse! Come on! Did any of you actually attend medical school?!

The rest of the operation took place in silence while Lidia's life hung in the balance.

ANESTHESIOLOGIST .Doctor, if I turn it up any more we could lose her!

DOCTOR .Just do it! Monitor her carefully. We'll turn it down if worse comes to worst.

SCENE III

Saint Fredrick's hospital, 12:08. The rain continues to pour down in torrents while the lonely and worried family of the young Lidia await news of her condition.

NORTH .Alaric, don't blame yourself. There was only so much you could've done.

ALARIC .No, North! There was a lot I could've done! I could have called someone and asked what to do. I could have kept a closer eye on her once I noticed the cuts, forced her to tell me what was going on with her. Sent her to a therapist for an evaluation...[raises voice] There were so many things that I could've done, none of which I did!

NORTH .Alaric, you did call someone, me.

ALARIC [looks at North in exasperation] A professional, North.

NORTH .We both know you couldn't have forced Lidia to tell you anything, and sending her to a therapist may not have helped. There's no guarantee she would have talked to them. And then she may have thought that you sent her to them because she was damaged, broken.

ALARIC [stands and shouts] SHE IS BROKEN! [Aylee looks at Alaric in shock, Alaric realizes what he said and sits down looking defeated] I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. She is not damaged, she is my little angel, she always will be. I'm just so worried. What if she doesn't make it?

Before North can answer, the sound of footsteps echo down the hall. The occupants of the waiting room rush forward, hopeful expressions plastered on their tired, worn out faces.

DOCTOR .Lidia Novara's family?

Alaric and Aylee rush up to the doctor. The doctor only says a few words before being interrupted by Aylee's cry of despair as she slumps to the floor. Alaric kneels next to her and embraces her, attempting to comfort both Aylee and himself. North runs up to the doctor refusing to believe what his rational side had already concluded.

NORTH .Doctor?

DOCTOR [shake head morosely] .I'm sorry, but Lidia died on my table.