Leo was in shock as he watched the car run over Suki.
'SUKI!' Leo screamed. He ran across the road where Suki lay and took her in his arms.
'SUKI, SUKI! Suki, can you hear me!? SUKI!'
One by one many passerby's rushed to the scene to help Leo wake up Suki. One person placed his finger on Suki's wrist and checked her pulse.
'I'm sorry... I can't feel her pulse.'
Leo was in denial.
'What are you trying to say?! Suki isn't dead! That's bullshit! Suki isn't dead... she's just in a coma. I said she's just in a coma goddamit! SUKI!'
The man who had been driving the car approached Leo. He looked very pale and he was trembling as he stood. He immediately vomited on the roadside when he saw the pool of blood that surrounded Suki.
'I-is she alright?' The man asked after he cleaned himself.
'No, she isn't alright!! If you had just kept your eyes on the road... of you hadn't been speeding like a maniac... Suki would be alright!' Leo yelled.
'I-Im sorry, kid... s-she just was standing there and then she wasn't.... I tried to stop as fast as I could but-'
'SHUT THE FUCK UP!' Leo screamed.
'H-hey... calm down!' The man who has first checked Suki's pulse said.
Normally Leo wasn't like this. Leo rarely cussed or swore at anyone, especially an adult. But he was stressed. A stranger was saying that Suki was dead. Suki couldn't be dead, right? That wouldn't be possible... right?
Eventually the paramedics arrived. One paramedic immediately stepped out of the ambulance and made his way over to Suki to check her pulse.
'How is she?! Is she alive? Is she breathing?!' Leo asked frantically.
'I'm sorry... she's dead. She died on the spot.'
'No! I don't believe you! I don't believe any of this! This has to be some joke! Suki, wake up! Wake up god dammit!' He started crying. He gripped Suki's hand. 'Suki... please. Open your eyes. You promised... you promised that you'd help me find out the truth. Suki...'
At that point he couldn't talk anymore. It hurt too much.
A group of men started to cover Suki with a rubber bag.
'HEY, what are you doing?!' Leo yelled. 'She... she isn't dead! There's no proof! Hey! Get her out of there! Your probably suffocating her! Stop-'
'Kid, kid! Calm down!' A woman said. People started coming towards Leo, trying to calm him down.
'He's in shock.' The doctor said.
Leo was not only in shock. He was hysterical.
The man who had been driving the car, who went by the name Niko, was clutching his stomach. His face went from a shade of white to green, and looked like he could pass out at any second.
The police arrived after the paramedics and arrested Niko.
Leo was still yelling at the paramedics.
'STOP! She's not dead yet! If you don't take her out of there you will kill her! Listen to me! Try CPR! Try defibrillating her! JUST DO SOMETHING! She isn't dead! I KNOW she's alive in there! I-'
Leo felt a sudden jolt of pain in his arm, and his eyes started closing slowly. He remembered saying 'Suki, I need you to wake up...' before blacking out.
———————————————————————————————————
Leo eventually woke up in a hospital ward a few hours after the accident. He didn't remember what happened to Suki and wondered why the hell he was at the hospital. He felt groggy as he slumped out of his bed and made his way to the door.
Just as he was about to leave the room, a nurse opened the door and saw Leo standing at the entrance.
'Oh, so you're awake now.' She said.
'Yeah...' he paused. 'What happened to me? Why am I here?'
'Oh...' the nurse sighed. How was she supposed to tell him that his best friend died in a car accident and he was in shock so they had to sedate him?
'Well... uh, you're here because you were sedated. You see-'
Leo stopped listening to the nurse. All the events of that morning came flooding back instantly.
'I-I remember now.' He muttered. He pushed past the nurse and made his way to the front desk.
'Hello, how can I help you sir?' The secretary asked.
'Uh, hi. I'm looking for a patient, Suki Yamamoto.'
'Sir... she's not on our register.' The secretary replied.
'Huh...? W-why not? She really can't be dead, I was sure she'd be checked in by now...'
'Pardon, sir?'
'Never mind...'
Leo walked out of the hospital, dejected. He felt numb as he walked back to his apartment. When he finally clicked the door shut, he put his bag down and stood in front of the wall. He stood there for several minutes, not thinking anything, not feeling anything. Then out of the blue, he punched the wall, hard. His knuckles were ruptured with pain, yet he punched the wall again. He punched and punched and punched until his knuckles were bleeding and the wall was stained with blood. When he lost all his energy, he slumped against the wall, finally allowing himself to weep.
He buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably, wishing over and over that Suki was there. He imagined her voice, her face, her long, black hair, and those dark, mesmerizing onyx eyes. When he couldn't take it anymore, he screamed.
'COME ON, SUKI. JUST WAKE UP. COME BACK. JUST KNOCK ON THE DOOR AND COME IN UNINVITED LIKE THE WAY YOU ALWAYS USED TO. OPEN YOUR EYES AND COME BACK TO ME, PLEASE!
Leo screamed and screamed until his voice became raspy and his throat grew sore. He then got up and kicked his bag across the room. He stared at the vase on the coffee table, picked it up, and smashed it on the floor. He immediately regretted it, as it was his mother's vase, and burst into another round of tears.
Then he suddenly remembered. Suki's father.
How the hell was he supposed to tell him?
Suki's father used to be a very robust man, but fell sick a few years ago. He underwent spinal surgery but unfortunately his spinal cord was accidentally cut so he was paralyzed from the waist down. Although he had suffered many hardships throughout his life, Mr Yamamoto was a very kind and jovial man, who saw good in every one. Suki was his pride and joy.
Ever since Suki's mother left their family five years ago, Suki had been taking care of her father. Suki was all he had. What was he going to do when he finds out that she is dead?
Leo groaned as he paced around his apartment. He didn't know what to do. He walked around his apartment several times until he stopped in front of a mirror. He looked at his tear stained face, his reddened eyes, his battered knuckles and the dark circles under his eyes. He really felt like punching the mirror but he knew, deep down, that it wouldn't solve anything. It wouldn't bring Suki back.
'Wait a minute...' Leo thought. He had never actually seen Suki's dead body, had he? He had know way of knowing whether she was dead or not. Maybe she was just in another hospital, undergoing surgery, and was supposed to wake up in a few hours.
Maybe, just maybe, Suki might be alive after all.
Maybe.
With newfound hope, Leo grabbed his bag and wallet. Suki would come back to him. She always did.