The One Exception to Bravery

"You know I wouldn't call unless it was important, right?"

I nodded for a moment before realizing he couldn't see it. My heart was racing as if it was about to burst from the sheer stress it was enduring. Was it his mother again? Had she fallen ill? Or perhaps his brother? Had he been hurt?

"Yes, of course."

There was a sound, like a strangled sob, that came from the other side of the receiver. His voice cut through clearly then, and I could easily, and without hesitation, say my heart stopped.

"I tried to kill myself."

I pulled the phone from my ear, checking to see if the number was really his. It was. Could it be a joke? He has never joked about this before. His voice sounded so different over the phone, and he never called, only texted.

We had been laughing only hours prior. Had I been too insensitive? Did I say something? He'd never told me anything was wrong-that anything had happened to warrant this. My best friend had never told me that his days and nights consisted of such horror that he thought the fall from the roof would cure his plight.

"We-We're headed to the hospital now."

I felt anxiety take root in my heart then, developing a black hole where a steady beating should resound. This wasn't a prank. He wasn't about to say I was gullible or that he was messing with me. No, he was simply shattering my world.