Chloe searched the Arbortetum for someone, anyone she could talk to. The past night had been pretty rough on her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw an image of Kim's fragile body twisting and turning with the violent convulsions that wracked her body. It was such a sickening feeling to know that one of her close friends had been taken away from her, ripped mercilessly from life when she was supposed to have so much more time to live out her life.
Chloe was relieved when she spotted a small group of her other friends together near the front of the Arboretum. She hurried over to them, a solemn look plastered firmly on her face. Chloe couldn't even bring herself to smile her usual greeting to them. That instantly worried them.
"Chloe, what's going on? Is something wrong?" Eve asked, placing a gentle hand on Chloe's arm.
"Yes, something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong," Chloe said emptily.
"What is it? Did something happen?" Brent was now worried by Chloe's sunken, hollow looking eyes.
"Yes, something happened. Something dreadful happened."
"Is it something serious? Chloe, please just tell us," Gemini said impatiently.
"Fine, I'll tell you," Chloe drew in a deep breath before covering her face with her hands to hide her tears. "Kim's dead. She's gone for good."
The other three all drew in horrified gasps. Gemini looked from Brent to Eve, her eyes filling rapidly with questions. "H-how did this happen? Wh-when did this happen?" she stammered dumbly.
"She...started coughing...real bad and...and then had...had a...a heart attack," Chloe sobbed. Beginning to feel weak in the knees, she allowed an arm to search behind her for a chair while she covered her face with the other.
"No! Oh, no!" Eve cried out, not knowing what else she could say. "Not Kim! Dear lord, please not Kim!"
Chloe only nodded, for she was sobbing so violently that no words could escape her lips. The pain of the initial shock as well as the sleepless night was beginning to fall hard upon her.
"Chloe, crying isn't going to help. We've gotta be strong for each other right now," Brent soothed, though he himself was beginning to feel tears forming in his eyes.
Chloe warded off his attempt to help her up from the chair. She wiped her eyes and looked up at her three friends. "If you think I'm bad, then you don't need to see Trace. He's taking this really hard."
"Trace..." Brent echoed the word, his eyes staring straight ahead into the space in front of him. "He must be a total wreck."
"Yes, he is! Kate and I tried helping him deal with it last night after it happened, but he just ran out of the hospital and we haven't seen him since."
Brent instinctively began to run towards the open doors of the Arboretum. Eve quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the group. "Brent, no. No, you can't go right now."
Brent yanked his arm out of Eve's group. "I've gotta help him, Eve. I've gotta help him."
"Let him grieve. That's the best thing to do, Brent. You have to let him grieve," Chloe put in, though she couldn't feel any feeling into the words. She was drained of emotion and all thoughts. She felt hollow, empty, as if she were nothing more than a ghost.
"No!" Brent shouted out. "I'm going to find Trace and I'm going to help him get through this! He's one of my best friends! I can't let him feel like he's alone. He has to know that we're here to help him get through this! He has to!"
