I just wanna be Loved

Darkness...
Mary couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't feel the world around her. 

She wasn't breathing. She wasn't moving. But all she knew was that she was sentient, alive somehow.

Was she dreaming?
No. This wasn't a dream. There was nothing here. No sounds. No air. No pain... just absolute emptiness...
But she was thinking. 

If she was thinking, then she still existed. Right?

She tried to move upwards. But Her body didn't respond to her command...
She tried to speak, but no sound came out...Then, slowly, something changed...

A whisper around her. It was low, distant. She couldn't make out the words, but it sounded familiar...

Michael?
The darkness around her moved...
Another sound... but this time, she recognized the voice. It was Michael crying.
Her chest tightened strangely, though she had no lungs to breathe, but it still felt like it was there. She wanted to reach out. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to tell him that she was okay...

Then a thought hit her.. But was she really okay?
She was dead...
More sounds drifted through the endless darkness. Voices. Muffled. Recognizable and unrecognizable...
Then, suddenly, she could see clearly again.
She was in a hospital room...
Michael sat by the edge of a bed. His head was down. His hands were gripping the hospital bedsheets tightly...

Mary stepped forward. "Michael."

He didn't react...he continued gripping the bedsheets...
"Michael, I'm right here."

But still nothing.

She looked at the bed, her eyes widening in shock...
Her body was there. Lifeless. Pale. Tubes and wires surrounded it, but there was no beeping from the machines. No rise and fall of breath or 

heart rate.

She was gone...
Michael let out a loud cry that echoed throughout the room. "Mary, please wake up."

Her chest twisted...

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

She reached for him, but her hand passed through his shoulder like a hologram...

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Michael choked out. "I should have been the one to fall. Not you."

Mary shook her head. "No. I would do it again. I would always save you."

But sadly he couldn't hear her...
Then the room's door opened... Their parents walked in, just arriving from work after hearing the bad news.

Their mother's face was red and swollen from crying. Their father's hands were clenched into fists while holding his black suit...

Michael stood up right, his whole body was trembling...
His father grabbed him by the shoulders. "Why, Michael? What happened at school? Why is your sister in this state?"

Michael flinched, tears running down his eyes and nose. "I..."

Their mother pulled their father back. "Stop. It's not like he caused it, he didn't mean for this to happen." She turned to Michael. "Tell… what happened, sweetheart? What happened to your sister at school?"
Michael looked at the floor. "I was going to jump."

Their mother gasped, holding her lips.
Their father's face went completely pale.

Michael wiped his eyes. "I was being bullied. Every day. I tried to handle it, but I couldn't. I thought… I thought it would be better if I just disappeared." His voice cracked up while he was talking. 

"But Mary… She saved me. She pushed me out of the way."

Their mother covered her mouth with her left hand. Tears fell down immediately from her face...

Their father took a step backwards, his hands shaking...

Michael looked at them with blood-red and puffy eyes. "I'm sorry."

Their father sank into a nearby chair in the hospital room. He looked upwards...

"Michael… We didn't know," their mother responded.

Michael's fists clenched. "Because you were never home. You were always working. I was alone. No one noticed."

Their mother broke down crying...
Their father didn't say anything else. He just stared at the ceiling fan in the hospital.

Mary wanted to scream at them. She wanted to tell them not to blame Michael. He had suffered enough. This wasn't his fault...

This was the fault of everyone who ignored his pain.
This was the fault of the people who bullied and hurt him to the point of a mental breakdown...

She looked at Michael. His body was stiff, like he was waiting for his father to yell at him.

But their father sighed. "God, I'm sorry. We failed our children."
Michael's eyes widened in surprise.

Their mother wiped her face with her left hand. "We should have been there. We should have seen the signs."

Michael's hands trembled. "I don't want to live without Mary."
Mary's chest ached for some reason...

Their mother grabbed his hands. "Don't say that. She gave her life for you because she loved you. If you throw your life away now, then she dies for nothing."

Michael squeezed his eyes shut. "But I don't know how to live without her."
Their father spoke softly. "Then let's learn how. Together."

They were both trying to comfort him, so that he wouldn't repeat his suicidal action, but deep down they were hurt...

Michael let out a shaky breath. He didn't respond.

Mary wanted to stay. She wanted to keep watching over them...

But the world around her started to fade away, which made her anxious...

The hospital room grew dim. The voices were becoming more distant by the minute...

Mary reached out. "No! I'm not ready to go!"
But before she could move, the darkness swallowed her again...