Tabitha stared at herself in the mirror. A zombie looked back at her.
Her skin was pale as milk, her hair clung to her scalp in dirty clumps. There were heavy black circles under eyes that had lost there glow, and now were nothing more the spheres of midnight blue, where once sparkling sapphire orbs had been.
She was far to thin. Her skin hung off her as though there was not enough meat on her bones to keep it intact. Her lips were white and tinged with blue; several dark purple bruises stained her hands.
And she had gotten to this state in less then three days.
It had been three days; three days since she'd virtually stopped living. Stopped eating, stopped bathing, stopped sleeping.
Sometime during the blur that was the past seventy-two hours she could vaguely recall being forced to drink something, but she wasn't sure what it was. All she could recall was the phone call…the phone call.
The words still rang in her ears, dull and sharp, blurred and crystal clear, all at the same time.
"Sam's dead Tabitha."
"Sam's dead Tabitha."
"Sam's dead Tabitha."
"NO!" Tabitha screamed at the voices in her mind, collapsing to her knees, grasping her ears. "PLEASE NO!"
The words were ripped from her throat again and again, until she was near death from her own voice, until her mouth was full of blood from her screams. She completely lost her voice then, but the words still rang in her mind, always.
The door of her room splintered in at that moment. Through a dull haze of red, she saw a man with long dark hair, smooth tan skin, and terrified dark brown eyes.
"Rictor…"She mumbled, so softly that she herself didn't even hear it.
And then he was there, pulling her into his arms, offering her what comfort he could. He didn't notice the way she smelled, or how painfully thin she had become in the last three days.
All he did was hold her, and breathe soothing words into her hair.
"It's alright, Tabby…I'm here. I'm here." He told her, kissing her forehead.
"I want Sam." The words were louder then her previous one, but still nothing.
"I wish I could give him back to you, little one. You don't know how I wish I could." He told her, tears on his face.
"Hurts so bad."
"But that hurt is good. Means you're still alive in there."
"Can't live with out Sam." Tabitha mumbled, her eyes hopeless.
"Yes you can Tabby. We'll help you." Rictor promised her.
"Who?" Tabitha asked, still leaning against him.
"I will, and…" Rictor trailed off, looking up.
"And so will I." A soft German voice breathed. Tabitha looked up, her eyes finding a blue furred woman standing in her door.
"Who are you?" Tabitha asked, leaning into Rictor's chest.
"This is my girlfriend, Demona Wagner. I…I told her what had happened and she insisted on coming." Rictor explained.
"Hello, Tabitha." Demona said softly, kneeling in front of the two.
"Hi…"Tabitha whimpered, tears on her face. Demi reached out a small hand, and wiped the tears away gently.
For awhile, the two stayed with the young woman, letting her cry for her lost love. All she could say, over and over, "I miss him so much…"
Finally, when all the tears had stopped, Demi reached out a hand to the young woman. "Come on, Tabs. Let's get you cleaned up."
"The funeral's tomorrow." Tabitha told her, eyes trembling with tears.
"I know, Tabitha. Are…are you going to go?" Demona asked, hugging the girl close to her.
"I have to." Was all Tabitha would say.
Demona only nodded, and helped the stricken girl into the bathroom. Tabitha stepped into the shower after stripping out of her clothes, and let the hot water caress her body…just like Sam had, the morning he left on his disastrous trip home.
"At least I have that…"Tabitha choked, leaning against the wall. Then she noticed the figure of blue fur standing outside the bathroom. She was to hurt to small, but the pain lessened at the sight. "And people that care about me."
She finally was able to think that, maybe she would be able to make it through this.