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When we got to the hospital, Spider became our unofficial spokesperson, being the calmest of the group. The rest of us sat in the waiting room, staring at each other. Faith, looking very tired, had curled up onto the couch and begun to hum. It wasn't the smooth, melodious notes that we were used to, but short breathless ones. She had her eyes closed and I wondered if she was humming in her sleep.

Li'l Jay, who had been standing since we had gotten to the emergency ward, eventually sat beside Faith and watched me from across the room with sorrowful, red eyes. I wished that he would look away, but I found myself staring right back at him. I couldn't seem to turn my head in any other direction. My own eyes grew hot and it burned to see, but I knew that I couldn't start crying then. Not with Li'l Jay watching. I knew from the way he was looking at me that if I broke down, Li'l Jay would crack. I had to be both his strength and my own.

Finally, I was able to tear my eyes away from him and focus in on Spider, who was still talking to the police. I felt like I was watching a movie. Sitting and watching Spider from a distance, I felt oddly detached, yet somehow still involved in the chaos. My eyes scanned the room some more and rested on Blaze. He was all alone in a corner, staring at nothing. I wanted to go over to him, but one of the bustling doctors beat me to it.

"Are you alright, son?" Blaze didn't answer, didn't even look his way. The doctor squatted down in front of him. "Can you hear me?"

I guess he thought that Blaze might have been in shock or something. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was. His eyes were blank and he had turned a pale white, like he had just walked over his own grave. Faith began to cough. Without looking at her, Li'l Jay absentmindedly stroked her hair. She coughed louder.

Blaze's eyes came into focus. He focused in on the doctor, and then on his bloody hands. They jerked and he started to hide them, but then caught himself and folded them calmly in his lap.

Faith sat up, wheezing. Blaze looked over at her and so did I. I noticed that her hands were also bloody, but then, so were mine. Actually, all of our hands were covered in blood. I figured that this was a good thing for Blaze. Li'l Jay looked dazedly at Faith, who had laid back down and begun to shake again. His gaze became frightened and he looked over at her brother. Even Spider stopped talking and turned around.

"I'm ok," Blaze said hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure whether he was talking out loud or in his own head. "But my sister," he pointed a shaking finger at her. "She's sick." The doctor turned to Faith and his pleasant face tightened in alarm when he saw her. Just before the doctor had a chance to reach the trembling girl, she somehow jumped up and headed towards the door. Faith walked right up to two beds that were being wheeled past the waiting room and down the hall.

"Hi Ace," she smiled happily and waved. Then she looked at the doctor, who stood, speechless. "That was my friend. We call him Ace because...well, he's dead now, so it doesn't matter." Then she passed out cold and hit the floor.

Spider, who had just finished talking to the police, was the closest to her and the only one who rushed to her side. The doctor ran out of the room and came back in with two orderlies. They lifted Faith onto a gurney and a female nurse came up to reassure Spider that Faith would be fine after she had gotten a little rest.

Spider walked over and sat down beside Li'l Jay, who looked like he would be the next to faint. "I told them," he began quietly, "that they were fighting and the blond kid pulled out a knife. I said that Ace took it and then the kid pulled a gun on him, which is when Ace stabbed him. I also told them that Ace didn't realize he had been shot until after the other kid was dead. They bought it because of the whole adrenaline thing."

"What about Tommy?" I asked.

"Don't worry about him. If he says anything different, he'll get himself in trouble. They won't even have any reason to pull him in anyway."

"But that was his gun," I argued, not one to think that a lie would ever actually go over as the truth.

"No, it was the other kid's gun," Spider emphasized forcefully. "They asked me why Ace stabbed the kid eight times. I said I didn't know why, maybe he was afraid." He looked at Blaze and shook his head. "Eight times, man. Anyway, they're both dead now, so who knows why my brother did it." He looked pointedly again at Blaze. Then he continued. "I found out that the kid's name was Randy." This seemed very important to Spider, although at the time I didn't know why.

Suddenly Li'l Jay leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "Tommy used to be our friend, man! Why would he do that?"

Spider shushed him, and then looked around to make sure that no one had heard. "Don't ever say that name again," he warned. "Any of you." He looked around at us and whispered, "The less we know, the better."

"Besides," I jumped at my own voice. "Ace is not even dead anyway."

Blaze and Li'l Jay looked at me, confused. Spider looked at his brother's blood on Li'l Jay's hands, then at the blood on Li'l Jay's face. It was almost dry when he touched it. Spider's hands began to shake, but the expression on his face didn't change.

Just then, I saw Ace and Spider's parents burst through the door and run to a doctor. I was glad that I hadn't seen Johnny's parents come in.

The doctor said something to them, and then their mother covered her mouth and ran back outside. I looked back at Spider. He was standing there, watching the scene, and was as still as an oak.

Their father looked over at his son, but Spider looked away. Instead, he put his sights on Blaze who nodded and looked down at his bloody hands. Then Spider looked at the rest of us, as if making sure that we understood that our friend was gone. He looked at me and shrugged, then followed his father down the hall without a word.

Neither Spider nor the doctor had to say anything to us, anyway. I already knew. We all did. Ace's chest had risen and fallen for the last time long before the paramedics had even gotten out of their van.