48 Hours

On April 13, 2008, Kristal Parker lay in the hospital, connected to IV tubes, her life hanging by a thread. Doctors gave her a mere 48 hours to defy fate. Outside the ICU, a multitude of well-wishers gathered to bid their final farewells. Mrs. Parker, holding Kristal's photo and rosary, sat with a world of worry etched on her face. Her once vibrant daughter now appeared a mere shadow of her former self. She seemed to have aged considerably almost overnight. Kristal had been a chirpy young girl; active and full of life. She always wore a smile on her face and had the courage to laugh in the face of any adversity...or so it seemed.

Kristal, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, had uprooted her life five years prior when her family moved to London. The transition was brutal for her. She struggled to adjust to a new school, a new culture, and an overwhelming sense of isolation. In this new environment, she encountered Randy Marsh, a popular but flashy classmate who took her under his wing. 

Kristal had read somewhere that "When in Rome, do as Romans do". At first hesitant, Kristal found herself drawn into a world of parties and recklessness, seeking acceptance and friendship. She became an active member of the West Brook High party circuit and began experimenting with things she had never thought of doing earlier. Along with the drugs, alcohol and partying came incessant lying to her parents of her whereabouts, lying to her friends, lying to herself. Kristal had changed; she went from being the quiet, shy, girl-next-door to the party starter. All credit went to Randy Marsh! Her parents' concern grew as her behavior changed, her grades plummeted, and she distanced herself from her family. All while Randy, the center of her world, masked his true intentions.

Days went by and Kristal got more and more involved with her friends and tried to detach herself from her family. She enjoyed the freedom that came with defiance almost as much as she enjoyed the rush that came from snorting coke. Kristal Parker had changed for the worse and there was no turning back. In an effort to gain recognition and popularity amongst her friends Kristal pushed the limits. People began to know her as a fearless, I-don't-give-a-damn-what-you-think kind of girl. Little did they know that keeping up with appearances was actually taking a toll on her. She was fighting her demons to stay afloat, she was a loner at heart despite being amidst so many people. Kristal hid her emotions well behind her million dollar plastic smile and fake attitude; no one knew she was hurting, no one knew her involvement with Randy would lead her to the mouth of death...

Things took a devastating turn when Kristal discovered Randy's betrayal at a party. 

That night at the party Kristal found Randy in the arms of her best friend Samara. They were looking like quite a cozy couple. Kristal wished she hadn't decided to cancel her family dinner plans at the last minute to surprise Randy at the party. She wished everything would turn out to be a bad dream and that she would wake up and her life would get back to normal again. None of that happened, instead, the hurt and anguish multiplied to the extent that Kristal decided that her life just wasn't worth it. She suddenly realized that everything in her life was lost. Her parents didn't like her (infact they had lost all hope and trust on her), the people she considered friends were double crossing her, her own boyfriend had lost interest in her, her grades were slipping, her personal life was a mess...that was reason enough to pull the switch. Crushed and feeling utterly lost, she grappled with a sense of abandonment and despair. The culmination of her pain drove her to a dark place, leading her to contemplate an end to her struggles. 

Kristal sat in her bathroom and stared at the blade, her fingers trembled as she slashed her wrist and watched her blood ooze out. She winced in pain and tears rolled down her face. It was not enough, she reached out to the medicine cabinet and popped as many pills as she could find. Things couldn't go wrong this time. If they did, she would never hear the end of it. Drowsily Kristal watched as a pool of blood formed around her and her clothes soaked up her impure blood. Slowly she closed her eyes and started to think about unicorns dancing around on pink poufy clouds. She could feel pain engulfing her whole body and she heard a distant voice call out her name. She wanted to call back and ask her mom to come and save her. It was her mom, she was here to save her! Kristal tried to open her eyes, she tried to open the bolted door. She didn't want to die! She wanted to live. She wanted to be helped. She wanted to be saved and pulled out of the hell she had sent herself to. Somewhere in her heart she knew it was too late but she tried to fight as hard as she could.

The heart rate monitor began to beep faster and the nurse paged the doctor to rush to the ICU where Kristal was about to breathe her last breath. 48 hours were up and Kristal lifeless body seemed to have stopped fighting. Her pulse began to sink and Kristal could see the light. She felt as if her life was being drained out of her slowly. She felt a sharp pain near her heart and then plunged into a reverie of nothingness. Kristal Parker was dead. Her loved ones wept, her friends were jolted yet maintained their indifference. Her life had ended but her pain had not. She died knowing fully well that she was hurting the two people who loved her the most - her parents.