45 Minutes

The glow of the screen nearly blinds me as I press the small round button on the front side of my phone. 5:27 am. My alarm clock will begin to make that horrible beeping noise in about three minutes, so I get up and turn it off. As I sleepily climb back into bed, I notice there are new text messages from last night. Without giving it a second thought, I open them. Twelve messages from my best friend, only a few words each, stare back at me. It was the final three that stood out. The last one said "I feel so much pain". Suddenly the panic had set in. I wouldn't expect a few digital messages to have so much power over me, but I sat there in bed, paralyzed, unsure of what to do next.