December 7, 2009 *A Difficult Day*

Today was emotionally overwhelming. It started off fine, until i received an IM from a REALLY CLOSE friend i hadn't seen in months. He left SL and told me the only reason he'd come back would be if he needed to contact important people, including me. He asked if I could talk, and i said sure. He had me call him. He was staying in a different state than he lives in. First, he apologized for leaving suddenly out of my SL and real life. He was actually wanting closure. He wanted to die. What? Why?? About 2 months ago, he fell in love with a woman in his RL, that he prolly shouldn't have. She was married, and has been for over 10 years. She left her husband and moved 3 states away to be with him. He was so happy, she was so happy. But, then one night, he went out, and when he returned she was gone. She left him an envelope on their bed stating that she went back to her husband. As much as she loved him, her life was broken, and she needed to fix it. She also wanted to go to counseling with her husband, and even if it didn't work, she tried. He was devastated. And, had every right to be. But, he wanted closure with her too. He didn't want that her "good bye" was in a letter. He wanted that her good bye was face to face. So, he flew to her state, only find that her husband had put a restraining order on him.
Some months earlier, he also found out, that he was ill. One day he was playing his XBOX 360, she sitting behind him reading a book, and suddenly he got cold and his temperature went up to 101. They found this odd that it came on so fast. So, she took him to the hospital, and they had tests done. They found that he has a tumor on his adrenal gland. Now, it's not terminal, it can be operated on, but if it spreads, it will be lethal. But, he doesn't have the money or the insurance.
So, anyway.. as we talked earlier this day, he told me he wanted to die. He was planning to commit suicide. He didn't know how, but it was going to happen. He came to California to die. I didn't know what to think. I cried. I did not like hearing my friend talk this way. At first, I was sad. Then, i was upset. He hadn't slept, but 4 hours in 3 days, hadn't eaten, hadn't changed his clothes. He was depressed, rock bottom depressed.
After i got off the phone with him, i called my SL mom. I wasn't sure what to do, and i needed to talk to someone. She told me to call the police. At first, i thought, oh.. he is going to be so mad. But, if he REALLY kills himself, that doesn't really matter what he thinks. After, i hung up the phone, i pondered about it. I was really nervous. I had never called about someone contemplating suicide before. While i was thinking, the son of my friend's alt logged inworld. I told my friend on Skype, and he said, "tell him i love him and i'm sorry." I IMed his son, and said, did you get an IM from your dad? He said, yes.. what is going on? I explained to him everything, and asked me for the phone number. I said, "my mom thinks i should call the police. What do you think?" He replied, "yes, call the authorities right away."
So, i did. Before i dialed, i asked my friend how he was doing, he said, he was feeling worse. I asked him, if he REALLY was going to kill himself, he replied, yes.
I called the local police, and told the dispatcher, that i have a friend who is contemplating suicide, but i am in a different state. Thank goodness, i knew so much information about him, his RL name, his RL birth date, his RL city where he lives. She took down all the information, and was asking me questions that i had to ask his son. Has he taken anything? Is he okay? Is anyone there with him?
When the police arrived, the dispatcher told me to tell his son to tell my friend, to come out of the room, they wanted to talk to him. But, that he needs to have his hands empty. My friend went out. He came in a short time after and left me a message on Skype saying, "the police came, i'm going with them, tell my SL mom." I'm glad he went with them, hopefully he'll get a good night's sleep, food, a shower, and some medication. Although, i know i did a wonderful thing, i feel sad this evening. Out of sorts. I really hope he's going to be fine. I really hope he's going to be fine.