A Realistic Reaction to Mistaken for Dead

So one of my characters ends up in a situation where they are injured in a way that everyone assumes that they had died (keep in mind the character themself had no say in surviving the incident) The others react believably to the situation and mourn and do not find out that they survived until months later.

• The only thing is, portraying this in a way that is believable. If one of your best friends died and you felt really terrible about it, how would you react after finding out they were alive?

I would feel like my heart would explode from shock and joy of seeing a loved one alive and would hug him and ask the mandatory "How are you alive? I had gotten evidence you screwed the pooch!"

If not found out about personally, then I'd imagine the friend would read or see a picture of the resurrected guy and have a frozen, glassy stare of shock.

edited 18th Sep '13 10:33:14 AM by Nitro836

In this particular situation he finds out when he sees his friend again in person

Bursting into tears and sobbing loudly.

He'd probably be pretty shocked at first and question if it was true at first, but the breaking down does sound plausible as he's an emotional person.

I would start crying, probably question my own sanity, then tackle-hug my friend, asking how they were alive, why hadn't s/he told me, thanking God, etc...