best friend's brother committed suicide [what do i say?]

Hello everyone. This is the first time i'm making a post on psychforums so apologies in advance if this is under the wrong topic.

My best friend's 18 year old little brother committed suicide yesterday. He jumped from a six story building. He survived the fall, but was pronounced dead at the hospital 4 hours later. He was a smart kid with friends, so i'm having trouble believing that he took his life because of school.

The last time i saw my friend was the 11th of January. We havent really been in touch all because of an issue we got ourselves into; an issue i was very bitter about until yesterday. I was pretty mad about it at the time, and she had done every effort to apologise to me (since the issue we quarreled about was her fault). Anyways, I never responded to her apology message that she sent in January. Now, i hear from a mutual friend early this morning that her brother had committed suicide, and i feel terrible for not acknowledging her all this time. I feel like an ass, and i am. The little inconvenience she caused me that i got mad about is incomparable to what shes going through now.

So here i am, in dire need of some advice. What do i tell her? where do i even begin? I dont want to tell her something so cliche and contrived as 'im sorry', yet its the only thing i can think of telling her. I want to apologise for being a terrible friend and give my condolences as well, but the words that i seek escape me.

hi Tulip.. i'm sorry for your friends loss. personally i think it's OK to say sorry. i don't think it will be seen as contrived. just ensure her that you really mean it and let her know you will be there for her and to listen

and you're not an ass, you admitted you were wrong and apologized, and we all make mistakes sometimes