Author's Note: Sorry for the time taken to update, it's totally my fault and I apologize. I also apologize that this chapter is slightly shorter than the others are. I did not want to dwell too much on the ride to the hospital; it's the next lot of chapters that will play the most importance.
Thank you again for all the reviews. Especially the two who pointed out that they could envisage everything they were reading. That's awesome to hear because that's the main thing I try and convey when I write.
I am going to have to put a downer on things here. I go back to college tomorrow and so it might be a little longer than usual between updates because I don't know when my broadband connection is going to be installed in my new flat. So please bear with me on that one. I really am sorry, but thought I should warn you all in advance.
On with the story...
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Chapter 7XXX
It was whilst in the pick-up truck that Seth awoke for the first time.
Once the truck had pulled up to the side of the track, Ryan had hastily run up to the driver's window, urging Marissa to stay back as they did not know who they were dealing with. Marissa had hurried back to the SUV where Seth and Summer had remained.
As Ryan approached the driver, his heart beat with anxiety. He prayed that this person was willing enough to phone for help for them.
"Hey kid, what's the problem?"
The first thing that Ryan noticed about the stranger was his strong Southern drawl. He had noticed the Arkansas license plate as the truck had pulled up, so that explained the accent.
The second thing that was brought to Ryan's attention was the man's poorly kept appearance. He looked to be in his early forties, but Ryan could not be sure. The man had a tan Ryan assumed was the result of his Southern residence, and had long thin hair of a dirty blonde color that was pulled back into a ponytail. The man wore an old worn baseball cap with the name of a beer scrawled across the front. The rest of his body was attired in a faded T-shirt with cut off sleeves, and ripped jeans. The stranger was not of a very large build, but this did not stop Ryan feeling slightly threatened by him. He looked like the type of man who kept a rifle in his trunk.
"Uh, yeah, it's my brother." Ryan stumbled over his words. "He's really sick and we're lost and we've run out of gas and our phone doesn't work and..."
The man chuckled slightly at Ryan's incessant rambling. "Okay kid, slow down."
"Sorry." Ryan mumbled, unintentionally looking back at the Range Rover to check on the two visible silhouettes.
"That your ride o'er there?" The man asked with curiosity.
"Yes sir."
"Pretty nice wheels. Look kid, I don't have no cell phone or whatever you rich kids got these days."
Ryan's heart fell in his chest.
"But..." The stranger continued, as if sensing Ryan's disappointment. "I'm on my way to the city so you better hurry up and get that brother of yours in the truck."
Ryan smiled instantly. "Thank you, thank you so much sir."
The man smiled back, revealing decayed, yellow teeth. "No problem." He watched Ryan begin to walk off. "And kid...." He called after Ryan.
Ryan turned around, looking slightly apprehensive.
"Call me Bud."
Ryan smiled slightly before jogging back to the Range Rover. Relief flooded over him. Seth was finally going to get the help he needed.
He opened the back door on Summer's side. She looked up at him expectantly.
"He's taking us into the city." Ryan could not help smiling.
"Oh, thank God." Summer's eyes closed in absolute relief.
She let out a huge sigh of relief before carefully lifting her body from underneath Seth's head. She helped Ryan carefully maneuver Seth's body from the back seat. They slid him out and into Ryan's arms. Seth's head flopped back in a disturbing and lifeless manner as Ryan placed one arm under Seth's upper back and one arm under his long legs.
Summer whimpered slightly as she witnessed this, holding onto Seth's hand that dangled down from Ryan's hold.
Marissa gathered up their belongings from the vehicle. She moved to the trunk, remembering their luggage.
"What about our cases?" She asked Ryan.
"They're gonna have to stay there, we don't have time to move them to Bud's truck." He explained.
"Bud?" Marissa and Summer questioned in unison.
"Just be thankful he's helping." Ryan replied, slightly annoyed at their lack of gratitude.
As they approached the truck, Bud opened the door and climbed out to give them a hand. His eyebrows raised as he saw Ryan carrying a lifeless Seth.
"You didn't tell me the boy was 'nconscious." He looked at Seth, slightly worried. "What happ'ned? He's awfu' pale."
"I just found him lying unconscious in the shrubbery." Ryan explained as he helped Bud move Seth into the back seat. "He went for a walk and collapsed."
"Kid needs a hospital, that's fo' sure." Bud confirmed. "You riding in the back wi' ya brother?"
"No, I am." Summer injected forcefully, although her stance of a dipped head and hands wringing together in front of her portrayed a far from forceful girl.
"Oh?" Bud questioned, slightly amused. "You his sis'?"
"Girlfriend." Summer confirmed, with slight disgust at the idea of incest.
"Funny, you look more like his relative than this one does." Bud pondered, pointing at Ryan.
Ryan rolled his eyes, really not wanting to get into the whole complicated discussion about his relationship with Seth when Seth was lying unconscious in the back of a stranger's vehicle. Ryan just wanted to get moving. To make this clear, he climbed into the front seat, shifting over as near to the driver's side as he could to allow room for Marissa. Seeing as she had attached herself to Ryan from the moment Bud had opened his mouth, she followed him inside, pushing herself as close to the door as she could.
"Let's get a move on then." Bud announced catching Ryan's hint.
As Summer closed the door in the back, positioning herself next to Seth in the same way she had done in the Range Rover, Bud started the engine and headed hastily down the desert track.
"So which city are we heading for?" Ryan asked in curiosity.
"Tucson." Bud replied simply.
"Tucson?!" Marissa spoke up for the first time.
"You kids have absolu'ly no idea where in God's name you are?" Bud asked, surprised.
"Not a clue." Ryan said, airily. "How far is it to Tucson?"
"Pro'ly 'bout sixty to seven'y miles. Should be there in an hour."
"Thank God." Summer exclaimed from the back.
"So, you kids from the Golden State I see." Bud observed, glancing back at the license plate on the Range Rover.
"Yeah." Ryan nodded. "We were driving down to Mexico, Tijuana, but kinda got lost."
"You sure did that! Tijuana? You kids sure got sidetracked!" Bud laughed once again, his lighthearted attitude coming as a breath of fresh air for the three conscious teenagers in the truck.
Just as Bud was about to ask another question to keep the atmosphere in the truck from coming to a deadly silence, Seth began to stir. He uttered several moans, before his eyes fluttered open slightly.
"Oh my God, Seth?" Summer screamed, excitement getting the better of her. She grimaced as she saw Seth wince from her high pitched squeals, and immediately lowered her voice to a whisper. "Seth, sweetie, can you hear me?"
Seth's eyes, still only half open, darted around the vehicle from his horizontal position on the back seat. He nodded his head in Summer's lap.
Ryan and Marissa had immediately turned around in their seats, observing Seth's conscious state with eagerness and apprehension.
"Wh-what happened?" Seth croaked, his dry throat making it almost impossible for him to speak.
"You fainted, scared the crap out of us for a moment." Summer smiled down at him, her heart swelling in her chest as Seth huge brown orbs stared back at her with complete vulnerability. She intentionally held back on telling him about his seizure, it would only freak him out and she did not know if his body could take that.
"You okay, boy?" Bud shouted from the front of the vehicle, as if Seth was suffering from lack of hearing as well.
Seth blinked rapidly, his brow furrowing in confusion. He was only able to utter a one-word question. "Who?"
"This is Bud." Summer informed him, taking his hand in hers and kissing the outside of his palm lightly. "He's taking you to the hospital. It's a long story but we're going to get you some help."
Seth groaned again, his eyes squeezing shut as if it hurt to open them.
"Seth?" Summer's heart thudded in her chest as she felt a sudden change in Seth's body. His hand seemed to go limp in hers and his body relaxed against her. "Seth?"
When no reply came, no one could stop the eerie, uncomfortable silence that fell within the vehicle.
"He's gone again!" Summer cried, as she continued to shake Seth's shoulders, urging him awake.
He couldn't do this to her, he couldn't give her hope and then take it away. It was cruel and it was mean and she had done nothing to deserve it.
Ryan simply thumped his head back against the headrest and covered his face with his hands as if attempting to rub away the stress and upset that remained there.
Summer's words haunted him
'He's gone again.'
Although not deliberate, the connotations they brought were frightful.
No one spoke another word until they arrived at Tucson County General Hospital fifty minutes later.
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Please review. Chapter 8 coming as soon as possible.
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