Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in forever! My life has been chaotic, and lately, I've been writing in Mockingbirds, so if you haven't read that, read it. I'm updating that right after this. So, please forgive me, and here is all Summer. And, we will find out who dies. Definitely not who you expected!
"I'm getting out," Summer heard the words come to her. Bree had walked into the day room, grinning broadly. Summer noticed her immediately. Her and Kaci's game of checkers was put on pause for the moment. It was a week after kaci was sent to a safety room, so finally, she returned to the ward.
"When?" Nicole inquired. All the girls had circled around Bree, who was basking in the attention. She never got it.
"Two days. Two measly days. Then, I'm free," Bree smiled even more. She made all the girls jealous, especially Summer.
She was having her interview today, and it was scaring the hell out of her. Both her parents would attend, she'd finally be able to talk to her dad. Summer was still mad at him, but he knew what was best for her. That was her excuse for him.
"Lucky," Mika commented, who had a good five more months. Her parents wanted her in here for as long as they could.
Summer looked back at kaci, who seemed changed since the safety room. There was an emptiness in the eyes, Summer was worried. What had made Kaci crack like she did?
A nurse appeared and began to hand out the medication. All the girls took at least five pills, mostly anti-depressants.
"Come with me then. I've got to take you to your interview," The nurse handed Summer her seven pills and some water. She hadn't realized the interview was this close. Summer swallowed her pills and followed the nurse, Lucy. She saw Nicole give her a thumbs up as they left all of them behind.
The walk was silent, more and more fears were building inside of her. She hadn't seen her mother for over a year. Maybe two. Though she heard her the day Summer's parents planned to send her away.
Summer felt her heart beating out of her chest as she approached the door. Inside were people all wanting to keep her in there.
Kelly sat next to Summer's parents and watched the frail girl come in. She still hadn't gained a whole lot of weight, but there was a significant change.
"Hello Summer," Kelly smiled at her patient, who was feeling a numbness. The drugs were taking effect.
"Hi," Summer mumbled out and looked at her two parents. How they had changed, she barely recognized them.
"Hi honey. It's so great to see you," Summer's mother hugged her daughter close, the most interaction the two had in years. What had happened to the loudmouth daughter?
"Great to see you too, Mom," Summer couldn't feel a thing physically, but she could feel how weird it was to identify someone as her mother. For years, she really had no mother. Her father did all the parenting, the teaching, the discipline. Neil took care of her, and Summer had forgotten she even had a mother.
They all sat down and Summer sat alone on one side with her nurse behind her. It was two on one.
"Now, we're here to discuss Summer's progress," Kelly, who sat at the end of the table, in the neutral area, stated. "We have gotten quite far in therapy, but we have not gotten onto the topic of the shooting, anything after that, or her boyfriend, Seth," Kelly checked her notes. "I don't believe two weeks is a sufficient amount to get through all that. I think three will work."
"Agreed," Neil immediately replied and Summer felt everything stop. Was it just decided that she would be in here a whole more week? No. That went too fast.
"Good," Kelly began to write down notes.
"I have a question," Neil seemed to be the only parent talking.
"Okay," Kelly looked up.
"Is Summer on Prozac?" Neil knew what drugs did what to patients.
"No, she isn't. But she is on other anti-depressants, such as Lithium..." Kelly looked over the med list.
"I think it would greatly help her to be put on it," Neil glanced over at Summer, who stared at her own lap, taking it all in.
"Okay, sure. We'll issue Summer ten milligrams of Prozac. Is there anything else we want to touch upon?" Summer was awestruck with how fast this interview was going.
They began to talk about what was said in therapy and Summer lost interest. She was stuck another week. How fair was that? She hadn't even gotten a say in it.
Since when had Summer had an inaudible relationship with her father? They used to be best friends, and now, Summer couldn't even say hello to her own father.
"Now, speaking of housing, I wanted to discuss the matter of where Summer will be staying after she is released," This definitely grabbed Summer's attention.
"We were actually talking about that before this," Her mother spoke.
"Good. Have you reached any decisions?" Kelly was quite interested, as was Summer.
"Yes. Summer will stay with Neil until graduation in Newport, and then move in with me and my husband and three kids. We also thought for college, she could attend some courses at the local college," Summer was getting sick. They had planned the rest of her life without a word from her.
"Great. Now, where do you live, Mrs. Roberts?" Kelly wondered.
"Actually, it's Post, but I live in Northern California," Summer knew now she really had to speak up. She'd lose everything if she didn't. She'd lose Seth.
"Can I say something?" Summer spoke up finally. What would she say? How could she persuade them out of what they wanted to do? They had all made up their minds. And plus, they all had power over her. Summer was a lot less stronger than them. She had lost her will to fight so long ago. Now she just went with the flow. But she had to fight them. Let them know what she had to say.
"Why of course, Summer," All of them laid their eyes on Summer, who was momentarily paralyzed. What did she need to say?
"What's on your mind?" Her mother smiled, but not a nice smile. More a 'I will win' smile. Julie Cooper-Nichol held that smile a lot.
"I don't want this," Summer found herself saying. That sounded better in her head.
"Don't want what?" Kelly asked.
"Any of this. I don't wanna move, I want to stay in Newport. I don't want more drugs, I want to go home. I want Seth," Summer explained to them, hoping they would see.
"You're sick, Summer. You have to get better before you can go home," Summer's mother told her sweetly.
"But I'm not sick! You're the ones who are sick! You're trying to keep me in here as long as you can!" Summer noticed her mistake right away. The outburst did not help her cause.
"Maybe you should go back to the ward, get rest, calm down," Kelly hypothesized.
"I'm fine," Summer claimed.
"We should be going. It's a long trip home," Both Summer's parents stood up and looked at Summer as if she was crazy and not their daughter.
"Right," Neil agreed as his ex-wife hugged Summer again.
"I love you. Get better, please. Listen to the doctors, and be good," Summer felt rushed. They all thought she was crazy.
"Sure," Summer knew she lost.
Her mother walked out of the room. Now all that was left was her father's goodbye.
"Be good Summer. I love you," That was all he said before attempting to get away. Summer wasn't letting him off that easy.
"Wait Dad," Summer missed those fun times she used to have with him. But those were gone, and they had changed. But which one more?
"What?" Her father was suspecting his daughter would run and hug him, like old times.
"I can understand why Mom doesn't ever visit me, but why don't you?" Summer wanted an honest answer, yet she wasn't expecting one.
"Well, work has been overflowing for a while..." Neil made excuses for his absence.
"Right. Everyone in Newport need their nose done. They matter so much more than your sick, crazy daughter," The two stared at each other. Neil saw in his daughter's eyes no remorse for what she said. He didn't say a word. He knew he screwed up.
"Bye Dad," Summer walked past him with the nurse following. It felt good to say that. It was a nice release. She said goodbye, not knowing for how long.
0000000
Hours had passed and Summer lie awake in her bed. She pretended to be asleep whenever a nurse would walk by. If they saw her awake, she'd get sleeping pills. One more pill to swallow, that's all it had become.
She stroked Princess Sparkles' hair, using her nails as a hairbrush. They didn't work very well. The horse's mane and tail need some major grooming.
Thought after thought piled into Summer's head. The interview mostly. When she had gotten back, everyone wanted the details. Her telling off Neil was the girls' favorite part.
The reaction was mostly the same to the extra week: At least it's only a week.
And now, Summer felt a little like she didn't want to get out. So much would change when she did. The summer was what she dreaded the most. She might lose Seth.
They started her up on Prozac and for once, she felt fine. Like the old Summer, who could form full sentences.
"Hey Sum," Summer jumped at the sound of Nicole's voice.
"Yeah?" Summer replied. She thought she was the only one who was still awake.
"Are you awake?" Nicole knew Summer was.
"Well, duh. Otherwise, I would have answered. Why'd you ask? What's up?" Summer was glad Nicole was up. For once, she wanted to talk.
"I was just thinking about stuff. Like, uh, Ryan. How close are you with him?" Ryan's drug deal had really been bothering Nicole. She had to tell Summer. She felt dishonest not telling her. Strange, lying never bothered her before.
"I don't know, we're friends. We got closer since I got in here. Why?" Summer thought it was strange that Nicole would mention Ryan.
"Nothing really. But would you want to know if something was up with him?" Nicole remembered Ryan specifically asking her to not tell Summer.
"Well, I guess so. He is one of my best friends. What's up with him?" Summer thought back to the last visitation. Ryan had acted weird that day, but she hadn't thought anything about it.
"He told me not to tell," Nicole commented and Summer turned over on her side to look at her roommate.
"Don't tell me something's up and leave me hanging there. What's up with him?" Summer stared at Nicole, who battled with her conscience.
"I can't tell. I promised," Nicole knew she shouldn't have mentioned anything about Ryan.
"Come on, Nicole. Tell em. What is up?" Summer was getting irked. She was mad at Nicole for not telling her.
"I can't. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Just forget about it," Nicole turned on her side, away from Summer and shut her eyes.
"Nic, tell me. What's up with Ryan? Is it something, like, big?" Summer was growing worried. She didn't think anything was wrong with Ryan, but obviously there was.
"It's nothing important. Just something he told me. Or rather I found out," Nicole opened her eyes, and saw the pictures of her sister and her, before she died. Before Nicole did everything and screwed up.
"What did you find out Nicole? Does anyone else know? Nicole, you gotta tell me," Summer whispered as loud as she possibly could without a nurse hearing her. She knew they would come in and put the sleeping pills in them.
"It's nothing Summer. Please stop asking," Nicole begged.
"No. Nikki, you have to tell me. I won't stop asking," Summer complained.
"Please stop," Nicole put her pillow on top of her head and let herself be enveloped in darkness.
"Does anyone know? Nicole, you gotta tell me. Or I'll be worrying about it forever until I call him and ocnfront him," Summer threatened.
"No, don't," Nicole spun over and stared up at Summer, who felt satisfied. "You cannot call him. He'll kill me next visitation. Of course that's if he makes it til then," Nicole mumbled the last bit as soft as she could so Summer wouldn't hear. But she did.
"What do you mean 'if he makes it til then'? What's wrong with Ryan? Nicole, I swear to God if you don't tell me..." Summer was getting louder and louder. The nurses could be there in seconds.
"All right, all right. I'll spill. But you cannot, I repeat cannot talk to him about it. I will be murdered," Nicole gave in and looked out into the hall to see where the nurses were. Then she sat on Summer's bed as Summer sat up.
"Okay, I won't tell," Summer swore. Finally she'd know what was up with Ryan. She hoped it wasn't too serious.
"Do you promise? With all your life?" Nicole couldn't believe she was doing this. She was betraying an old friend.
"Yes, yes, I promise. Now tell me what's up," Summer turned to Nicole, ready to hear the answer.
"Okay. Well, Ryan, he um...he's...how can I word this? Let's see...Ryan's been, um..." Nicole rambled.
"Spill it," Summer demanded.
"He's been doing drugs," Immediately, she regretted doing that. She betrayed Ryan.
For the second time in two months, she let a secret of Ryan's sink in. This was freaking Summer out. Why would Ryan do something like this? He knew it landed him in Willow Creek the first time, what if he was in here a second time?
"How long?" Summer muttered and everything with Ryan was clicking. How he missed the second visitation, the way he acted during the third one. He had been so different, why hadn't Summer noticed it? She had known about his problems, why didn't it click earlier?
"A month now. I don't know if he got caught now, he might have," Nicole tried to make it sound better than it was.
"Nic, how'd you find out? Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Ryan. He knows what it does to him," Summer argued.
"Yeah, well. A druggie's a druggie," Nicole really hadn't felt a whole lot of sympathy for Ryan. In fact, she was jealous. She craved drugs.
"Ryan is not a druggie," Summer defended her friend who had defended her so many times.
"Then what is he, Summer? A misguided youth that accidently fell into drug addiction? That's what druggie's are. They all make a mistake and pay a lifetime of cravings for it. Ryan's a druggie, I'm a druggie, Mika's a druggie. It's not an insult, it's a definition," Nicole told Summer.
"But...why would he?" Summer couldn't comprehend it.
"Cravings, Summer. Exactly the same for alcohol. Sometimes even with cutting. You can't get away from it. Years can go by, and you could be clean for a while, and all of a sudden, it comes back. You may think when you get out of here, you'll be okay, but you'll have to deal with the reasons you came in here for the rest of you life. That's why so many return," Nicole said the blatant truth, which Summer hated.
"Do Seth and Marissa know? About Ryan?" Summer changed the subject back to Ryan, not reasons.
"Nope, I swore not to tell. That's why you can't tell," Nicole warned.
"But how do I know if he's okay?" Summer was worried about Ryan.
"When Seth calls, just ask how everyone is," Nicole tried to solve the problem.
"He'll lie. Everyone lies because I'm in here. They're afraid I'm gonna panic," Summer then noticed the distance herself now and a year ago. Everyone was so scared of her now.
"That's normal. But if Ryan got caught, most likely his stay here is out," Nicole added.
"Crap. Seth'll kill me. I can't call," Summer was never victim to Seth's yelling. Yet. She was always the one yelling.
"There. Crisis solved," Nicole whispered and smiled. She was glad with the way her spilling Ryan's secret went. She knew Summer wouldn't tell.
"I guess so. For now," Summer was pissed that she couldn't do anything. All these things were happening in Newport, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. This sucked.
"Yeah, for now. Maybe we'll see him in here soon," Nicole joked to lighten up the mood.
"Not funny," Summer dismissed it and left a silence in its wake. She wanted to run to Newport so bad, to be by Seth's side, to have him hold her. That's what she needed. She needed Seth for her to be better.
She needed Seth to be happy.
Was this a problem? It had to be. Summer didn't feel like smiling when Seth wasn't around. He was the one who held her up. But she started to think about it: Was it love or was it dependence?
All the girls could hear was the squeaking and parts of tears. A few girls cried themselves to sleep.
But then, Summer could've sworn she heard 'goodbye' being whispered.
And not a minute later, they heard a thud, a sonorous thud. None of the nurses acknowledged it, they just thought a med book had fallen.
"That came from the bathroom," Nicole whispered. So Summer wasn't the only one to hear it. "Let's go check it out."
"Are you kidding me? We'll be in so much trouble if the nurses catch us," Summer argued.
"So? We should check it out. Make sure everything's all right," Nicole was waiting to sneak out. She was a master.
"Okay," Summer folded and Nicole smiled. She got up, and checked the hall. No nurses. They were checking the med books. Nicole motioned to her roommate and Summer quietly came up behind her.
"On three. One..." Summer's heart was beating out of her chest. "Two..." The bathroom seemed so far away. Could they make it? "Three."
Both girls ran as fast and as quietly as they could to the bathroom. They made it. It was such a rush. Summer hadn't felt like that in a long time.
"Oh God," Nicole commented as Summer looked out for nurses.
"That's wrong?" Summer said as she stuck her head out the doorway.
"We've got a major problem over here," Nicole stopped caring how loud she was.
"Like?" Summer still wasn't looking over.
"Maybe you should come over here...or not," Summer finally turned around and saw Nicole keeling by one of the stalls. There were no locks. No one was trusted. Ever wonder why?
"As Summer slowly walked over, she turned her head and shut her eyes. Did she really want to see it? She knew she'd have to. So she looked.
Summer dry heaved. First thing she saw was the blood on Nicole's pants. Then the hand. The bloodly hand.
Tears sprung to her eyes, but the medication she was on was dissociating herself from the scene. Thank God. If she wasn't on the Lithium and Prozac, she knew she'd be a sobbing mess by now.
"What happened?" Summer fell to her knees next to Nicole. For the immediate adult inside her, she grabbed the arm and checked for a pulse. Blood spilled on her as she felt no pulse.
"I don't know. Go get help," Nicole order and Summer got up. Both of them were covered in blood by now, and she ran out of the bathroom and to the nurses' station.
"Excuse me, we need help! Really badly! In the bathroom," Summer screamed, mostly likely waking up everyone.
Before anyone followed her, Summer ran back and knelt next to Nicole again taking the bloody limp hand and squeezing it hard. But she knew she'd get no response. She knew the verdict.
Kaci was dead.
So? Was it who you expected? I knew no one would get it. You didn't think I would actually kill someone major? So sorry for this update, I've been so busy and it's kinda hard to type, because I burned my finger so it hurts, and yeah. Please review!