Thank you for reviewing. I liked the reviews of chapter 12 especially much.
I'm glad that you liked the Neil thing. I see him as a loving father; not the one abusing as so many people write him as.
When you say nothing at allh
"Honey, how is Summer doing?" Kirsten rose from her seat in a chair next to Sandy to meet Seth as he came from Summer's room.
"She's okay. I still don'texactly know how she's really feeling 'cos we haven't talked about it though she seems to be fine. Her dad's in there now."
"Yeah, I hope it was okay for him to go in there. I mean, he is her father and he was so worried about her. But maybe…maybe she's scared you know." Kirsten carefully said and they sat down next to Sandy. Marissa and Ryan sat with Julie and Jimmy on the other side of the room.
"Yeah, but I think she feels safe with him. They are close."
"Yeah,"
"Have the police been here?" Seth asked, turning towards his father.
"They were here a while ago but I told them to come back later. It's probably gonna be hard for Summer to tell them everything all over again. I told Neil to tell Summer, so that she can be a little prepared." Seth nodded, understanding. Even though he knew that this whole situation must be really hard for Summer, he had absolutely no idea what to do to help her. He had no idea how to react, or what to say to her.
"Seth, how are you doing?" Sandy asked and interrupted Seth in his thoughts.
"Huh? Me? I'm fine dad. Of course I'm fine. I'm not the one in a hospital bed, recovering from being kidnapped. Who knows what he did to her?"
No one replied. Because everyone knew that it was true. No one knew how it was like to be kidnapped; how to be taken away by some strange man. No one knew what had happened to her. And no one wanted to be the one trying to take Seth's mind away from Summer. He would only take it the wrong way.
And therefore, the group became silent.
Jimmy and Julie excused themselves. They decided to go home; there was nothing they could do here. Marissa had her head resting on top of Ryan's shoulder, finding comfort in beingclose to him. Sandy and Kirsten sat quietly staring at the walls and Seth fumbled with his fingers, waiting for Neil to come back so that he could return to Summer.
"Summer says that it's okay for you to go inside, one at the time." Neil said as he entered the room where they all sat waiting. They hadn't noticed his presence until he spoke.
No one had seen Summer but Sandy, Seth and Neil. Marissa and Kirsten was dying to see how she was doing, they had only been told how she looked. And they had all decided that Summer would be the one to decide who she wanted to see.
"Can I see her?" Marissa said and sat up from her spot in Ryan's arms.
"Sure, she said that she wanted to see you all. But you can go first." Neil told them all and Marissa hurried inside the room.
"Hi Sum," Marissa said carefully and walked slowly up to the bed where Summer lay. She wasn't used to this. Her friend was always the strong one; nothing like this ever happened to her. And it was only now that she understood how hard this was; to see a person hurting and not being able to do anything at all.
"Hi Coop," Summer said from where she lay. She looked pretty bad though it surprised Marissa how Summer's face still could be beautiful, even with bruises covering it.
"I…I don't know what to say."
"You can sit down if you want." Summer offered and Marissa sat down in the chair, which stood beside the bed. Either of them said a word and tears filled both of their eyes'.
"I'm so sorry." Marissa finally whispered and a few tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Summer though, refused to let hers fall; this would never work if she cried all the time. Marissa touched Summer's hand gently and took a deep breath before meeting Summer's eyes again.
"Maybe I should go. The others are dying to see you." She forced a smile as more tears slipped through her eyes. "I love you Sum." And with those words she walked out of the room, leaving a surprised but understanding Summer. Marissa had never been good with these kinds of things and she figured that for once Marissa didn't want to cry; she didn't want to make this about her.
Afterabout five minutes Kirsten appeared. She looked concerned and this was even more emotional for Summer. She was used to Marissa though Kirsten was her boyfriend's mother. They talked sometimes but never about important stuff and the fact that she was here at the hospital was just really a lot to Summer.
"Hi Summer," Kirsten didn't ask if it was okay to sit down, she knew that it was so she did.
"I'm not gonna ask you how you are feeling, not yet anyway. I just want you to know that I am here for you." Summer stayed quiet, staring up to the ceiling. To have people come here that she was used to be around and she'd been emotional with, was one thing. This was just different.
"Summer, I understand that this must be hard, I really do. And the only thing we can do is to be here for you. A lot of people are, you know. We love you. I love you."
Everyone knew that Summer and feelings were complicated. She had a hard time to just express them, to just let everybody know how she felt.
"Do you want to be alone for a while, sweetie?" Summer managed to nod and Kirsten left immediately, hearing a sob as she headed out of the door. Was it right to leave her alone? She was upset, but maybe she really did want to be alone.
Back inside the room, Summer finally let the tears go. She had been holding them in, feeling her eyes burning. But she couldn't just cry into everybody's arms. She just couldn't. So now she was left alone in the room, crying because of her dream, because of how scared she'd been. She was crying because she was so happy that she was alive, crying because of the pain all over her body. But most of all she cried because she felt alone.
She didn't really feel alone, because she knew that she wasn't. She was just so overwhelmed and couldn't deal with all people right now. She couldn't handle everyone saying how sorry they were, how much they loved her and giving her that look of pity. They didn't understand; they weren't even close to understanding.
She'd tried to stay positive in the beginning, trying to show her feelings, trying not to shot people out. But it was just too hard. Summer didn't work that way.
As Kirsten came back to the group in the end of the corridor, everyone's faces turned towards her. Marissa had stopped crying and was back to sit close to Ryan, having one of his arms wrapped protectively round her shoulders.
"How is she?" they all asked interrupting each other. They had all talked and analyzed her behaviour. Or trying to anyway. They had been talking about what to say to her, how to treat her. They had been talking about the ways she might react, the feelings she must have. Though nothing did make any sense really. She had been so different to them all, acting like different persons.
"I don't think she's good. She didn't say a word and she didn't look at me. She said that she wanted to be alone and when I left I heard her crying. She's not okay."
"Someone should go in to her. I'm not sure that she really wants to be alone. Summer's always trying to handle things on her own but she can't." Neil said, looking at the others.
"You really think so?" Kirsten asked and Neil nodded.
"Well, I guess we have to trust you. You know her better than we do. You go in to her." Sandy said.
"I may know her well, but I'm guessing that Seth should go to her. I think that Summer would want that. She doesn't like to be emotional in front of people so I think it's best if Seth goes. She feels safe with you." Seth was taken by surprise. Here was Summer's father allowing him to see Summer instead of himself.
"Seth? Do you want to? Do you think she wants you to?" Kirsten asked gently, not expecting him to say no. She knew he wouldn't.
"Well,yeah. I'm used to the rage blackouts and I've seen her cry. I think I can handle it." He tried to make the situation a little brighter. And he succeeded, partly. He put a smile on the other ones faces.
"Thanks Dr. Roberts." Seth said and gave him a smile before he went towards Summer's room. He gently knocked on the door, not wanting her to be surprised as he came inside.
"Sum," Seth opened the door and went inside. Summer sat on her bed, crying, and the moment the door opened she turned her head towards the window.
Her crying was soft, almost not able to hear. But once in a while a hiccup or a huge sob was heard.
"Baby," Seth made his way closer to her, sitting down in the chair. He wasn't really sure what to do; if he should touch her. Summer didn't show any sign of taking the first step. So after a while of just sitting there, listening to her crying, he did. He didn't speak but placed his hand on top of hers. He could feel her shiver a bit though she didn't make any attempt to pull away, so he kept his hand on top of her small one. He caressed it gently, drawing lines on each knuckle.
Summer's crying decreased and after some time just a few sniffles were heard at regular intervals. Her face was still turned away from Seth and he hadn't tried to look at her or make her speak. He just sat in the chair, next to her bed, holding her hand in his.
After a while Summer curved two fingers so that they intertwined with Seth's. It was the tiniest move but yet it showed Seth that she wanted him there.
He knew that she didn't want to be pressured, but he couldn't stay quiet any longer. Seth Cohen wasn't the quiet type, even though he the past couple of days had been quieter than Ryan and that was being quiet.
"Are you hungry?" After asking that question Seth slapped himself mentally. Was she hungry? That was the worst question for all time. Even too bad for him to ask. Summer seemed to sense his feelings because she turned to look at him and smiled.
"I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to say." He said, apologetically and smiled back at her.
At least he made her smile.
"It wasn't stupid Cohen." After receiving a look from Seth and giving it some thought she continued. "Okay, it was pretty stupid but I like stupid. I needed stupid. It's way too depressing here."
"It is, isn't it?" Seth grinned and after getting a response from Summer he bent down to kiss her cheek, wiping off some tears as he did so.
To be continued...
So this chapter was a little depressing, at least I think so. I wanted to bright it up in the end so I did.
Don't worry, I will solve the whole mystery with the kidnapper.
Please, please review. I love them all.