So, wow, haven't updated this in a while. Sorry about the long wait. I hope this is right, I just found it and thought I'd update. A Cold Wind is also updated, so go check that out if you read it.
Before he had noticed, Ryan was walking down the boardwalk. He couldn't remember walking there, but then again, his thoughts were so messed up to notice anything at all.
It was sad now; whenever Ryan thought of Kirsten, he thought of his own mother. He thought she was different. She was supposed to be the mother he never had. Not a repeat of the first one.
He didn't think anyone followed him, since they probably could've caught him by now. He didn't mind. When he was a little kid, no one followed him then.
It was strange that Summer happened to be the only person he opened up to. Not even Marissa knew all the stuff he said.
Newport was supposed to be his escape, but he guessed he would never have one.
Summer took deep breaths. Emilia stared at her, awestruck. She had a red hand print on her cheek. Summer looked at her arm to see blood trickling down it.
It was getting dark, and Neil still wasn't home. Emilia was in charge of watching over Summer.
"I'm sorry," Summer pierced her lips together, and looked down.
"No, it's okay. You were having an episode. It'll be alright," Emilia blew it off. She had been with Neil for a long time, she understood Summer's problem.
"Did I hit you hard?" Summer asked as Emilia helped her up. She didn't even bother wiping the tears off her face.
"Not really. A minor flesh wound. How's your arm?" Emilia, becoming a dutiful mother, led the way to the bathroom.
"It's fine," Summer replied. Emilia had accidently stabbed her while trying to calm Summer down.
"Here," Emilia pulled out the first aid kit and handed it to Summer. She wasn't a good dutiful mother.
"Thanks," Summer said as she brushed the blood off her arm.
"Oh yeah. I completely forgot. Your mother called again," Emilia mentioned.
"When did you talk to her?" Summer looked over as she opened a band-aid.
"She came to see you when you were in the coma," Emilia answered.
"That was over a week ago," Summer pointed out as she opened the triple antibiotic ointment.
"New meds, make me forget things," Emilia defended.
"Right," Summer put the band-aid with ointment on her arm hard and winced. She then got up and headed downstairs while Emilia followed.
"What I want to know is when that boy actually left," Emilia commented.
"What boy?" Summer poured herself a drink and Emilia took her medication.
"The boy that came over yesterday. He still didn't leave when I fell asleep," Emilia explained.
"Emilia, you can't tell the difference between a pole and a person once you've had you medication. You probably didn't see him," Summer and Emilia were back to hating each other.
"Well, what time did he leave?" Emilia wondered.
"I don't know. We weren't paying attention," Summer argued.
"What were you doing?" Emilia interrogated, one of the only things she was good at.
"Talking," Summer answered.
"Uh-huh, suuure," Emilia didn't believe her step-daughter.
"What? We were," Summer said.
"About?" Emilia wanted to know.
"Stuff," Summer replied, clearly sick of the step-monster.
"Like?" Emilia wasn't giving up, so Summer gave in.
"My epilepsy, okay? I told him! I told Ryan I have epilepsy. Are you happy?" Summer yelled.
"He must mean a lot to you," Emilia commented after a moment's pause.
"What?" Summer said.
"You never told anyone about your epilepsy. This Ryan must mean an awful lot to you if you told him. He must be something special," Emilia explained and then walked away, leaving Summer awestruck.
Seth saw his brother staring out at the ocean just as the sun was beginning to set. They'd been looking for him all day, and here he had been.
"Hey man," Seth walked over to his brother, who barely acknowledged the presence. "Whatcha up to?"
"Just thinking," Ryan didn't look over at Seth.
"Oh, cool. So, you thought about coming back?" Seth leaned on the railing, and also looked out into the ocean.
"Not really," Ryan answered. All he really thought about was his mother.
"Oh. Well, do you wanna come back? My dad's pretty freaked. He was talking to Marissa's dad to blow off the steam. I heard the word 'shrink' mentioned more than once. Of course, that could be for Marissa, so I don't know," Seth explained.
"I guess I could go back," Ryan didn't feel like he belonged there. He felt like he belonged nowhere.
"All right, cool. Let's go," Seth sensed Ryan wasn't fully 'there,' but he didn't say a word. "Hey, maybe after you talk to my dad, we can hit the Imax."
"Sure," Ryan thought back to yesterday, the day he spent with Summer. She had made everything easier to deal with.
He missed that.
Seth played with the radio as he drove, and Ryan didn't say a word. He never did.
Seth pulled into the driveway, and slowly got out. Ryan dreaded going in, for once, he sort of fear Sandy. He knew he was in trouble.
"I found him," Seth said as they walked in. Ryan saw Sandy's face and felt bad. It was wracked with worry, and Ryan knew it was because of him.
"Good. Seth, go up to your room. Ryan, sit down," Sandy replied, and silently, Ryan and Seth went to they designated areas. Ryan looked at the counter, as Sandy tried to find the right words to say.
Sandy knew he had lost all contact with Ryan. There was this huge distance between the two. He felt like he hardly knew Ryan at all. All summer the tension between them had been building, and it had finally overflowed.
"So what are we going to do? Me keep talking and you just getting farther away from us? Because if that's the case, I'm not even gonna bother talking," Sandy started.
Ryan refused to say a word, and didn't look up at Sandy.
"I know you're going through a rough time, but please, talk to us," Sandy remembered when he first met Ryan. He barely had changed at all, yet so much.
"There's not really anything to talk about," Ryan replied.
"Yes, there is. I don't know what to do Ryan. Do you want to talk to a therapist? Because we can't get anything out of you," Sandy complained.
"Don't. This is just the way I deal with things. Suck it in and don't say a word about it," Ryan looked up, but not at Sandy.
"I know. I used to be the same way. And if you say you're alright, I believe you. But just do one thing for me," Sandy knew what it was like for Ryan. He used to be him.
"What?" Ryan could already guess what Sandy wanted.
"Please talk to Kirsten. It's just she's constantly talking about how much she missed you. I knew you're wary because of your mom, but it would light up her day if you called," Sandy explained.
"I'll call her tomorrow," Ryan gave in.
"Thank you," Sandy said and Ryan made his exit. He walked into the dark pool house. Sitting down, his head rested in his hands and he wondered how everything came to this.
Sunday morning came and Summer prepared to talk to her mother. She hadn't fully talked to Karen in over three years. If her mother did call, Summer talked for a minute before handing the phone over to her dad.
Karen Post, as she was referred to, hadn't been the best mother. She was good to the three kids she had now, but Summer and her never had time to bond. One night she just walked out. And two weeks later the divorce papers came.
Summer remembered the custody battle very vividly. She was over at one of their houses each other week. When school started, she was at her mom's for the first half. Her mother had done well. She had transferred her job and was already living with someone. Years later, Summer found out that her mother was having an affair with the man for six months.
Both Summer's parents showered her with gifts, her father being the one who bought her Princess Sparkles. Over the summer before she was eight, her parents fought all the time. It was hell to go through that, and the epilepsy, and Summer didn't know how she did make it through.
Once Neil gained full custody of Summer, she rarely saw Karen. The plan had been one weekend a month Summer would stay with her mother, but it never worked. Karen was always too busy. As soon as the divorce was finalized, she remarried.
The people who still remembered Summer's mother, constantly reminded Summer how much she looked like her. An exact replica. Nothing like her father.
Summer was like her mother in most ways. Outspoken, popular, witty. The only difference was that Summer was much more down to earth than Karen. The epilepsy made Summer different. If she didn't have it, she could guess her future was her mother's.
Summer was the flower girl for both her parents' weddings, since they both occurred very close together. Summer saw her mother less than three times a year then and by now, it was never. So for her mother to come down and visit was a major thing.
She finally dialed the numbers, they weren't very familiar with her. It continued to ring, until at the fourth, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
It was the voice of a young girl, around seven years old.
"Hi, is Karen Post there?" Summer barely remembered her mother had a different last name.
"Yeah, she is, who is this?" the little girl replied.
"Summer Roberts," Summer answered.
"Oh, okay, lemme get her," she could hear the little girl put down the phone and scramble for her mother.
"Hello?" Karen picked up fairly quickly.
"Hi Mom," Summer hadn't said those words in so long.
"Summer, hi. Haven't heard from you in a while," Karen sat down.
"Yeah, Emilia just gave me the message," Summer also sat down, figuring this would be painful.
"Oh, okay. So how are you? When did you wake up? How's the epilepsy?" Karen spit questions out like rapid fire.
"Well, I woke up last Monday, and right now, I'm being weaned off the Dilantin," Summer answered.
"Why are you being weaned off?" Karen asked.
"Because I'm dependent to it, and it has no effect," Summer explained.
"That makes no sense," Karen commented, feeling good about the conversation. It seemed as if the last three years never occurred.
"Yeah, well," Summer added.
"When do you start a new medication?" Karen was watching over her three kids. The oldest one had the most of her genes, and looked like Summer and Karen.
"Um, this Thursday," Summer answered absent-mindly.
"Oh, really, because I thought maybe you could drive up here and stay over for a night," Karen missed her daughter.
"Dad's not letting me drive alone for a while," Summer pointed out.
"Then bring someone else along. I just want to see you," Karen whined.
"I don't know," Summer hadn't seen her mother in years.
"Friday. Come Friday," Karen exclaimed.
"Maybe. I'll call you," Summer replied.
"Okay. Well, I have to go, so take care. I love you, feel better," Karen said her goodbyes.
"Bye Mom," and Summer hung up.
Again, sorry about the wait, and I hope you liked that. Please read and review, I love to know what you think.