"I don't understand what's taking so long." Jack paced the length of the waiting room as he looked back at Summer. She sat in the chair, her eyes fixed on something else, something far away on the other side of the room. He followed her gaze to see Billy hunched in a chair in the corner.

"I told him not to make trouble," Jack said quietly as he took a seat in the chair next to her. "Don't worry about him."

Summer looked up. There was such compassion in his eyes. Jack had always been there for her, through her mother's coma, through the paternity mess her mother had created … even when the it all fell apart and his heart was broken, when he found out she wasn't the daughter he'd hoped for, he'd still never left her side. He'd always promised her that he'd be here if she ever needed anyone and he'd always kept that promise. But now, she could only imagine how the look of compassion and warmth would change when he learned of what she'd done. "I just wish he wasn't here. I don't understand why he's even here."

Jack sighed. "Billy is … well," He shook his head. His brother wasn't an easy man to understand, let alone try to explain to someone else. "He's complicated and he makes a lot of mistakes, but so does your Mom. Trust me, I know that first hand. But I think, they both really do love each other. It took me some time to figure that out and even longer to accept it, but I really do think their relationship is something real."

"He has a funny way of showing it," she spat. "I don't think Billy's capable of any real feeling." The venom in her voice surprised him and she could see the change in his face. "I mean," she added quickly. "I just don't like the way he's treated Mom and I don't think he …"

"Are you sure that's all it is?" He'd heard mutterings at Jabot, the watercooler talk was always going on, but he'd never really given it much credit. The mere idea of Summer being interested in Billy was insane to him.

"Of course," she stuttered. "What else would it be? I think I'm just … It's just this waiting. I don't know what's going on. I just need to talk to her. I need to tell her that …" She stopped. She had no idea what she would say to her, even now.

"Don't think like that," Jack said softly. "Your mom's gonna be fine … just fine. You're gonna have years to talk and make memories. Everything's gonna work out. In fact, I'm gonna go see if they've got any update, okay?" He patted her shoulder as he turned to walk towards the nurse's desk.

Her brain screamed at her with every step, but she couldn't stop herself. "Why are you here?" she managed, the sight of him still sending waves of simultaneous pain, humiliation, and guilt through her. "You said you wanted to hurt everyone and now you're gonna show up here? What for?"

Billy looked up at her. He recognized the look in her eyes. It was the same look he saw in his own eyes every time he looked in the mirror. Regret, guilt, humiliation. "I didn't come here for you, Summer. I just want to make sure your Mom is alright. That's it."

"Because you were so worried about my mom when you were in bed with me." She let her breath out quickly. "Well you actually were weren't you? You were probably thinking about her the entire time." A wave of disgust washed over her. She'd been so certain he wanted her when in truth the only thing he'd wanted was revenge. "After everything you've done, after going through so much trouble to hurt her and my Dad and me, you shouldn't even be here. You shouldn't be anywhere near any of us. You have no right. This doesn't even involve you anymore."

"You don't think I know what I've done, Summer!" His voice raised and fell quickly as he saw a few heads turn towards him. "I know how much what I did hurt her and yeah, that was the whole point, but I never meant for it to turn out like this. I never wanted her to …"

"To what?" Summer stared at him.

He turned away from her. "I just … I just want to stay here and make sure she's okay and then I'll go. That's all I want. I just want to know that she's gonna be okay. She has to be …" He couldn't erase the memory from his mind, the look of disgust in her eyes as she'd stared at him. It killed him to think that that could be the last time he'd ever stare into those eyes.

"They should be here soon," Jack said as he stepped between the two of them, his voice stressed as he noted the tension. "The nurse said there was traffic." He shook his head at the absurdity of it all. "But, on the positive side, I guess it's good that they didn't feel the need to be more urgent. They didn't do an airlift or anything, so she must be stable." He saw the relief on his brother's face and he couldn't help but feel a pang of warmth towards him. "She's gonna be okay," he said softly as he reached out and clapped his shoulder. "She will be," he said again, assuredly as he looked at Summer.

The sound of the gurney startled them all and Jack turned quickly to see the crowd of people surrounding it. "That's gotta be here," he said as he moved towards them.

"Give them a minute," Lauren cautioned as she pulled him back. "They need to get her checked out. Let them work."

Summer gripped the back of the waiting room chair as she glanced over at Billy.

"I should have never let her leave like that," he muttered, as he ran his hand over his face. "I should have stopped her. I should have never …" The words stopped as he saw her eyes on his.

Simultaneous dread and horror filled her and she stepped closer to him. "You didn't," she managed in a shaky voice. "You didn't? Please tell me you didn't."

His eyes were wide as he looked at her. He couldn't speak, the truth of what he'd done still haunted him. He'd caused this in every way imaginable.

"You told Mom, didn't you? You told Mom we slept together?"