Goodbye Summer

Eight

A deep breath of relief escaped from his lips the moment his eyes opened, sight carefully adjusting to its surroundings. At that moment, he could only register the faint blue-white glow bathing the ceiling, coming from the corner of the room amidst the darkness, and a constant, quiet hum from the vital signs monitor from beside his bed. He quietly groaned as he tried to adjust himself on the bed and realized his head felt heavy and in pain. Determined, he tried to lift his arm only to be blocked by something; he turned and saw a slumped figure beside his arm, sleeping.

It was Kaycee.

He tried to recall what just happened to him, but nothing came to mind. He knew they were out by the Main Beach, having her by himself for the day, and that was it. The next thing he remembered was her cries as he was being transferred to a stretcher into the ambulance and her voice as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

But that doesn't matter anymore. Whatever happened to him, it was enough for him to know that she was safe.

Sean adjusted himself to get a better look at his best friend and he reached out his hand to sweep away the hair covering her face. He sighed; this was a lot harder than he thought. Kaycee stirred in her sleep and not even having enough time to recover from her sleep, she shot up from her seat.

"Sean!" she said, worry crossing her face as she sat on the bed, cupping his face with her hands. "How do you feel? Do you want something? Water? Oh god, yes, wait I'll call the doctor –"

He watched her quickly pressing a button and frantically ran about the room, getting a glass of water and helping him drink. Soon, a doctor and a nurse came in, checking his vitals, giving him pain killers and asking him standard questions – basic ones from his name and personal information down to what had happened. He told him he doesn't recall anything, and the doctor said it was normal for a person who just had a concussion, and a grade three injury at that. He explained that he would experience headaches and difficulty in concentration for a few days, but other than that, there was nothing to worry about as his scans were all clear.

He thanked him, and that was when his attention came back to the girl at the corner, fiddling with the hem of her sweater, looking down.

"Kayc," he called. "Come here," he called, his voice soft, and the girl approached him. She sat by his bed again and this time, it was him who held her face, rubbing his thumb under the skin of her eye.

She knew her eyes were swollen after all those crying, and seeing him now, she could feel her eyes burn again. She took a massive breath, willing herself not to cry at the state of her best friend.

"Hey," he whispered. "I'm alive, Rice. No need to mourn over me," he joked, trying to cheer her up.

But more tears welled in her eyes, a few tears dropping as she punched his shoulder weakly. "It's not f-funny," she cried, and launched herself at him, lying beside him as she cried onto his chest, but careful not to move him as much.

"Shh. Shh. I'm okay, Kaycee. Really," he said, running his hand on her back, comforting her, and the other wrapped around her head as he hugged her to him.

"Y-You're not!" Kaycee cried. "Y-You're here i-in the h-hospital. Y-You scared m-me," she said, now hiccupping.

He tightened his embrace around her. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Kaycee started telling him what happened in broken sobs, starting from her buying ice cream down to people helping her with him. She also told him that the culprit was captured not too far from the beach, as there were CCTV cameras around the area.