𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

dying. that word is not something a 16 year old would think would happen to them so soon. you've been taught that you will live till 90 and pass away peacefully in your sleep. that's not how claire cameron was dying. her and her friends, that she didn't even know would be her friends, ended up finding gold under an old lady's house. that same old lady that is causing her to die right now. a month ago, claire would think she'd be sun tanning with her boyfriend and sister right now. matt would sneak up and splash water on her.

she didn't think that this summer would be her last. or that her last moment alive would be spent finding gold with her new best friends. nobody expected claire cameron to be rushed into a hospital room at 12:18 a.m. with a gunshot wound, sliced open hand, and major blood loss. nobody expected the pogues to rush in behind her. with a sobbing sister, and scared friends. and absolutely nobody expected ward cameron to rush in with, rafe cameron. just ward maybe, but rafe cameron absolutely not.

"what did you do to her!" rafe shouted at john b before his father pulled him away.

"dad." sarah sobbed and ward grabbed her and held her tightly while the pogues sat in the waiting room to see if claire was okay. rafe was having a stare down with john b the entire time and john b couldn't help but feel guilty. the only reason she was on this treasure hunt was because of him and now she's dying. john b had never seen jj so broken. it didn't take a genius to see how in love he was with the blonde girl. he never got to tell her and he might never be able to.

"mr. cameron?" a nurse called out and everyone rushed to their feet.

she pulled him aside to talk to him while everyone stood there waiting for an update.

"im sorry." the nurse said to him and everyone knew what she meant. sarah started sobbing and fell into john b's arms. kiara had tears streaming down her cheeks and pope, jj, and rafe had their eyes filled with tears. they refused to let them fall.

"kids, i've got some news." ward said with a shaky breath as he walked back towards everyone.

"is she dead?" kiara straight up asked.

"no." ward answered and everyone let out a breath of relief, "but they won't let me have any more information unless they know how she was injured, so can one of you please explain. the truth."

jj sucked in a breath before speaking, "we were at my house, hanging out. then my dad came home with some friend that i've never met before. the dude kept saying how pretty claire was then when she tried to tell him he was making her uncomfortable he pulled out a gun. he was really high and drunk, i could smell it. we all tried to tell him to stop and out the gun down, when we tried to physically take the gun away he shot it and it hit her. when we were bringing her to the hospital she sliced her hand open. she opened the door and it cut her." he lied. to everyone's ward seemed to believe the lie. but that didn't mean rafe did.

"oh god." he rubbed his face with his hands, "now can you tell me if she's okay?" ward faces the nurse who sighed.

"she lost a lot of blood, she has a severely weak pulse. there's a low percent chance she'll survive. im so sorry." she looked at everyone with a sympathetic look before walking out of the waiting room.

"dammit!" rafe shouted and punched the wall. making everyone in the room flinch

"rafe, i think you need to go home." ward told his son.

"im not losing claire." rafe mumbled.

"rafe. go home." ward grabbed his sons face and the boy muttered a few curse words before leaving the room and walking to his car.

"you all should get some rest, i'll have sarah call you guys if she wakes up." ward told the pogues. john b sighed and lead everyone back to the van. he had cleaned up on the way to the hospital, leaving a only dirt on his face and claire's blood on his hands.