The Kids Who Defined Destiny: A summer of choices

☆Treatment, Apologies and unacceptence☆

“Dad please,” Spike said as he rubbed his nose in frustration. “We know you don't like hospitals but we ALL need treatment for our injuries.” I looked at Dad as Spike said this. He was leaning on a wall with his back to us.
     “No.” The plain response made my worries only grow. I wanted to apologize and hope that would change his response but, I didn’t know where to start. So, in the end, I sat next to Spike and stared at his back.
    “Dad I'm-” “Shut up.” My mouth was hanging open. Once I realized that, I closed it and looked away as Spike turned to look at me. I felt the anger from before beginning to build but then it quickly faded into guilt. I couldn't blame Dad for his response. I had said I wished he weren't my father…and I guess he was honoring my wish. Dad grunted and put a hand to his side. Spike stood up and went to his side. The concern on his face strengthened.
    “Dad please…” Dad pushed him away and tried to straighten himself but ended up stumbling and he would've fallen is Spike hadn't caught him.
    After what felt like an eternity, Spike finally convinced Dad to get help. We had been staying in the alleyway of the Alamo General hospital so Spike told me to stay put til they got someone to bring me a wheelchair. I examined my leg. The blood was beginning to darken and dry. It wasn't broken, we realized that once we finally arrived in the city. I winced as I touched my wound. It was still bleeding rather profusely but it had slowed for the most part. I had a deep cut that showed some of my muscle. It turned my stomach to look at it so I stopped. But I felt it didn't compare to Dad's injuries. He was right next to the wall when it suddenly exploded. I still couldn't explain to myself or anyone else who asked me at the time what actually happened.
    A herd approaching footsteps and Spike entered the alley, pushing a wheelchair. He helped me into it without uttering a word. Once the second pair of sliding doors opened, I was met with the bustling noises of the inside hospital. As I scanned the room for Dad, I noticed several people and entities. There was an angel sitting with their child that looked very unwell. The child looked a lot like their guardian, minus the gold halo and different colored wings. Next to the mother and child angel, they were Seekers. They were creatures that had the ability to see your moves in any fight and had the ability to punish people who had pure evil intentions. I smiled a small smile. That was the one thing I loved about my city. They're were so many different people and entities here, it made me feel not so bad that I didn't have any abilities of my own.
    Dad was leaning on what I assumed was the front desk. It was only after I got a good look at him that I noticed just how horrible he looked. He was wearing a white shirt that was now stained with a dark red and ash. He had bad burns on his arms and it looked like he had multiple wounds on his upper body. No wonder he was having so much trouble staying upright. He was practically covered in injuries. Once we arrived at his side, I looked up at him. His eyes weren't on me. Infact, they weren't on anything. He was just staring at the desk counter, his face blank and expression numb.
   “Sorry,” The entity behind the desk said. “We're already over booked. We can't add anyone else, apologies sirs and lady.” I could feel the frustration in Spike's voice as he walked to Dads side from behind my wheelchair.
   “My father could be dying! Just look him!” Spike was about to touch Dad but he grabbed his wrist. Spike paused for a moment and glared at the lady as Dad slowly released him, his eyes never looking up. “Clearly you aren’t aware tha-” “We can assist you if you wish.” A few exchanged glances after the words were said, we finally saw the man who spoke them.
It was none other than General Barnes.  Spike and I were either both shocked or excited. I couldn’t tell because of the pulsing pain in my leg. Dad though…he went stiff and I could tell he was holding his breath. And somehow, he looked worse than he did when I first saw him. Spike was the one to answer.
     “Really, sir?” He asked, a slight excitement in his voice. He looked at Dad then put an arm under him. General Barnes walked over to me and asked if he could push my wheelchair like he was asking me to dance or something. ,jumped, not expecting General Barnes to suddenly jerk my wheelchair back and around toward the entrance. I was facing him now.
“Well, now,” He started, leaning a little too close for comfort. “Aren’t you interesting looking?” He chuckled. “I’m messing. You don’t get to do that a lot when you’re a General. Gotta stand on business you know?” Beside the buzz of the hospital, no one laughed with him. He cleared his throat and was about to speak but he stopped when his eyes fell on Dad. Something about the look on his face, and the way Dad acted earlier, made me believe that this might not be as great of an idea that I originally thought. When I turned to get a glance at Spike and Dad, I caught a glimpse of the entity behind the desk shaking their head. Not sure if it was in a disapproving way or not.
It took us a while but we finally made it to the…surprisingly large, Military base. I blinked a few times. The sky above the massive building was a beautiful mixture of colors. The sun was almost finished lowering over the horizon. Turning the sky into a beautiful dark purple that faded and turned into black. It was funny actually. Moments before at our house, there wasn’t this much beauty in the sky…only ash.
At the thought of the explosion and fire, I remembered my three other brothers. I felt a sensation in the back of my throat. I hoped with all my being that Mom and the other were okay. As we entered the busy base, I couldn’t bother taking in my surroundings. Mom, Lawrence, and the twins were heavily on my mind. While getting admitted into the medbay by a kind nurse named Mira, I couldn’t focus on what she was saying. My eyes kept on drifting to Dad and the three nurses that surrounded him. When we first entered, he collapsed, taking Spike, who had been trying to help him walk, to the ground with him. Under the light, I could see the beads of sweat that were collecting on his forehead. He looked worse than before.
“Ms. Summer? I need to know what caused your injury.” I had to prie my eyes away from Dad to look at the nurse. She looked very familiar. But, I shook my head and blinked at her. “I’m sorry,” I said, my voice soft. “What was the question?” After giving her the needed information, my leg was stitched and bandaged. Nurse Mira said my slight inability to walk was from the strain I put on it while helping Spike get Dad out the house.
“You know,” It had been about an hour or so since we arrived at the military base and the three of us were put into medical beds once we were examined. Well, except for Dad. I was currently staring at the empty bed next to mine. Which had Dad’s name on it. I guess Spike finally noticed that I hadn’t taken my eyes off it.
“Dad’s a fighter you know?” I didn’t respond. Spike shifted in his bed. I guess he turned to face my back, which I currently had to him because his voice was clearer. “He’s gonna pull through, Summer. You just need to-” “Did you see how he looked…?” I interrupted. I turned to face Spike. Finally taking my eyes off the empty bed. “He looked bad, Spike.” I said, my voice in a low whisper. It was in the early hours of night but that wasn’t the reason I was so quiet. I tried to hide the waver in my voice as tears stung the back of my throat.
“And me screaming, ‘I wish he wasn’t my Dad’, doesn’t help with that!” I raised my voice at the end. I examined Spike's face. He had a familiar look of sympathy in them which he showed me once before. When Spike first ran over to me after the explosion.
“And Dad saying he was embarrassed of you, doesn’t help him rest easy either,” I had just closed my eyes as the tears began to flow when Spike said this. I opened them again in surprise. “You had been so upset by what he said, you didn’t stop and try to examine his expression or body language like you normally would. Because of this, you missed out on the fact that Dad had realized what he said and gone too far.” I only looked at Spike as he sat up in his bed. He had been given a change of clothes because they were coated with ash and soot from the fire. He was wearing a blue shirt now with orange overalls that went over it. I had been given new clothes too but I had refused to change. It was a mint green dress with a black collar. I was now looking at it as it hung on the back of the door. I sighed heavily and looked back at Spike. The only reason I knew he had been injured was from the bulge in his right shirt sleeve where his shoulder had been bandaged. I saw Spike smile as he began to get out of bed. I sat up on my elbow, curious as to what he was doing. I watched as he walked over to the door, grabbed my dress, and went into the bathroom that was to the right of the door my dress hung on. In my awkward and confused state, I looked around.
There were eight beds in total. Four on one side of the room, four on the other. Me, Spike, and Dad, if he woke up, occupied three of them. The others were empty. That was about it, except a couple of chairs and bedside tables with drawers.
       “I wasn't expecting to fit this,” I heard Spike say as he exited the bathroom. I stifled a snort. He was wearing my dress! “You look so cute! I guess your new name is Spine?” I teased, sitting up. Spike smiled at me. I returned it.
“In all seriousness though, please don’t call me that.” I giggled at him and nodded. Just then, General Barnes opened the door.
“Guess who just  woke up?” He said, smiling at the two of us despite what Spike was currently wearing. I looked at Spike excitedly and his face was red. He probably didn't plan for someone to walk in while trying to cheer me up.

After Spike got changed and over his embarrassment, which took half an hour all together, we went back to the hospital part of the medbay. General Barnes was kind enough to show us the way back since it had been a few hours since we first went into the recovery section of the medbay. When we arrived, Dad was sitting up, staring at something.
I ran to him and wrapped my arms tightly around him. It startled me when I felt cloth instead of skin, but it really shouldn’t have. Dad was still wearing his scarf.
“You scared us more than half to death!” I lectured as Dad’s eyes met mine. “More like, you scared Summer more than half to death.” Spike said with a smile as he too hugged Dad. His gaze shifted back to the spot he had been staring at when we first walked in. But he didn’t respond. I looked at Spike, then General Barnes, then Dad. His expression was blank and his eyes were cold. Why was he like this again?
“I-I’m sorry…” He murmured after a while. The three of us in the room all startled at the same time. “For saying th-those awful words to you back at the house..” I realized he was talking to me only after he mentioned the house.
“I was just…really frustrated,” His voice seemed small. And, although he has a deep voice, he seemed to lose that deepness as he began his apology. Tears stung my eyes. His slight stutter made me feel even worse. I was in this position again. Dad was apologizing to me when I should be the one apologizing to him. But, instead of interrupting, I let him speak.
“You s-snapped at me because yo-you had been hurt by what I said.” I sniffled and hugged myself as Spike walked over to General Barnes and sat in a chair next to the door.
There was silence for a few moments.
“I’m sorry too,” I began as a tear fell down my cheek. “E-Even if I…was hurt…I said more awful things to you than those few words you said to me…” I looked at Dad. A tear fell from his eye. He looked past me and turned his head. I felt a pain in my heart. Did I really go too far? I know the answer to that question. Yes. I sniffled twice before I turned and walked quickly out the room.

When Spike came back to our room, I turned away from him. “Don’t try to cheer me up please Spike.”
“He forgave you.”
“Sure he did.”
“Don’t you believe me?”
“Why should I? After the emotional hurt I put him through? I might as well have left him in that fire.” I said coldly.
“Take it back.” Spike said.
“No.” I answered, not looking at him.
“Summer.” I turned over. “Dad. Forgave. You. Believe me if you want, or don’t. But he did.” He said, putting his hands in his pockets. “Also, Mom and the others just arrived.” I shot up when he said that. I looked out the window. The sun was gone and it was around 8 o'clock.
“A few cuts and scratches. And a couple burns. We turned out fine though. Since we were the farthest from the explosion.” Lawrence explained, sitting on Dads bed in the recovery wing of the medbay. Mom was asleep on one of the beds on the other side of the room. Marcus and Lucas were hugging Spike as he sat with them on his bed.
“How’d you find us?” I asked.
“A kid who’s a sniper, his name is Tristan, found us in the hospital and asked if we were missing family members because he had been asking around for our last name and he was directed to us. Then we were taken here.
“Have you seen Dad yet?” I asked, curious. “Not yet,” he began. “He was getting treatment so the door was locked.” I was shocked.
Will find refuge in the arms of the true enemy.
I was startled. Where did that thought come from? Was it from what Lawrence said? I hadn’t thought about the prophecy since the fire. Why did it pop up in my head now…?
“Summer?”My eyes widened and I looked up. “I'm sorry,did you ask me something?” I folded my hands in my lap.
“I actually did.” He said shifting on the bed. “I asked if you had a chance to talk to Dad about…” He trailed off as he tilted his head a little. I nodded, but that was about it. I looked away and turned my head to look at Mom, Spike and the twins. “Spike said he forgave me but… I don't think he was telling me the truth.” I say putting a hand on my arm. I caught a glimpse of Lawrence's face and could tell he didn't like my response.
“Is it because of what you said isn't it?” He asked, tilting his head to try and get eye contact. I shifted my eyes more. “How'd you guess?” I finally asked. I still didn't look at him.
“Your body language. And it's just obvious. What you said was pretty cold.” He responded while crossing his arms. I bit my lip. “So what? I didn't deserve that apology…I should’ve apologized to him instead of the other way around…” I admitted as I tucked my hair behind my ears. “You both should apologize to each other. You BOTH said things we all know you regret.” His answer was so straight forward you’d think he rehearsed it or something. “Rehearsed that or what?” I chuckled but finally met his gaze.
“He's apologized, Summer. Now it's your turn.” He said as Spike stirred. The room went silent as I considered Lawrence’s words. “Fine.” I said after a while.
“Tomorrow, I'll try and start over with Dad. With an apology he so greatly deserves.” I said as Lawrence gave me a smile while we both got under our covers. I turned over and smiled at Lawrence as I slowly drifted into an undisturbed slumber.