About You Now

Summer's Game

"Summer," gently called Finn. Relief echoed through his voice, even more so when he saw her sitting up in the hospital bed. No confusion lit up her eyes, only concern for the others, Echo and AJ in particular, although she didn't speak her words. Instead, a half-hearted smile appeared across her lips before her attention was diverted to the cast bound around her left arm. She had little doubt her arm had been broken during the crash, sustained at the same time as other injuries scattering her banged-up body. Finn rushed to her side without a second thought, softly wrapping her in a hug as if to wordlessly welcome her back to the world surrounding her; JD followed suit shortly after, the group hug helping to comfort Summer when her loud thoughts seemed to overshadow everything else.

"AJ, Echo. Are they okay?" asked Summer, her voice cracked and broken as tears appeared in her eyes. She knew the accident had been vicious. The pink car had come out of nowhere, and the driver seemed set fast on forcing them off the road; upon succeeding, it sped away as if nothing had occurred. Although Summer doubted the car would have gotten far, its front had been mangled by the many purposeful collisions. "Have they caught the driver and passengers?" she asked, almost terrified of the answer she was to receive.

"They found the car abandoned on the side of the road, about five miles west of the accident," replied JD, suspecting whatever Maryse and Carmella hid from almost everyone else had something to do with the occupants. "They're trying to find the assumed driver now and the passengers present at the time," he added sincerely. Thanks to the updates the girls had shared, they knew the car was registered to Samantha Waters. However, they knew little more than that.

"AJ and Echo are across the hall in ICU; everyone else got off lightly," spoke Finn, suspecting Punk would still be irate; there was little doubt Summer had heard him yelling at everyone. "Punk's with AJ, Cross, and Damian are keeping him company," he added, knowing at least Seth was with Echo. Although unsure who else was, he'd seen Corey and Dean leave the room shortly after entering. However, he doubted Aleister would stay away from Echo long; the pair were like siblings. To the point, many of them joked about it and often said wherever one was, the other was just a little behind.

"Rhea and Aleister are with Architect's Demon," announced JD. "Fearless said if you're not released by tomorrow, she's bringing a few things over to make it more comfortable for you," he added. Looking around the white-washed room for the first time, he realized how cold it felt. Nothing in the room inspired hope or happiness, just bland, clinically white walls, although the large window at least gave natural light to the cold, uninspiring room. "Aleister already plans to bring some of Echo's things over tomorrow, but she said she'd freak out if she woke up to the bare room."

"Did they find Serenity?" asked Summer, her voice quiet and scared. Quickly, her blue eyes darted around the room to ensure the girl in question wasn't present. Almost immediately, Finn and JD looked at each other in confusion, that being enough to alert Summer that neither was aware she was involved in the accident or anywhere near it. "She was in the pink car, the front passenger seat. The others were the four friends she met at the mall," she continued, recalling that Maryse and Carmella had seen Serenity in the car, confirming her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Serenity's here waiting to be checked out," uttered JD, his Irish accent ringing through. Finn seemed to quietly fume at Summer's side, his eyes almost glowing with unspoken anger. "Roman's with her, and no Finn, I don't think he has anything to do with it. He was pretty frantic about it when Bex and Deano informed the rest of us of the accident," added the Irish native, recalling how panicked Roman was when he was told of it. His first thoughts went to Serenity; after all, she was supposed to be with the girls on the shopping trip.

"Does anyone else know?" asked Finn, trying his hardest to keep his anger in check, although he honestly felt he was failing miserably at his self-given task. At the same time, the plaguing feelings of guilt seem to grip him as if to remind him that he failed to protect his chosen family.