Alone

Take Me Home...

           Tyler's POV.

We follow my mom outside to her car, and she is practically steaming with anger. I rub my jaw, which aches terribly. I sit in the passenger seat, and Summer makes her way to the back. My mom looks at me, and her face immediately softens. She grabs my chin lightly, and turns my head as she inspects my bruised and cut face. "Oh, my poor baby," she says in a sad voice.

"I'm fine mom, really," I say, leaning back in my seat. I can feel a headache coming.

I look over to see my mom turned around glaring at Summer. "Look what you did to my baby! Are you proud of what you've done?" My mom scolds Summer. I honestly can't believe her. This is in no way Summers fault. I decided to get into that fight, because that boy deserved to get his ass beaten for even thinking about touching Summer. If anyone should be getting in trouble, it should be me, I was the one that got into a freaking fight!

"Mom, it wasn't her fault! Someone pushed her, so I defended her. It's not like she told me to get into a fight! For Christ's sake mom!" I yell at her, losing my temper. The last thing Summer needed was to get in trouble for something she didn't do. I look over at Summer, and her eyes were brimmed with tears, and she was obviously shaking. Why does she get like that over such things? I get that she's sensitive, and that it probably really hurts her to be treated like that, but it's almost like she's having a panic attack or something.

"Well if she could learn to stick up for herself, you wouldn't have to be in this mess, now would you?" My mom said in a harsh tone. How could she even say that? That is such a terrible thing to say, and my blood seems to boil. The rest of the ride is silent, and once we get home, my mom assigns Summer with more chores and punishments, too much for me even to state them all. My only punishment is that I get my car taken away. It sucks because I absolutely hate taking the bus, Lukas and his so called friends are on there, acting as if they own it. Plus, now they have more of a chance at attacking Summer, which I will definitely do everything in my power to keep from happening.

I go up to my room and start my homework, trying to calm down my nerves. I am almost finished when I hear the downstairs home phone ring. Someone picks it up, and then a few moments later, my mom calls for Summer. I'm pretty sure Summer goes downstairs, but i'm not sure, because she walks so quietly. I wonder what she was called down for, but i don't hear anything. No noise at all, not a single sound. It was strange really...

But suddenly, I hear a loud crash. I run downstairs, to see Summer in the living room, on the floor. The phone is still in her hand, and she is shaking badly. Tears were rapidly falling uncontrollably from her eyes. She had hit her head on the coffee table, and had knocked everything off. My heart hurts to see her like this, and I couldn't bear it. I pull her into my arms, as I watch her chest rise and fall rapidly. Why does she get so worked up, to the point where she can't control it like this?

I stare down at her, as I rock her. I can't explain how I feel right now, like I failed to protect her...again. All I want  is for her to be happy and safe, but she's in so much pain. Her pain quickly transfers to me, and I like it that way. I'd rather take on the weight of the world, than let her do it all by herself. "It's okay," I say to her soothingly, but she just shakes her head."What's wrong?" I ask her, pulling her into my chest. She only sobs harder.

I start to hum quietly, and she slowly starts to calm down. Eventually she looks up at me, tears still falling from her eyes. "W-we need to go t-to the hospital," she says to me. I immediately feel worried, and look down at her. "What's wrong?" I ask, feeling concern sweep over my body. Was Summer hurt? I start to get up, quickly making my way to the front door, Summer still in my arms. "No," summer says, "I'm not hurt, my...my m-mom is...d-d-"

I stop her right there. She didn't need to finish the sentence, I already knew exactly what she was going to say. I put my finger to her lips, and she looks up at me thankfully. I pull her closer to my chest. I know i'm gonna get in trouble for driving my car, but I don't care. Summer needs me right now, and I could care less about anything else at this moment.

I get into my car (which my mom got towed back to our house from the school) I set Summer down next to me in the front. I keep worriedly glancing at her. This is going to kill her.

Summers POV.

When I got that call, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out, and to make it worse, it started having a seizure. I remember feeling like my whole world, which was already broken, fall to pieces.

My mother had one hour to live.

We arrive at the hospital, and I try to gather up every ounce of courage I have, because this, this, is gonna be the hardest thing I'll ever do.

We get out of the car and make our way to the hospital. It felt like everything was in slow motion. Tyler was doing his best to comfort me, but it was as if he was miles away. I was alone on this one.

We walk in, and that hospital smell overwhelms my nose. We take the stairs up to her room. Third floor, room 302. We eventually get to her room. I take a deep breath, trying so hard to prepare myself. I open the door slowly, Tyler is behind me, his hands lightly placed on my shoulders.

My mom sits on the bed, I notice she looks about ten times older than she actually is. Her eyes are heavy, and she looks extremely weak. I close my eyes and listen to the steady beats her heart monitor makes. My blood pumps loudly in my ears and it feels like I'm in slow motion as I walk over to her bed. I sit next to her, and she looks up into my eyes.

She smiles at me. But it's forced, and I know that better than anyone. She grabs my hand, and I'm sure she tries to grab it tightly, but she's much too weak for that. "Oh, mom.. " I say, tears brimming my eyes. "Shhh," she replies.

"Mom, y-you can't go. You can't leave me here. I need you. Moma I wanna go home," I say, letting my tears fall freely. She reaches up and wipes them. "Oh honey, I know. But we both know that life isn't fair. You know that better than anyone. Just remember, " she coughs, her voice gradually getting weaker. "You will always be my little girl."

I watch as her eyes drop a little bit, and she slides a little more down on her bed. "Moma, moma no. You can't, you-you have to get better. We could go home and- and go back to how it used to be. We could plant those beautiful purple flowers like we do every year, and when, " my voice cracks, and I can't see clearly anymore as my tears blurr my vision. "And when I go to school you can kiss me on the cheek and say, 'have a good day at school my pumpkin' " My shoulders shake with how hard I'm crying now, I've never felt this kind of pain. I feel Tyler sit beside me and rub my arms, trying to comfort me.

"Yes sweetheart we could go back to that, and I promise that one day we will. But I have lived my life, now it's your turn to live yours. I love you my baby," she says, barely whispering. "Forever and always," and with that, she closes her eyes, a soft smile on her lips, not forced, but genuine.

I feel her hand go limp in my hand, and I hear her heart monitor make a long, steady, high pitched sound. Suddenly I don't feel anything, nothing at all. Any life that was left in me, any hope, felt like it evaporated in that second. Everything was in slow motion, the way Tyler pulled me into his chest, how the doctors ran into the room. They were screaming and talking, rushing around, and Tyler was talking to me but it's like they were all in the background. Everything was bright, and I felt absolutely nothing. No tears came from my eyes, nothing.

Tyler started carrying me out, and I looked back at my mom's lifeless body. Nothing. Numbness. Darkness.

And I let go. I let everything go.