It Started With a Song [Shawn Mendes]

31

(Summer's POV)

I carefully stepped over a pipe that ran across the ground between the buildings. It really was not a good idea to walk through this four feet-wide alley, especially since it was getting darker every minute. I thought I could see a rat scurrying across the ground once or twice. But I couldn't go back now, I was already halfway through. So I kept going. I was about three quarters of the way through and I had just squeezed past a dumpster when I heard a noise behind me. I turned quickly and took in a sharp breath as the pain in my ribs flared up. And then came the wildfire. I literally ran right into a pole, chest first. I doubled over in pain and fell on the ground, hitting my head on the wall. Then everything went black.

(Shawn's POV)

        I stumbled down the hallway, shielding my eyes from the bright white lights. It hurt my head even more to walk, but I had to find Summer. Lucky for me, the hallways were mostly empty, with only a few nurses and patients walking around. I took the elevator downstairs because I was already tired from just walking down the hall. I prepared myself to run in case there was anyone outside the elevator who would make me go back to my room, but the lobby was the same as the upstairs. Must just not be a busy day. I hurried past the front desk so that they wouldn't ask any questions and stumbled out the front doors into the fresh air. It was cold outside and cloudy (which was good because the sun would have hurt my eyes too much. I should have brought sunglasses!) but it still hurt my head to look around so I squinted my eyes and shaded them with my hand. I looked around the entire sidewalk and parking lot and couldn't see a soul except an old guy who looked like he was waiting for someone. I kept walking down the sidewalk towards the building next to the hospital. Maybe she was over there. I was a few feet away from the building when I heard something. I stopped and listened. It sounded like breathing - pained, heavy breathing, and it was coming from between the two buildings. I heart started beating faster with each step I took down the alley.

        "Summer?!" I called out nervously.

        "Shawn?" I heard someone gasp, as though they didn't have enough air to talk. I looked over to where the voice came from and saw Summer sitting against the brick wall in a uncomfortable position. She looked like she was in pain and she was having trouble breathing. 

        "Summer!" I ran over to her and shakily knelt down on the ground next to her. "Oh my god, what happened?" 

        She pointed to her chest and then the pole sticking out of the ground next to her. Then she gestured to her head and pointed at the wall. I assumed what she meant was that she had ran into the pole with her already a broken ribs, and then her head had hit the wall. She must have blacked out when Brian and Isabel came to look for her.

        "Can you move or get up?" I asked her. That was a stupid question, of course she can't get up, if she could she would have gone back to the hospital.

        She shook her head. "It hurts to move," she said.

        I thought for a second and then suggested, "Can I carry you?"

        She nodded and tried to pick herself up off of the ground a little bit but very time she moved her chest she winced. I put my cast arm carefully under her legs and the other under her back and slowly picked her up so that it wouldn't hurt too bad. It was hard because I still had a bad concussion and headache but I did it. Then I needed to get all the way back to the hospital. Summer rested her head on my chest and I felt her warm body against mine. So I kept putting one foot in front of the other, for her. I kept going, for her. When we walked in through the hospital doors, Brian and Isabel, who were sitting in the waiting room jumped up.

        "Are you guys okay?" Isabel asked frantically, looking from me to Summer, back and forth. I nodded breathlessly and moved my head, gesturing towards the elevator. 

        "We need to get her back to her room." Isabel and Brian followed me upstairs and we went straight to Summer's room. I didn't want to let her go, but I laid her down on her bed and held her hand. "Could you guys get the doctor?" I asked them. They nodded silently and left the room. I closed my eyes and willed my head to stop pounding and my ears to stop ringing. 

        "Your arm," Summer looked up at me with a concerned expression. "Your concussion. Shawn, why would you risk going outside?" 

        "Because of you," I answered. "You're worth a hundred million concussions."

        She smiled and my heart melted. Even after a car crash, about 3 hours of sleeping at a hospital, and laying in a dirty alley for 10 minutes, she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, just as the doctor burst in, followed by Brian, Isabel, and all of our parents.