𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐂, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 | 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

chapter twenty-one; the aftermath

꒰꒰・┄┄・𓆩♡𓆪・┄┄・꒱꒱

"OKAY, WE'RE ALL DONE HERE." The paramedic nods as she finishes filling out a form and sets it aside. Summer then watches as she twists the cap off a bottle of pills and hands two of the small tablets to her. "Take these, they should help numb the pain and if you need anything else... let me know."

The lady leaves the girl to check on Max who was sitting on a stretcher on the other side of the parking lot with a blanket wrapped tightly around her body. She hadn't stopped crying since Billy died.

Summer takes the pills in her mouth and with the water she had been given she washes them down, along with the bitter taste they left on her tongue. The cool touch of the liquid was soothing to her throat considering all the screaming and crying she'd done in the last hour alone.

Besides the fact that Summer felt completely broken after losing her mother, and the boy she may or may not have once cared for, Summer also had a mild concussion and a few bruised ribs, one of which was broken. And that wasn't including the array of bloody cuts and bruises that had formed all over her body.

However, it wasn't the pain from the bruised ribs or the concussion, that was causing her head to thump, that bothered her. She could live with all of that but the thing that was hurting her the most was the fact that she'd never get to see her mother again.

Summer would never get to tell her how much she loved her, never get to disagree with her over the silliest of things or gush about how happy she was with Steve. Helene would never get to see Summer grow up, never get to see her get married or meet her future grandchildren.

The thought alone is enough to drive her to tears and no matter how hard she chews down on her bottom lip to try and stop it, she couldn't.

The girl sat with her hands in her lap, unable to find the energy to even blink as everyone went on with their business around her. Paramedics and men dressed in uniforms with guns flooded the parking lot and through the crowd, it was hard to find any familiar faces.

El, Mike and Max had been escorted out of the building before she had, the three of them coherent to the request of evacuating while Summer had remained in a daze as she stared at the ground where her mother took her last steps. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that the pleads from those around her went by completely unnoticed until they simply had to lift her up and carry her out themselves.

Eventually, Summer spots Jonathan and Will as they trickle out of the mall with the others, a group of soldiers leading in front. Lucas runs straight to Max, pulling her into a tight hug as Nancy joins her brother and the Byers boy's immediately begin searching for their friend.

Will finds her first and taps his brother on the arm before he moves into a sprint towards her, pulling her into his arms the second he reaches her with Jonathan not far behind. They hold her as tight as they possibly can, wanting her to feel their comfort and know that they were going to be by her side as she got through this.