A Silver Summer

Chapter 38

Chapter thirty eight

Ryleigh looked up at the clock hanging over the reception desk on the wall for the countless time. Only eight o'clock yet his eyes were heavy lidded with sleep but his mind continued to race. It seemed no one else would sleep either despite Gelsey's promise to wake them up if she received any news. 

Ryleigh sat in the corner with his elbows resting on his knees, his head buried into his hands once more. At least he couldn't hear the girls' quiet sniffles anymore. Gelsey was the only other person to sit in the same row of chairs up against the wall. Skinner, Mel, Keira and Ivy were all siting along the adjoining wall. Ivy and Keira each laid their heads on Skinner's lap as he soothingly ran his fingers through their hair. Mel sat a few chairs away from them with her legs crossed out in front of her. She sat on the tip of her chair, leaned back so she could rest the back of her head on the wall. Her eyes were slipped closed but Ryleigh knew better than to think that she was sleeping. Out of the few days Ryleigh befriended the group, he figured Mel was the kind of dark humored girl that held any sort of sad emotion in. So when she closed her eyes, it was to keep everyone else from seeing the tears that swelled under their lids. 

Genevieve sat on the wall across from them, dazedly staring into the air at nothing in particular. Her cheeks were a blotchy red like her sister's, but the tears had long since dried up. 

Ryleigh peeked through his fingers again to look at the clock. Eight o'seven....

"I'm going to the vending machine. Anyone need anything?" Mel stood from her seat but didn't meet anyone else's eyes. 

"I think we're all good. Thanks Melissa." Gelsey forced a tired smile at the redhead. Although Mel had said she was going to the vending machine, it was clear by the slightly green parlor in her face that she felt just as sick as the rest of them did. She just needed to stretch her cramped legs and relieve the pressure behind her eyes from holding her tears back. 

Eight ten....

Ryleigh ran his hands down his face and settled for glaring at the reception desk lady who was chewing her pink bubble gum loudly. With an inaudible groan, Ryleigh switched his gaze back down to the floor. To count the number of tiles... again. 

"Gelsey...?" despite only asking for the camp founder, the doctor that stepped through the door was instantly surrounded by six other people. 

"How is she?" Gelsey nervously squeezed her hands together. 

"Anika is stable for now. She did have some brain swelling along with a concussion from the laceration on the back of her skull. A few broken and badly bruised ribs along with other bruising on her limbs. I also noticed an older looking bruise on her back?"

Gelsey nodded sadly. "Yes, she fell on her back on a stream bed."

The doctor nodded once with a frown pulling his lips down. For an older gentleman, he was still intimidating in his sea green scrubs standing a few inches taller than Ryleigh's six two stature. 

"We gave her medication to reduce the swelling and pain, but we had to put her in a temporary coma so her brain can heal a bit more. Chances are, by tomorrow afternoon she'll be awake again."

"She won't have... you know, mental issues will she?" Keira asked with an anxious wobble to her voice. 

"Not as far as we can tell. Her brain is functioning perfectly fine at the moment. Of course, she will be kept under close watch all night into tomorrow." A collective sigh of relief bounced between the group. 

"But for now, I will let two people in to see her. I don't want to overwhelm her. Anika should be able to hear still so if you would like to talk to her and assure her that she'll be fine, that might help her healing process."