A stranger wearing a light blue nurse uniform looked over me and smiled as if I were her daughter. “Hello, Summer. My name’s Tara. How are you feeling?” I opened my mouth but only a groggy mutter came out. My throat was dry, like I’d swallowed sand. I shrugged. Tara smiled. “Are you in any pain?” I nodded. Everywhere but mostly my head. “Okay, I’ll get you something for that. There’s water on the side table.”
“I’ll do it,” Dad said. I smiled. Of course he would want to do something practical.
The nurse nodded. “I’ll go and get something for the pain and bring a doctor in to check her over.”
“Thank you,” Mum said, gripping my hand. “Summer? Honey…” She stopped talking and wiped the tears that flowed freely down her face. I blinked a couple times as my vision blurred. My head pounded and I just wanted to sleep.
Dad poured water in a cup and put a straw in it. What am I, three? I opened my mouth, grateful for the cool water. I’d almost drained the whole cup before my throat felt normal again.
“How are we doing?” another nurse asked as she walked into the room. She held a syringe in her hand—the pain medication. I sighed in relief. Give it! “Summer, I’m Brieanna. Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask you to do anything; you’ll receive the medication through the IV.” She stuck a needle into a tube and nothing happened. How long did this stuff take to work exactly? “Okay, the doctor will be with you shortly. Call if you need anything.” She left the room and we were alone again.
Clips of the events flittered through my mind, but I couldn’t piece them together properly. Where were Rose, Poppy, and Violet? “Wh-what…happened?” I asked.
Mum, Dad, and Henry moved closer, sitting on the edge of the bed. They loomed over me, and I squirmed uncomfortably. I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable with my family. “Do you remember anything, sweetheart?” Dad asked.
“Clover. He attacked Violet, attacked us. Where are they?”
“The other girls?” Mum asked. Her voice was soft, like she thought I was made from glass and would break at any loud noise. Dad and Henry stepped forward again.
My heart stopped. Where were they? “I need to see them. Can you find them?”
“Summer, calm down.”
“Where’s the nurse?” I pushed myself up and pain shot through my head. I groaned and flopped back down, wincing. “Find them, please,” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.
“Honey, calm down,” Mum whispered. She exchanged a look with Dad, and I couldn’t tell what it meant. “Your dad will go and find out what happened to them.”
Someone knocked on the door and walked in. She wasn’t a nurse; she was wearing black trousers and a fitted black shirt, but she had a hospital ID hanging around her neck. “Hello, Summer. I’m Cecilia. How are you feeling?”
“Where are they?” I asked.
She smiled. She knew about them. Was she looking after them? “I’ve just been with Poppy, and she’s up and walking around. She’s with Violet. Violet’s in a critical but stable condition.”
I gulped. Critical. That was bad. Really, really bad. “Rose?” I whispered.
“Physically, she’s fine.”
My eyes welled up. Of course, she needed him. “I have to see them.”
“As soon as you’re feeling better, I’ll arrange that.”
“I feel fine. Please.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Rest for a while, and then I’ll see if we can get you to Violet.”
She had only used my real name, not theirs. Had Poppy not told them who they really were? I almost wanted to be called Lily—to be the same as them again. For almost eight months they were all I knew, and being away from them made me feel vulnerable. Summer seemed like someone I was a lifetime ago. I didn’t want to keep his name, though. I didn’t want anything to do with him—just them.
“Is he in prison?”
Cecilia looked at my parents. “I’m afraid I don’t have that information, Summer. Perhaps you can talk to your parents.” She flipped over my chart and wrote something down. After checking me over she straightened up. “Right, I’ll be back to check on you again soon, and we’ll have an in-depth chat a little later, when you’re feeling better.” Definitely not a nurse.
“Are you hungry?” Mum asked as soon as Cecilia left the room.
“No. Where is he?”
“The police have him,” Dad replied. “You’re safe now, Summer. He won’t hurt you again.”
Every time someone called me Summer, I expected someone else to answer, expected them to be calling someone else. I didn’t feel like Summer. It was as weird as being called Lily in the beginning.
The door opened, and I jumped. Being outside, back in the real world, was strange. Scary almost. My family hadn’t left me alone, but I wanted them to. I didn’t want to be alone but I didn’t want to be with people that constantly stared at me and made me feel like I was a freak show.
“Summer,” Henry shouted, waving his hand in front of my face. “You okay? I’ve been calling you for the last couple minutes.”
I frowned. He was? “Um. Yeah?”