Dead of Summer - Page 121

Suddenly, the girl on the bed shifts, and a long, low sound comes from her parted lips as her eyes flicker behind her lids. I trade a glance with Liza and sit down on the bed, leaning my weight across the girl as gently as I can. “Hey, hi,” I murmur, keeping my voice calm. It’s taking everything in me not to freak out right now, and if this girl loses it, I’m going to as well.

“I need you to stay calm and still for me, okay?” I hear another soft sound of pain from her, and the fingers of her unbroken arm flex. “I don’t know if we’ve officially met, but I’m Summer. We’re in Liza’s cabin.” She seems to relax, even if only a little, when I speak, and it gives Liza a chance to finish checking her over for anything that we can’t see.

This time, though, the girl whimpers, and tears gather under her lashes as she opens her eyes to stare into mine.

Fuck.

She’s going to freak out.

“No, no, no—” she screams, cutting me off, and tries to sit up, though jerks at the pain in the action as I push her gently back down. “I need you to calm down, okay?” I try to say, though her cries drown me out quickly and effectively. My hand on the bandage slips, and warm wetness drips down my hand as her head starts bleeding again.

“Emily!” Liza is back in an instant, standing on her other side and trying to press her down without hurting her. “Emily, I need you to calm down. I know it hurts. There’s an ambulance on the way, but you’re going to be fine, all right?”

The girl stares up at her, then looks back at me with wide eyes. I nod my agreement, my free hand finding her fingers and squeezing gently. God, I hope none of them are broken.

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” I glance at Liza, who nods and heads to the front of the cabin. The door opens, and I hear Kayde’s voice as he talks to Fink.

Seconds later, the camp owner is on speaker, and both Liza and Kayde are filling him in.

“You’re okay,” I tell her once more, trying to pull her attention away from Liza’s and Kayde’s voices. She doesn’t need to hear the extent of what happened. She needs to stay calm and not hurt herself more.

“I-I’m—” she whimpers, tears falling down either side of her face. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Emily, what? You didn’t do anything. You don’t need to be sorry,” I soothe, forcing myself to sound calm and casual. “Accidents happen?—”

“But I knew the trail was off limits,” she continues, a tremor building in her small body. “He even told me it was.”

Distantly, I can hear the sirens of an ambulance and I let out a mental sigh of relief. The door opens and closes, and I realize that it must be Kayde going to meet them so they aren’t stuck wandering around looking for her.

“Sorry, what?” I blink back down at Emily, feeling suddenly guilty for not paying attention. “No, look, it doesn’t matter how it happened, okay? It was an accident.”

“He told me about it in the first place,” Emily murmurs, her injuries leeching the strength from her as she fades back toward unconsciousness. “I just asked about the trees…he told me about it and showed me where it was. I’m a hiker. Mom takes me on trails. He said I could’ve hiked it back before the storm.”

For the life of me, I can’t figure out what camper could’ve told her about the southern trail, no matter how I rake my brain for an answer. “Who told you about it?” I finally ask, wishing I didn’t have to. “How did you find out where it was?”

“Counselor Shawn told me. And said I couldn’t go there.” She closes her eyes hard with a soft sound, the tears leaving tracks through the dirt on her face. “But it’s not his fault, Summer. I waited until he walked away a minute later. Until he couldn’t see me. I’m sorry.”

Heat thrums through my veins at her words, and I curse Shawn with every foul thing I can imagine. Sure, okay, he’d told her not to go on the trail. But had he really been stupid enough to tell her where to go and then walk away?

The door bangs open and I move away from the bed just as two paramedics rush toward it. I must be in shock, though, because it seems like one moment, it’s just them, and they’re taking vitals and checking her over. But then I blink, and there are three paramedics there, working together in a flurry of movement to get Emily up and onto the stretcher before levering her through the door.

Kayde pulls me out of the way, and I realize I have no idea when he’d gotten back, though it must’ve been with the paramedics. If he’s been talking to me, I certainly haven’t heard it. And I definitely don’t know when his hands found my waist.

I’m glad for them now, however, though I break away from him to follow the paramedics out the door, the sunlight outside revealing a pale Mr. Fink talking rapidly to Liza.

When the door shuts, he looks up at us, eyes riveting from the paramedics to me. “I’ve called her parents,” he tells them, as Liza jogs alongside the stretcher. “Liza will go with you. She has access to her records. She’s the camp nurse.”

The paramedics don’t argue. They disappear from view seconds later, however, as I stand there wavering on what to do.

Fink solves the problem for me. Slowly, shakily, he climbs up the stairs to lean against the railing of the small deck, one hand rubbing down his face. “What happened?” he asks, sounding both tired and terrified. “God, what in the world happened?”

“She told me she asked Shawn about the south trail.” I barely realize what I’m saying, and I see Kayde frown from my peripheral vision. “He told her about it and stressed she couldn’t go there. She said she waited for him to leave and went anyway.”

I can’t keep my eyes in one place. I look everywhere and nowhere, not really seeing anything as my gaze roves over the grass and the other buildings. Despite answering Fink, I feel shaky and barely present; I feel as if a strong breeze could knock me on my ass right now. “He shouldn’t have told her anything,” I hiss, as if my opinion matters.

“He didn’t know she’d do that, I’m sure.” Fink leans harder against the rail, hands trailing down his face. “God, Summer. We didn’t need this. How…” He swallows and looks at Kayde. “How is she? I didn’t get to talk to Liza much before the ambulance got here.”

“Bad.” I don’t care that he’s asked Kayde. I’m the one who sat with her and tried to keep her calm. “She’s…It’s bad.” I close my eyes hard, then open them and continue to look around the area in front of me blankly, as if I’m searching for something.