Page 50 of One Last Summer
“I’ve been out for a while, huh.” I gingerly patted my hair; it crunched in my fingers like a pile of twigs and dead leaves. This was now my third day in New Hampshire, and I hadn’t even cracked open my little container of travel shampoo yet, much less stepped into the shower. At this point I wasn’t sure when I’d last brushed my teeth.
Sam nodded. “Nick and Trey came in a little while ago and you didn’t even budge.”
“Jesus.” I stretched my arms overhead, letting out a huge yawn. “I’m surprised they didn’t try to draw on me with a permanent marker.”
“Oh, believe me, Nick considered it. But I sent them home.”
The nurse shuffled around Sam, making little notes on his clipboard.
“They left?” I asked, blinking a few more times as the clock on the wall slowly came into focus; it was just after nine in the morning.
She nodded. “Everyone headed back to shower and get some food. Don’t worry, your ride is waiting for you.”
“My ride?” I asked, though I knew she meant Mack, the thought of him cranking my eyes open just a bit more.
“Oh, come on, Clare-bear, don’t play dumb. You know who I mean.”
“I’ll stay,” I said quickly, but Sam just leveled a no-bullshit look back at me in response.
“I’m fine now, I swear,” she insisted. “Eloise is heading back here in a bit, and she left me with that monster romance book she just finished. I’m dying to find out what it’s like to sleep with a werewolf.”
Sam waved a thick paperback in my face, a ripped, hairy torso greeting me on the cover.
“I feel like the claws would get in the way of things,” I pondered.
“Lots of scratching,” Sam agreed, poking her tongue at me.
The nurse’s eyes darted up from his clipboard at this, brows cocked, and then quickly returned to his notes.
“I want you to text me immediately if anything even feels remotely off,” I said. “Promise?”
She sent me off with an air kiss, and I stumbled out into the fluorescent-lit hallway. With little sleep and no coffee, I only felt half alive, and I dragged myself toward the lobby like a zombie on the hunt for brains, reading my texts through crusty, tired eyes.
There were a bunch of messages on our Pine Lake group chat about Sam, and a frantic need for coffee. Then one from Lydia that just read Stop working—you’re on a playcation!
But her text only amped me back up, reminding me of that new idea excitement that had buzzed through me just hours earlier.
I’d drafted an entire proposal on my phone, complete with anecdotes of my own time at Pine Lake to really sell the creative angle. All I needed to do now was get it formatted and sent off to Amaya. I hadn’t felt this sensation in so long—the giddiness, that pure love for the work that I did. The thrill of it quickly switched me from exhausted to wide awake as I rounded the corner into the emergency room lobby.
My body noticed Mack before my brain did, my skin prickling with awareness at the sight of him. He was now wearing the faded gray sweatshirt he’d been using as a sleeping mask, and his hair was utter chaos. But he stood with a serious look on his face, arms crossed, listening intently as a boy in a wheelchair waved his hands excitedly, mid-story.
“Hey!” I called, and he glanced up as the doors clicked behind me, his face registering me with a flicker of a smile.
“Millen,” he said, waving me closer. “I want you to meet someone.”
“Good morning,” I said as I gave the kid in front of him an awkward wave.
“This is Travis.” He bumped the kid’s shoulder affectionately with a rap of his knuckles. “Pine Lake Camp waterskiing all-star. And his dad, Bruce.”
Travis was grinning up at Mack with the eyes of someone gazing at his idol. Bruce waved hello with a weary shake of his hand. Both he and his son were splattered with dried mud.
“Travis was just telling me about falling off his mountain bike this morning,” Mack said.
“I hit a tree root and flew over the handlebars!” he exclaimed like it was a massive accomplishment. “I thought I could walk it off, but my ankle’s broken.”
“We’re waiting to hear from the doctor if he needs surgery,” Bruce added, his voice much less enthusiastic. “This kid nearly gave me a heart attack this morning.”
Travis shrugged, still beaming. “I thought it was awesome.”
