Take Me as I Am

Self Destruction

Summer couldn’t believe her luck. As she got on the plane the following day, she found the only empty seat was next to Patrick. She looked back at Olivia who had sat down next to Jonathan. “Please,” she mouthed.

“No,” Olivia said with a laugh while she shook her head.

“I hate you,” Summer told her as she sat down next to Patrick.

“You just can’t get enough of me, can you?” Patrick asked her with a smirk as she buckled her seat belt.

Summer turned around to look at him. “You wish,” she hissed.

Patrick laughed a little. “Just admit that you wish it was you in my bed last night,” he said softly.

Summer turned around to look at him, furious. “As-tu de ne pas m’écouter? Je ne voudrais pas me coucher avec toi si tu es la dernière personne sur la planète! " she seethed.

Patrick looked at her with a confused expression, as he had not understood a word she had said. “I really need to learn French,” he muttered.

“Um, it’s probably better that you don’t,” Colin Fraser spoke up from his seat on the other side of Patrick, while Summer laughed.

“What’d she say?” Patrick asked.

“Just that she wonders if you ever listen to her,” Colin answered. Patrick turned to look at Summer and saw her smirking.

“What else did she say?”

When Colin didn’t answer, Summer spoke up. “I said I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last guy on the planet,” she told him.

“We’ll see about that,” Patrick muttered.

“Don’t you dare think of me as a challenge,” Summer threatened. “I am not a challenge.”

“Okay,” Patrick replied.

One week later, Summer was standing in the locker room after their loss to the Detroit Red Wings. She had finished translating the last interview, and she was ready to go home for the break. The Blackhawks had a week off before their next game.

She turned around and saw Olivia standing there, waiting for Jonathan to finish his last interview. “Liv,” she called out, and Olivia turned around. “I’m going to head home, okay? I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, bye,” Olivia told her as Summer’s cell phone began vibrating, indicating a call.

“Hello?” Summer asked into the phone.

“Hi, this is Franklin County Hospital. Is this Summer Livingston?”

“Yes, this is Summer,” she replied, as she took a seat in front of Jonathan’s locker. Olivia looked down at her with worry in her eyes. “Is everything okay?” Summer asked into the phone.

“We have a Faith Livingston here,” they said. Summer immediately went as white as a sheet at the mention of her mother in the hospital.

“Is she okay?” Summer asked quickly.

“We cannot release that information over the phone. We asked her if she wanted us to contact anyone for her, and she asked that we call you. We were hoping that you could come down to the hospital. Are you here in town?” the lady asked.

“No, I’m in Chicago,” Summer replied. “But, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay, thank you,” the woman said.

“Thank you,” Summer said as she hung up the phone.

“Sum, what’s wrong?” Olivia asked as she took a seat next to her.

“That was the hospital in Florida. Apparently, Mom’s there.”

“Is everything okay?” Olivia asked.

“They wouldn’t tell me. All they said was that they hoped I could come in. Liv, I’ve got to go. I’ve got to get down there. I have to talk to Dale and ask him for time off…” Summer began rambling.

“Summer, I’m sure Dale will give you time off. It’s your mom,” Olivia interrupted her.

“Liv, you’ve got to come with me,” Summer said. “You know how I get.”

“Sum, if I could, you know I’d go in a heartbeat. But, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get time off. Dale isn’t going to understand how close I am to your mom. She’s your mom, not mine.”

“Technically, she's your mom, too,” Summer told her.

“He’s not going to let us both go,” Olivia told her. “You have to go. I want you to call me as soon as you get down there, and as soon as you find out anything, okay?”

“I will,” Summer told her. “I better go talk to Dale,” she said standing up and leaving.

“Sum, be strong. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I hope so,” she said as she walked out of the locker room.

“Is everything okay?” Jonathan asked sitting down next to Olivia.

“I don’t know. Sum just got a call from a hospital in Florida saying that her mom was there. She’s going to talk to Dale now and ask for some time off to go down there,” Olivia told him.

“Dale will let her go. He’s really big about family,” Jonathan reassured her.

“She wanted me to go, but I told her we both couldn’t get time off,” Olivia said. “I just wish someone was there with her.”

“If I could go, I would,” Jonathan said.

“I know,” Olivia said smiling at him. “It’s just, I’m worried about Sum,” she admitted.

“Worried? What do you mean?” Jonathan asked.

“Well. Her dad died about a year and a half ago from cancer. When she first found out he had cancer, she became self-destructive. We finally got her back to normal, and then he died, and she went back to her old ways.”

“What do you mean ‘self-destructive?’”

“She started going out drinking every night, trying to forget everything. She started sleeping around with people she just met. It was terrible,” Olivia shuddered at the thought. “I’m just worried what’s going to happen if we leave her alone. If something’s wrong with her mom and no one’s around, I’m scared she’s going to go back like that.”

“Well, maybe you could talk to Dale,” Jonathan suggested. “He’d probably let you go if he heard this story.”

“I don’t think Summer wants him to know. That’s one part of her past that she wants to keep somewhat hidden.”

“But if you think she’s going to go back like that, we need someone down there with her,” Jonathan told her.

“I’ll go with her,” someone said from behind them.
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