"Lucas Walker, he's not just an ordinary man, I was afraid that you… afraid that you would worry about me. My dad and my brother, they cause you stress every day, I… I really don't want you to worry about me anymore. Since… since that time I went ice-skating, and you were upset all night, I… I swore I would never make you cry again. This time when I came back, I remembered that I wanted to tell you and dad the truth. Yesterday, I had intended to come clean with you first, but when I got to your room… you were already asleep, and I didn't want to disturb you. Then I thought I'd wait until you woke up to talk to you, but I didn't expect myself to fall asleep too."
Summer Gardner never dreamed that in such a short time, her daughter had experienced so much.
She had long been on tenterhooks, her heart aching so badly it was practically crumpled into a ball.
"Why didn't you tell mom and dad about such a big thing? What if something happened to you, how do you expect mom to live on?!"
