Summer

Summer is the season in which the consequences of the crash become a daily family reality rather than a single unfolding emergency. For Page Clarke, its months bring a marriage breaking apart, a new relationship taking shape, and the slow adjustment to the possibility that Allyson Clarke may not wake. The season’s movement—from tentative plans for a few days away to a family vacation and Allyson’s first words—does not erase uncertainty; it shows the family beginning to make room for life around it.

From May to the Uncertain Summer

The calendar turns toward summer while the family is still living in the aftermath of the crash. Exactly two weeks after it, Page and Trygve Thorensen share a quiet moment in the May sunshine outside the hospital. They acknowledge the cost of what has happened, including their troubled marriages and the danger their children faced, but also consider that the accident might eventually bring blessings. Trygve tells Page he loves her, and their closeness offers a contrast to the crisis surrounding them without pretending the crisis is over.

As June approaches, the season’s ordinary plans feel difficult to make. Trygve asks what Page and Andy Clarke will do that summer; Page’s first concern is that she cannot leave Allyson. He raises the possibility of a short trip if there is no change in her condition, and suggests the family’s usual destination, Lake Tahoe, where Bjorn Thorensen would enjoy Andy’s company. Page is interested, but makes any decision conditional on Allyson’s state nearer the time. August is two months away, she observes, and much could change. Summer therefore begins as a question about whether the family can plan at all while Allyson remains in a coma.

Separation and Competing Summer Plans

The season also coincides with the end of Page and Brad Clarke’s shared household. Page tells Brad he should move out, recognizing that their attempt to continue living together after his affair has become untenable. When he later returns from New York and packs, their son Andy encounters the suitcases before Page can explain what is happening. The separation changes the shape of summer for Page and the children: Brad has a life apart from them, while Page is trying to sustain a routine beside Allyson’s hospital bed.

Brad’s plans sharpen the contrast between the two households. Andy tells Page that Brad and Stephanie are going to Europe for a month and worries that his father will not take the children on vacation. Page acknowledges the hurt in hearing about a trip she herself had wanted to take with Brad, but tells Andy they should not leave Allyson. The children are not going with Brad and Stephanie. By August, Brad is in Europe, while Trygve and his children have gone to Lake Tahoe. Summer thus makes the division of family life concrete: different adults make different plans, and Andy remains attached to his mother and sister even when there are opportunities to go elsewhere.

Caregiving, Routine, and the Change in Allyson

Trygve and his children leave for Lake Tahoe on August 1, with Page promising to join them with Andy in mid-August. Andy is tempted by Trygve’s offer to take him ahead of Page, but wants to stay close to his mother. Since the crash, he has become less secure: he dislikes sleeping at friends’ homes and sometimes has nightmares about Allyson. His response is one reason the summer’s travel plans remain qualified by the family’s needs, not simply by convenience.

While Trygve is away, Page’s days settle into a demanding routine. She takes Andy to day camp, visits Allyson in hospital, works with the therapist to keep her daughter’s body moving, and spends time on a mural before returning to Allyson and later collecting Andy. She has finished one mural and begun a detailed port scene in the waiting room. The work gives a place to her artistic ambitions, while the hospital visits keep her attention anchored to Allyson’s uncertain condition. Trygve calls every day; missing Page so much, he once drives down from Tahoe for a single night with her before returning in the morning.

During one quiet afternoon in early August, Page notices movement in Allyson’s hands. Because such movements have happened before and have not meant that Allyson is waking, Page initially returns to her drawings. This time, however, Allyson moves again and speaks. Trygve and the children drive down from Tahoe that night, but Allyson is asleep by their arrival—not comatose, but sleeping normally as she is weaned from her respirator and kept in intensive care for observation. The word Page reports to the family is Mama. The change is momentous, but the doctors’ caution remains part of the scene: it is too soon to know what Allyson’s recovery will bring.

Lake Tahoe and the Future Beyond Summer

Page eventually joins Trygve and the children at Lake Tahoe. The vacation offers time together away from the hospital: they ride, fish, hike, share campfires and barbecues, and spend a night sleeping outdoors. Page’s trips back to Ross every few days are difficult, but she considers them worth making. The holiday is a respite, not a withdrawal from Allyson’s recovery; its rhythm includes both time with the family and returns to the hospital.

By the end of the second week, Allyson can stand and take a few steps with assistance. She recognizes Trygve, asks for Chloe Thorensen, and wants to see Andy. When Page visits, Allyson greets her and asks how she is; a joke about disliking fish gives the family a moment of laughter. These gains give the summer a turn toward hope, while remaining specific and limited: Allyson is beginning rehabilitation, not simply restored to her former life.

The season also opens onto a future that Page and Trygve have not yet settled. In a later conversation, Page proposes a Christmas wedding while revealing that she is nearly six months pregnant. The news brings a new family possibility into a story shaped by separation, caregiving, and recovery. Summer’s significance lies in this coexistence: Page does not wait for every uncertainty to disappear before making plans, but neither does the promise of travel, love, or a child cancel the work and worry of staying present for Allyson.