Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa Ryan have finally graduated from Harbor. Ryan plans to attend Kirstin and Sandy's alma mater, Berkeley. Seth just found out he has been accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design for the spring semester. Summer plans to attend Brown in the fall and now that Seth has also been accepted into a Rhode Island college, the couple is thrilled that they will only be apart for one semester. Marissa is the only member of the group who will not be attending college right away. Instead, she has decided to take a year off from school and join her father who will be working/sailing on a yacht for the next 12 months. Marissa is to leave Newport to meet up with her dad almost immediately after graduation. When Marissa reveals her plans to Ryan, he asks if he can take her to the airport.
"I was actually planning on asking if you would," she replies.
The day after graduation, the quad hangs out in Newport together one last time. They eventually say their goodbyes and Ryan and Marissa leave for the airport. Ryan and Marissa are en route to LAX on the 405 freeway when what appears to be a drunk driver starts harassing them on the road. The pair soon realize that the haggler is Marissa's ex, Volchock. He is in fact intoxicated and driving erratically in attempt to get Ryan to pull over so that he can speak to Marissa before she leaves.
"Pull over! I just want to talk to Marissa. Pull over so I can get this over with," he belligerently screams.
He becomes irate when Ryan refuses to pull over and very quickly runs his SUV off of the freeway and straight into a guard rail. Volchok instantly realizes what he has done and speeds away from the scene of the crime as soon as he can.
The site of the crash is horrendous, and as soon as Ryan gains consciousness he rushes to check on Marissa. "Marissa! Marissa!" Ryan screams as he attempts to wake her. Unfortunately, so far she is unresponsive. Ryan struggles with his jammed seatbelt before he finally escapes from his car. He rushes to the passenger side to help Marissa and is met by an onlooker who has pulled over to help.
"I've already called 911. An ambulance is on their way," the stranger tells Ryan. Now, Ryan and the stranger work together to pry open the passenger side door. Because the passenger side hit the guard rail, this proves to be a difficult yet desperate task. Somehow, the pair manages to pry open the door and just as they accomplish this feat the ambulance arrives.
The paramedics quickly take over and secure a still unconscious Marissa to their gurney. They load her into the ambulance and one paramedic asks a shell-shocked Ryan, "are you coming?" Without Responding, a teary-eyed Ryan scurries into the back of the ambulance. "Please say she's gonna be okay," Ryan begs.
After what seems like an eternity to Ryan, the ambulance arrives at a hospital and quickly rushes Marissa into an emergency room. Now in the waiting room, Ryan regains his composure so that he can call Julie, Marissa's mother. "There's been an accident," Ryan tells her.
Nearly fifteen minutes later Julie arrives at the hospital with her daughter Kaitlin, Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer. Julie, Kaitlin and Summer are sobbing uncontrollably while Sandy and Kirsten try to comfort them. Seth rushes to Ryan's side to figure out what caused the accident. "Are you okay, man? What the hell happened?"
he asks Ryan.
The conversation ends before Ryan can even respond. Two police officers arrive and ask to speak to Ryan for the very same reason as Seth. The police explain that they have already spoken to several witnesses from the scene of the accident. "We're aware that this was not your fault, but if you'll come with us we do have a few questions for you," one office explains to Ryan.
As Ryan steps aside to explain why Volchock ran them off the side of the freeway a doctor finally comes into the waiting room to update everyone on Marissa's condition. "It appears as though Marissa is pretty banged up. She must've hit her head really hard in the accident. We've moved her to the ICU. She's in a coma and we have her hooked up to a ventilator. You can see her now" the doctor said to Julie.
Julie suddenly becomes even more hysterical. Kaitlin hugs her mother and the Cohens rush to her side. Ryan walks away from the police to comfort Julie and hear about Marissa's condition. "She's gonna be okay, Julie" Kirsten says as she puts her hand on Julie's shoulder.
The doctor leads Julie and Kaitlin away from the rest of the group to the ICU room where Marissa is. The police officers return to Ryan's side. Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Summer stand pale-faced in the waiting room, praying that Marissa will be okay.