Thank you Dogsbody and Chinoryan and Ansy Pansy aka Panz and Sarah Atwood and Drkdawn and Princesssparkle88 and Leentje and Kirsan and Silver Dog Demon and Pen Liddin and Marei for your reviews! I'll cut right to the chase, since I feel that the waiting room scene would only be stalling on my part, and very boring. I'm sure everyone knows that Ryan's friends and family are panicking. There's the whole scene summed up in one sentence. Hope you're happy. This may be the end of my fanfic. We'll see.

The waiting room was torture. Anticipation-filled family members, scorning themselves over endangered loved ones. The Cohens, Art, and Marissa were now part of that. The hours passed bitterly. Silence except for the weeping and occasional reassuring pat on someone's back. Then the doctor came.

"Are you the family of Ryan Atwood?" From the seriousness of the man's voice, Kirsten began to feel faint again. Sandy stood and attempted to appear somewhat composed and calm.

"Yes."

"Along with several other smaller injuries, Ryan has sustained a pneumothorax. Basically, a broken rib of his punctured one of his lungs, causing the lung tissue that separates the lungs and chest wall to collapse. Air has leaked through the tissue into his pleural space. This is fatal, and the procedure to fix it involves a tube and suction to remove that air. Recovery for him should take a while, but only ten days or so in the hospital. Now aside from that nasty business, he has some fractured ribs, a broken wrist, a concussion, a fractured arm, sprained ankle, minor cuts, scratches, bruises." The doctor's words brought utter relief to the five friends. Ryan was alright. He would not die. He would be home in a matter of days. Just long enough for the cops to get a straight story on the whole Tony situtation. Sandy knew Ryan would not want to talk; the kid was so private all the time, and he was injured now. Talking would be quite an annoyance. Marissa's voice interrupted Sandy's thoughts.

"Will we be able to see him?" Her voice was quiet, innocent, and highly concerned.

"We'd prefer you didn't, actually. He won't be awake anyway. We've given him several different types of drugs to ease the pain and keep him in a state of unconsciousness. Trust me, it's better that way. The soonest you can see him is probably tomorrow."

"But doctor, it's four in the morning now! You're really going to keep him sleeping for twenty hours? Isn't that rather comatose?"

"The surgery Ryan has gone through is very serious. I mean, he has been in a car accident, and whether you like it or not, his recovery is going to recover a whole lot of rest. Nearly half his ribs are broken! And the ones that aren't broken are fractured. He's much happier asleep than awake, I can assure you that." The doctor stopped for a moment and took some breaths to calm himself. It had been such a long night. He had had many more patients than usual, and he was exhausted. He lowered his voice, apologetically and finished. "Look, you folks seem real nice, but waiting around here isn't going to do anybody a bit of good. Why don't you go on home? You all look like you could use some rest yourselves."

"But what if Ryan wakes up? Someone needs to be here for him!"

"Miss, that's what nurses are for. They'll take great care of him, and anytime they see him awake, they'll just refresh his drug supply."

Kirsten gave up and nodded. The doctor left.

XXX

"Mom, why are we just leaving him back there?" Seth whined from a few feet away from her. Art had set up a palette of sheets and blankets since the beds were all taken by Paul,

"Seth, you heard the doctor. There's nothing we can do for Ryan right now. Really, there's nothing we can do until he's back safe at home with us."

"So why are we leaving Chino then?"

"Seth, I told you, we aren't leaving until we can see Ryan. Art's being kind enough to let us stay longer at his home. But afterward, we'll take Ryan back home. Now try and go to sleep. If you really want to see Ryan tomorrow, you don't want to scare him looking like you haven't slept in days."

"But that's just it; I haven't slept since we got here. I can't sleep. It's too hard."

"Kirsten, Seth," Sandy bellowed from beside them, "none of us have slept. Just try harder. Ryan's in great hands right now. He's fine. Just pretend he's at a sleepover or something."

"Ew, Dad, guys don't have sleepovers! We have manly get-togethers!" A few chuckles arose from around Seth.

"Finally, that Seth-sarcasm has returned! I was beginning to miss it!" Sandy said through his laughter and that of the others.

"Really?"

"Well, maybe not." More chuckles. Maybe everything will be okay, afterall.

XXX

Ryan felt himself waking. He felt some pain, but not as much as before. More than anything else he felt numb. What had AJ done to him this time to land him back in the hospital? Did Ryan even want to remember? Then it all came flooding back to him. Trey's phone call. The trip to Chino. The talk with Art. Lying to the Cohens and Marissa about where he was. Staying with Paul. Doing cocaine. Finding Trey's beaten body on the porch. Refusing to leave even when Trey tried to persuade him. Paul getting the boys together. The fight. Waking up in pain from his beating. Finding out everyone would be okay. Seeing the Cohens and Marissa at Art's house. Running off to the motel. Being kidnapped by Tony and his drugdealers. Vomitting. Pain from his lung. Phone calls and negotiations. The car accident.

A nurse wandered into the room and stared at Ryan, hesitant to speak. "Mr. Atwood, you're awake. Uh, hold on a moment while I check your IV here," she said stepping across the room and injecting something into the bag dangling above Ryan's head. The liquid forced its way into Ryan's veins, thrusting Ryan back into blackness.

I know it is short, but I'm not sure I want to end it yet. I might throw in another twist. Maybe not. I don't know.