NOTE: I do not own any of these characters… you can thank FOX. If you have any questions or comment you can e-mail me at liverbrain22@hotmail.com or post a review.

(P.s. thanks for the reviews!)

Chapter Six

"Sing me my favorite lullaby
Make a fairytale seem real
Paint a portrait of my fears
Burn it up in flames so I wont hear
The screaming pains of my soul"

A lonely Heart - Kate

Marissa came running into the hospital waiting room crying. "Luke!" She wrapped her arms around him. "How is he?"

"I don't know…I'm sorry about Oliver." Luke said as Marissa let him go.

She wiped away tears and said, "It's okay…he…oh god…how's Ryan?"

"I don't know…he's arm is mucked up pretty bad, but it's not like he's dead or anything." Luke said, realizing he upset Marissa more. "Shit, Marissa…I'm sorry."

"Can I see him? Where is he?"

"I think Seth is with him right now. He's in room 27." Luke replied.

Marissa went off down the hall and spotted the Cohen's talking to a doctor. She walked up to them.

"Marissa, how are you?" Kirsten asked, breaking away from the conversation. Kirsten knew that Oliver and her were good friends.

"I'm fine, how's Ryan? Is he okay?"

Kirsten hesitated, "Yeah, Seth's with him right now…I think you should give him a little time. Why don't you go home? You look exhausted. I'll call you as soon as Ryan is up for talking, he's a little sleepy." Kirsten said. Ryan had requested that he didn't want to talk to Marissa.

"Oh, okay…sure. Just tell him I dropped by then. Bye." She said, then walked away.

++++++++++++…..Meanwhile in Room 27….++++++++++++

"So, when are they letting you loose?" Seth asked.

Ryan looked at his bandaged arm that was wrapped in a sling, close to his chest. "Your parents are talking to the doctor right now. So…I don't know."

"Hey…look on the bright side…" Seth said, not having a clue what that bright side was. Oliver was dead. No, that was too mean. He stood there thinking of a brighter side.

"Jeez Seth, you look like a cat on a hot tin roof." Ryan commented.

"Glad you still value humor." Seth shot back. Seth was getting uncomfortable, he didn't know what to talk about. "So…what exactly happened with Oliver?"

"He shot himself." Ryan said. Seth gave him his look of disappointment. "I don't want to talk about it Seth. I just got shot…and, well, I can't feel my arm and its not the best feeling…"

"Yeah, of course." Seth said, "It's understandable…I'll let you get some rest." Seth said, patting Ryan on the shoulder. Ryan winced in pain. "Oh shit! Right…forgot…. Okay, I'm going to go now." Seth left the room and bumped into his parents.

"How's he doing?" Sandy asked Seth.

"Fine, I guess…he's tired. When can he come home?" Seth asked.

"They still need to do some tests on Ryan…and even after that, Seth…nerves are very important, and when you damage a nerve..." Kirsten didn't want to think about what the doctor had just told her. "Why don't you go take Luke home. He's been cooped up in that waiting room all morning."

Seth didn't complain. He went back into the waiting room to get Luke.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Seth said, walking up to Luke.

Luke threw his magazine down on a table and followed Seth outside of the hospital.

Sandy and Kirsten walked into Ryan's room and Kirsten sat down next to the bed. Sandy paced the room.

"What now?" Ryan asked. "Can I go home soon? I hate hospitals." Ryan said, getting nervous of Sandy's pacing.

"The doctors want to do some more tests to see what they can do for the damaged nerve." Kirsten said.

"What kind of tests?"

"Reflex tests, some x-rays…to see if they can attempt to fix the nerve damage the bullet caused." Sandy explained. Sandy stopped pacing and looked at Ryan's face. Ryan looked scared. "Don't worry, just hang tight. They have good doctors here."

"But…what if they can't fix it?" Ryan asked, his voice a little shaky. "I'm not stupid, I know how serious nerve damage is…I just want to use my arm…"

"Well…" Sandy stopped. "Don't worry, kid." The doctor walked into the room and Kirsten stood up.

"Ryan, how are you?" The doctor asked.

"I'm fine. Let's just get these tests over with…I hate it here." Ryan admitted to the doctor.

The doctor laughed, "Okay, Ryan." The doctor turned to Sandy and Kirsten. "We'll take Ryan to the x-ray room and give him some reflex tests, he should be back down here in less than an hour." Dr. Shorans said.

Sandy and Kirsten said their good-byes to Ryan and left the room.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Seth drove Luke home and went back to his house, where he found Summer waiting on his front porch. He pulled up into the driveway and turned off the ignition.

"Summer…what are you doing here?" Seth asked.

"Oliver's dead, Cohen. Marissa is hysterical and Luke just called me and told me Ryan was in the hospital." Summer said.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Seth said, unlocking the front door and walking in. "So, I guess Ryan was right all along…but for no one believed him. Now look what happened." Summer didn't say anything as she walked into his house. "How's Marissa?"

"Hysterical; she doesn't want to talk to me about any of it. She also told me that she went to see Ryan, but you were with him." Summer said. "How is he?"

"He's okay…he can't feel his arm. The bullet caused nerved damage."

"Oh my god, I once knew this guy who had nerve damage and now he's paralyzed! And, I knew this other guy who—"

"Summer! Please, Ryan's going to be fine." Seth said.

"Sorry…so, do you want to do something? There's no point in going back to school." Summer said.

"Shouldn't you be with Marissa?" Seth asked

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone about anything. Her dad told me to give her some space…Why don't we go pick up Luke and grab some lunch, I'm starving."

"I just dropped him off!"

"Cohen! Just call him, okay. Maybe we could get some info out of him about what happened last night."

"Fine." Seth picked up the phone and called Luke's house.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ryan lay back down in his hospital bed and starred up at the ceiling. He could hear Sandy and Kirsten coming down the hallway.

Sandy walked into the room first and patted Ryan on the leg. "How'd it go, kid?" Kirsten took a seat next to the bed.

Ryan didn't say anything.

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"I can't feel anything." Ryan said, still starring up at the ceiling. Just then the doctor came in.

"Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Cohen." Dr. Shorans nodded at them. "Okay, we did some x-rays on Ryan and I believe there is a possibility to repair the nerve damage." Sandy and Kirsten gave him a confused look. "There are two ways to deal with this," Dr. Shorans explained. "One, we use graphic surgery and take a nerve from somewhere else in the body and replace the nerve in Ryan's arm, in hopes that it will take on the responsibility of the damaged nerve. Then after that, Ryan will have to go through therapy to try and regain the use of the arm back. The only downside to this is taking another nerve in the body can cause problems—more damage."

"What's the other way?" Sandy asked.

"Technology has advanced to what we call multi-component artificial nerve grafting. So, we could go into Ryan's arm and repair the damaged nerve with a fake nerve."

"Is doing that better?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, if you go the other way and take a nerve from Ryan's body, you risk further injury. Either way, Ryan is going to have to go into extensive therapy to regain use of his arm. It could take months, even years until he regains the use of his arm." Dr. Shorans looked at Ryan, who was still looking up at the ceiling. "I'll give you some time to decide what you want to do."

"Okay, thank you." Kirsten said, as Dr. Shorans left the room.

"Are you okay, Ryan?" Sandy asked. Ryan hadn't said a word.

"Yeah." Ryan said. He looked at Sandy, then at Kirsten. "What do you want me to do?" Ryan asked.

"This should be up to you, Ryan. Whatever you decide will be fine with us."

Ryan didn't have to think long; he knew what he wanted and didn't want. He didn't want to take another nerve from his body and pray that it would work. He'd rather try a fake nerve and go from there.

"I want to go with the artificial nerve." Ryan said.

"Okay." Sandy said, "I'll go tell the doctor." Sandy left the room.

"Are you sure that's what you want, Ryan?" Kirsten asked

"I don't want to risk more nerve damage."

"Okay. But you do realize that putting in an artificial nerve, the chances are slim…and you would never be able to use your arm." Kirsten said.

"I know…" Ryan said.

"Okay." Kirsten walked over to the window. "Marissa came by earlier to see you." She looked over at Ryan, "Did you want to see her?"

"No…not right now." Ryan said.

As much as he wanted to get back together with Marissa, he couldn't. He had just witnessed Oliver's death and was still in a bit of shock. He wasn't sure if he wanted Marissa back either. Oliver is gone now and she should be safe. She doesn't need him anymore and Ryan doesn't need her.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"So did you talk to Anna?" Summer asked, as they drove towards Luke's house.

"Yeah, it's over." Seth said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"So you dumped her?"

"Well, not exactly…" Seth responded.

"What do you mean, Cohen?"

"Well, I was about to do it. But she beat me to it!"

"Huh…" Was all Summer could say, as they reached Luke's house.

"Hey…" Luke said, as he hopped in the back of the SUV. "Where we off to?"

"I was thinking the Crab Shack…" Seth offered.

"Sounds good." Luke said and they drove off.

When they got to the Crab Shack, they took a booth at the far corner of the restaurant and ordered their food. A month ago, Summer and Luke wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with Seth. Everything has changed though, since Luke's dad admitted he was gay and for Summer, Seth didn't know what has changed with her. He also wasn't sure if they were 'dating', since he was dumped by Anna.

Summer picked at her crab with her fingers in disgust. "I'm suddenly not so hungry anymore…Waiter!" She called out. "Could I have an iced tea, please?" The waiter then came back with the beverage for her. "So, Luke, what happened? Tell us all the details."

Luke wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it down on his plate. "Well, we went to go see Oliver to convince Marissa that he was crazy…so Ryan, he brought a tape recorder to tape everything…"

"And how is Oliver crazy? He seemed fine to me…" Summer said, sipping her drink.

"Okay, the guy is nuts!" Luke explained. "Well, was nuts…he was trying to 'win' Marissa over and he told Ryan that he had lost at that. Well…anyway, Ryan went to go talk to him and Oliver was telling him that Marissa wasn't going back to him and that Ryan should go back to his 'project'."

"Project?" Seth questioned.

"Your parents…he told Ryan that The Cohen's were his project. So, Ryan punched him to the ground and then Oliver hit him back and that's when I came and gave Oliver a beating. Then, the next thing we know, he's gone. He disappeared into his room and Ryan went to go look and that's when he shot Ryan, then himself." Luke took a sip of his drink. "That's pretty much it."

"But why would he kill himself? I don't get it." Summer said.

Seth cut in, "Summer the guy was sick! He cut his wrists over a girl! And why we didn't all believe Ryan? Who knows…"

"Well, I think that's stupid." Summer added.

Both boys nodded in agreement.

"We need to go to the hospital and get that tape recorder and show it to Marissa and you're parents, Seth." Luke said. "Did you tell your parents about the tape recorder yet?" He asked Seth.

"No, I totally forgot when I went to go see Ryan at the hospital. And Ryan didn't even mention it to me." Seth looked at his watch, seeing that it was one in the afternoon. "If we're going to the hospital, we should go now." Seth said.

Seth, Luke and Summer left the Crab Shack, with Seth paying the bill and headed off to the hospital to get the tape recorder.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ryan finally drifted off to sleep at one in the afternoon. Kirsten had to leave the hospital around noon; Caleb had called her because there was an emergency at the office. Sandy sat in the room with Ryan and read a magazine. Ryan was to go into surgery at two.

There was a knock on the door at Room 27.

Seth, Luke and Summer walked into the room and Sandy got up and put his finger at his lips. "Shhh…he's sleeping." Sandy walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

"How is he?" Luke asked.

"He's going into surgery in a half hour." Sandy said.

"What? Chino's going in surgery!" Summer shouted.

"Shhhhhh" Seth said, covering her mouth with his hand. "The baby is sleeping…you know how cranky he gets when we wake him!" Seth said, trying to throw humor in a bad situation.

"He can't feel his arm, Summer." Sandy explained the whole procedure to the three of them.

"So…he's never going to feel his arm?" Seth asked.

"No…well it's a possibility but, it takes time, Seth. He's not going to wake up from the surgery and regain the feeling…it's not that easy."

Seth shrugged, "Well can we see him before he goes into surgery?"

"I don't think he will be up—" All of a sudden they heard a crash from inside the room. "What the?" Sandy opened the door and saw Ryan standing up. "Ryan, what are you doing?" Sandy asked. Seth, Luke and Summer appeared at the door.

"Sorry—I didn't see that." Ryan nodded towards the tray that had fallen to the floor. "I have to go to the bathroom…you can now all stop looking at me." Ryan said to everyone, walking into the bathroom.

Ryan looked at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and his eye was swollen from where Oliver had punched him. He looked at his arm and felt sickened. He couldn't feel it, yet he looked at it through the mirror. It was strange to him, but he knew that he would have to get used to it. He finally went to the bathroom and walked back out in the room. Seth, Luke and Summer were all in the room. Sandy was gone.

"Hey man, how you feeling?" Luke asked.

Ryan didn't answer Luke and hopped back into his bed. It was hard getting comfortable for Ryan because he had minimal use of his arms. One arm had no feeling in it; the other arm was patched up at the shoulder, from where the bullet nicked him.

Summer noticed Ryan struggling and went in to help him. "Here…" Summer said, moving his pillow and pulling up the sheets.

"It's okay, I got it." Ryan said, but still let her help him.

"You hitting on my woman, Ryan?" Seth asked.

"My woman?" Summer asked. "So…I'm now your woman?"

Seth ignored her. "Don't you think you should be giving someone a sponge bath right now?" Seth asked.

"Shut up, Cohen." Summer replied and turned her full attention back to Ryan. "The guys told me about the tape recorder…we were wondering where it is…you know, to show Marissa and the Cohen's. Marissa is hysterical…I can't talk to her!"

Ryan squirmed in his bed. "I don't know where my clothes are…" Ryan turned to Luke. "Maybe we should just forget about it…I mean he's dead, right? Why worry people more?" Ryan said. He didn't want anyone to listen to the recorder, mainly because he and Oliver had a conversation just before he shot himself.

"But—" Seth was cut off by Ryan.

"Just forget it, okay?" Ryan said. Seth knew that there was no way to change Ryan's mind. But Seth was awfully suspicious of Ryan not wanting anyone to listen to it. It didn't make any sense to him.

"Hey, why don't we go…I think Ryan needs his rest." Summer said, breaking up the silence in the room."

"Yeah…" Luke said, walking towards the door. "Good luck, man. We'll be sticking around right after the surgery."

"Break a leg! Wait…no never mind…don't." Seth added in, as he walked out of the room.

Summer was the only one left in the room. "Get better, Ryan and fast! There's no way I'm being ditched with only Seth! That only happens in my nightmares."

Ryan laughed and put his head down on his pillow. "Don't worry Summer…I'll try my hardest." Summer then left the room and Ryan closed his eyes. Seconds later he was fast asleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Okay guys, I hoped you liked that chapter. Thanks for all the reviews on fanfic and the O.C. message boards at FOX. Chapter Seven should be up by Tuesday or Wednesday.

(Many thanks goes out to Kat for explaining the whole nerve damage process…I hope I got it right…)