AN: Some of you may recognize this because I posted it before but there was a glaring mistake at the end that I had to take out. Thanks for the person that pointed out the mistake, it was so huge that it would have made the whole story unbelievable (yeah, I know, it's not really that believable now, but it would have been worse, I swear). Thanks for all the reviews and support.

The cops forced us to go to the hospital. Luke and I were silent on the ambulance ride.

I hadn't expected Julie Cooper to snap. It never cursed my mind that she was that unstable. I mean, she was fucking her daughter's ex-boyfriend but that didn't make her crazy…just horny.

"Hey, Chino?" Luke called.

"Yeah?"

"You look a little green, man," Luke replied. He seemed relieved that I'd answered him.

"That shit was surreal," I said.

"Hell, yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Luke sighed.

"What are you going to tell your folks?" I asked.

"The truth."

"Ouch," I sympathized.

"I have to tell Marissa, too," He said quietly.

"Do you want me to tell her?" I hoped he'd say no but I felt like I should offer.

"No, dude, it has to come from me."

I nodded. Whatever the EMT had given me was making me dizzy.

"Are you okay, man?" Luke asked.

"Do you feel all…spacy?" I asked.

"Nah, man…" Luke nudged the paramedic. "Check on my man, there," He urged.

The paramedic shined a light in my eyes and took my blood pressure.

My cell phone rang. I glanced at Luke with an amused smile. "Should I get it?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah."

I flipped it open, ignoring the paramedic's scolding.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Sandy.

"In the ambulance…"

"We're at the hospital waiting for you…"

"Oh. Okay." It was nice that he was waiting for me. He sounded worried.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I answered. He really sounded worried. "I'll see you in a few minutes." I flipped the phone closed.

"Sandy?"

"Yeah." I lost my vision for a moment and when I blinked again, I saw the ceiling of the ambulance. "Dizzy…"

"You're still bleeding," Luke said distantly.

"Really?" I muttered. My side really hurt now.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you die, Cohen's going to kill me…"

I smiled. Seth was pretty protective back at the school. "If I die, I'll kill you myself…"

"We're pulling in now," The paramedic told me. I nodded. I was dizzy. I'd just close my eyes until I got my bearings.

"He lost a lot of blood but he should be fine. The bullet passed through cleanly and he can go home in a few hours," Someone was saying.

"Thank you, doctor," Kirsten said. I was in so much trouble. Kirsten and Sandy were here and I bet they were angry. More publicity they didn't need.

"He looks so young…so pale," Sandy said quietly.

"I'm going to talk to Seth and the girls," Kirsten said.

I had to wake up eventually. I opened my eyes. "Hey."

"Ryan, you had us worried…" Kirsten smiled, relieved. She was holding my hand.

"Sorry…" I couldn't contain my wince as I focused on alertness.

"How do you feel?" Sandy asked.

"I'm okay…"

"You were shot, Ryan," Kirsten frowned.

"I mean, I'm shot, but I'm cool. How's Luke?"

"Talking to his parents," Sandy replied.

"Julie Cooper, I'd like to throttle her…" Kirsten hissed.

"I had no idea she'd snap," Sandy replied.

"You should've told me…" Kirsten snapped.

"Why? What could you have done?" Sandy asked.

"I could've talked to her or something…"

"It isn't our business. It was Luke's problem," I said. They shouldn't be fighting about this. Kirsten and Sandy shouldn't fight.

"Well, Luke's problem almost got you killed today," Kirsten said quietly.

I sighed. She was right. But I thought I'd done the right thing. I told Luke to get out of the relationship. We told Sandy. I stood by my friend…

"Ryan?" Kirsten called.

I hadn't realized that I'd closed my eyes.

"You're not in trouble, kid, you didn't do anything wrong," Sandy said.

"We don't care, bitch, we're going!" Summer's voice was shrill from outside the room. Summer burst into the room, pulling Anna and Seth by their arms and immediately followed by a nurse and several orderlies.

"Summer, what…" Sandy started.

"They are freaking out. Luke just got discharged and I swear that Cohen was about to cry," Summer said.

"It's okay, nurse," Kirsten said and the frazzled nurse and orderlies left.

"Dude, are you okay?" Seth asked. I slapped his hand. His face was drawn with barely contained panic.

"Yeah."

"Really? 'Cause you look awful," Anna whispered.

"We're going to fill out some paperwork," Sandy said.

"The police want to talk to you," Kirsten added quietly.

"What should I say?" I looked at Sandy for guidance.

"Oh, maybe that Julie and Luke were lovers?" Anna murmured.

"The truth, Ryan. Don't lie. It's all going to come out," Sandy said. He followed Kirsten from the room.

"You knew?" Seth asked me.

"Yeah," I whispered. "For a couple of days."

"But you made him stop seeing her, didn't you?" Anna asked.

"I didn't make Luke do anything," I replied. He did everything on his own. "I just offered my advice."

"Marissa's a wreck," Summer offered.

"We didn't want to upset her, that's why he ended it," I sighed.

"Julie is really nuts, Ryan," Anna murmured.

"What did she say to you?" I asked.

Anna's eyes flashed darkly. "I'll tell you later. I don't feel like going through it again." I noticed Seth give her a curious glance. She hadn't told anyone, it seemed. She took my hand and I squeezed hers with a sigh.

"So, Luke's already out?" I questioned.

"Yeah, but his parents are pissed and they wouldn't let him say anything to us. His mom had his good arm in a death grip," Seth replied. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me, too. That was pretty fucked up back there."

"You guys were all stupid for not taking off as soon as you saw that gun," Summer said.

"It happened too fast," Anna murmured, looking at me. She was more upset that I'd expected. She'd probably never been that close to a gun before.

"We saw Ryan push you behind him but you…" Summer started.

"I latched on. I couldn't just leave them there…" Anna said. "I was scared as hell…"

"It's all over now. Everyone's okay," Seth started.

Anna started to cry and surprisingly, Summer pulled her into a hug.

"This sucks, man," Seth whispered to me.

"I know." I felt like I needed to say something to Seth. He'd really helped out back at the school, he'd kept me calm.

"What?" Seth asked, conscious of my thoughtfulness.

"Thanks. For keeping me from running off back on the steps," I said.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Seth replied.

"I don't know…but thanks."

"No problem."

Summer and Anna followed us home from the hospital. Luckily, Sandy was in the car with me and wouldn't let Seth or Kirsten interrogate me too much. The cops had already done that. About halfway home, Kirsten started flipping through my medical papers.

"Ryan, you're allergic to codeine?" She asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. I'd told the paramedic as soon as he approached me.

"Did you know that?" She asked Sandy.

"You should tell us stuff like that," Seth said from beside me.

"I told the EMT," I replied. I didn't see the big deal.

"But what if you were unconscious or something?" Seth asked quietly.

"Oh." Good question. I hadn't considered that before.

"You've had surgery?" Kirsten continued.

"Ruptured appendix when I was thirteen," I replied. This should be loads of fun.

"Harsh," Seth whispered. I rolled my eyes at him and he gave me a wan smile.

"Broken bones? That one's blank," She said, turning in the seat to give me a curious look.

"I told the doctor, there must've not been enough room," I joked. She frowned at me. "Okay, I broke my arm a couple of times, my collarbone, my wrist, my leg and ankle once…is that enough?"

Seth shook his head at me. "She's never going to let it go, now," He said quietly.

"Can I have those papers?" I attempted. I knew she wouldn't give them up but I had to try.

"It's all in his child services file," Sandy said quietly.

I closed my eyes. I knew they had my files but I hadn't let myself think about them reading them. I wasn't proud of whatever was in there. I'd always wondered how my life would look to an outsider in tight little print in a folder. All my sins and my parent's sins classified into paragraphs.

"Ryan?"

I regarded Seth tiredly.

"We're almost home," Seth said.

I nodded and let my eyes drift closed again.