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Chapter Nine

The Morning After

The Cohen house was silent and it felt like it had been inhabited for more then almost two days. Until he walked into the pool house, Ryan hadn't realized just how exhausted he was; he had barely slept in forty-eight hours and his bed looked more comfortable then it ever had. As he lay on top of the comforter, Ryan intended to rest his eyes for only a moment before getting up and into the shower but he ended up sleeping for the entire night. His sleep was dreamless, peaceful and undisturbed and not once did he think about the problems that waited for him when he woke.

Seth, however, was in a completely different state of mind, stalking around his bedroom, listening to the phone ring against his ear and wishing Summer would pick up. He had dialed her numbed as soon as he walked into the house and had been listening to the ringing ever since. Now he was really worried about Summer; it wasn't like her not to answer her phone.

After he listened to the phone ring more times then he cared to count, Seth hung up and tossed the phone onto his bed. His mind was made up, he was going over to Summer's house to see why she wasn't answering the phone.

Sandy was sitting in the living room, channel surfing, while Kirsten bustled around in the kitchen, banging pots and pans, clearly unsure of what to do with herself. Finally, Sandy turned around to face his wife and said, "Kirsten, what are you doing?" He raised an eyebrow.

Kirsten sighed and set down the wac that she had taken out from beneath the stove and which she had never once cooked in and looked over at Sandy. "I just don't know what to do; I want to something to help Marissa but..." She looked just as helpless as she said. "I can't imagine what Julie must be feeling right now."

"Ah honey, you give her too much credit." Sandy mumbled. Kirsten gave him a look but didn't say anything. "Marissa's going to be fine, she's a tough kid." He continued. "Soon everything will be back to normal."

Seth stormed into the living room and looked at his parents. "I think Summer's been abducted by aliens." He said simply but passionately as though he really believed the words he was saying.

Sandy sighed. "I said soon things would be back to normal." He said in response to the look Kirsten shot him. "Soon."

Kirsten looked at her son. "Seth, what are you babbling?" She questioned as patiently as she could.

Seth was all too happy to explain. "I've been calling Summer all day and I've gotten no answer. I've tried her home, tried her cell, nothing." He continued, much like a lawyer presenting his case. "It's just not right; Summer not answering her phone is like, against the laws of nature. Something's wrong, so I'm thinking-"

"Aliens." Sandy interjected. "Out of all the possible explanations you think that Summer was abducted by aliens."

"Exactly." Seth accented his point by stabbing his index finger into the air. "Summer's always expecting a call from someone so it's just not right that she's not picking up the phone. I'm just going to go over to her house and make sure everything's all right."

Kirsten didn't like her son's plan. "It's almost teen thirty, Seth." She pointed out. "Did you ever think that the reason that poor girl isn't answering her phone is because she's asleep?"

Seth shook his head. "Impossible; she's a light sleeper, the ringing would wake her up." He paused, face suddenly becoming serious. "I'm really worried about her and I really do think there's something wrong."

Kirsten's facial expression softened as well and she said, "Summer's got a lot to deal with right now; her best friend is in the hospital."

"But Summer hasn't even come to visit Marissa." Seth argued. "Not once. She hasn't even called."

Sandy could see way Seth was getting so worried; Summer and Marissa were nearly inseparable. It just wasn't right that Summer hadn't come sweeping in Marissa's hospital room already with her arms loaded with flowers and fashion magazines and a smile on her face. "I'll tell you what, Seth, when we go back to the hospital, we'll take Summer with us. That way we can kill two birds with one stone." He suggested.

Seth looked relieved and smiled his father; Sandy returned the gesture and a moment of unspoken love and gratitude passed between father and son. The moment was broken when the phone rang and Seth headed for it like a man expected grave news. "Maybe that's Summer." He mumbled, more to himself then to his parents.

"Hello?" He answered. Seth could feel Sandy and Kirsten staring at him but since the kitchen phone was a cordless one, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Cohen, stop calling me." Summer's voice commanded from the other line and Seth felt relief course through his body. So Summer wasn't abducted by aliens and she wasn't dead but she didn't exactly sound like her normal self. "You've been calling all day."

Seth frowned; so she had been home, listening to the phone ring and listening to his messages but not once did she actually pick up the phone. Oh yeah, something was wrong. "I've just been worried about you, Summer." He explained. "I haven't really talked to you since Oliver killed himself."

Instantly Seth could feel Summer's mood change, even through the phone. Had he said something wrong? "Just stop calling me Cohen." She mumbled again, voice flat and lifeless.

"Summer, what's the matter?" Seth questioned but Summer didn't answer so he decided to change gears. "I was thinking that you could come with us to the hospital tomorrow when we go visit Marissa." He suggested as brightly as he could.

There was silence for a moment. "I don't think so." Summer answered, much more lightly then Seth had managed. "But maybe some other time." She sounded like a different person all of the sudden, lifeless with forced brightness like someone forcing a smile and a happy attitude. But Seth could sense that she somehow sounded frightened and confused at the same time. "Thanks for calling."

"No, Summer, wait-" Seth began but the other line clicked and then went dead, leaving him listening to a dial tone. With a sigh, Seth hung up the phone and turned to look at his father. "Something's wrong with her."

Kirsten put a hand on her son's shoulder. "What do you think it is?" She questioned, only because she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Seth shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I just have no idea." He mumbled. "She told me to stop calling her and then refused to go see Marissa and then she was like 'thanks for calling.' Summer doesn't act like that, there's something the matter with her."

Sandy wished that it wasn't so late, otherwise he'd offer to drive Seth over to Summer's right then. Something wasn't right, now he was certain of that; he had seen people like how Seth described Summer to be acting in his courtrooms, when he was dealing with murder or abuse cases. Victims that simply closed up, stopped acting like themselves before finally shutting down and it made since to him that Summer might be acting that way; she had seen a boy kill himself and shoot her best friend. And, if he remembered right he had heard something once, from Kirsten perhaps, about Summer's mother, who had died when the girl had only been six that had to do with a gunshot. He wished his memory served him better then it did at that moment; he'd have to ask Kirsten later.

"Maybe she'll be more willing to talk when we see her tomorrow." Sandy suggested instead but Seth didn't look so sure.

If anything, he was Summer's friend and what sort of friend didn't know how to help another friend in trouble? Seth was at a loss of how to even react to the words that Summer had said, which were still playing through his head like a broken record. But if there was anything he could do, it would have to wait until tomorrow; until then, all he could do was sit in his room and wait.

Summer was sitting in her room, leaning against the headboard with her knees drawn up to her chin and Princess Sparkle, her favorite My Little Pony and childhood toy and friend when you got down to it, cradled in her lap. She was stroking Princess Sparkle's worn mane like she had done so many times before.

Sitting alone in her dark room with only Princess Sparkle for company reminded Summer of being a little girl again, waiting for her father to return from the hospital where her mother was waiting to die from a gunshot injury. She shuddered as tears pricked the corners of her eyes and willed herself to stop thinking about the past. It wasn't her mother in the hospital anymore, it was Marissa and Marissa wasn't going to die.

But every time she closed her eyes, it wasn't Marissa she saw being shot by Oliver, it was her mother, all those years ago. Summer squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she tried to black the image out but it was no use, it stuck fast.

A cry of rage and sorrow escaped through her clinched teeth and Summer threw Princess Sparkle across the room with as much force as she could muster but it didn't make her feel any better. She proceeded to throw her pillows against the walls, trying to force herself to be angry instead of upset and frightened because being angry would stop the tears from following down her cheeks.

But it was no use. Summer collapsed on her bed, drawing herself into a fetal position and couldn't do anything to stop her tears from coming. She was alone, just like she had been that night but now she didn't even have Princess Sparkle to comfort her. And the darkness that seemed to surround her was only getting deeper.

When dawn finally broke in New Port, Ryan was shocked to find that he had slept through the night, away from the hospital and away from Marissa. As he slid off his bed and headed toward the bathroom, he thought about how Marissa must have felt, waiting for him all night, alone with only Julie Cooper for company. Nobody needed Julie for company, no matter how alone they were.

Ryan took what was probably the shortest shower of his entire life, changed into a fresh pair of clothes -it did feel good to be out of the ones that were still stained with Marissa's blood, he had to admit- and headed toward the Cohen house, already preparing the speech he was going to give them when he woke them their restful and much needed sleep. But to his surprise, the Cohens were already up, awake and dressed and Kirsten was toasting muffins and bread while Seth poured himself another cup of coffee, already looking jumpy enough to Ryan.

"There you are." Sandy by way of a greeting when he entered the kitchen. "We were getting ready to leave without you."

Ryan headed over toward the coffee pot. "I thought the plan was just to come home for a quick shower and then go back to the hospital." He mumbled, more to himself then anyone else. "Has the hospital called? Is there any news on Marissa?"

Seth turned to look at Ryan and couldn't resist poking a little fun at the tired and overly stressed out boy from Chino. "Actually, yeah, some sea gulls from the bay flew into her room last night and took her hostage, saying something about how the city put those spiky things on top of the telephone polls so they can't sit down. They've got some guys from the hostage negotiate department talking to the sea gulls, hearing their demands and it looks promising." He said. Ryan just stared at him and Seth turned away, mumbling to himself about being underapperciated.

Kirsten rolled her eyes at her son's behavior. "No, there's nothing new on Marissa." She answered, though she figured that Ryan already knew that nothing had happened since the night had passed.

Ryan nodded and filled his mug, staring down at the liquid, no longer interested in actually drinking and watched steam wisp into the air. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or worried that there wasn't any news on Marissa; he figured that no news was good news but was that really the case in this situation? At least Marissa hadn't gotten any worse but she certainly hadn't gotten any better.

Kirsten was buttering her toast as she flipped through yesterday's mail, which she had just retrieved from the mailbox before Ryan had come into the kitchen. She picked up a postcard, adversiting the Los Angeles cityscape. She flipped it over and read the short message on the back. "Oh, here's a postcard from Hailey." Kirsten said, and Sandy couldn't read the emotion in her voice. "It says that she's living in Los Angeles and she's a tennis instructure." She put the postcard down again. "Funny, I didn't think she could play tennis."

Sandy looked at his wife. "You know your sister, honey, she's a girl of many colors." He muttered, though he wasn't quite sure what he meant by that statement. "At least she decided to drop you a line."

Kirsten nodded but something about her little sister Hailey's postcard didn't seem right to her; it wasn't like Hailey to write or call unless she needed something but her letter was unusually brief and devoid of any sort of request. She sorted the postcard back into the other pile of letters that she was just going to attend to later; she had more important things to worry about then the briefness of her flighty sister's letter.

Ryan took a sip of coffee, changed his mind again and dumped the rest of it down the drain. "Okay, are we ready to go back to the hospital?" He questioned, looking over at Kirsten and Sandy.

Seth looked up from where he was stirring cream into his coffee. "We have to pick up Summer on the way." He reminded. He had decided that whether or not she wanted to come, Summer was going with them to the hospital.

"You finally got in touch with her? Good." Ryan muttered offhandedly and Seth nodded with the same aside emotion. Those weren't exactly the words he would use to describe the conversation he had had with Summer.

Sandy folded up the paper and finished off the last of his coffee; he figured that it was best to start heading towards the hospital before Ryan and Seth started walking. They were both eager to leave but for different reasons; love made people anxious. He stood up, pushing his chair behind him. "All right, let's get this show on the road."