Author's Note: Told you I'd update soon. Come on guys, please review!
Still don't own The O.C.

Ryan didn't speak a single word to Kirsten on the flight to New York. In the back of his mind he wondered what it was like to have enough money to be on three flights in one day. He thought about whether or not they would go back to Newport later that night, after visiting Seth in New York. But that wasn't the main focus of his mind. His mind was blanketed in thoughts of a single person, a single woman. Theresa.

Fuck, why did she keep doing this to him? Since the time he was twelve, she was so often the main image in his mind. Right now, he just kept thinking about that kiss in the hospital. Agh, Ryan Atwood, you're so fucking stupid! That was the perfect time, the perfect time to tell her that you love her. You should have told her that you still want to be with her. You've always wanted to be wit-

"Ryan?" Kirsten's voice punctured his balloon of thought. "You might want to eat something." She indicated the airline snack of cookies, peanuts and milk in front of him. "Airplane food isn't that bad you know." Ryan looked at her for a moment, he saw her lips moving but apparently sound traveled very slowly today. Perhaps, it was because there was a not-so-quiet voice in the back of his mind screaming at him for not telling Theresa how he felt. Silencing that voice for a few fleeting moments, Ryan took Kirsten's advice and began to unwrap the airplane food. And suddenly, he realized that for the second time today, he was on an airplane. Looking up at the monitor ahead of him he noted the figure of their altitude. The blood began to circulate less and less to his skull, a snowy color overtook his face.

He took a deep breath. And then another one. And then another one. Theresa, he thought. Theresa in her quincanera dress. Theresa when she spilled cake batter on herself in home ec. Theresa when she begged me to drive her to LaTandre Evans party. Theresa as Maria in West Side Story. Theresa singing. Theresa dancing. Theresa when she was dancing with me. Theresa when she kissed me. Theresa when we kiss.

All his thoughts of the altitude, of the possible fall, of the nearing descent were drained from Ryan's thoughts. Forcing himself to take a bite from an airline cookie, he sighed. Theresa.

XXX

"I don't understand how you could leave her alone here." A male voice dominated the small hospital waiting area.

"No one informed me of her problem." A female voice shot back.

"She wasn't going to drug dealer's homes in Newport!" He moved his face to within inches of hers and the look that penetrated through her told her that she should shut her mouth now, before he declared every malevolent move she ever made in front of the whole hospital. But there was an itching in her throat that made Julie Cooper what to berate her ex-husband some more. She didn't want him to have the last word, that always reserved for her. Yet, she knew that Jimmy had it in him to bring out the whole Luke escapade in this argument. An inner battle waged beneath the red braid of the woman.

"Jimmy, Julie..." For once in her life, Julie Cooper was thankful that Kirsten Cohen walked into a room. Actually, Julie knew that Kirsten had performed many kind deeds for her and Jimmy over the years, but she could not bring herself to admit that she was truly grateful to her ex-husband's ex-girlfriend. Although, now, Kirsten was her husband's daughter, but that fact both dismayed Julie and made her feel like some sort of old lady.

"Kirsten," Julie greeted her with a smile, welcoming her into a warm hug. "Thanks for showing your support." Kirsten, a bit startled by the friendliness of the woman whom she shared an embrace with, looked over and smiled meaningfully at Jimmy. She wouldn't know what to do if her son was in their daughter's situation. It was obvious in Jimmy's face that he was distraught and confused. He didn't know what to do with Marissa anymore.

"How are you two? How is Marissa?" Kirsten asked of the ill girl's parents. They looked at each other for a while and then Jimmy began to explain the cocaine overdose and how a kind citizen called the police when they found Marissa passed out on the pavement. They said it was very lucky that Marissa was taken to a hospital right away. When his voice began to trail, Julie picked up and slowly, with her face turning slightly green, said that the doctor's hypothesized that she was also raped.

"Raped?!" Ryan exclaimed in disbelief. Neither Jimmy nor Julie had noticed him standing a few paced behind Kirsten in the waiting room. He had stood, silent as always, leaning against the wall. But he could not prevent the shock from leaving his throat. Marissa, who had seemed so pure and angelic, who despite months of dating did not sleep with him, was raped. Ryan felt a hollow pit in his stomach begin to grow. He wanted to vomit.

Julie looked over to where he stood and nodded, not wanting to state the fact again. Her eyes were puffy from the tears she shed by her daughter's bedside. Marissa was still in the same state since she woke up. Eyes open, heart beating, lungs moving, but no sign of spirit. No sign of life. Kirsten, Jimmy and Julie discussed Marissa a bit more, but Ryan ran off.

XXX

Summer paced steadily by Marissa's bed, all the while talking. She and Seth were in the same conversation they had been having for almost an hour now. It was of course, about their relationship. She, again, whined off the bitter cruelty and thoughtlessness that Seth displayed when he disappeared on his boat. It was about the fourth time that he heard her tell this anecdote and as much as he loved her and wanted to be with her, the words "selfish" and "hurtful" could only be used so many times in a single hour. Finally, as Summer's pacing headed in his direction, he grabbed her and fiercely placed his mouth on hers.

"Finally, Cohen!" she said, when he finished kissing her. He smiled and she kissed him back, lightly this time. It was sweet. He leaned his head in again, hoping to receive yet another but she turned away and indicated to the bed, where Marissa still lay motionless.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" a male voice called from the doorway. Seth broke out into a smile as he looked back to see Ryan. The two greeted each other with an awkward "manly" hug. Summer, surprisingly, wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck and held him tightly for a few moments.

"She hasn't moved since this morning." Seth updated his brother on Marissa's status. "She had about eleven grams of cocaine in the past twenty- four hours. Not to mention alcohol. Oh yeah, Julie and Jimmy think she was raped."

Before Ryan could jump in, Summer added, "She wasn't. She slept with the dealer." She looked over to Ryan, expecting to see some sort of relief on his face. Being angry and hateful towards a rapist was one thing, but pitying Marissa for being stupid enough to sleep with a dealer was less harmful. But he didn't look angry, hateful or even compassionate. His tanned face was filled with surprise.

And so was Summer's as she heard the voices of Julie, Jimmy and Kirsten at the door.

"That's it," Julie's frustrated voice rang loud and clear in the small room. "She's going to Evanston tomorrow."

Shock filtered through everyone's face as Jimmy nodded in agreement. Marissa was going to rehab.