A Bad Monday
8:45 pm
Kirsten deserves time with Seth. Summer knew that. She'd been telling herself that for the last ten minutes. Seth had almost died and it was understandable if, in her opinion, not totally fair, that Kirsten would be protective of her mother's prerogatives.
So, Summer waited – waited for them to get back from Seth's last walk of the day. She checked her watch again. At this rate she wouldn't have any time with him before visiting hours were over and they hustled her out. A girlfriend is the same as family, right? They'd let Ryan stay past visiting hours if he were here. He's "family."
Summer frowned sourly and tried to interest herself in the comic book Seth had given her to read. She held it just as she'd been shown, careful not to crease the cover, or tear the pages as she thumbed through it. All of these costumed freaks look alike. Why don't they get back? I hate waiting. She slapped the comic book down on the chair beside her ignoring all of Seth's patient instructions. She hated waiting.
* * *
Seth paused and looked back at Kirsten, making a circular motion with his free hand. "Mom, let's pick up the pace a little, okay? Visiting hours'll be over soon."
Kirsten smiled at Seth's attempt to pick up the pace. His right hand gripped the IV stand rolling alongside him, his left hand pressed against his incision, as he shuffled along in his short, brown hospital issue booties. He'd refused the pale blue ones they'd first given him as being too minty.
He was pushing himself, determined to have a few more minutes with Summer before she went home for the night.
* * *
Seth's phone rang. Summer stood and walked over to the bed. She looked at the phone and then at the door before answering it. "Seth Cohen's room." She thought she heard someone take a breath on the other end.
"Hey, Summer." It was Ryan. "Can I talk to Seth?"
"It's late, Chino." Her lips pressed together into a tight line.
"Yeah, I know. I fell asleep. Just wanted to check in with Seth. No one's around here, so I can't make it up tonight."
Summer automatically checked her watch. "Guess not. It's eight forty-five now." Her voice was distant, cool. Her manicured nails drummed silently on the tray top as she spoke. "Out of sight, out of mind huh, Chino?
* * *
"Do you think Ryan will make it up to see me tonight? It's not like him. Everything's alright with Ryan isn't it?" Seth allowed himself a break when he reached the waiting area across from the nurses' station, the halfway point in his circuit of the floor.
Kirsten glanced at the clock on the wall. "Visiting hours are over at 9:00 and it's ten till now - so, probably not. I told Ryan to take a nap and he apparently needed it. Your dad will check on him when he gets home. He was going to stop in at The Lighthouse on the way home." She paused. "I'm sure everything is okay with Ryan, honey."
"Summer won't leave before we get back, will she?" Seth asked glancing up at the clock.
Kirsten smiled and shook her head. "I'd like to see even the formidable Nurse Mary try to get her out before you get back. She'll be there to tell you goodnight."
Now that he'd regained his breath, Seth set out again in the lead. He didn't see the small frown that wrinkled Kirsten's forehead as she glanced at the clock once again before dutifully following her son down the hallway.
* * *
"Your name seems to come up in like every other sentence with Seth. It's 'Ryan this' or 'Ryan that'. But Seth just dropped off your radar screen like Marissa, didn't he?." Summer paused before continuing. "I finally heard from Marissa. Her jailer let her make a call."
Ryan's voice was guarded, controlled. "How is she?"
"You mean you really care? How do you think she is? She's desperate to get out of there and away from her mother. She doesn't understand why everyone's abandoned her . . . why nobody will help her." Summer's voice grew brittle, edgier and closer to the anger she'd shown Ryan that morning.
"There's nothing I can do." Ryan's voice was tired.
"Right, Chino, we covered all this earlier. Marissa's an alcoholic who needs to recognize she has a problem before anyone can help her. That's convenient for you. You can stay in Newport without any guilt for abandoning her to her mother."
"Summer, I called to talk to Seth. Is he there?" Impatience crept into Ryan's voice.
"Kirsten took him on a walk around the floor. I'm just waiting to say goodnight to him."
* * *
"Mrs. Cohen." A young woman at the nurses' station called as they passed it on their way back to Seth's room.
"Seth, I need to see what she wants. Can you make it to your room? It's only another ten feet."
Her question was met by a look of complete disdain and total incredulity that only a teenager could master. "You're along only for moral support, Mom. Of course, I can make it."
Kirsten nodded and walked over to the window where the woman who had called her waited. From the counter, she could observe Seth's progress and she anxiously watched his painfully slow gait as he covered the last few feet to his room.
* * *
"Well, Chino, you could call back later if talking to me is making you feel guilty."
"When will they be back, Summer?" Ryan asked.
"Another five or ten minutes. Seth's not breaking any speed records, you know. Oh, but how would you know? You couldn't find the time to visit him today. And I thought you guys were like brothers." She purred into the receiver. "You're the one he depends on, the one he goes to for advice – even for advice on me. How humiliating is that? Do you think I enjoy having him discuss me with you?" Summer asked rhetorically. "You know that Seth Cohen has no secrets. He'll tell you everything if you're just patient and pay attention. We've known each other practically our entire lives and yet he goes to the guy he's known for, like, eight months for the important stuff." Summer tossed her head and only wished that the effect wasn't being wasted on an empty room. "Don't worry, Chino. Your meal ticket's getting better and is none the wiser about what kind of a creep you really are."
* * *
Seth took a ragged breath and stopped just outside his room, waiting until the spasm of pain that radiated out from his incision subsided. Not as bad as this morning. He smiled weakly, hoping he hadn't lost too much color and that his mother hadn't noticed anything. Since the accident she'd developed the eyes of a super hero when it came to spotting the slightest indication of pain or even discomfort in his face or the way he held his body.
He refused to look back over his shoulder to see if she was watching. Instead he pretended to wipe a hand on his gown and get a better grip on the IV stand. Now that the worst of the pain had passed he became aware of Summer's angry voice coming from his room.
* * *
"No, I didn't tell him about this morning. What's the point? He wouldn't believe me. You have them all so fooled . . . Cohen most of all. It's been so easy for you, Chino. Seth thinks you're a straight arrow, a white knight, even with everything he knows about you and your past. Cheat on your girlfriend; hit a woman; he'd never believe any of that. You are a fraud, Chino!"
"Summer. . .." Ryan paused. "I'm sorry about this morning, Summer. I guess I'll call back later." He hung up on her.
Summer slammed the handset down, anger clearly showing on her face. As she turned away from the phone, she saw Seth standing in the doorway watching her, a bewildered expression on his face.
Her anger dissolved at the sight of Seth's pale face and tears trickled down her cheeks as she walked toward him.