You will probably note that I don't do much with Kristin…I just fear I couldn't do her in character. I plan on using her more as I go along including a little in this chapter. I'm a doing my best to keep in character. I apologize ahead of time to any who think I'm not.

Summer saw him sleeping. She should have made Marissa go first. She didn't know what to say. It wasn't like he was awake to hear her anyway. She wanted to bolt. It was uncomfortable to be in a room with someone who you had been wondering would die for the past few hours. She was relieved that he looked the same. She was relieved that it actually was Ryan and there had not been a strange one in a million mix up. She just didn't know what she had been expecting to say when she came in here. Yes, Marissa should have gone first. Then Summer could have spied on her and been covered for the basics.

"Hi Ryan." She might as well have been talking to herself. He was sleeping and therefore, her logic led her to believe that he was not in the mood to talk.

"I really want you to get better." She sounded sappy. It was the truth, but it was definitely sappy.

"We've all been worried about you. You are a big part of our lives. I think Cohen would just go crazy if something happened to you! I mean something worse. Not to say your injuries weren't bad...Let me try and stop mumbling, I'll get my words right eventually. It is not like your going to stop me." She felt stupid. She was apologizing to a sleeping person who didn't even know she was talking to him. What had become of her?

"You mean a whole lot to Seth. He kind of idolizes you in his own silly way." Now look how mushy she was getting! Someone should have stuck a fork in her and called her done hours ago. There was nothing left of her but putty.

"I want you to get better Ryan. Your a great person and I would miss you more than I could bare if you didn't make it." She felt tears flaring up in her eyes. Damn it. She knew they were coming minutes ago. She just hadn't been able to talk herself out of them.

Marissa was pacing in the hallway near the door. She hadn't meant to, but the moment she started there had been no possibility that she would stop. She still had no clue what to say. Well, except for the fact that she was speechless. Go figure. She kept rehearsing in her mind how her time with him would play out. What he would look like. Why did she care so much what he would look like? She guessed her curiosity had to do with the idea that seeing was believing. She still kept expecting to hear that he was gone. She couldn't imagine life without him. For him to gone with them in their current standings? She wanted to be more than Ryan's friend. She didn't want things to be left off that way. Teresa had said that Ryan was all hers now. Teresa...she didn't know what had happened. The minute she heard she would come running back. That was probably for the best. Ryan had been on his way to get her...Why couldn't she except that she and Ryan were just friends? She should call Teresa. Good for her to have the excuse of not having her number. She would let someone else have the brilliant idea f calling her. It was wrong and spiteful...but she wanted Ryan to herself right now.

Seth felt selfish. He wanted to barge in on Summer with Ryan and say "Hey I'm his brother! Me first!" He knew it was wrong. He would get the whole night with him. Summer only got a few minutes. Still, he wanted to claim her minutes as his own. Darn human nature!

Sandy could wait patiently. He didn't want to, but he could. What kind of hospital allows a friend to see a patient before the father? He had just called himself Ryan's father. He guesses he actually was. He was more Ryan's father than his biological one. Ryan did everything with him Seth did. He was actually his son in everyway that mattered. It still amazed him how that reality managed to sneak up on him. He considered himself quite bright and alert. Ryan always managed to sneak around…apparently even Sandy's own mind.

Kristin cared deeply for Ryan. She new the rest of her family did as well. It amazed her how easy had been for Ryan to become part of their family. He managed to just fit right in. He seemed to fill up a gap that they had not even realized was there. If that gap should open again….her family would probably not survive. Not without serious help. That is why she needed Ryan to be ok. That and she just plain loved him.