Disclaimer: The OC belongs to Josh Schwartz and Fox, I am neither.
Chapter Two
The Good News Keeps On Coming
Sandy and Kirsten finally arrived at the emergency room within fifteen minutes. Sandy wanted answers, how was Ryan, was Theresa ok, what happened. It turned out that a nurse came to talk to them immediately.
"Excuse me, Sir, ma'am why are you here?"
"My name is Sandy Cohen and this is my wife Kirsten, I got a call about 20 minutes ago that Ryan Atwood is here."
"Hi, Mr. Cohen, I'm Elena." She had stringy black hair tied back into a ponytail and a very polite voice. "He is here. He's just been put in a room. We'll need to monitor him at least overnight, is that ok, Mr. Cohen?"
"Yeah, that's fine. What about the girl he was with, Theresa?" Sandy replied in an instant.
Elena's voice got very quiet. "In the accident, she became brain dead and soon after she was brought into our trauma room, she went into heart failure as well, we tried to bring her back, but we had no luck."
"Oh my god, Sandy!" Kirsten burst into tears while Sandy remained rock solid.
"May we see him?" Sandy asked
"Sure, right this way"
Elena led Kirsten and Sandy to Ryan's hospital bed and left.
Ryan turned over and slowly opened his eyes to see Kirsten and Sandy sitting next to him. Kirsten was softly stroking his head in a very motherly fashion. She stopped crying, she needed to maintain composure for Ryan. Sandy was right next to her, but they definitely weren't at home. They were somewhere vaguely familiar. And yet at the same time completely new.
"Wh- Wh- Where am I?" Ryan asked groggily.
"Sweetie, you're in the hospital." Kirsten cooed sweetly.
"What happened?" Ryan asked.
"We're not exactly sure, but you got into a horrible car accident." Sandy told him.
"How's Theresa?"
Unsure of how to tell him, Kirsten and Sandy paused and left a very awkward silence in the room.
Ryan repeated himself, unsure if he had actually said it or just thought it, "How's Theresa?"
"Ryan ..." Kirsten started
"How is she?"
"She's dead, Ryan" Sandy finished for his wife.
"The baby, too?"
"Yes, Ryan, the baby too." Kirsten tried to put it lightly.
"Oh, god"
"We're gonna take you home, our home" Kirsten told her adopted son whom she had grown so close to in just a short year. "But, Ryan, right now you need to rest. I'll stay here in case you need some company and to make sure you don't fall asleep for too long at a time. You had a bad concussion, sweetie; the nurse said that you shouldn't really sleep for a day but I could let you sleep for a couple hours at a time."
"I'll try to get some facts for you." Sandy assured him.
"D-Does anyone else know?" Ryan wondered and hoped he vocalized his thought, even his thoughts were stuttering.
"Unless the accident is on the news, no. We rushed here as quickly as we could." Kirsten said firmly.
How w-weird is it that Luke got into a car accident not t-too long ago and now T-Theresa and I have gotten into one? G-God I wonder how Theresa's mom and E-Eddie are g-gonna take the n-news. Ryan wondered semi-consciously. Sandy left the room quietly, as to not disturb Ryan.
Ryan lay still in his kinda comfortable hospital bed. He wasn't still wearing his traditional tank top and wondered if he could get it back. Of course he could, they'd have no reason to keep it or did they? He couldn't remember what had happened since the night before. He vaguely recalled leaving the Cohens' but then again did he? The only person who knew if he had done anything was now dead. Dead with a baby ... that might've been his. Now he would never know.
Tears started streaking down his face. Kirsten was somewhat surprised; Ryan was not an emotional person. Seth, yes, she definitely would've expected tears from Seth but definitely not Ryan. It seemed like he was a little too macho to cry. Ryan soon fell asleep.
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Before she got way too wasted, Marissa left her bottle of vodka in her room. She decided to make her self some out-the-box Macaroni & Cheese. She puts the six cups of water in a pot and on the never-before-used stove, to boil. She read the directions she'd read about a million times before. She got bored with the directions and flipped the box over to read the ingredients: Enriched macaroni product (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate [iron], thiamin mononitrate... She got bored with the ingredients too. She looked over to see that her water was now boiling. She poured the pasta in and stirred. Mac & Cheese, it was the only thing she could make. She guessed it was kind of a comfort food. It reminded her of Ryan, but then again, what didn't? She already missed him. He had only been gone for a little over an hour. She could only guess how much she'd miss him after a day had passed, a week. God, how was she going to make it through? She tasted her noodles and dumped them and the water into a colander. She then mixed in the cheese mix, butter and milk. She stirred. She thought.
I wonder where Ryan is. Is he settled into Theresa's yet? How much do I want to be sharing this pot of Mac & Cheese with him? It's what we were gonna eat before Caleb showed up with his proposal. Urgh! That stupid proposal 'I'll save Jimmy if you move in with your mother and I.' Ryan was there, but not here, now.
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Kirsten woke Ryan an hour and a half after he fell asleep. Just to make sure he hadn't fallen into a coma. Kirsten kept him up to ask a couple questions.
"Hey Ryan, how are you doing"
"OK, I guess... my head really hurts and I can't remember anything."
"Oh sweetheart, yeah you must have amnesia. Ryan, would it be ok if I called Marissa, it might be nice to have her here, you know"
"Yeah, it'd be nice if you'd call Marissa. Theresa's mom should know, too."
"Sweetie, I'm sure the hospital has contacted Theresa's mom, but I'll ask. You're not stuttering anymore, I'm sure that's a good sign."
"Yeah, I don't think I noticed. But I hope so."
"I'll call Marissa, you should go back to sleep."
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Eating her Mac & Cheese, Marissa's cell phone started ringing. She bolted to answer the phone. She checked the caller ID and it was Kirsten. Why was Kirsten calling? Well, she better find out.
"Hello?"
"Hello Marissa? It's Kirsten."
"Hey Kirsten, what's up?"
"Uh, I don't know how to say this so I just will. I just talked to Ryan and he wanted me to call you..."
"Is he ok? Is he settled into Theresa's?"
"Not exactly, he's fine but he's in the hospital."
"Oh my god, can I come see him?"
"Yes, sure come on down."
"I'll be there soon."
Marissa was very happy she wasn't wasted and in fact quite sobered up. She definitely could go see Ryan. But first she'd pack up the rest of the Mac & Cheese and take it to him.
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Author's Note: I'm sorry that was kinda long, but I felt like I just needed to put all of that in there. I'm sorry all you Theresa fans but I felt like if she was completely gone there would be more drama. I meant to put Seth & Summer in that chapter, but maybe the next chapter will be theirs... Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think.
Oh, BTW, NightStar101, yeah, the title's from 'She Will Be Loved' by Maroon 5.
