Seth's cell phone buzzed as he was driving Hailey home. She had pointed out her dealer who was flanked by the man that Ryan had attacked on the patio several days earlier. She hadn't spoken since getting in the SUV.

"You okay?" Seth asked her as he reached for his phone.

"Yeah. I'm worried about Ryan. That big guy with him…"

"Luke? He's got Ryan's back. Don't worry," Seth responded. He opened his phone. "Yeah?"

"Hey. It's done," Luke said over the phone.

"Everything okay?" Seth asked.

"Drop Hailey off at home. Meet us at the hospital…"

"Wait, tell me, Luke…"

"Fucking Chino's accident prone. I couldn't get to him in time and he took a couple of hits…"

"A couple of hits? What does that mean?" Seth asked, glancing at Hailey. He could hear Ryan talking to Luke. After a pause, he recognized Ryan's pained voice.

"Seth. Don't let Hailey get upset. Get her home and…"

"Let me deal with Hailey. What happened to you?" Seth demanded.

"It's nothing, it's just a scratch, Luke's overreacting…" Ryan said, pausing as Luke started to yell at him.

Seth pulled the Rover into the driveway and parked. Hailey was monitoring his conversation and didn't get out of the car.

"Dammit, Ryan, tell me what happened right now…"

"Fuck, Seth…" Ryan murmured and Seth heard the phone changing hands again.

"He got stabbed, Seth. Not too deep because he saw it coming but he's bleeding and I think he needs to go to the hospital."

"Let me talk to him again, Luke." Seth lowered the phone. "Hailey, we've got this. Go get some rest."

"No, Seth…" She protested.

"Listen, we can't deal with you right now, okay?" Seth said gently. "I don't want you anywhere near us right now, it has to be this way if you don't want mom and dad to find out. Everything is okay. Ryan's okay and everything is going to be okay. I'll call you as soon as I know something. Don't freak out, just relax, okay?"

"Relax like you're relaxing?" Hailey snapped.

"Hailey, please. Let us take care of it. I'll call you as soon as I know something, okay?"

Hailey sighed but got out of the Rover. Seth immediately returned the phone to his ear and backed back into the street.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah."

"You know that you have to call Mom or Dad. Ryan? If you're going to the hospital then you have to call them, okay?" Seth said calmly. His hands were shaking. This mess was getting bigger and more out of control by the moment.

"Shit…" Ryan muttered. "Can you call Sandy? He'll freak out less than Kirsten."

"Yeah. What do you want me to say?"

"Tell him that I got mugged at the mall…"

"At the plaza, Ryan? Come on…" Seth scoffed.

"He'll believe me. He has to. Luke can back me up. Can you think of a better line?" Ryan asked.

"No. I'll meet you in the parking lot, I'm on my way." Seth hung up and sped up. He knew that Ryan would never consent to going to the hospital unless it was serious. He dialed his father's cellular phone.

"Sandy Cohen."

"Dad? It's Seth."

"Seth, my son. What's going on?"

"I'm on my way to the hospital…"

"What? Are you okay? What happened?"

"Chill out, Dad. Ryan just called. He was at the mall with Luke and he got mugged…"

"He got mugged? At our mall?" Sandy asked, surprised.

"I know, its crazy…" Seth muttered.

"What happened? Is the ambulance taking him?"

"Luke's taking him. I don't think they even called the cops. Luke's making him go to the hospital, Ryan says he's fine…"

"Why is Luke taking him to the hospital if he's fine?"

"Can you just meet us there? I mean…" Seth was frustrated.

"I'm on my way, Seth."

*****

"Ryan? We're here, man, how're you feeling?" Luke asked. After hanging up with Seth, Ryan hadn't spoken again on the ride to the hospital. Luke was worried. He also felt guilty. Ryan had expected him to watch his back to protect him from something like this and he had glanced away for a second and missed the thug pulling Ryan into an employee hallway.

"I'm fine, Luke. I'll have to pay you to get this blood out of your upholstery though," Ryan remarked. He straightened up in the seat, his hands clenched protectively over his bleeding side.

"Dude…" Luke shook his head at Ryan in disbelief. "You got stabbed…"

"Chill, Luke. Seriously. This is no big deal. I swear that I'm fine…" Ryan sighed as he opened the door to the truck and swung his legs out. He stepped down carefully before Luke could get out to offer assistance. By the time Luke made it around to the passenger side, Ryan was leaning against the closed door of his truck with his eyes closed.

"Ryan?" Luke called worriedly.

"Okay. So I'm a little worse off than I thought," Ryan admitted suddenly. The Range Rover screeched to a halt in the parking space beside them and Seth stepped out. His face was already pale at the sight of Ryan's blood-soaked shirt.

"Why haven't you taken him inside yet?" Seth asked Luke.

"We just got here," Luke explained.

Ryan staggered suddenly as he lost his breath. Luke took one of his arms to steady him while Seth automatically took his free arm.

"Hang on, man," Seth urged as they walked into the emergency room. Seth helped him to a seat while Luke made a beeline for the nurse's station.

"I'm okay," Ryan said once he was sitting down. "I just got dizzy for a second…"

"Yeah, 'cause all your blood's leaking out," Seth remarked. Ryan wouldn't meet his gaze. "Dude?"

"Yeah?" Ryan asked.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to lie to your dad. But…"

"It's going to be okay. I told him that you got mugged and that Luke was making you go to the hospital, he doesn't fully believe me but he'll believe you." Seth shook Ryan. "Hey. We're doing the right thing. We're helping Hailey. Her debt's paid now, right?" Ryan nodded and Seth continued. "Okay, then. We're almost in the home stretch…"

Ryan's strength wavered again as Luke returned with a nurse.

"Jesus, you didn't tell me he was bleeding out…" The nurse said to Luke. Seth glanced down and saw the puddling blood on the floor. "We need to get him in a room…" She signaled behind her and within minutes, Ryan was gone, escorted by the nurses that came to his assistance.

"Go with him, dude, you're like, family, you can go," Luke nudged Seth to get out of his chair. Seth was still distracted by the blood.

"Oh shit…" Seth snapped alert and stood up.

"I'll meet your Dad out here, go with him," Luke urged. Seth nodded and followed the nurses into the room. He emerged a minute later.

"What?" Luke asked.

"He told me to wait out here," Seth said quietly.

"What? The stubborn bastard…"

"No, he's right. I can't be in there, there's too much blood…" Seth admitted. "He saw my face and told me to get out."

"Then I guess all we can do is wait," Luke replied.

*****