Palm Trees and Power Lines Chapter 7: The Reason, an o.c. fanfic

Palm Trees and Power Lines
Chapter 7: The Reason

Summary: Sort-of future fic. Summer breaks Seth's heart and all he could think to do was leave… but will she find him again, and will he want her back if she does?

Rating: PG to PG-13… you never know.

Disclaimer: I own nada… not "The O.C." or the actors… nor do I own any song that will appear in this fic…

A/N: Okay…I always start by thanking everyone for the reviews… but that gets so boring and predicable… ¡¡¡Así que yo lo diré en español , porque es mucho más interesante… muchas gracias para las revisiones padrisimas!!! (translation: So I will say it in Spansih ,because it is much more interesting… thank you for the great reviews!) Yeah… I have no life... LOL…. Yeah so this is the first non-Sugarcult song in the fic… I'm sure you've all heard it… The Reason by Hoobastank…great band…great band… also, I might get one or two more chapters up before Friday… not sure, but then there will be at least a week long hiatus… but that's a lot shorter than the show… okay so I'm gonna shut up now… because I talk WAY too much… LoL… reviews please!! (las revisiones por favor!...gracias!) On to the story…

I'm not a perfect person

There's many things I wish I didn't do

But I continue learning

I never meant to do those things to you

And so I have to say before I go

That I just want you to know

"No!" Kirsten Cohen's cries could be heard throughout the entire hospital. "Not Seth, too. No…not my son. No…no…no."

"Shhh," Sandy consoled, "Seth's going to be all right…he's got to be."

"If anything happens to either of them, it's all my fault," Ryan said distantly, staring off into space. "If I would have just turned her away…said no… Seth would be here, and they would be together… Not in hospitals 3000 miles apart."

"Ryan, you can't think about that now," Marissa told him, taking his hands. "All you can do is be there for them… What you did is over, you can't take it back. All you can do is look to the future, and pray that they make it out alive."

"Is Mr. or Mrs. Roberts here?" a doctor asked, walking into the room.

"No, they couldn't make it. But we're with Summer," Sandy replied, standing up and walking towards the tall man. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Well, sir… here, have a seat," he told him, motioning to a chair. "Please."

"No. Just tell me what's wrong," Sandy demanded. "Is Summer going to be okay?"

"Well…sir, please, sit down. I insist," the man repeated.

"God damn it, tell me what's wrong!" Sandy yelled, scaring Kirsten and Ryan. Neither had ever seen him that angry. Sandy took a deep breath. "Now Dr… Madding. Can you please just tell me what is wrong with Summer?"

"Things don't look good," he said, reluctantly. "I'm sorry."

I found a reason for me

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

Joel, walked into Seth's room, and took a seat next to him. He looked over at his newly found best friend, and almost broke into tears. Tubes went down his throat, into his veins, all over the place… he had a huge bandage across his forehead, and an IV in the back of his hand.

"Seth," Joel said quietly, taking his friend's hand. "Seth, man, you gotta get better. We've only known each other for a little while, but you're the best friend I've ever had…the only friend. I didn't tell you this, but back in New York, I was a total loser. I had NO friends, and then I moved here and got a job as a bell boy. I really didn't talk to anyone; I was afraid they'd treat me like all the baseball jocks back home did. And then you came in, and started talking to me. None of the other guests even attempted to befriend me, or even talk to me for that matter. No one ever has… you showed me friendship, Seth. You have to be okay…"

A few tears escaped Joel's eyes, but he quickly wiped them away, and continued, "Please Seth, just be all right. Please."

Standing up, he took one look at his friend, then looked to the sky.

"God, if you're listening, I've never really asked you for help. Until lately, I didn't even believe in you. I never thought a God as good as you were supposed to be could let someone grow up with the miserable life I had. And then Seth came along. I guess I just had to wait longer than most people. But then I realized that you were there, and now I need a huge favor," Joel said. "I need you to let Seth be okay. Not just for me, but for his family. His dad sounded devastated when I called. I know they would never forgive themselves if he died; especially Ryan and Summer. Even through the horrible way he talked about them, I could tell that they both love him, and he loves them. Just please, let him be okay."

With those words he headed to the door, but before he left, something stopped him.

"You're my best friend too, Joel."

I'm sorry that I hurt you

It's something I must live with every day

And all the pain I put you through

I wish that I could take it all away

And be the one who catches all your tears

That's why I need you to hear

Sandy looked down at his sleeping wife, looking so peaceful as she rested her head on his shoulder. Looking across the room, he saw the same thing; Marissa was fast asleep on a wide awake Ryan's shoulder. He glanced down at his watch: 4:14am. They had been here for almost four hours, and Sandy still couldn't get the doctor's words out of his head…

"Things don't look good," Dr. Madding told him, reluctantly. "I'm sorry."

"No…not Summer too," Sandy said quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Well, it looks as though she had been drinking when she consumed an entire bottle of prescription 800mg extra strength pain killers with codeine. The codeine initially knocked her out, but considering she had consumed over 28,000 milligrams of it, it could have possibly killed her. We're lucky she's still alive. That alone is bad, now throw 60 drinks. SIXTY… meaning if she was drinking for 4 hours, she consumed 15 drinks an hour. This leaves her blood alcohol level at 3.04%. That is EXTREMELY high. So basically the two together could have possibly killed her, which seemed to be her intent. But by some miracle, she hasn't died yet. We can't get her to come to, and we're not sure when it's going to happen," the doctor explained. "If she doesn't come to soon, though, she could be in a vegetative state for months, years, even for the rest of her life. To me, Mr. Cohen, that is worse than dying. So hopefully, she'll pull through… but now it's all in God's hands."

I found a reason for me

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

Sandy shook the thought out of his head. She was going to be okay…and so was Seth. They had to be…

"Sandy," he heard Ryan finally say, after hours of silence.

"What is it Ryan?" he asked. "You okay?"

"No…no I'm not. If either of them don't make it…it's all my fault. If your son dies, it's my fault," Ryan hung his head low. "I'm so sorry."

"Ryan, stop saying that!" Sandy scolded. "Just like Marissa said earlier, you have to forget about what happened and focus on now. Dwelling on it isn't going to help either one of them."

"I guess you're right," came Ryan's reply, as he stood up. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"Yeah, here I'll come with you," Sandy said, slipping out from under Kirsten.

The two walked in silence to the vending machines in the lobby on the first floor. Neither of them knew what to say. Still in silence, they bought their coffee.

"Hey, I'm gonna go look in the gift shop," Ryan finally said. "You go on up."

"Nah, I think I'll wait here; let the ladies sleep," he replied, taking a seat at a table and opening a container with a bagel and cream cheese in it. "It's amazing what they put in vending machines now-a-days."

"Yeah," Ryan laughed as he walked into the small store, surprised it was open at this time. He looked around at stuffed animals and flowers, candy and t-shirts proclaiming "it's a boy!" and "it's a girl!", but nothing seemed to fit Summer. Finally he just settled on some flowers. He bought them, but then had an idea. He grabbed another bouquet, this time of roses, and quickly scrawled down a few things on each card, after paying the woman at the register.

"Two bouquets?" Sandy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Let me guess, one's for Marissa? You're gonna make me look bad kid!"

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, but it's sort of an apology…to both of them."

Sandy sighed, "Okay… let's go back up."

I'm not a perfect person

I never meant to do those things to you

And so I have to say before I go

The two men walked in silence, once again, back up to Summer's floor. When they got there, though, they were surprised to see that both Kirsten and Marissa were gone. The looked around; maybe they went to get something to drink too. It wasn't until Dr. Madding came out of Summer's room with a smile on his face.

"She's regained consciousness," he told them. "You can go see her if you want."

"Thank you," Sandy said and walked back to Summer's room with Ryan.

Marissa sat in the chair next to Summer's bed, with Kirsten standing behind her. Both girls had tears in their eyes as they spoke

"Sum, don't ever do that again," Marissa cried. "Because you know if I did it, it can't be good."

Summer laughed, but on a more serious note continued, "I'm sorry…I was drunk, and I really wasn't thinking about anyone but myself. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, you're okay now," Marissa replied. "That's all that matters."

"Hey, mind if I cut in?" Ryan asked, stepping through the door.

"If those flowers are for me you can," Summer replied. "Go away Coop, he's got flowers."

Ryan laughed, and walked across the room to her bed, "Just some gift shop flowers. Nothing big." He said and handed them to her.

"They're beautiful," she told him, taking the card out.

Summer-

I'm so sorry for making Seth leave…if anything happens to either of you, I don't know how I'd live with myself… I just… I'm sorry. Just please; don't try something like that again… Oh, yeah, and get well soon.

-Chino

"Ryan, this isn't your fault," Summer said after reading the note. "Come here." She continued and pulled him into hug. "Thanks."

"It was nothing. Just get better soon," he replied, then turned to Marissa. "Do you think we could talk…outside?"

"Um, sure. Do you mind, Sum?" Marissa asked, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Go!" she insisted, practically pushing the two away. "Talk. Make up. Be together. I guess I could deal with the disgusting making out all the time…everywhere."

Marissa and Ryan rolled their eyes and left the room. Picking up the roses he had bought earlier, he made sure they looked perfect and headed over to her.

"These are for you," he spoke, handing over the roses. "I just want to say I'm sorry. Marissa, despite everything that has happened with us… you are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. And to lose you because of one stupid night…I don't think I could do that. I'm sorry for sleeping with your best friend. I'm sorry for being the cause of her almost dying. And I'm sorry for all the pain I put you through. I just want us to be close to okay again."

"Me too," she replied, the tears now falling freely down her cheeks. "I'm sorry for everything I've done too. I just want to go back to the old days. When everything was…well, I want it to be better than the old days."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed, then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied and leaned in for another kiss.

I found a reason for me

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

"So how are you feeling Summer?" Sandy asked, walking up behind his wife.

"I need to talk to Seth," she replied. "Can I have the phone?"

"Oh…speaking of Seth, there's something we need to tell you…" Sandy explained the entire thing, leaving Summer in tears.

"Ha-have you heard from anyone since then?" Summer asked. "Is he okay? Did they leave a number?"

"We're not sure," he replied. "But they left a number. Here." Sandy handed her a slip of paper with a phone number scrawled on it. "We'll leave you alone now."

"Thanks," Summer replied as Sandy and Kirsten left. Picking up the phone she dialed and waited three rings until someone answered.

"Hello?" answered the receptionist. "Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, how can I help you?

"Hi, um, Seth Cohen was admitted a few hours ago. Is there any further information on how he's doing?" Summer asked.

"I'm sorry miss, I'm not allowed to give that information out," the woman explained.

"But I'm," Summer thought, how could she get to find out about Seth. "I'm his sister."

"Sister?" the woman questioned. She just wouldn't give in!

"Yea, from Newport Beach… in California," Summer said. "My name is Summer Cohen. I'm his twin sister." Summer cringed at the thought… it was disgusting even pretending they were sister and brother… considering some, err, many of the things they had done. But it was the only way she could find out. "We can't come out there, so they had me call to find out. See, his girlfriend just had a big accident. She overdosed on prescription pills because they broke up, and he was 3000 miles away. Our parents are devastated that both of them are so distressed right now, so they had me call. So please, can you just tell me if he's okay or not."

"I suppose," she sighed. "Just let me look it up… ah, yes. Seth Cohen, about an hour ago he came to. His friend Joel has been talking to him, I guess that's why he never called."

"Can I talk to him?" Summer asked eagerly. She had to talk to him… make him believe her… that she was sorry and regretful for everything she did. "But…don't tell him it's me. I want to surprise him."

"Okay, I'll convert you to his line in a moment," she said and soon Summer heard a ringing in her ear.

Ring.

"Seth, aren't you gonna answer that?" Joel asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting there," Seth replied. Now that the doctor had removed most of the tubes, he could function more properly. "Hello?"

"Hi," he heard the one voice he had been dreading for about a month now. "Seth, we need to talk."

I found a reason to show

A side of me I didn't know

A reason for all that I do

And the reason is you

A/N: So… there's chapter 7…hope you liked it… review por favor!!