Disclaimers: While I did randomly road-trip to Newport on Friday night, I don't own The O.C.
A/N: Mad, mad, mad props to 60schic for the beta. I've messed with it since she last had it.
Part 6
"Is it really okay for us to be down here?" Luke asked nervously.
"It's fine Luke. They let people in all the time to see their loved ones," Summer strolled up to the receptionist. "We're here to see Marissa Cooper."
"Are you family?"
"I'm her sister, and this is, was, her fiancé," Summer replied without missing a beat.
"Right this way," The receptionist came out from behind her desk and led them into the storage area. She pulled open a drawer and unfolded the sheet.
Marissa was so, so, still. Her golden skin looked yellow and waxy, her face marred with dozens of thin cuts. On the side Summer was standing on her head was bruised and swollen.
"Oh God. Baby…" Luke murmured touching Marissa's shoulder.
"Breathe," Summer murmured to herself, consciously exhaling.
There was a large gash down the side of Marissa's throat. Summer didn't know if that had been what had killed her, but it certainly hadn't helped anything.
Summer's stomach churned.
Luke was murmuring endearments in Coop's ear. It was suddenly obvious he still loved her, despite everything.
The morgue people had done a good job scrubbing Marissa's face clean. Without makeup though, she looked empty somehow, blank. It was weird, like Summer was finally getting to see the real Marissa and she was weak and fragile and soulless.
Despite the thorough cleansing, there was still blood matted in Marissa's hair. Coop's blood. Coop's blood on the outside. Not bleeding, dry. Dry because Coop was dead.
Summer's chest felt tight. She gripped the edge of the metal shelf, her nails scraped Marissa's shoulder.
Summer shivered, she felt dizzy.
"Summer? Summer?" Luke called, concerned. "Summer? Come on."
Luke grasped her hand and guided her out of the room.
"Summer, stay with me. We're going to go get Cohen."
The hallway in front of Ryan's room was empty when the elevator doors opened. Luke shoved Summer out in front of him.
"Wait here," he told her and pushed open the door to Ryan's room.
"Luke?" Ryan asked.
Luke glanced over at Ryan, nodded at him, "Chino." He spotted Seth on the far side of Ryan. "Cohen. I need you. Now."
Seth stood up, glanced over at Ryan. "What's up man?"
Luke snagged Seth's arm and pulled him out into the hall.
Summer hadn't moved at all. Her eyes were glassy and she hadn't bothered to push back the hair that had fallen into her face when Luke had pushed her out of the elevator.
"Oh my God," Seth turned to Luke angrily. "What did you do to her?"
"We… we went to see Marissa."
"You did what?"
"It was Summer's idea," Luke told Seth defensively.
"Go inside. Hang out with Ryan. Tell them… don't tell them anything," Seth instructed. He approached Summer.
"Summer? Sweetheart?" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You breathing for me?"
"Breathe," she murmured.
"That's right," Seth exhaled and realized he'd been holding his own breath. "Good girl. Keep breathing, just keep breathing. We can fix everything else later, as long as you keep breathing."
Seth took Summer's face in his hands. He smoothed his fingers over her cheeks, peered into her eyes. "Summer? Summer, look at me please."
"Cohen?"
Tears sprung to his eyes and Seth immediately embraced Summer and pulled her close.
"Oh my God Summer. You scared the shit out of me," Seth choked out. "Oh my God."
"Cohen? What?"
Seth clung to her. "You cannot do that to me again. Seriously Summer. You're supposed to be the strong one. Never again. Promise?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Summer told him.
Seth released her, pulled her to the floor with him.
"I don't want to scare you," Seth said seriously, "But I need you to tell me exactly what you remember. Can you do that Summer?"
"Yeah. Of course. Uh… Luke and I were talking. He couldn't accept that Marissa was really gone. So I offered to take him to the morgue," Summer recalled.
"And did you?"
"Yeah. I lied to the receptionist, told her we were family, and went in with them," Summer elaborated.
"And then?"
"I was looking at Marissa, and I started not feeling well. God, Cohen, she's so… dead."
"Yeah," Seth said factitiously and then caught himself. "I'm sorry you had to see her like that. You said you didn't feel well?"
"Nauseous and dizzy, so I grabbed on to the drawer thing and…" Summer shuddered.
"Sweetheart? You okay?" Seth asked, wrapping an arm around Summer and pulling her close.
"Uh-huh. I… touched her. Accidentally. And then…and then you asked me to look at you. I don't remember. I'm sorry Cohen."
"It's okay," Seth rubbed her arm reassuringly. "You scared me. You scared Luke. How 'bout if you don't go on any more field trips?"
"Deal," Summer agreed. "Cohen? I'm scared."
"About what?"
"I… there's something I'm not remembering, right? What am I missing Cohen?" Summer asked urgently.
"Not much. Nothing important I don't think," Seth assured her. "An elevator ride."
"First I forget how to breathe, now I forget everything. I'm losing my mind, aren't I?"
"No. No you are not losing your mind. You're totally sane. You're the strongest person I know, remember?"
"What about Ryan?"
"What about… oh! He's awake by the way. He's going to be fine," Seth told her.
"I missed it? I thought you said I hadn't missed anything," Summer looked over at Seth, confused.
"You didn't, like, forget it. You missed it. You and Luke were visiting Marissa when it happened," Seth explained.
"Oh. Dammit. I wanted to talk to him."
"Well he's still awake. You can talk to him now."
"Yeah, but… Whatever. He's seriously okay?"
"He's banged up pretty bad. He's... messed up over Marissa."
"You guys told him? This fast?"
"He remembered. The second they took off the oxygen mask he asked."
"He asked what? If she was okay?"
"No, uh, he knew." A flash of pain crossed Seth's face. "He opened his eyes and asked if Marissa was dead. Mom and Dad were so stunned that they just said yes."
"Oh my God. You Cohen's are really not tactful are you?"
"Clearly not."
"How's Ryan handling Marissa being dead?"
"In typical Ryan fashion. He shut down, won't say another word about it."
"Poor guy. Can we see him?" Summer asked.
"How 'bout we wait a second," Seth suggested. "I'm still freaked out about you freaking out. Let me convince myself you're okay first."
"Okay. I'm really, really sorry I scared you Cohen. I wasn't trying to. I wish I knew what happened."
"You had to deal with Marissa stuff is all. You've been doing a pretty good job of avoiding it," Seth pointed out.
"Maybe not. I forget to breathe. Being in my room with all those memories of her made me cry, but I didn't like blackout, I don't think."
"Oh God, your room. Summer I am so sorry. I didn't even think of that."
"Yeah, me either until I was there," Summer smiled regretfully. "It was okay though. I think it was better than coming home tonight and getting faced with it then."
"Maybe." A thought struck Seth. "Hey Summer?"
"Yes?"
"What was the last thing you ate?"
"Um… fruit salad. This morning."
"You had like two bites of it, and that was at eight this morning. It's after six now."
"Is that why I zoned out, you think?" Summer wondered.
"No idea, but you do need to eat something," Seth stood up. "Vending machine. What sounds good?"
"Chips."
"You sure? Not gonna go with, say, a nice Snickers bar?"
"Sugar on an empty stomach?" Summer shook her head. "That'll make me sick for sure."
Seth helped her off the ground.
"Ohhh. I don't feel good Cohen."
"Maybe because you got three hours of sleep and have eaten one piece of cantaloupe all day," Seth suggested wrapping his arm around Summer's waist.
"I can walk!"
"Humor me."
"Summer! Oh my God!" Luke exclaimed when she and Seth walked into Ryan's room. "I've been freaking out about you and you went and got chips?"
Seth rolled his eyes.
"Silly girl hasn't eaten anything all day."
"Oh. Is that why you…" Luke asked Summer.
"No idea," she replied sticking a chip into her mouth. "It's never happened before."
"Someone want to explain what's going on?" Ryan requested.
"Ryan! Hi! I'm glad you're better. Sorry I missed your wake up though. You want a really stale Dorito?" Summer offered.
"Uh, no thanks."
"Sorry. I can feel my blood sugar going back up. I'm a little loopy," she apologized. "How are you Chino, really?"
"Confused. It's all too much to process. Marissa's really...?"
Summer bit her lip.
"Yeah, sweetie. She is," Summer nodded sadly. Both Seth and Luke immediately reached for her. Summer waved them off. "Guys, it's fine. I'm okay. What about you Ryan, how are you?"
