Chapter Twenty

Ryan walked along the beach the next morning, searching the crashing waves as they neared the shore. He sighed, wondering if they would ever find Marissa. It had been nearly six hours since she had fallen into the water, and Ryan was beginning to give up hope. Several of the officers and search crew told them that there was probably little chance that they would find Marissa alive. He watched as they water nearly came to his shoes, but then retreated immediately. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and seemed to see something floating about twenty feet from the shore. Ryan gasped. Was it Marissa? He had no time to think, no time to process and put together all of the details, all he knew was that he had to bring her in, had to see if he could help her, save her, bring her back. Ryan quickly ran through the water, his pants becoming saggy and wet, weighing him down. He was swimming, fighting the waves as they crashed down over his head, diving deep into the water, trying to avoid the force as it desperately tried to bring him back to shore. "Marissa!" he called, in a gurgling way, catching a mouthful of water as he came up to the surface, searching for her desperately. "Marissa!"

He spit out the water and spun around, looking everywhere. Then he saw her, he had passed her while swimming. He turned and swam back towards her, his eyes stinging in the salt water. "Marissa!" he cried, grabbing her and pulling her towards him, hugging her close to him.

But then he noticed that it was only a piece of driftwood, a fairly large piece that had been floating towards she shore. Ryan sighed angrily, depressed, and began to make his way towards shore, tears streaming down his cheeks, mixed with the salt water.

That was when he saw a pile of people crowded up in the rocks near the edge of the beach. They were midway up, screaming in shock and surprise. What had happened? Was someone hurt? He quickly began to run towards the scene, hoping that it wasn't one of the searchers who might have accidentally hurt themselves in the rocks.

He fought his way through the crowd, searching for what they were all looking for. When he reached the front, he saw a medic tending to someone who was laying on the rocks. He and another medic lifted the person onto a stretcher and began to carry him or her off towards an ambulance near the road. Ryan ran to catch up with them and asked what had happened. They said that they had found someone in the rocks, apparently she (they said that it was a woman) had washed up during the night. Before they could say another word, Ryan ran towards the stretcher and, shoving the medics aside, found a recognizable face laying there before him.

"Marissa?" he gasped.

She was staring up at him weakly, and forced a smile. "Hey, Ryan. Are you okay?"

Ryan hugged her tightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think," she said as the medics shoved Ryan out of the way and began to lift the stretcher up into the ambulance.

"I love you, Marissa Cooper!" called Ryan as they shut the ambulance doors. He watched as the ambulance began to fly down the street, siren wailing, lights flashing. He sighed to himself, then turned and saw that several people had been watching him. He smiled and said, "I'm in love with that girl." He wasn't sure if they could hear him or not, but it didn't matter. He had spoken the truth, and erased his mistake for the moment.

Las Vegas, Nevada

"I don't know how much longer I can do this, Gabrielle," said Zach, buttoning up his shirt.

"C'mon, baby," smiled Gabrielle, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek.

"Stop," he said, pushing her away.

"What? What are you doing, Zachary?" Gabrielle took on her pouting face.

"I love someone else," said Zach.

"Someone else--who?" Gabrielle was shocked. "Is it Vera? That bitch…"

"No," snapped Zach, grabbing her hand and turning her around towards him. "It is not Vera. It is someone from Newport…I didn't think that this could happen but…"

Tears began to stream down Gabrielle's cheeks. "You cheated on me?"

"Oh puh-leeze!" cried Zach. "You're fucking MARRIED! Don't act like that doesn't count as cheating."

"Please, Zach," begged Gabrielle. "I love you."

"I can't do this anymore." He turned, grabbing his hat, and began to walk towards the elevator.

"Don't do this!" screamed Gabrielle, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back, but he jerked away and continued to walk towards the elevator. He pressed the down button, then watched as the elevator doors opened. He stepped in and turned, and Gabrielle watched as the doors closed, and she knew that she would never see him again.

Gabrielle, in distress, found one of her husband's ties and strapped it around her neck. Then she pulled it as tight as possible, as the air began to be drained from her. She fell to the ground, gasping for air, her eyes closing. That was when her head hit the floor hard, and she stopped breathing altogether.

New York City, New York

Summer watched as the judge pounded the gavel. She sighed, closing her eyes, and wondering if she would ever see Newport again after today's trial. She waited, and, after the regular proceedings, she watched as the defense called Summer to the stand. She stood, her legs shaking, wondering if she could walk, and began to hurry over to the witness stand. She took the oath, and she was questioned about the murder by both the defense and the prosecution. After they were both finished, she was allowed to take her seat once again by Seth.

She wished that Sandy was there to be her attorney, but he was dead. And because he was dead, all of these acts had come into play in the first place.

She looked over at Seth and forced a smile on her face, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, letting her rest her head there until the first day of the trial was through.

Tomorrow they would announce the verdict, and she could only hope for the best.