A smiling face beamed down at hers. The sparkling eyes seemed to glow and gleam with happiness, mirroring the look she knew was on her face. His mouth was turned up at the corners, and from time to time she could see his teeth. He's smiling; I made him smile! The last time I saw him smile was so long ago. He kept smiling at her, and gently stroked her arm. She closed her eyes, happy to enjoy the moment that had taken so long to come. She moved her hand to his and squeezed it. She opened her eyes, wanting to bask in his adoring look again.

"MOM?" Marissa frowned. Where did Ryan go?

"Honey, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Um…quite sore. Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sweetie. There was a car crash, do you remember?"

"Um yeah…" Ryan! Shit, I was on my way to meet him. He could be thinking all sorts. "Does Ryan know I'm here?"

Julie paused before answering. It's time to start sorting this mess out. "Yeah, sweetie, he does, don't worry. I rang Kirsten and she said she would tell him."

Phew. He knows then. Knows I didn't stand him up. "So has he been by then?"

"Well, because you were unconscious, it was only family allowed into see you…no one mentioned anything about him stopping by though."

Marissa's face visibly fell. Great. There's no way Kirsten wouldn't tell him, so I guess that means he hasn't bothered to come by."

Upon seeing the reaction on her daughter's face, Julie feigned a cover-up. "But I'm sure he'll have stopped by Marissa; there's no reason why he wouldn't have."

Well, there shouldn't be. Marissa, you're being paranoid. He probably did stop by, but he wasn't allowed in to see you, so there's no way your Mom would know about it.

"Could you…let Ryan know I'm awake now?" Marissa asked.

"Of course. I'll go and let the doctors know that you're awake now as well." With that, Julie left the room.

Like I'm going to invite him to see her. There's no way I'm ringing him.

"Excuse me, nurse? Hi, Julie Cooper, Marissa's mom. Um…Marissa woke up a few moments ago."

"She did? That's great! I'll get a doctor to come and look at her in a few moments okay?"

"Okay, thank you," Julie smiled. Then she turned and walked back into Marissa's room.

"Did you tell Ryan?" Marissa asked, as soon as she saw her mother.

"He'd already left for school, but I told Sandy and he said that he would obviously let Ryan know."

Marissa breathed a sigh of relief. I hope he stops by today; I can't wait to see him. I wish the dream I had when I woke up were true…wish it was him here instead of my Mom.

Ooh, that Julie's an evil one! And she's not going to get any nicer any time soon.

Value your opinions, people, so please tell me what they are!