Disclaimer: The only thing related to the OC that I own is a box-set of DVDs.

A/N: Severe thunderstorms overhead, and the cables out…on TEEN CHOICE AWARD NIGHT! Gawh, could you HAVE worse timing. The worst part is not being able to get online to see all you beautiful people's fics.

BTW: I have an lj/aim: fldhckygoali35…feel free to add/comment/etc or talk to me via AIM…I love people.

At least I saw the Teen Choice Award part when Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson got their awards. That made me uber happy even though I can't watch the rest or get on the internet. This sucks, but at least since I have nothing better to do on a stormy evening…writing time.

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Sandy sprinted into Summer's room and saw Seth and Summer cuddling on the bed.

"Hey Mr. C!" Summer greeted him cheerfully. Despite her heavily bandaged arm she was happy to see him.

"Hi Summer," he smiled, "Seth, I just found out about your mother." Both of the teenagers looked up at him, their eyes begging for answers. Summer grasped Seth's hand with her good hand as he looked at his dad anxiously.

"So…" Seth looked at him, "what'd the doctor say?"

"Well," Sandy began as Seth gripped onto Summer, "They finally stabilized her, she's just out of surgery, one of the bullets came really close to her heart and caused her heartbeat to go AWOL. So anyways, she had some internal bleeding and also they had to remove some of her stomach. With her leg, her hip bone was fractured and she'll have to wear a cast for a while. She's really weak right now but the doctor thinks she'll make a full recovery." Seth hopped off Summer's bed and walked over to give his father a hug.

"Wow," Summer looked at the two, "That's just…wow."

"Well Seth, do you want to go see her?" Sandy asked. Seth looked over at Summer.

"You'll be OK on your own?" he asked her.

"I'll be fine, anyways my dad is faxing over the papers to release me right now, so what room is she in?" Summer asked, "My dad's out of town for like, a month."

"Well then you'll definitely be bunking at the Cohen house," Seth told her.

"She's in room 110 in the ICU and yes, you will be bunking with us, if they ask if you are family just say that you are her daughter and we'll cover for you," Sandy told her. Summer grinned.

Sandy and Seth hurried out of the room, waving good-bye to Summer. First they stopped in Ryan's room to see how he was doing.

"Hey kid," Sandy began, but Ryan cut him off.

"Can you wait for the doctor? He says it's probably safe for me to be discharged now," Ryan looked up at Sandy, "It was just a small flesh wound."

"Sure kid, but when he comes, we have to go see Kirsten," at the sound of the word Kirsten Ryan popped up and looked at Sandy.

"How is she?" he asked, crossing his fingers.

"Not great," he admitted, "She's going to have a heck of a long road to complete recovery. But eventually she'll make full recovery." He stopped as the doctor walked him.

"Hello Mr. Cohen," the doctor shook hands with the man, "I need to check Ryan's wound but then we can discharge him."

"Ok," Sandy gave the doctor a fake smile.

The doctor poked and prodded at Ryan's leg and handed a clipboard to Sandy to sign. He signed his name and helped Ryan out of the hospital bed.

"Are you ready?" Sandy asked him, watching as Seth hovered by the door.

"Yep," Ryan grabbed the bag that Seth had brought him normal clothes in that now held his toiletries. The three took off towards the ICU. Sandy stood in between the limping Ryan and his other son; he put his arms around both.

As they entered the ICU they noticed a noticeable change in color on the walls. They went from bright colors to dreary white. I guess no one in the ICU cares about the colors of the walls. Some of them will never even see the walls again.

As they started towards the rooms they were stopped by a nurse. She didn't have the same zing that the nurse from the normal hospital had. Her face was pale and her scrubs were plain blue.

"Excuse me," she called towards the boys as they all turned around to face reality.

"Yes?" Sandy asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking a deep breath.

"You have to sign in if you are visiting someone in the ICU, and also one of our hospital policies is that you can only go in one at a time," the nurse told him. She didn't give Sandy a special vibe through her tone of voice. He grabbed the clipboard from the nurse and signed in.

The nurse sighed. It was so depressing to see families of ICU patients come through. They all looked like death had already struck and they all walked with the same drag in their steps. She gave Sandy a smile and a wink of reassurance, "The two that don't go in first have to stay here in the ICU family area." The three boys looked at each other.

"Dad, you go first so if it's something you don't think I can handle you can tell me," Seth suggested. He was never so calm and serious. The usual sarcasm that dripped off his lips like saliva was lost. He leaned back in the seat and tapped his feet together.

Sandy took off towards Kirsten's room, scared that he wouldn't even recognize his wife. As he walked he saw Julie, Marissa, Caleb, and Summer all coming up into the ICU area. They didn't have their normal happy vibe on them. The nurse and the other people in the waiting room looked up at the people and gave a half-smile. The four quietly sat down next to Seth and Ryan and Caleb was the first to speak up; "How is she?"

"Not great," Seth told him, "But getting there." The four others quieted and Marissa, Seth, Ryan, and Summer adjusted themselves so they were next to their significant others. They watched as people passed.

One especially sad time was when a mother and a daughter, African-Americans, walked by with tears in their eyes. Suddenly, right in front of Seth and Ryan, the girl had broken down on the floor. A doctor walked over and rushed the two away. Seth hated being in the ICU, waiting and waiting.

Sandy walked into Kirsten's room and instantly stopped. His normally glowing and laughing wife was hooked up to various machines and had a tube running down her throat and into her nose. Her whole body was covered by a blanket and two IVs were running into her left arm. Someone had pulled her hair into a ponytail. He walked to the chair by the bed.

"Hi honey," he whispered, shifting uncomfortably, "I guess you probably aren't going to respond, so I'll babble to you. I love you honey. I can't believe what happened yesterday. It was crazy, people in the Newport community being used as target practice. But what I never would want to happen is to see my baby take two bullets. The boys can't wait to get in here and see you, so I'll keep this short. I love you baby, and I hope you are OK. I want you to know that no matter how much pain you are in and how much care you need, it's worth it. I mean, not like that. It's worth the money, the time, the effort, because we want to see you better. We want to see the Kirsten Cohen we all know and love. Hopefully you won't change much though. Ryan's coming next so, I love you honey. A lot. A lot a lot. I hope to talk to you and not talk AT you soon."

Sandy silently kissed his wife on the cheek and walked back into the waiting area. He gulped and sat down in one of the chairs next to Julie.

"Ryan, you go next," Seth told him as Ryan got up and walked towards the room.

Julie rubbed Sandy's hand, "You know, I was standing there when it happened. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my whole entire life. We were talking about the Newport Group. She was just standing there talking to me and the next moment her eyes grew wide as she heard the shots. Before they hit anyone she looked around to see what happened but what she didn't expect was for them to land in her. She just looked straight ahead at me with her big eyes. I suddenly froze. I usually would freak out in a situation like that but I just froze Sandy. When she went down on her knees in agony I leaned down, screaming her name and freaking out. Then I called you." Julie stopped as one sweat bead dripped down her face and landed on her shoulder.

Ryan stepped into the room uncomfortably. He looked at Kirsten, lying on the bed. He hated seeing IVs. There was something about them that made him want to scream. He also saw the oxygen tubes going into her nose and throat. He gulped as he made his way to the chair that he could tell Sandy had been sitting in. He pulled it out and took Kirsten's hand in his.

"Um, hi Kirsten, how are you?" he began, shaking, "I…uh guess there is an obvious answer to that question. You know I'm not a good talker but I'll try. So, yeah, I took a bullet too but it was just a flesh wound and trust me, I would trade with you in a second. I love you Kirsten, so stay strong for us. Seth and Sandy really need you. They can barely stand up without you. So I guess I'll be back soon. I love you a lot Kirsten, or should I say mom." Ryan gently let go of her hand and sat for a moment before getting up and leaving the room. He looked back and felt one tear fall down his cheek.

"Hey guys," Ryan greeted them, walking back and sitting down next to Sandy. Seth hopped up and slowly started walking towards the room. He looked back and gave a weak smile to his family.

Seth pushed open the door and froze almost instantly. It made him sad to see his mom look so weak. He gasped at the tube going down her throat. He wanted to cry.

He took her hand and sat down next to her. Before he even had the chance to say anything, he felt his mom squeeze his hand. She wasn't squeezing lightly either. She was cutting off his circulation.

"Mom?" he called to her, "mom?"

She could hear someone calling her in the distance. She could see light, even if there was a blur. She squeezed the hand in hers to let them know that she was awake. She suddenly opened her eyes but they instantly fluttered to the top of her eye sockets.

"Mom!" Seth sounded ecstatic. She was confused. She didn't know where she was and she was disoriented. As her vision started coming back she saw an IV running into her arm and noticed a tube going into her throat. She began gasping for air and suddenly pain filled her body.

Seth instantly pushed the call button and within seconds there were nurses filling the room.

"Mom, I'm going to find dad, I'll be back in one second," he promised her, rushing out of the room.

She moaned as the nurses checked on her. She suddenly remembered.

Seth ran out to his dad and panted, "DAD! She woke up!" Sandy and Ryan exchanged glances as they hopped up.

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A/N: Wahoo! This chapter is done! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review….i got like 1000 hits on the first chapter and a couple reviews…but whateves! Love love.