Hello! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. So I have four, count them four, midterms next week, so I'm going to try to get another chapter up as soon as possible (probably when I'm procrastinating from studying), but I can't make any promises. Cause I may just die after the week is over. Oh, and I can't wait until Halloween, I'm going as a 50's housewife, because it's a long running joke between me and one of my friends that I'd make a good 50's housewife because apparently I repress my anger. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Uh, not mine.

Sandy was at his wit's end. He stood pacing in front of the nurses' station. He had demanded to be told where his wife was and what was happening to her. They had finally agreed to get a doctor to tell him, and here he was, waiting. Pacing.

"Mr. Cohen?" He whirled around and faced a doctor whose blue scrubs were covered in blood. Kirsten's. The thought hit him and for a second he didn't remember how to breathe. "I'm Dr. Barnes. I've been working on your wife?"

"Is she okay?"

"She's in critical condition," Dr. Barnes said. "We had to take her to surgery to remove her spleen and control the internal bleeding. I'm not going to lie, Mr. Cohen, we thought we were going to lose her." Lose her, the words echoed in Sandy's head, bouncing around. He repeated them to himself until they lost their meaning. Lose her. Lose her. "We managed to get her stabilized, but she was without oxygen for a few minutes, and we can't be sure if there is brain damage until she wakes up. She has a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a pretty severe concussion that also has us concerned."

"Oh God," Sandy covered his mouth with his hand.

"I can take you to the ICU to see her if you would like?" Dr. Barnes asked, and Sandy nodded. When they stopped outside of the room, the doctor turned to Sandy. "Are you ready?" Ready? No. Sandy was not ready for this.

"Is she…when will she wake up?" Sandy asked, his hand was poised above the doorknob of Kirsten's room. He could see through the slits in the blinds, her lying in the bed, and he had never seen her look so pale and so fragile.

"We don't know right now, Mr. Cohen," Dr. Barnes said gently. "Why don't you go sit with her and try to talk to her?" Sandy nodded, he felt like that was all that he had been doing all day. Nodding and following. And waiting.

Waiting for news on Ryan. Waiting for news on Kirsten. Waiting to find out if his family was going to be okay.

As Sandy took Kirsten's hand, he felt his confusion and exhaustion and worry turn into anger. Anger at Marissa. What the hell was she thinking? Drinking and driving. And anger at his kids. They should have known better than to let Marissa drive after she had been drinking. He had taught Seth better than that. He and Kirsten had always told Seth that if he ever went to a party and had something to drink, which was not okay but he and his wife weren't stupid and knew that Seth was a teenager and so knew that there was going to be encounters with alcohol, but if he had something to drink he could call them. He could call and they would come get him no questions asked. They had never had this problem before, Seth never went to parties unless it was with his parents. Seth never drank. Seth was a good kid.

And Ryan was a good kid too, as far as Sandy could see from the brief time that Ryan had been living with them. And he certainly seemed as if he knew better than to drink and drive, or let someone else drink and drive. Sandy didn't know what had gone on, but he was certainly going to find out.

Ryan.

Sandy hadn't known how attached he was until he heard Seth say that Ryan was in the car and was hurt and his stomach leapt into his throat and he momentarily forgot that his wife was still trapped in the car at an inhumane angle, because his kid, and that was what Ryan had become, his kid was hurt. And he worried about both Ryan and Kirsten equally.

But Ryan was okay, and Kirsten was far from it. And all Sandy wanted to do was scream and cry and throw things, and strangle Marissa for being so selfish and so stupid and causing everyone so much pain. But instead he took his wife's hand, and brought it to his mouth to give it a kiss and remembered that he should call Caleb, and tell Seth what was happening. But Sandy didn't. Not yet. He needed to sit with Kirsten for just a little while longer.

Seth and Summer had sat in silence as his father had gone off to find out about his mother. Ryan was still sleeping, and Seth was getting antsy.

"Where's my Dad?" He asked for what was probably the millionth time.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Summer assured him. Seth began to tap his foot.

"This is crazy," he finally spoke up again.

"What's crazy?" Summer looked at him confused, her eyebrows sloping down and Seth mentally added that to the ever growing list of things about Summer he loved.

"This whole thing! Marissa being drunk, us getting in a car accident, only to have it be my parents' car, and Ryan and my mom getting hurt. It's crazy. Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. Only on The Valley."

"I love The Valley!" Summer said grinning, Seth gave her an incredulous look and Summer nodded. "But right, crazy."

"What the hell was Marissa thinking? What the hell were we thinking getting in the car with her?" Seth shook his head and started tapping his other foot as well. Summer placed a calming hand on his knee.

"We didn't know she was drunk," Summer reminded.

"But we should have! If I would have stopped her, if I would have said something, or been more willing to take my parents' car, then my mom would be okay. Ryan would be okay. We'd all be okay!"

"Seth, this isn't your fault, okay? It's not anyone's fault but Marissa's," Summer said. "And your mom is hurt, and Ryan is hurt, and it's not so much about you or your guilt? It's about them."

"You're right, I'm being…self-absorbed." They settled again into a comfortable silence until Ryan started to toss a little in his sleep.

"Um, should he be doing that?" Summer asked.

"No!" Ryan screamed.

"There's your answer," Seth quipped as he jumped to his feet. "I'll go get someone."

"No! No!" Ryan yelled. His arms started to flail, and Summer was afraid that he was going to pull out his IV, and she wanted Seth to come back more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

"Ryan?" She said gently moving closer to the bed. "Ryan, Seth went to go get someone, okay?" She saw that his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and the door opened again and Seth came in followed by a nurse with a shot that she stuck in Ryan's IV. Almost immediately he quieted down.

"Gotta get me some of that," Seth whispered to Summer.

"There you go honey," the nurse said patting Ryan's arm. She turned and smiled at Seth and Summer. "You come get me if you need anything." She walked back out and Seth felt completely and totally exhausted all of a sudden. The door opened again and this time it was Sandy, who had watched the nurse leave and frowned slightly.

"Is everything okay in here?"

"Everything's gravy Dad," Seth replied. "Ryan had a nightmare. Or, well I assume it was a nightmare, he started to yell and throw his arms around…" Seth paused and looked at his father. "Is Mom okay? What did they tell you?" Sandy sighed and ran his good hand through his hair and over his face. Seth knew his father well enough to know that wasn't a good sign, and immediately Seth felt sick.

"She's…well, she's in a coma," Sandy said. "They said that that there was extensive internal bleeding and while she was in surgery her brain was denied oxygen, and they aren't sure if there's going to be brain damage because of it." Seth reached for Summer's hand, and she looked down and noticed that he had done it without thinking. He had reached for her hand, and she had let him take it.

"Can I…can I go see her?" Seth asked softly.

"Sure," Sandy said giving his son a gentle smile. "You can sit with her while I go call your grandfather."

"Thanks for sitting with me, you don't have to stay if you don't want to," Seth said turning to Summer. She nodded, and was surprised at herself when she realized that she didn't want to go. Not home to an empty house, which is what would happen.

"Actually, the police want to talk to you both," Sandy said. "So Summer, if you don't mind sticking around?" Summer almost wanted to hug Sandy. She nodded again.

"No, I'll stay. Do you want me to sit with Ryan?"

"That'd be great, Summer, thanks," Sandy said giving her a smile. He led his son out of the room and Summer settled into the chair next to the bed and picked up the remote.

Seth followed his father out into the hall and they walked up to the ICU together. Neither one talked as they arrived outside Kirsten's door.

"She's only allowed one visitor at a time," Sandy said holding the door open for Seth.

"I'll keep it short then," Seth said, realizing that his father would probably want to be with his mother. Sandy just took Seth by the shoulders, looked at him for a minute and then pulled him in for a one armed hug. Then he let go just as suddenly and Seth was left to walk into his mother's room alone.

As Sandy went to call Caleb, he heard his name being called and he saw Jimmy Cooper hurrying towards him.

"Sandy!" Sandy stopped but sighed, the last thing that he wanted right now was to talk to any of the Coopers, for fear that he might do something that he could regret later on. But he stopped, and turned around and let Jimmy catch up.

"Hi Jimmy," Sandy said tiredly.

"How's Kirsten?" Jimmy asked immediately. "Have you heard anything about her?"

"She's….it's not good," Sandy said, and admitting those words made him tremble a little bit. "Uh, she's still unconscious, and they're not sure when," if, the pessimistic part of his brain spoke up, "she's going to wake up." He shoved the pessimistic voice to the back of his mind. He couldn't think about what would happen if she didn't wake up. He couldn't think about how he would have to deal with their boys on his own if she didn't wake up.

"And Ryan? Um, your nephew I guess? How's he?" Jimmy asked. But he could care less about the answer, and even found that he wasn't really listening to what Sandy was saying. Kirsten was seriously hurt. And as much as Jimmy tried to deny it, or refused to admit to Julie, he was still in love with his first love. He sometimes wondered if she ever thought about what would have happened if they would have married like they were supposed to. That was the plan. He thought about it all the time. How many kids they would have, what they would look like. They wouldn't drink and drive, that was for damned sure. Which brought him to the true reason that he was there.

"Good," Jimmy replied nodding. "I'm glad he's okay." He paused and took a deep breath. "We need your help. Uh, legal help. With Marissa. I know that you probably can't represent her, but uh, if you could let us know who would be good, or just give us any advice." Sandy at first didn't know whether to punch Jimmy or to laugh, and he went with his second thought. He started laughing, and Jimmy watched him bemused.

"You want me to help you? Your daughter? Who got drunk, got into a car with my kids, and hit my car?" Sandy stopped laughing at the ridiculous notion that Jimmy was suggesting and instead began to again feel the overwhelming want to punch Jimmy. Strangle Marissa. Make the Coopers hurt. "My wife is in a fucking coma Jimmy, and you want me to help Marissa? Marissa who put her there? Marissa who did this? Did you think that I would say yes?" Jimmy put his hands up and started to back away from Sandy. He had never seen this wild-eyed side of Sandy before. This side of Sandy was reserved for his family, his wife and now his two sons, for when they were in danger, or trouble. For when he had to protect them.

"Sandy, I'm…" Jimmy started.

"No! She could be dying Jimmy! She could have brain damage, and she's hurt and there's nothing I can do about it, and you want me to help Marissa? You want me to help her after what she did?"

"I'm sorry Sandy," Jimmy said softly. "I didn't mean to…I'm going to go. Have someone let me know when Kirsten wakes up." He made a hasty retreat, and Sandy sighed, went into the bathroom to splash some water on his face and tried to calm down. He couldn't believe Jimmy Cooper would come there to ask him if he could help Marissa. No, he couldn't help Marissa. He didn't want to. Usually Sandy was a fairly compassionate guy, an understanding guy, but he had no compassion for the girl who did this to his wife.

Once he had calmed down he left the bathroom to make a phone call that he certainly did not want to make. He dialed Caleb's number and sighed as he leaned back against the wall. He was going to check on Ryan too before he went back up to kick Seth out. Sandy's head hurt, from both the concussion and the yelling, and all the worrying that he had done. He was sick of worrying.

"Sanford? I've been trying to call Kirsten, and her phone isn't working. Do you know where she is?" Caleb demanded.

"Are you sitting down?" Sandy warned.

"What? Sanford. What the hell is going on?" Sandy could hear the tinge of panic in Caleb's voice.

"We were in a car accident, a drunk driver…Marissa Cooper actually, she swerved into our lane and hit our car," Sandy said wishing that he had two good hands so that he could rub his temples to try to diminish the headache that was growing by the second.

"Is she okay?" Caleb asked after a pause. "Was Seth in the car with you?"

"Seth and Ryan were in the car with Marissa," Sandy said. "They're both okay. Ryan's been better, but they're both going to be fine."

"Kirsten? You haven't said anything about her. Is my daughter okay Sandy?"

"She's not…she's not…she's unconscious still. She has some broken ribs, and a broken leg, and she's in critical condition."

"I'm coming right now," Caleb said and then Sandy heard the dial tone. Great, he thought, because dealing with Caleb was exactly what he needed. He hung up the phone and headed towards Ryan's room. Summer was watching television when he walked in, Ryan was still thankfully asleep, her leg, complete with a cast that Seth had already signed with some marker that he had asked the nurse for, was propped up on the bed and she gave Sandy a smile when he walked in.

"Hey Mr. C," she said.

"Hi Summer, how's he doing?" Sandy asked motioning towards Ryan.

"Okay. How's Mrs. Cohen?"

"She's the same, Seth's up there now, I'm going to send him back down," Sandy told her. She nodded. "Did you get a hold of your dad?"

"He's out of town," Summer said. "I couldn't get a hold of my stepmother…she's probably home, just not answering the phone."

"You're staying with us then," Sandy said.

"You don't have…"

"You're staying with us," Sandy his voice firm, but he was smiling at her.

"Okay, thanks Mr. C," Summer said. She was relieved that she didn't have to go home. She didn't want to go to that big, empty house and sit with her stepmother and wait for her father to return home.

"I'll send Seth down," Sandy said, and with that he left the room to go sit with his wife and wait some more.

Okay, so please review. I'm going to go start studying.