Hiya!
Wow, what a fantastic response to the last chapter! Thanks toeveryone who reviewed, it means a lot so thanks!

Sorry for leaving you all hanging so long, the timing's been bad. I have a Math exam on Wednesday and I have lots of studying to do. Maybe another update at the weekend so sorry in advance!

So I havent left a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter and I hope you like it, I really like this chapter myself. Its the aftermath and there is one death. I wont say who though, you'll have to read...!
Thanks again and R/R!
xxxxx

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Out Of Reach

Seth felt numb. An inexplicable sense of shock had overwhelmed his body and all he could do was stand and watch the events taking place unfold in front of him. Whenever he tried to get closer, he got pushed away and told to go so what was the point, what was the point of anything anymore? She wasn't here with him, she should be, but she wasn't.

It had been the longest ten minutes of Seth Cohen's life and within that short period of time, he found Summer's lifeless body laid on the hard marble flooring of her house. Upstairs was another body, that of Ava Walker, who'd' been shot. In Summer's room was a knocked out Marissa and a distressed April, locked inside the closet. Seth didn't leave his girlfriends side until the ambulance came but Ryan ran upstairs to do his job, rescue those who needed rescuing. Because that's what Ryan Atwood does.

He froze as he saw the limp body of Ava sprawled on the upper level hallway with a large blood stain on her chest. She was clearly dead but her eyes were wide open. They still had the sharp piercing look about them and it sent a cold shiver down his spine to think that she'd been alone with the three girls. Ryan, undeterred, moved on to Summers room and saw Marissa lying in the corner. He tried to wake her up but couldn't, he felt a heartbeat and felt instantly relieved.
"April? April!" Ryan yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Ryan, Ryan!" April's loud sobs rang out from behind the closet door and she pounded her tiny fists upon the thick wood.
"I'm coming honey, where's the key?" He asked, pulling out drawers and tipping them out on the floor angrily. He found it seconds later and hurriedly unlocked the key.

April sprang out and into Ryan's open arms, crying heavily into his strong chest. He held her closely and picked her up, holding her head to her chest so she couldn't see the havoc around her.
"Come on, I'm gonna take you outside for Mommy and Daddy to come pick you up. And you have to keep your eyes closed, okay?" Ryan said, trying to sound more hopeful than he felt.

April nodded and scrunched her eyes shut as Ryan hurried out of the house where the ambulance came screeching up the driveway. The noise spooked April and she screamed and cried harder. Ryan clung to her tiny body. Seth had heard the paramedics arrive and he called them in. They pushed him out of their way, attending to Summer.

Seth stood back, near to the wall, trying to control his raging emotions whilst more paramedics hurtled up the stairs. He glanced at his hands which were covered in shiny blood from Summer and he clenched his fists, straining to see her beneath the crowd of medics. He watched them gently pull her onto a stretcher and rush her out of the door and into a waiting ambulance. As it sped down the driveway, siren blaring, the world went fuzzy and, for the first time that night, the incredible urge to rest hit Seth. The world went dark, all his thoughts were gone and he just wanted to sleep…

"Seth? Seth, honey?" His eyelids flickered open as he heard his Mom's soothing voice rouse him from his sleep. He looked around him and saw he was at the hospital, slumped on a couch in the waiting area. Kirsten smiled down at him, but it was a sad smile. Her cheeks were stained from tears and she looked extremely drained.
"Mom, I…what's…?" Seth stuttered, rubbing his aching head.

"Calm down honey, everything's fine," Kirsten said softly, rubbing her sons hand.
"Really?" Seth asked, knowing she was lying.
"No, not really…" Kirsten admitted, looking at the floor.
"Where is everyone?"

"April's being treated for shock but she's gonna be fine, Marissa's sleeping but she should recover, just a little bruising to her head and a broken wrist and…" Kirsten trailed off.
"Mom, where's Summer? She's alright isn't she? She's alive?" Seth spluttered, sitting blot upright.
"She, she has some bad injuries Seth, she fell from quite a height. She's alive though but she hasn't woken up yet…" Kirsten began, stammering slightly.
"Mom?" Kirsten glanced back up at Seth, her sad eye's welling up with tears.
"She might not, we don't know yet…" she finished, a solitary teardrop rolling down her face.

The news hit Seth like a cannonball. She might not wake up. That means she wont. Summer was going to die.
"She's gonna die isn't she?" Seth muttered.
"No, honey. Summer's a strong girl, she's gonna be okay," Kirsten reassured him.
"You don't know that."

Seth got up and strode away, Kirsten watching her son sadly and not knowing what on earth she was going to do.

Ryan sat in the seat by the hospital bed where his sleeping girlfriend laid. He tried not to drift off, but was fighting an uphill battle against his heavy eyelids. He was just about to fall asleep when…
"Ryan?" Marissa's soft voice echoed through the room and Ryan sprang up, hurrying closer to her bed.
"Oh god Marissa, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I, I'm sorry…" she said quietly.
"What? Oh Marissa this is so far from being your fault, I'm just so glad you're okay," Ryan smiled, stroking her hair lovingly. She smiled weakly and held his hand softly in hers.

She suddenly looked worried and perked up.
"Wait where's April? What about Summer? Oh my god Summer, she was alone with… I just blacked out I can't remember what…" Marissa cried.
"Calm down, come on, everything's under control. April's just a little shaken and Summer, well, she's in the ICU right now…" Ryan said. Marissa gasped and clutched Ryan's hand. He leaned closer to her and hugged her comfortingly.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Well, from what we know, Ava and Summer fought over her gun and one of them shot Ava, we don't know who. Then, with her last bit of strength, Ava threw Summer over the banister and she fell onto the marble flooring downstairs." Marissa listened intently to Ryan's description looking more and more horrified as she went on.

"What about…Ava?" she asked quietly.
"She's dead."
"Oh thank god…." Marissa breathed, looking more relived than ever.
"It must have been hard for you, two of these incidents in two years…" Ryan said. Marissa nodded, biting her lip.
"But I'm here for you, 110. And I want you to know that," Ryan smiled.
"I know, that's why I love you."

Marissa pulled Ryan towards her and they shared a long, tender kiss, which was better than any medicine that Marissa had taken, because all her bad thoughts eased away and she felt ten times better.

Seth felt lost. He was in a sea of people yet he felt as if he were drowning, alone. Since talking to his mother, Seth had been wandering around the hospital. He'd wanted to go and see Ryan and Marissa but as he glanced into her room, they were sharing a passionate kiss so Seth strode away, his mind all over the place and feeling a cocktail of emotions. Why was this happening? Had he not lived through a hard enough year? He felt like he was constantly being punished for something he hadn't even done. Perhaps he was a murderer or something in a previous life. That would explain a hell of a lot. He glanced into the rooms as he passed them and somehow he found himself in the ICU. Then he saw her.

"Excuse me, can I please see Summer Roberts?" Seth hurried over to the desk and pleaded with the nurse to let him in.
"Its family only sir I'm afraid."
"Hey, you know that she was found at the bottom of an eight foot drop in a pool of blood? Well I found her. Her boyfriend. I need to see her," Seth demanded, thumping the desk angrily. The nurse looked at Seth's face.
"Okay, but be quick, she hasn't woken up yet though…" she said. Seth nodded and proceeded to her room, his heart in his mouth and his nerves going.

Every bleep on the life support machine felt like someone punching Seth in the stomach, hard. As hard as it had been to find Summer at her house, this was worse. All the machine's standing around her bed. The wires entering her small body at every imaginable place. The fact that at any moment that life support machine may just be a single line as she slipped away. Seth wanted to just hold her tight and make sure she never went anywhere, but it felt like she was slipping through his fingers, out of reach. There was nothing he could do.

He edged closer to her bed, his eyes locked onto her face. She looked like she was peacefully sleeping, unaware of her situation, the danger. She was laid gracefully on the bed, even with the wires everywhere, she looked dignified, beautiful. Seth uneasily perched on the chair beside her bed and his hand slowly reached up for her hand. He was scared. Like a single touch might hurt her. As if she was stood at the edge and a single nudge could send her spiralling down. She was out of reach. Carefully, as his hand shook, Seth touched her tanned hand. He stared at the monitor and it remained normal. Seth sighed happily and clasped her limp hand in his own. He rubbed it soothingly and laid a tender kiss on it.
"Summer…" he breathed, unable to say anything but her name. He stroked her hand lovingly, longing for her eyes to open and those pools of deep brown to stare back at him. He knew that reality was way different to a TV show though.

For the next hour, Seth stayed with Summer, her hand still cupped in his and he'd barely moved since sitting down. He couldn't let go, despite trying several times. He was telling Summer that Marissa was okay and how he saw Ryan and Marissa kissing and then how much he missed her when there was a soft knock at the door. He turned around and saw Marissa at the door. Her arm was in a sling and she wore some pink flannel pyjamas. There was a nasty looking bruise on her head.

"Hey Marissa, are you okay?" Seth got up, offering her his chair.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bump and a shattered wrist but I'll be okay…" Marissa said, trying to look happy. She took the chair and sat down solely, her eyes fixed on Summer. She reached forward and took her hand carefully, just as Seth had done and squeezed it. She turned to look back at Seth and just burst into tears.

"I don't get it Seth, its so unfair! Why does Summer have to be like this all because of some twisted persons grudge?" Marissa sobbed. Seth knelt down and hugged her, trying to comfort her and stop the tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I know Marissa, but we've gotta be strong just in case Summer wakes up, she doesn't wanna see you crying does she?" Seth said with a small smile. Marissa bit her lip, drying her tears with her sleeve and nodded.
"Thanks Seth. You really are a good guy," Marissa nodded sincerely. Seth nodded, exchanging a silent thank you.

The two had never really spent much time together but they knew each other really well, they understood each other. They were silent friends. Seth perched on the arm of the chair and rubbed Marissa's back comfortingly. She spent half an hour with Summer before standing up, saying she had to get back before the nurses caught her. Seth got up too, admitting that he should really get something to eat. He didn't want to leave Summer but his stomach yearned for food. He'd just grab a power bar and hurry back. Marissa squeezed her hand one last time and exited the room, fresh tears falling. Seth moved closer and kissed Summer's forehead, being careful and making sure he didn't knock anything. He stroked her hair and turned to leave the room, discretely wiping his eyes.
"I'll be back soon," he said to her approaching the door.

At that moment, Summer's eyes gently fluttered open and she took in her surroundings quickly. She saw the back of Seth leaving the room and she tried to speak but couldn't, her throat was dry. So she cleared her throat, just like she did when she was pissed off at Seth. He stopped in his step and spun around, seeing Summer staring back at him, a weak smile on her tired face.

"Where do you think you're going?" she croaked, smiling playfully. Seth grinned, hurrying back over to her bed. Unable to do anything else, the happy couple just stared at each other lovingly.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Don't be. I'm just happy you're back," Seth beamed.
"I'm not going anywhere, ever again…" Summer replied.
"Glad to hear it."