"I'm worried about Ryan." Kirsten was leaning against the kitchen bench, Sandy tinkering around behind her, making coffee. "Well, having your girlfriend just wake up from a coma isn't exactly an everyday occurrence." Kirsten sighed.

"It's not just that. I can't explain it, but he's been acting so withdrawn lately, hiding away from everyone. I know he was never exactly a social person, but this thing with Marissa really seems to have hit him hard." Sandy put the coffee pot back on its holder and took a sip from his cup. "He's going through a lot right now. We just gotta give him his space, he'll get through it." Kirsten sighed again.

"I know, I know. It's just hard seeing him like this." Sandy put his coffee down and put his arms around Kirsten's waist. "Honey, it'll be okay. I promise. Everything will turn out fine. If it doesn't, well, we've been through worse things." Kirsten smiled despite herself. "Amen to that." And she kissed him softly. At that precise moment, however, Seth walked in. "Ew." He said, using one of Summer's favourite lines. Sandy and Kirsten broke apart. "Hey Seth," Kirsten said.

"Mother." He nodded his head in acknowledgement and headed straight out to the poolhouse. He returned almost straight away however, with a confused look on his face. "Uh... Ryan didn't come home last night," he said, sounding as confused as he looked. Kirsten threw Sandy a look. "Look, let's not worry yet. Ryan's going through a lot. Maybe he slept over at a friend's house, or got up really early to go for a walk and think, or something. If he doesn't turn up by this afternoon, we'll start asking around for him. Until then let's not panic."

"You're the boss," Seth mumbled, obviously not satisfied with Sandy's reasoning but accepting it all the same. He headed upstairs without another word to either of them. Kirsten and Sandy watched him go with heavy hearts. They hated seeing him like this.

Unbeknownst to them, Ryan had slept over at a friend's house. It wasn't exactly what Sandy had had in mind when he said that, but still. "Are we bad people?" Summer asked. Ryan and she were lying in her bed; they had gone over to her house yesterday, before anyone at the Cohen house got home. Obviously they couldn't stay there for fear of getting caught.

Ryan pondered what Summer had said. "Yes." Was all he said. They couldn't pretend that what they were doing wasn't wrong, but at the same time, neither of them had the strength to end it. "I should go," Ryan said, getting up. He dressed quickly and left, leaving Summer alone. She sighed. "What am I doing," she said to herself. She waited until she heard Ryan's car pull out of the driveway and heaved herself out of bed. She went downstairs and made herself some breakfast. Her dad and Julie were out again; she didn't know where, didn't really care either. She was just making herself some coffee when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Summer, it's Julie,"

"Julie? What's up? Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. Marissa's talking." Summer dropped the phone. She didn't even bother to hang it up, just grabbed her coat and ran out the door.

Ryan pulled into the Cohen's driveway. Seth heard the front door slam and came downstairs. "Hey, Ryan, where were you last night?" Ryan hesitated as he tried to think of a believable story. "At the beach," he said and mentally kicked himself. Bad explanation. Seth looked puzzled again. "You slept at the beach?"

"Didn't sleep," Ryan said and headed into the kitchen for a bagel.

"Hey - !" Sandy and Kirsten began, but he silenced them with a look and headed out to the Poolhouse. Seth walked into the kitchen. "Where's…?" He heard the Poolhouse door slam and stopped. "Oh." He said. He considered going over to see Ryan, then after thinking about the foul mood Ryan seemed to be in, decided against it. Kirsten looked like she was about to say something when the phone rang. The three of them stood looking at each other before Kirsten rolled her eyes and went over to answer it. "Hello? What? She is? That's great! Yes, yes, of course, we'll be there soon." She hung up and looked at them. "Marissa's awake and talking." Seth looked at Sandy.

"I'll go get Ryan," Seth walked out to the Poolhouse and knocked on the door before opening it. "I want to be alone Seth." Ryan said, knowing instinctively who it was.

"Marissa's talking." Ryan looked over at Seth, almost disbelieving. Then –

"Let's go."

He rushed into the hospital room. Marissa was propped up on some pillows; Julie, Summer and Neil were already there. When they saw Ryan they stood up and made to leave. "We'll be back later, honey," Julie said, pushing Marissa's hair away from her face. She gave Ryan a small smile before leaving. Ryan sat next to Marissa on the hard backed chair that was placed by her bed. He held her hand in his and smiled at her. "Good to see you awake," He said. Se just looked at him. "How are you feeling?" He said, in an attempt to keep away the silence. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a sort of strangled sob. "I'm so sorry Ryan," she choked, tears streaming down her face now. Ryan was taken aback. "What are you sorry for? You have nothing to be sorry for," he said, but her tears kept coming.

"It was my fault… If I hadn't… If Volcheck… I'm so sorry for putting you through this," she sobbed.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright," he said, trying to calm her down. "This wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault except Volcheck's." She bit her bottom lip, trying to stop crying. It wasn't working. Ryan squeezed her hand to show his support, and felt anger rise inside him. He vowed that if he ever met Volcheck again, the only thing he would be seeing was the inside of a morgue. He would kill him for doing this to Marissa. Kill him. "It's gonna be okay," he said, smoothing her hair from her face the same way Julie had. "You're gonna recover, and everything will go back to how it was." In his heart he knew that wasn't true, but he wanted so desperately to believe it. She knew it wasn't true either; nothing would ever be the same. But, like Ryan, she didn't care right at this very moment. All she wanted was reassurance. She blinked the last of her tears away and took a deep breath. "I love you, Ryan." He looked at her in surprise. That was the last thing he expected her to say. "I love you too, Marissa," he said back without hesitation. And he meant it. "I'm sorry for everything," she said. "And I know it hasn't worked for us in the past, but I want to try again. We'll do it right this time," she smiled at him, and he felt as if his heart would burst. He loved her so much. Despite all they had been through, he still loved her, and he was willing to give it another go too. He didn't know what to say, so he nodded his approval. She smiled at him. Just then, the doctor walked in. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave now. We need to run some tests to see what sort of damage has been done to Miss Cooper," the doctor said. Ryan nodded, still unable to speak. He looked back at Marissa and smiled. "I'll come see you later," he said, and with one last kiss on her forehead, he was gone.