Chapter Thirty
"Young unidentified man found in bushes." Was the top heading of the week- that trailed every single huge magazine. They didn't fret, either to release pictures of Tray, in a crucial condition. Marissa gaped, wide eyed at the newspaper and scanned the sentences for any information on perhaps the people involved. Bingo. She finally found, "Anybody who knows of this person, or witnessed the situation, please let the police know. Big Reward for any information on the unsuccessful murderers."
"Ryan," Marissa said frantically, "They think we tried to murder him. Didn't they find the guns, knife? Anything? What are we going to do?"
"Don't worry Marissa. Nobody saw it." Ryan tried to convince his trembling bones.
"Jess did." Marissa then looked up at Ryan silently.
"She was there too. She could be a possible suspect as well. Plus, she can state that he almost killed you, and me- and even her. Do you think she'd sell us off?" Ryan asked Marissa, trying to comfort her, but failing to comfort himself.
"He can blackmail her- possession of cocaine." Marissa pointed out.
"Jess has connections. She'll get through it. But we gotta see where she's at- if she's in the mood for a little naughty snitching. Besides Marissa, we did it for protection. We bashed him across the head… he had much more against us. Don't worry." Ryan hugged Marissa. Conveniently Seth flew inside with a newspaper by his side.
"Hey guys. It's Tray! He's half-dead, in the hospital." Marissa shot Ryan a glance, and she nodded, giving him permission to tell Seth- and only Seth, not even Summer.
Ryan told Seth to sit down, at the kitchen table in the Cohen residence. He told Seth the story from the beginning- the attempted rape, to last night.
"Oh snap." Seth said inadvertently revealing his anxiety for the situation. He knew very well that Marissa and Ryan were already too worried. "It'll be okay." Seth added quickly, but judging by the groan Marissa released, the chances of that were improbable.
"What if he dies?" Marissa asked starting to breathe heavily. She cuddled up close to Ryan, as he caressed her shoulder hoping she would calm down and relax entirely. Ryan tried to soothe his worry also, but the thought of Tray dying was mindboggling. Ryan held Marissa tighter, as she started to cry softly. Seth felt negligent of the situation, considering he didn't know all the gruesome details, and why they were so preoccupied.
"He wasn't murdered you guys. You guys hit him for defence- didn't the police find him armed?" Seth asked, wondering if Tray would be arrested anyways.
"They probably did, but they didn't make anything out of it. They might have guessed that it was the attackers' weapons." Ryan said quietly, as he engaged in thought. "You know what? Let's just get passed this. Tray won't sell us out- we know more then he can handle." Ryan said, not calming himself at all.
"Let's go." Seth quickly offered.
"Where?" Ryan and Marissa asked in unison.
"You'll see." Seth replied, his eyes radiant. Seth got inside of his car, and allowed Ryan and Marissa in the back seat. Seth drove constantly, until he parked in front of the hospital. "Guys- if you're going to get over this, you might as well see how he's doing." Seth smiled thinking his witty plan was astounding.
"Seth, we should go home." Marissa said quickly, worry drowning her face.
"No, what you really should do is go inside. Tray depends on you guys." Seth said, still proud. Marissa and Ryan got out of the car ditheringly, and Seth led them toward the door.
"Atwood, Tray." Ryan said dryly at the front reception desk. The young lady flashed him a quick smile, but Ryan quickly pulled Marissa toward him to show the woman that he was fully taken.
"Room 229. Second floor. Take a right, up the stairs or elevator. Once you're upstairs take two lefts and walk down the corridor and you'll be at his room. He's just been qualified for visiting hours." The woman had a heavy English accent, and her instructions were brief and intolerable.
"Thank you." Marissa said delicately and the three of them pulled away from the desk and went to follow the instructions. The corridors seemed to stretch out for miles, and every step seemed to be inefficient compared to the long distance. Finally, after what was forever, they stood in front of Tray's hospital room. He was clad in white polka-dotted hospital attire.
"Tray." Ryan said gravely at the sight of his weary brother.