"Ready to go?" she asked him.
"To be honest," began Ryan as he looked up at her. "No."
Kirsten let out a small laugh. "I just want you to know," she bean. "I know I haven't been there since before the shooting. I know I've been gone all summer long. And I know I haven't been able to be there for you and Seth," she said before pausing.
"It's okay. Really. What happened was out of your reach. And with the situation you were in, I think I can let you off with a free pass."
"My situation was no excuse. I made a mistake. A mistake that I know had its way with your family," she said. "But trust me, Ryan, it won't happen again. Now, let's talk about Trey."
"I don't think I can do it," he said.
"Why not?"
"Believe it or not, I used to look up to Trey. He did some stupid things, but still, I looked up to him. He was my older brother. Then, I started to grow up. My dad got arrested, my mom started drinking, and my brother became even worse. And all the responsibility landed on me. Since then me and Trey… it's been difficult," explained Ryan.
"I'm sure that wasn't easy. I wouldn't say I grew up deprived, but I know what it's like to have responsibilities, if it helps. And look what happened to me. But you have something going for yourself, Ryan. Just look at yourself. Look at what you were and look at what you've become."
"And look where I am now. Maybe I had a future since you two took me in and maybe I had something going… but now I might as well go back to my old life. I screwed it up. I never should have let Trey in… I knew it wouldn't work out. I wasn't thinking responsibly. If I was, none of this would have happened. But I felt bad for him. I thought there was a chance that he'd changed. But I was wrong. And look what happened. And you wanna know what makes it even worse? Marissa got involved. And now her future is as stake."
"Ryan," Kirsten said gently, putting her hand on his. "What happened with Trey was not your fault. You can't beat yourself up over something you can't control. Letting him in was one of the most mature things you could have done. He screwed it up, not you."
"What am I supposed to say? I'm glad he's okay, but… he tried to hurt her. I opened up for him and he ruined everything," said a confused Ryan.
"You don't have to say anything. You just have to see him. No matter what happened, he's your brother. And whether or not anyone else thinks he does, he deserves to see his family," Kirsten said. "Who knows? The words might come to you once you finally see him." Ryan nodded at her in understanding. "Now, do you think you're ready to go?"
"Dr. McCormick, room thirty-seven b, please. I repeat, Dr. McCormick to room thirty-seven b," said the voice of the receptionist over the P.A. system.
"I'm pretty sure he's in room sixty eight," said Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, and Ryan following from behind.
"Isn't that around the hall from the room Marissa stayed in after Mexico?" asked Kirsten curiously. Everyone stopped walking and Ryan turned to her.
"That's awkward," said Seth, and they continued on. As they passed by a very familiar room, Ryan looked to an open door, and remembered Julie Cooper calling out to him after Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth prepared to take him from the hospital and would soon first bring him to Harbor. Julie gave him an angry threat which strictly warned him to stay away from Marissa, as he was only making her life worse.
Finally, the four of them reached their destination. In a large room with a wide window in front of it, the four of them stared a Trey, immobile.
"Cohen family?" asked a nurse from behind. The four of them turned to her and Sandy nodded his head, "He's asleep right now. If you want, you can come back in the morning," she said, as she handed him the card. "Visiting hours are written on our card."
Jimmy was sitting at his new office in the Cooper-Nichol mansion. While he had not quite felt at home in Caleb's mansion, he certainly felt familiar with the financial situation he was in. He chucked paper after paper after paper off of his desk, frustrated with all the bills he had to deal with and all the debts making their way. He buried his head into his hands and lay them down on the desk.
"Honey, I need to… Jimmy?" Jimmy looked up at her, surprised.
"O-oh, Julie, hey," he said, trying to sound average. "You're out of bed?"
"Jimmy, is there something you need to tell me?" she asked as she looked around, papers all over the floor and Jimmy just lifting his head up from his desk.
"Honey… I'm sorry… but with everything that's been going on with Marissa, I'm just too stressed to do work now," he lied. Julie looked around her, deciding whether or not to believe him.
"Well, okay," she said. "But I got out of my stage. Yours is gonna have to end too."
"Of course. It will. I just need this whole thing to blow over."
"I guess this is a bad time to tell you that the Cohen's called."
"What?"