"Ryan, how can you walk around on a broken leg on not tell anyone!" Marissa was yelling at him and staring in disbelief at the x-rays that had been posted on the wall. Ryan thought the fracture was so minor, you could hardly see it. Hard to believe that the one tiny little line that looked like a stray hair that had gotten in the way of the x-ray film, and was only about inches long, could really cause so much trouble.

"You seemed busy… And my leg can't really be broken." He said, not sure what else to tell Marissa. They had given him a shot of something for the pain, directly into his veins actually through the IV drip, and now the lines of the room seemed to have blurred slightly. He had to admit, this hospital thing didn't seem so bad now that he was here. He was in a nice bed that went up and down according to his demands and the pain had even lessened slightly thanks to whatever wonder drugs they had given him.

"Ryan Atwood?" A tall doctor with wire- rimmed glasses and a shaved head appear. "My name's Doctor Ramms, I'm the orthopedist on call tonight. We were just on the phone with your…" He consulted his sheet, "you guardians?"

"You called them?" God… Now they were going to be all worried about him. "Were they mad?"

"No Ryan, they're not mad." The doctor had a reassuring voice. "You were lucky, breaks like this can be very dangerous, but you're young and your bones are healthy. It doesn't look like you're going to need surgery."

"Well, that's good." Ryan was a little woozy, he glanced at the IV drip, what were they pumping into his system? The pain from his knee seemed so far away. Now that he was here at the hospital, he vaguely wondered what he had been avoiding.

"Yes, it's very good, Ryan." The doctor smiled. "Look, it's late and I'm sure you're exhausted. So we're gonna put your knee in a splint and send you on your way. You'll need to follow up with an orthopedist as soon as you get home, alright?"

"Sure," Ryan said. He'd agree to anything, now that they said he could go home.

"But look kid, I need you to remember, your leg is broken. I need you to be careful with it, okay? No walking, no weight bearing- nothing, got it?"

"Yeah, sure." Ryan nodded.

"Okay, I'll send in a nurse."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me your leg was broken..." Marissa muttered again.

"I really didn't think it was that bad," Ryan said, honestly. He had managed to ski on it and walk on it, it was only as the evening had gone on that the pain had started to become really unbearable, and it wasn't like he hadn't gone to a doctor, or at least tried.

"Are you in a lot of pain now?" She asked.

"No, the meds have really helped." He smiled tiredly.

"Do you think I should go out and tell Oliver and Luke that we can go home soon?" Marissa asked. She did feel a little guilty about abondoning Oliver. He wasn't in great shape either. She wondered how he had gotten so injured. Sure, her neck was a little sore but she had refused the neck brace, the pain wasn't unbearable. What she was really looking foward to was the hot tub back at the lodge. Of course, she had been thinking it would enjoyable with Ryan, but that was obviously not going to happen, but maybe Oliver would go in with her. Once Ryan went to bed of course, she wouldn't just abondon him for Oliver.

"Yeah, sure." Ryan said, he didn't want her to go, and leave him in the room all alone, but he didn't want to admit just how badly he needed her. She was too capable of causing him so - much pain. Even when she found out that his leg was broken, she left him to go and talk to Oliver. And Oliver wasn't even injured. "You know, Oliver's not even hurt." The words slipped out before he could stop them. His drug- addled brain seemed to have lost its common sense. He almost winced thinking about what he had just said, before Marissa even opened her mouth, he knew the response would not be favorable.

"Ryan, he was just in a car accident! Are you serious? I know you're hurt but that doesn't mean you're the only one! I can't believe you would even say that! Why would you even say that? All you did was fall on some snow and you broke your leg, imagine how much pain he's in! God Ryan, you can be such a jerk." And then before he could say another word, she turned and flounced out of the room. Ryan felt his heart sink as he watched her go. The pain in his knee suddenly increasing in intensity.