'Hey, it's Ryan. Leave me a message,' Seth listened into the phone and then hung up. "No answer."

"Where could he be?" Summer wondered as she sat on Seth's bed.

"I have no clue, but they left for the airport over four hours ago. He should've been back a while ago," Seth was worried.

"Maybe he was upset and he went somewhere to be alone?" Summer suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was at Marissa's lifeguard tower."

Seth thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know. He would've called and told me he wasn't coming home yet."
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Kirsten pulled the covers over her and grabbed a book off the bed-side table. She opened it to the page where she left off and began reading, but was interrupted when Sandy walked out of the bathroom. "I hope you don't plan on reading."

Kirsten looked up at her husband and smiled. "And why is that?"

"Well," Sandy walked toward the bed. "I was thinking maybe we could spend some time together," he jumped on.

Kirsten closed her book and put it back on the table. "You're a naughty man Sandy Cohen."

Sandy moved on top of her and began kissing her when they heard a knock on their bedroom door. Kirsten immediately pushed Sandy off her and got up.

"Mom? Dad?" Seth called from outside.

Kirsten looked over at the clock. 12:13. She quickly walked to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Summer standing behind Seth. "Seth, Summer. Is everything alright?"

"I don't know," Seth told his mom as Sandy walked up behind her. "Ryan isn't back yet from driving Marissa to the airport and he isn't answering his phone."
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"Hey bitch," Kaitlin said into the phone as she collapsed on her new bed.

"Kaitlin? Could that really be you?" Hadley asked as she looked over at the empty half of her room that Kaitlin used to occupy.

"Of course it's me," Kaitlin laughed. "I figured it was time to check in over there, see how you're doing? Is everything cool?"

"Totally," Hadley responded. "I miss you, but you're a bitch, so I'll get over it."

Kaitlin laughed at her best friend. "Right back at ya."

"So how's the new big mansion?" Hadley wondered. "Has Marissa moved out yet?"

"Yup. I'm lying in her extremely comfortable bed, which now belongs to me."

"Lucky bitch," Hadley smiled.

"And with Marissa out of the house, I don't have to worry about being ignored anymore," Kaitlin told her. "I'm telling you bitch, for once, things are looking pretty good."
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"He's still not picking up," Sandy put the kitchen phone down. "I don't understand where he could be."

"I'm telling you," Summer began. "Marissa's tower of solitude."

"Maybe he doesn't want us to go find him right now," Seth spoke up. "I mean, the girl he's loved for the past three years just walked out of his life for a year. He's probably feeling pretty down."

"Has anyone even checked the pool house?" Kirsten asked.

Summer nodded. "Seth and I already looked out there."

"Maybe Marissa's flight was delayed so he's keeping her company," Seth suggested.

"It's getting a little late for that," Sandy shook his head. "Besides, Ryan would've called. He's usually pretty good about that."

"Let's just keep waiting," Kirsten's voice remained calm. "If he doesn't return in a couple hours, we'll call the police."
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Ryan's eyes slowly began to open as he saw blue and red lights surrounding him. Two men were leaned over him, yelling at people around them as a third man quickly wheeled a stretched over to him.

"Son," one man spoke. "Can you hear me?"

Ryan closed his eyes tightly before opening them again. He moaned as he was lifted up onto the stretcher and wheeled towards an ambulance. His eyes drifted a few meters away but stopped when he spotted Marissa. Her body was horizontal on the stretcher as a blanket was pulled over her face. Good, Ryan thought to himself. The paramedics were here, and everything was going to be okay. Marissa was going to be okay. Ryan got dizzier and dizzier as he was placed in the ambulance before everything went black.
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Julie shot up in her bed when she heard the phone ringing. She looked over at the clock. 3:17. Neil slowly woke up beside her and rubbed his eyes. She quickly reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" she answered, barely awake.

"Mrs. Cooper, mother of Marissa Cooper?" a man asked on the other end.

Julie paused, suddenly worried. "Yes, this is her. Is everything okay?"

"I'm afraid not ma'am," the man continued. "Your daughter was in an accident."

Julie instantly froze. "Oh my god."

Neil sat up in the bed. "What is it?" he whispered.

"She's currently at the Civic Hospital," the man said.

"I'll be right there," Julie said immediately before throwing down the phone and jumping out of bed. "Marissa's been in an accident. I'm going to the hospital now."

"Oh god," Neil looked down. "Alright, take the beamer. I'll go wake Summer and we'll meet you there."

Julie nodded as she bolted out the room. Every fear she had ever had was running through her mind as she ran out the front door and towards the car. The calmness of the night made her even more uncomfortable.
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Kirsten, Sandy, Seth and Summer sat in the Cohens living room, all looking like they were about to fall asleep. Kirsten looked at her watch. "It's almost 3:30. This isn't right. I'm going to call the police," she stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Sandy got up and followed her.

Seth looked over at Summer. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I hope so," Summer took his hand and held it tightly.

Kirsten reached for the kitchen phone just as it began to ring, causing her to jump. "Hello?"

"Kirsten?" Neil asked on the other end. "It's Neil Roberts."

"Hi Neil," Kirsten nodded.

Summer looked over at Seth, realizing that her dad didn't know where she was. "Oh my god, I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"Is Summer over there?" Neil asked. "I just went into her room to wake her and found no one."

"Yeah, she is," Kirsten began. "Sorry we didn't have her call, we've been a little distracted. Ryan hasn't come home yet."

Neil paused and looked down before continuing. "Julie and I just got a call from the hospital. Marissa was in an accident. It must've been on the way to the airport."

"Oh my god," Kirsten paused. What if Ryan or Marissa were hurt? "We'll drive to the hospital now."

"Okay, I'll see you there."

Kirsten hung up the phone and turned to Sandy, Seth and Summer. "Ryan and Marissa were in an accident."

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"What's taking so long? This shouldn't be taking so long," Julie panicked as she paced the hospital lobby.

"Julie, calm down," Kirsten assured her. "There's nothing we can do but wait."

"Don't tell me to calm down Kiki," Julie snapped at her. "My daughter is somewhere in the hospital in pain, and they won't let me see her."

Summer looked at Seth. He was trying to stay awake, but his eyes kept closing. She took his hand in hers, and squeezed tightly. "Do you think they're going to be okay?"

Seth opened his eyes widely and looked over at Summer. "I really don't know. I hope so."

"They have to be okay," Summer told herself. "They have to be okay."

Sandy looked down at his watch. 4:17. He looked over at Kirsten and noticed that she was trembling. "Hey," Sandy put his arm around her.

"Hi," Kirsten looked up at him. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kirsten continued. "If something has happened to Ryan, what are we going to do? I don't even know how Seth would deal with it."

"Let's not talk about that," Sandy insisted. "Right now, all we can do it wait. We can't make any assumptions. For all we know they're both going to walk into this lobby with a couple bruises and a dizzy head."

Julie froze when she saw a doctor walking down the hall towards them. "Oh my god."

Kirsten and Sandy both looked up when they heard Julie and also spotted the doctor. "Guys," Kirsten called Seth and Summer.

Seth and Summer both looked at each other, clearly very nervous.

The doctor walked through the glass doors that separated him from everyone else, and entered the lobby. "Are you the families of Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood?"

"Yes, Julie Cooper," Julie spoke immediately, as everyone else nodded.

"Is everything okay?" Summer asked.

The doctor looked down at the clipboard in his hands. "Ryan Atwood has got some bruises and some scratches, but he's fine. He's sleeping right now, and should probably get the rest, so you can visit him in a few hours once he's awake."

Kirsten and Sandy both let out sighs of relief as they hugged each other.

"What about my daughter?" Julie asked. "You didn't mention her."

The doctor looked down to the ground and then back up at Julie. He hated this part of his job. "Mrs. Cooper, could you please come with me for a moment?"

"Why?" Julie asked as she walked towards him. "What's going on?"

The doctor walked back through the glass doors and stopped in the hallway with Julie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to have to tell you in front of everyone," he gently told her.

Julie's hands started to tremble as her eyes filled with water. "Tell me what? No, don't say it," she shook her head.

"I'm really sorry," he looked down. "Marissa didn't make it."

"No!" Julie screamed as she collapsed and hit the ground hard. She didn't even try to contain herself. She just let the tears stream down her face as she sobbed onto the floor.

"Oh god," Summer looked through the glass doors and watched Julie fall to the ground in tears. Summer's eyes filled with tears as she realized what that meant. She grabbed Seth immediately and buried her face in his chest, not wanting everyone to see her cry.

Seth looked up and saw what Summer had been looking at. Julie was lying on the ground in hysterics, shaking uncontrollably. "Oh my god."

Sandy, Kirsten and Neil all looked through the doors and saw Julie. Neil ran through the doors and dropped to Julie's side. "Julie."

"Get away from me!" she screamed at him. "Everybody, just get away from me!"

Neil looked up at the doctor. He stood up and pulled the doctor away from Julie. "Is she gone?"

The doctor nodded. "I'm really sorry."

"Jesus," Neil put his hand on his forehead. "Thank you for your help," he turned around and walked back into the lobby.

Sandy and Kirsten stared at him as they held each other tightly, afraid of what he was about to tell them.

Summer slowly looked up to see her father.

"Marissa didn't make it," he informed them.

Summer immediately went right back into Seth's chest and continued to cry.

Seth stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do. Had he really just heard what he thought he had? Marissa Cooper, the girl who lived next door for most of his life, was dead.

"Dear God," Kirsten hugged Sandy.

Julie continued to roll on the ground as Marissa's entire life flashed before her eyes. Her first birthday: Marissa couldn't blow out her candles so Julie did it for her. Her first day of school: Marissa was terrified and thought everyone would hate her, but Julie insisted everything would be okay. That very same day, Marissa came home talking about her new best friend, Summer Roberts. Her first bee-sting: Marissa ran into the kitchen crying because the bee stung her right on the tongue. High school: Marissa started to change and develop, as her relationship with Julie started to crumble. Her OD in Mexico, Julie's relationship with Luke, her brief lesbian fling. As Julie thought back, she realized how much Marissa had done in her life. And now, everything Marissa had ever done, was for nothing. She was gone. Dead. And sooner or later, as people began to adjust to life with Marissa, she would be forgotten. But not to Julie. Julie would never forget her. Marissa was her life, and for Julie Cooper, nothing would ever be the same.