Okay - get ready for a few surprises. LOL

The call

The two girls were both quiet in the car on the way to the Cohen's. The silence was deafening as they both had a million unanswered questions flying around in their brains. Finally Marissa decided she had to say something. The last thing she needed was for Summer to over-react and tell everyone her suspicions.

"Summ. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to anybody about what went on back there. I'm feeling much better now. I'm sure it was nothing. I probably just didn't have enough to eat for breakfast." Marissa shrugged. "You know … low blood sugar or something."

Summer glanced over noticing that Marissa's colour did seem much better now. "Sure. As long as you promise that if it happens again, you'll go to the doctor and get checked out. You really had me scared."

"Okay. But I'm sure it was nothing." Marissa replied. "I'm feeling fine now." She reassured her friend, then turned to look out at the passing scenery. But was she really fine? What in the world would they have been calling for? Maybe she shouldn't have deleted the message. But it was too late now. There was no way she was calling them to find out. And what if she was pregnant? How would she ever be able to finish up her contracts and then try to find herself a new career if she had a baby on the way? It was common for her model friends to have terminations but she knew there was no way that she could ever do that to a child of Ryan's. But the timing couldn't be worse. She wanted to be in control of her life and right now she was in control of nothing … it was all getting to be too much.

---

The six sat and ate outside beside the pool. It was a beautiful day and the conversation mostly centred around the wedding plans. It seemed that Seth wasn't going to be any help at all with making decisions. As far as he was concerned, Summer could do anything she wanted. And given Summer's level of decisiveness, Marissa was starting to wonder if they would ever get married.

Ryan noticed that Marissa was very quiet. She seemed to be preoccupied and while Seth was busy telling Summer about his adventures at the cake shop that morning, Ryan lent over to talk quietly to Marissa. Taking her hand in his he said softly "Everything okay?" he couldn't help but frown slightly knowing that something wasn't quite right.

Marissa smiled back at him. "Yeah. I'm fine." She shrugged. "Probably just a bit tired."

"Do you want to get going?" he asked, still not convinced that there wasn't something more to it. He wondered if she was maybe finding the constant wedding talk all a bit much. He knew that even he was finding it hard not to tell everyone about their own plans after his talk with Sandy earlier and he imagined that it would be even more difficult for Marissa.

"When you're ready." Marissa replied.

Ryan looked at her and their eyes held. At that moment, he knew that something had definitely happened that she wasn't letting on about. Maybe she would tell him when they were alone. He started to gather up the plates on the table. "I'll just clean up here and then we'll go." He added quietly.

Marissa nodded. "Fine." She watched as he collected the other plates and she went to stand to help him.

"No. You just stay put. I'll just put these in the dishwasher and I'll be back." He said as he made his way into the kitchen.

---

Marissa followed Ryan with her eyes as he made his way back inside. She couldn't help but be concerned about what Summer had suggested earlier. She knew that Ryan would be over the moon, but it would mean that all the independence that she had worked so hard for over the last few years would be lost. She didn't want to do that. Slowly she realised that she could hear something in the distance and as she concentrated a little more she realised that it was her cell phone ringing from inside the house. She felt sick wondering if they were trying to call again. She quickly got up wanting to get to the phone and silence it before anyone else wondered why she wasn't answering it.

---

Ryan was rinsing and stacking the plates when he heard Marissa's cell phone ringing. Her bag was on the table and he quickly dried his hands and then pulled it from her bag opening it and answering in one motion before the caller hung up. "Hello."

"Um. Is this Marissa Cooper's phone?" an unfamiliar female voice asked.

"Yes. It is." Ryan responded wondering who it was. He couldn't recognise the voice at all.

"Would I be able to speak with her, please?"

"Who should I say is calling?" he asked.

"It's Sue Muller from the Bay Area Hospital." The voice responded.

Ryan frowned and started to make his way to the door just as Marissa entered.

He took in the ashen colour of her face and wondered just what was going on. Holding the phone out to her, a puzzled look on his face he said. "It's someone from the Bay Area Hospital."

Marissa stood just inside the door, stunned. She had wanted to stop Ryan from answering it but had been too late. She imagined that it was them trying to get in touch with her again but a hospital? She didn't understand. Had they been injured? But why? How? Marissa was confused. And even if they had, did she want to be a part of it, did she care?

Ryan startled her. "Riss sit down. You're white as a ghost." He pulled out a chair and she sank into it. "Do you want me to talk to them?"

Marissa nodded.

"Um. Marissa can't take the call right now. Could I help? Or I can get her to call you back later?" Ryan asked.

"Who am I speaking to?" the voice asked.

"I'm Ryan Atwood. I'm Ms Cooper's … um … boyfriend." He replied.

"THE Ryan Atwood?" the voice asked.

"Um. I'm not sure. There maybe more than one of us."

The woman on the phone glanced across at the People magazine she had been reading on the train on the way to work and looked again at the cover.

"Then it is THE Marissa Cooper?" she said again obviously in shock.

"I guess. Yes." Ryan replied wondering exactly where this was all headed.

"I really don't know if you can assist me or not Mr Atwood." the woman replied.

"Ryan, please." Ryan corrected her.

"Ryan and please call me Sue. I'm a social worker at the hospital and I'm trying to track down contacts of Cheryl and Emily Thompson. I found Ms Cooper's name and phone number in Mrs Thompson's wallet. Do you know if they are acquainted?" the social worker couldn't for a minute imagine how someone like Cheryl Thompson would know a supermodel and her multi-millionaire boyfriend.

"Yes. They are." Ryan replied recalling the little girl and her mother that they had met in San Francisco. "What's this about? Is there something wrong?" Ryan asked.

The social worker was surprised but continued. "Well yes. You see Cheryl and Emily were passengers in a car that was involved in a serious accident on Friday evening."

Ryan looked at Marissa's face as she stared at him waiting for some news of what this was all about. "Could you hold the line a moment?" he asked and then spoke to Marissa. "It's Cheryl and Emily. They were in a serious accident apparently and the hospital found your number in Cheryl's wallet."

Marissa nodded and frowned. "Are they okay?"

Ryan spoke back into the phone. "Are they okay?"

He listened for what seemed like ages and Marissa noticed the look of shock on his face. Finally Ryan turned to talk to Marissa again. He didn't quite know how to break the news. There was no easy way to say it. "Cheryl's husband and her younger daughter Grace are dead. Cheryl was badly burnt when the car caught on fire and she is in a drug-induced coma."

"And Emily?" Marissa asked thinking about the little girl that she had somehow connected with on their visit to San Francisco.

"Emily was pulled from the wreck by some passers-by before the car caught on fire. She has a few cuts and a broken arm but that's all." Ryan said and then turned his attention back to the phone again. "So what can we do?" he asked.

Ryan listened intently for a couple of minutes and nodded and then said. "Can you just give me a few minutes to talk to Marissa. I'll call you back shortly." He said. "Okay fine." He nodded again and closed the phone.

Marissa was getting frustrated. She now wished that she had taken the call in the first place. She was much too impatient to wait for news that was being relayed.

Ryan turned to her. "Okay so it's like this. Cheryl is in a pretty bad way. She will be fine eventually but it's going to take time and lots of skin grafts. At the moment they have induced the coma to stop her from moving and making things worse. Emily is fine. They have set her arm and she is ready to be released from hospital but that's the problem. They haven't been able to find anyone to release her to. Apparently Cheryl's parents have just retired and left last week to drive up to Canada. They are not expected back for a few months and none of the neighbours know of anyway of contacting them. They assume that they will get in touch sometime but until then, if no one comes forward to care for Emily, then she will have to be released into the care of the state."

"No." Marissa said. She had been sitting and taking in everything that Ryan had said but the thought of the little girl going to a home or foster care was more than she could bear. "I'll look after her." She said without even thinking.

"Riss. What about your job?" Ryan asked.

"You heard J.B. say last night that I've basically finished all my scenes. If they need me to re do any then Emily could always come with me." Marissa said. "Or maybe Kirsten wouldn't mind looking after her, if it's just for the odd day?" Marissa added.

"And what about your commitments in Europe?" Ryan asked.

"They weren't expecting me for a few weeks yet anyhow, so it's not going to matter." Marissa said. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that this was the right thing to do. But she started to realise that she couldn't just make decisions on her own anymore. This had to be Ryan's decision as well. "Of course, if you don't want a child living with us, then I could always find a place of … "

"I hope you know me better than that. We've got plenty of room and if I can help I'd love to. Mind you, as I remember, I wasn't exactly her favourite person." Ryan stated thinking about the scowl that Emily seemed to have reserved especially for him. "I was just worried about you taking on anymore commitments. You seem to have a lot on your plate already."

"Whatever I've got on, this is the most important." Marissa assured him. "And as for Emily … well she'll change her mind once she gets to know you. I bet you have her eating out of the palm of your hand in no time."

Ryan smiled not so sure about her last comment. "Okay. I'm sure we can sort something out. I'll call Sue back and let her know our plans and that we're on our way. And then I think we'd better have a talk to Sandy. I'm sure that we will need to get some kind of approval to have her released to us because we're not related. He may be able to help us with what we need to do."

Marissa stood up. She was now a woman on a mission. "I'll go and talk to him now. You ring the social worker back and find out from her what paperwork we need." She turned to leave.

Ryan smiled as he watched this new motivated woman before him. He reached for her arm and pulled her back just as she was about to walk outside.

She turned and looked at him questioningly.

He gave her a quick kiss. "You know I love you right?"

Marissa smiled; hard to imagine given the news they had just received but she couldn't help herself. "Yeah, the feelings mutual." She replied. "But get on that phone. We've got things to do." She smiled and walked back outside to talk to Sandy.