The Discussions And The Worries

Just as Julie and Ryan had finished talking and were watching Marissa... so still and quiet, Sandy popped his head in the door. "The nurses want us out of here. They need to go home and need this place completely quiet" "Okay. Bye sweetie. I'll come back tomorrow okay? And I'll bring some of your things around... Please just get better Marissa honey" Julie said sweetly. Shebent down and kissed her gently on her forehead careful to not touch the cuts all over her. She squeezed her hand one last time and quietly left the room. "You gonna come home son" Sandy queried after Julie had left. " Nah. I think I just wanna stay here and talk to her ...you know...remind her of everything and surround her with something familiar" "okay well I'll see you at home bright and early. I spoke to the cops while i was waiting outside and said they would send someone arund to the house around 9.00 oclock tomorrow morning so be home before them okay. And take it easy Ryan. See ya tomorrow!" And with that Sandy left.

Ryan sat quietly for a while, taking in the sights and smell of Marissa's hospital room. Then he turned his attention to Marissa. Everything was so still...then he looked at her closed eyes. He could see them moving frantically. He knew something was wrong and guessed she was dreaming about what had happened. "It's okay Riss. I'm here. It's all going to be okay. I promise. Just please stay with me. Don't leave me...not yet"

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"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Marissa screamed as she felt the car roll over and over and over again. All she could see was a blur of things going past turning every which way."Ryan please stay" Marissa was now dreaming about Ryan wanting to go for help but she just wanted him there to hold her til she died. Then it all came back to her in a flash. Volchok ran me...us off the road. He tried to kill us. Wait he where am I. Did he successfully kill us..wait where's Ryan ...Ryan ...Ryan ...Ryan... Where are you? Marissa tried to figure out where she was and where Ryan was.Please tell me he died and I'm somewhere in like a limbo place or something. I need him ...he can't be gone. Then she heard it...

"It's okay Riss. I'm here. It's all going to be okay. I promise. Just please stay with me. Don't leave me...not yet" Ryan's lovingly sweet voice. But where is he? And what does he mean "Don't leave him...not yet"...I'd neva leave you Ry.How could I...you have my heart. Marissa gave a small smile...and it didn't go unnoticed by Ryan either. He knew his voice could always make her a little happier and make her smile.

He talked to her for most of the night. First he reminded her about the accident and what had happened, where she was and what injuries she obtained and all the hard stuff. Then he reminised about all their history. The good AND the bad. "See ever since I met you at the end of that driveway that night Marissa Cooper, I knew I loved you and always would. And after all the crap and everything that has happened in the past I still love you. And now you have to wake up. You have to live. I need you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, well besides the Cohens, and I want to marry you. So you need to wake up. Then I'm never going to let you go. We can start a life together ... forever!" Ryan finished. He had something more to add. He found something else out that night but he wanted her to wake up before he told her. He couldn't bear to tell her now when she couldn't do anything.See he knew she could her everything he said but if she couldn't do anything, he didn't want to put her through that pain and struggle. He also knew it would be hard to hear...it was hard for him now... but he knew he had to tell her. She had to know. If only she'd wake up...

Marissa had heard the whole thing and was so happy. She wanted to wake up right then and just kiss him with all the love she had in her but she just couldnt...something wouldn't let her! All she could do was elax so she did. She kept thinking over and over about what Ryan had said. She instantly broke into a huge smile. Ryan gave a small laugh when she did. Even with all the cuts and brusies and bandages she could still look so beautiful and happy. He just wished she could be awake so he could make her like this ALL the time!

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The police had been keeping a look out for Volchok but he had seemed to disappear. Then 4 weeks later he turned himself in. He had been hiding out in Mexico when Sandy found him and persuaded him to turn himself in. He was living like crap and had no money. "At least you'd have food and a bed to sleep in" Sandy had told him. So the next day he went with Sandy and turned himself in to the Orange County Police. When Sandy told Ryan he had been so angered and would have gone and killed him right there at the hospital but Sandy reminded him that he would then be in jail and wouldn't be able to be there for Marissa and told him it wouldn't wake her up. He also tried to explain how Volchok would have a very rough time now and how guilty he had felt. "He did love her too and doesn't want her dead either" Sandy explained "Well he has a funny way of showing it" Ryan lashed out "He only meant to scare you both and he knows he was wrong now and he is ready to pay the consequences so just forget about him Ryan" Ryan clenched his jaw and then looked at Sandy "You're right and sorry for lashing out at you" "It's okay. I know how tough this has been on you. Now just be there for Marissa okay!?" Sandy finished "Sure. Thanks. I might go see her now if that's okay" "Sure see you back here for dinner!" And with that Ryan put Volchok to the back of his mind and now put all his frre time and attention into Marissa and getting her better.

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3 Months Later

Julie was sitting at her dinning room table with Dr. Roberts, Summer and Kaitlin. They had a brilliant breakfast prepared by Dr. Roberts himself but only Kaitlin and Mr Roberts were eating. Summer as moving the food around her plate and Julie stared intently at it holding her fork but not touching it at all. "Cmon ladies. You have to eat" Neil began. "Marissa is going to need you twos strengths up for when she wakes up" "If she wakes up" Summer and Julie both reminded him solemly. "She's going to wake up. You guys just need to be positive for her right now!" "NO NEIL! SHE MIGHT NOT WAKE UP AND WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR THAT! AND DON'T TELL ME HOW I SHOULD ACT ABOUT THIS...IT'S MY DAUGHTER AND I'LL ACT HOW I WANT!" Julie screamed and ran to her bedroom slamming. BANG! She slammed the door behind her.

"Don't worry Dr. Roberts she's just really upset at the moment. Give her some time to calm down and then I'll go talk to her, k?" Kaitlin responded, breaking the silence. "Okay thanks sweetie" Neil responded, not sure if anything could calm her down.

"Well I'm going to go out for a bit then. You girls need anything while I'm out?" "Can you grab some more flowers for me?" Summer said "I want Marissa's room to be beautiful when she wakes up" She added as a very small smile crosses her face for a moment. Neil was happy that Summer had brightened up a little from what he had said about Marissa waking up. "Sure honey. I'll be back in a bit" And with that Neil left.

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"Hi, I'm here to see Daniel...I mean Dr. Peterson" Neil Roberts asked the receptionist at the Hospital. "Sure. He's expecting you. Go straight down this hall, take a right and the 3rd door on your left is his office. I will all him now to let him know you're here" The receptionist responded. "Thanks".

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"Mom" Kaitlin called as she slowly opened the door to Julie's room. Kaitlin knew from passed experiences to tread carefully in case her mother was still angry amd tried to throw something at her head. Like say a glass plate like last time. Kaitlin found her mother slouched on the floor next to the bed. She was crying and holding a photo frame. "Oh mom" Kaitlin said as she walked over and sat next to her mom, hugging her as she did. Kaitlin saw that it was the photo frame of the 3 Cooper women at Marissa's graduation. Kaitlin had given it to her mom after Marisaa had left to cheer her up a little. "To remind you of one of the happier times!" She had said. "You know Dr. Roberts was only trying to help mom" "I know sweetie. I was just upset thats all. I'm sorry. It's just been so hard you know!? And not knowing if she is going to wake up or not...it's just sooo hard at the moment. I really miss your sister. I just wish she'd wake up..."Julie responded. "She's going to wake up you know mom. She can't stay away from stealing the spot light from me She totally like steals it all the time" Kaitlin laughed. And Julie gave a small smile as well. Her girls always did have a thing for stealing each others spot light. Although Marissa usually won coz she was the oldest and had more dramas then her little sister did. "And anyway it's not me you should be apologising to..." Kaitlin added "I know. You're right. Is Neil home?" Julie asked realising she hadn't seen or heard him for a while. "Oh he went out. But he said he'd be back soonish" "Oh okay well I'll talk to him when he gets home then. After we've talked I think i might go visit Marissa. Did you wana come?" Kaitlin gave an awkward guilt sort of look. "I told Brad and Eric I'd meet them at the diner in half an hour. sorry. Maybe next time?" "Oh the Ward boys? No it's okay. Go have fun with your friends honey" Kaitlin got up and started to walk out. But when she got to the door she turned around. Julie looked up. "Summer said earlier she wanted to go visit Marissa. You should see if she stil wants to go" She suggested "Okay I'll go ask her in a little while. See you later honey" And with that Kaitlin walked down the stairs, leaving a content Julie to take one last look at the photo frame before she returned it to her nightstand and went to ask Summer if she wanted to go to the hospital when her father got home.

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Knock knock."Come in Neil" Dr. Roberts opened te door and greeted the young doctor with a firm handshake. "How you going Daniel?" "Yes very well and yourself. Heard you were dating Julie Cooper-Nichol?" "umm yes I am. Actually that's why I arranged this.." Neil began. "You want to now about Marissa Coopers condition I suppose?" Daniel interrupted. "yes. If you wouldn't mind. Julie hasn't been her best and keeps worrying she won't live..."Neil finished phasing out a little "Well as you know I have a Doctor/Patient confidentiality..."Neil looked at him. He needed to know. Daniel wouldn't say he couldn't tell him...would he? "However, seen as though you are a brilliant Doctor, a good friend and are dating her mother, I feel obliged to tell you...Marissa had suffered some major and minor injuries as you are aware. For the first 2 and a half months we sedated her to give her body time to heal. We stopped the sedated coma 3 days ago, as we thought her body had healed enough, but unfortunately when we stopped the sedation she was still in a natural coma. We are doing everything we can to make her comfortable and heal more efficiently. However, we don't know when she will come out of her coma..." Neil stared at his feet."But we have been observing Marissa everday and doing cat scans once a week to report any changes and we HAVE noticed some improvements" Neil looked back up "Improvements" "Yes. We have noticed that Miss Cooper's improvement in her brain activty. Which is always a good sign. Her brain activity is always very high whenever that young man, Ryan, comes to visit her and talks to her. I think with all the support and the visitors she gets she is definitly going to wake up. But as we said ...we don't know when that will be...It seems like she wants to be as healthy and strong as she can be before she wakes up. And she's going to need all that strength. But its as if her body is making sure she doesn't have to return to the hospital again for any bad reasons...which is good... but i guess we are all going to have to ait and see when she actually does wake up hey!?" "Yeah, I guess so. Thank-you Daniel. I'll let Julie know and thanks for lending me the time to explain all this and updating us. I really appreciate it" Neil replied. "Not a problem. Anything for a good friend hey. And good luck with everything. See you around buddy" "Yeah see you later"

After visiting Daniel and getting all the updates on Marissa's condition, Neil walked down the hall to Marissa's room. He didn't know what came over him but this was the first time he had gone to see her alone.

He walked in quietly and then stood awkwardly, a few metres away from her bed. Cmon old bloke. She's your step daughter and her and your daugher have been friends since they were tiny tots. What are you so awkward about?Not like this is the first time you've seen her sleeping. Get a grip. He moved closer to the bed and stood by Marissa. "Hey sweetie. Summer's been really miserable without you. I think you better wake up soon. There are many people waiting for you to wake up. Your mother has been aweful. She cries every night and won't eat. She tries to hide her feelings most of the time but i hear her late at night in our bathroom. She just isn't the same Julie I feel in love with. We all need you to wake up. I need you to wake up ...for your mother's sake. Please wake up soon sweetie." He watched her sleeping for a moment then continued. "Well I was going to ring and ask you but now I have to ask you here. I want marry your mother. I've checked with your little sister Kaitlin and with Summ and they think it's a good idea but I wanted to check with you as well?" What are you doing she can't answer you Neil but wait was that a smile... "I take that's a yes" Marissa's smile grew a little bigger. "Thanks sweetie. Well I spose I better go buy a ring then huh!? Well see ya later" And with that Neil quietly walked out. On his way home he bought some more flowers that Summer had asked for. He bought some beautiful lily's.

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Summer was in the lounge room watching re-runs of The Valley when her Dad got home. "Hey sweetie" "Hi Daddy. Did you get some flowers for Marissa?" Neil pullled out the lily's from behind his back and handed them to Summer. "They're beautiful. Thanks Dad" "That's okay. Although when you go visit her I think you need to go through her room and throw out the older flowers. Some seem to look a little worse for wear" "Okay...wait. When did you go into Marissa's room?" Summer asked somewhat confused " Well when I went out. I had arranged a meeting with my good friend Daniel...Dr.Peterson. Who is also Marissa's doctor to see how she is going medically and about her conditions and so on. And afterwards I went to visit Marissa. See how she was going" Neil replied simply.

Neil and Summer hadn't noticed Julie listening in the doorway. "You visited Dr. Peterson and Marissa?" Julie interuppted suprised. They both turned around surprised. "umm, yeah" Neil responded."What did he have to say about Marissa" Summer and Julie both asked after a moments silence. Neil began to tell them everything that he had been told. "Well..."

After half an hour Neil had finished telling them about everything. "So she's going to wake up soon?" Summer asked suddenly with a huge grin on her face. Neil didn't want to break his daughters heart but he had to remind her...":Look sweete they said she WOULD wake up but they don't know when. It could still be a while sweetie. We just have to be patient. Summer lost a bit of her smile but she was still happy that they said she WOULD wake up...as long as she wakes up thats the main thing right!?

"Well Summer and I are going to go to the hospital. Did you want to come?" Julie said bursting the silent bubble that surrounded them. "Umm actually I have to go pick a few thing up in town and I've already seen her today so I'll think I'll give you 2 ladies some girl time with her." Neil finished "Okay well see you later" And with that Julie and Summer left.

Summer decided she wanted to tell the boys the good news about Dr Roberts meeting with Marissa's doctor so Julie dropped her off at the Cohens and said she'd meet her at the hospital and drie her home afterwards. When Summer got to the Cohens she went straight to Seth's room. "Hey Cohen, you in here?" "Summer?" "Hey assface. Lets go see Ryan" Summer stated " You seem happy today!?" Seth asked slightly confused "And I don't think that's a good idea. Ever since he got back he's been broading in his room. I think Marissa is getting to him even when she's in a coma" Summer slapped him but dragged him towards the poolhouse. After 15minutes Summer had told the story to Ryan and Seth. "Well thats good news. But they don't know when?" Seth asked "No. They have no idea when but as long as she's gonna wake up thats all that matters!" Summer finished. Ryan sat at the edge of his bed, still tryin to process this new information. "You alright man?"Seth asked noticing Ryans quiet, almost shocked state. He knew Ryan was getting more and more upset the longer she was in the coma but he thought he would be happy at this news. Everyone else was. "Ah, yeah ...yeah. Sorry. Just still a little shocked i guess. We'll lets head over to the hospital. I think Riss could do with a big dose of our company right now" Maybe it will make her wake up. Ryan secretely thought.

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Julie, Summer, Ryan and Seth stayed at the hospital for nearly 7 hours that afternoon. Seth, Summer and Julie left for dinner but Ryan wanted to stay. "Save me some dinner will you?" Ryan asked Seth. "Sure. See you back at home" Ryan stayed until around 10.30 that night. Visiting hours finished at 6 but the nurses had become used to Ryan always being there and had secretely become all of their favourite's so they lt him stay until whenever he pleased. They could see the strength and love this young couple had for each other so they let them be.