Thanks for the reviews . Sorry I haven't updated in the past couple of days but I've had quite a busy weekend. Sorry that the chapters are quite short but I'll update regularly which I hope will make up for that.

Chapter 5: Tears Falling Down His Face

"We have a Miss Marissa Cooper, age 17, unconscious, blow to the head, possible internal bleeding, cause unknown. We need to get an x-ray and an MRI scan." shouted a doctor urgently as Marissa was being wheeled through a hospital corridor. Ryan was right behind. They passed through a set of double doors.

"Sorry sir, you can't come in here" one of the doctors told Ryan.

I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show and I thought that being strong meant never losing your self control

"I'm not leaving her. Marissa!" He tried to get past the doctor but was held back by another two doctors. The double doors closed and Ryan shook himself free and pressed his face against the small window pane just as Marissa disappeared round the corner.

But I'm just drunk enough to let go of my pain, to hell with my pride

Ryan felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around ready to shout at the doctor, but it was Sandy. He had tried so hard to keep himself together but he couldn't do it anymore. He had told himself that he was over Marissa but he clearly wasn't.

Let it fall like rain from my eyes. Tonight I wanna cry (Keith Urban 'Tonight I wanna cry')

He broke down and Sandy pulled him in to a hug. Kirsten watched them, a tear slipping down her face. She had never seen Ryan cry before. Ryan didn't do crying.

Sandy Kirsten and Ryan were all sitting in a deserted waiting room. Kirsten was reading a magazine. Or at least she was turning the pages. She couldn't get the image of Marissa when she opened the door out of her head.

Ryan was leaning forward with his head in his hands. "Who did this to her? How could anyone do this to her?" His thoughts were full of questions. There was one that kept forcing itself to the front of his mind. "Is she going to be ok?"

It was 1:00 am. They all felt like they had been sitting in the waiting room for hours, but it had only been one. Suddenly Jimmy came running in closely followed by Seth and Summer. Kirsten had phoned them all on the way to the hospital. Telling Jimmy had been one of the hardest things that she'd ever done. She had to tell a father that his daughter had been taken in to hospital by an ambulance. Kirsten looked up from her magazine.

"Jimmy!" She got up and pulled him in to a hug.

"Hey man" Seth said awkwardly to Ryan

"Hey" Ryan said quietly. Summer asked the question.

"How is she?"

"That's just it. They won't tell us anything." said Kirsten. Jimmy walked over to the window and looked out with his back to everyone. They all looked over at him, concerned. Kirsten walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulder.

"I'm going to get some air" Ryan said breaking the silence. He headed out the door. Seth started to follow him but Sandy put his hand on Seth's arm. Seth looked round at him and Sandy shook his head. Seth immediately understood and sat down. He couldn't imagine what Ryan was going through. The last time Ryan had seen Marissa was when they broke up and Marissa had left in tears.

It was now 2am. Ryan had come back in at about 1:30am. Summer was leaning her head on Seth's shoulder and he had his head resting on her head. Summer had her eyes closed but she was not asleep. Closing her eyes blocked everything out and made it seem unreal.

Sandy had his arm around Kirsten's shoulders and had pulled her in to him. Sandy had gone to try and find out what was happening more than once but every time he got the same answer "I'm sorry sir but you will just have to wait until the doctor is ready." That was all they had been doing. Waiting.

Ryan hated hospitals. It brought back memories from when he had to collect his dad after he had ended up in some drunk fight. But it had never been like this. This was much worse. He didn't know what had happened. None of them did. And this was Marissa. The girl he was now realising that he truly does love, but he can't do anything for her.

Jimmy was sitting staring in to space. The last time he had been in hospital was after the Tijuana incident. Was he really that bad a father? No parent should ever have to see their child in the hospital yet here he was for the second time. Where had he gone so wrong?

They had decided not to call Julie. Her and Caleb were away in New York and they would be back the next day anyway.

A doctor walked in to the waiting room and everyone immediately sat up, their eyes full of hope.

"How is she? What's happening?" Jimmy asked urgently.

"Marissa is doing well." It was like there had been a cloud hanging over the room that was now drifting away. "She has a couple of broken ribs and minor internal bleeding but she has come through the surgery really well. We conducted an MRI in case of any brain damage from the blow to her head but she has been very lucky, though she has quite a bad concussion so she probably won't wake for a few hours." Seth hugged Summer who was crying out of joy. Sandy kissed the top of Kirsten's head who had a tear rolling down her face. Jimmy knew it wasn't over yet but he was just so happy that she was alright that he couldn't help but smiling. His eyes were welling up. Ryan's body suddenly felt lighter. Just like Jimmy he couldn't help but smile and before he knew it Sandy had his arm around him.

"Who's coming first?" the doctor asked them all. They all looked at each other. Sandy spoke first

"Go ahead Coop. The waiting is over."