Disclaimer:
I don't own the O.C. even though I wish I did. I don't own any of the characters either :( not even Ryan. However, I do own this story
Author Notes:
I hope you like my story, please right comments. Whatever you have to say good or bad I'm happy to hear it. Thanks for ready my story.
Chapter 1
Sandy Cohen took a moment to comb his fingers through his rather disheveled mane of black hair and attempt to fix his tie in the window of the prison doors before he continued to rush forward. He had had a long day dealing with one juvenile delinquent after another and this was his last case of the day. Standing at the prison's front desk, he made a slight coughing noise to get the attention of the guard sitting behind the desk.
A chubby dark haired man looked up at him still in the process of wolfing down a jelly donut, which was have in his mouth. The man took a few seconds to slowly chew on his donut, 'yeah sure take your time there, big boy, I don't have to be anywhere,' Sandy thought scathingly. Finally, in a bored drawling voice he asked, "name and purpose of you're visit?"
"Sandy Cohen, I'm hear to meet with a client…umm," he fumbled around in his suit pocket for the bit of paper he had used to scribble down the boys information, not that his boss gave him much, "uhh…Ryan… Atwood."
With an expression that clearly stated he couldn't care less the man asked for credentials and then had him sign in, which natural took five minutes. 'This prisons standards for guards must be pretty low' Sandy thought as he checked his watch for the tenth time. Kristen would kill him if he was late to dinner again.
Finally, the man, Snail, Sandy had officially dubbed him, allowed him to pass and he followed another guard to his client. Over the years Sandy come to believe he had seen it all until he saw the small boy sitting at a table in a visiting room, who was so small his feet couldn't even touch the floor. Sandy suddenly felt annoyed, he turned to look at the guard behind him. "Can we talk for a moment?" he asked shutting the door that let to where Ryan sat behind him. "You can't be serious, that kid can't be older than 9 or 10 years old, there is no way he could have…" Sandy looked back at the piece of paper he had in his hand, "been an accomplice in stealing a car…And what happened to him. He looks like he's been beaten. Why isn't he in the hospital?" Sandy finally stopped his tirade, waiting for the officer to respond. "Well?" Sandy asked impatiently.
The prison guard sighed. "You're here because the kid refuses to speak or to go to the hospital. All he keeps saying is that he wants a lawyer. The boss says that we should humor the kid. He looks like he needs to go to a hospital and the only reason he isn't there already is because we were there and had to take his brother in. We couldn't leave him there and it was a known gang area so it was dangerous for us to stay. We were hoping you could convince the kid to speak and then help us get him to the hospital. So… should I leave you to it? The boss says we can only give you a few minutes and then were forcing him into an ambulance."
Sandy took a breath. Okay, he had to think. "You said the kid has a brother. Did the brother tell you anything?"
"Yeah that's how we got the name. The brother, Trey Atwood, said that his brother won't talk because his parents have taught him not to. We sent cars to the address Trey gave us, but…" the guard suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"But what?" Sandy prodded.
"But Ryan can't go back there. The police found some guy beating on the mom. Both were high as a kite and the place was a disaster zone. Trey also told us that it was her mothers boyfriend, the same guy we found beating up the mom, who hurt the kid. Honestly, this whole situation is a mess. The older brother doesn't sound like a bad kid, the only reason he tried to steal the car was because he said he wanted to get Ryan to the hospital, but the older brother has a long list of priors and he's 18 so he's probably gonna have to do some time," the guard let out a long sigh. "So what do you say? Will you go talk to the kid?" Sandy nodded solemnly, after hearing what the guard had to say, how could he not help the kid. He wanted to through at the thought of an adult beating a child.
