hi. This is a story focusing on the episode where Ryder gets appendicitis (s3 e17 - A Decent Proposal). In my opinion they should have focused a bit more on Ryder. I've never done a Melissa and Joey story before. By the way I write on my phone, so apologies if it isn't presented nicely xoxoxo

"Aunt Mel, I feel awful." Ryder said as he walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

"What's wrong honey?" Mel asked, helping him sit down.

"My stomach hurts. I feel all dizzy." He said, pouring himself a glass of juice. Mel felt his forehead. It was slightly warm.

"Hang on a sec. You have a maths test today."

"Yeah but I'm not acting" Ryder argued.

"This is what you did last time, so how can I be sure you're not lying? " said Mel.

"Fine don't believe me. You'd expect that you're own aunt would believe you. I always knew that you cared for Lennox and not me." With that, Ryder stormed out.

"Ryder wait..." Mel tried to stop him but he ignored her. She shrugged it off and continued eating her toast.

Ryder felt awful. It wasn't that he felt physically sick, it was more painful. More painful than anything that he has ever experienced. He decided to get up and get a drink from the kitchen. He winced in pain as he got himself out of bed.

"Ryder?" asked Lennox

"Yeah" he replied

"We need to stop Austin from proposing to aunt Mel."

"I feel awful." Ryder winced as Joe walked in.

"Joe! You need to stop Austin from proposing to aunt Mel! Go to the restaurant now!" she shouted. Ryder moaned in pain. His stomach felt like it was going to explode.

"What's up with him?" Joe asked, looking concerned.

"He has a stomach ache. He'll throw up and them he will be fine. Ryder's life is pretty simple. Now go before he proposes!" Lennox was worried about Ryder, but she was more worried about her aunt marrying the wrong man. Just then, Ryder let out a loud scream in pain.

"Joe. Ring aunt Mel. Now." said Lennox, sternly. She knew that Ryder only screamed when the pain was unbearable, and he had a very high pain tolerance.

"Ryder, I need you to sit up for me." Lennox put am arm around her brother's shoulders and slowly helped him sit up. He moaned in pain even more. "Here, lean on me." Ryder put his head onto Lennox's shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, calming her little brother down.

"Mel's on her way home. Luckily the restaurant is less than 5 minutes away so she will be home soon." said Joe. "Where does it hurt?" he asked. Ryder pointed to his lower right abdomen. "Does it hurt when I do this?" he gently touched Ryder's stomach, causing him to yell in pain as Mel walked in.

"We have to take him to the hospital now. Lennox, help your brother to the car." Lennox threw a blanket over his shoulders and wrapped him around it and helped him to the car.

"What's up with him?" Mel asked.

"I think his appendix may have burst if not close to bursting. Now come on get into the car."

"Hang on Ryder, we are nearly there." Ryder was curled up in the back of the car. His head was on Mel's lap. She gently stroked his brown hair which helped him to calm down a little.

"Come on get him out quickly. I'll go tell the reception what's happening." Joe ran over to the reception as Mel and Lennox got him out of the car and into the main waiting area, where a bed was bought over to him. Mel helped him on to it. Wrapping her arms around him, she slowly eased him into a lying down position, clutching his hand. She quickly kissed his forehead before the doctors took him away.

"What's the verdict?" Joe asked.

"Well his appendix has burst but it's not too bad at the minute. If we can get him into surgery now then he should be fine. We need you to sign this form. One of you may go into that room on the right where he is going to be put under anaesthesia."

"I'll go." said Lennox and she ran in. She then saw Ryder. He was yelling in pain. She went over to him and stood by his bedside. She gently stroked his hair and then kissed his cheek.

"I'm here. Calm down. You're gonna be fine"

"We're gonna put this mask on you and then you will be asleep within seconds." The doctor put an oxygen mask over his face. Lennox rubbed his cheek with her thumb and kissed him as he fell into unconsciousness.

"I love you." Lennox whispered into Ryder's ear and walked out of the room.

Lennox sighed as she sat down next to Mel.

"He's gonna be okay Lennox, don't worry." Consoled Mel.

"I hope so. A burst appendix is very serious. We learned all about it when I took that first aid course." Explained Lennox

"The doctors know what they are doing and they said it's not too bad. He's a fighter, he's gonna be fine." said Mel. There was a part of her that felt bad for ignoring him in the morning. She didn't believe that he thought that she loved Lennox more. Maybe she was closer to her than him, but she didn't love him any less. She was deep in thought when the surgeon came up to them.

"The surgery went well. He's had a lucky escape as the infection hadn't really spread from the burst appendix. We've given him a morphine button, so he can press it when he's in pain. He will have to stay here for a week. He's gonna spend a night in the ICU and then we are gonna see how he is. He will hopefully be out of the ICU by tomorrow night." Explained the doctor.

"Can we see him?" askes Mel

"Only his legal guardian can see him until he leaves the ICU I'm afraid. He's in room 10. He's in a lot of pain at the moment so be careful."

"Joe you take Lennox home. I'll stay here." Mel said. Then, Joe and her shared a passionate kiss.

"Finally!" Cheered Lennox. "Now go see Ryder."

Mel opened the door and saw his nephew. He was sleeping calmly. He looked so innocent as he slept. He was hooked up to like 10 different monitors and had an oxygen mask on. She was shocked at how ill he really was. She sat down on the chair next to him and held his hand. She stroked his cheek gently. Slowly, his eyes opened. He groaned in pain.

"Hey you're okay don't worry sweetie." Mel said quietly, kissing his forehead.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You're appendix burst and you've just had major surgery." She explained. "Look Ryder, I'm sorry for this morning. I should have taken you to a doctor when you first got ill." Mel apologized. "You know that I love you no matter what, you're my baby nephew who's 12 inches taller than me." She joked.

"Aunt Mel...my stomach is killing me." Ryder said, tears began falling from his eyes.

"Honey calm down, I'll give you some morphine to ease the pain." She pressed the morphine button. She wiped the tears off his face. Mel let out a huge yawn. It was nearly 2am and she'd been up since 6am. "You know what I'm gonna do." she said as she gently climbed into the bed next to Ryder, putting her arm around his neck. She kissed his had through his hair as she slowly eased him to sleep. She gently stroked his brown hair as he drifted to sleep.

Ryder woke up. The first thing he felt was pain. It wasn't as bad as when his appendix was inside him, but it was still unbearable.

"Hey you're awake. I bought you breakfast. It's toast, you're favourite!" Mel tried to cheer Ryder up.

"Thanks aunt Mel." Mel gently lifted Ryder's head up and took the oxygen mask off his face and put it around his neck. The doctor said he would need the mask on but he had to have it around his neck whilst eating. "Open wide." She fed him his breakfast. Mel realised that she had never taken care of him this well before and felt guilty because of it. "Ryder, you know I love you right" she asked.

"I love you too aunt Mel." He replied.

"Come here 'ya big baby." She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug making sure that she didn't injure him.

should I do another chapter? Hope you liked it xxx