AN- Glad some people liked the story so far, thanks so much for your reviews!
This chapter swaps POVs a bit, I separated them with breaks
I don't know much about hospital stuff but I tried..
Sandy rang his wife Kirsten from the car as he followed the ambulance.
"Sandy?" He heard her ask when she picked up the phone
"Hi sweetheart, look I'm gonna be a bit late tonight, I found a kid hurt pretty bad in Chino and I'm going to the hospital to make sure he's ok."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Well… that's terrible to hear but… do you know him Sandy? Won't the hospital call his family? I'm sure they can take care of this." Kirsten tried to reason with her husband.
"I don't know honey, there's just something about him. He's Seth's age, what if he's in real trouble? The system over here, it doesn't always take care of kids the way it should, I just wanna see he's ok, maybe talk to him, find out what happened."
Kirsten knew how her husband could be with situations like this. She loved him for his compassionate heart but she knew not everyone could be helped; they had their own family and friends to think of. She also knew there was no changing his mind on things like this without an argument though.
"Ok Sandy, just… try not to be too late. Good luck." She conceded.
"Thanks, love you."
"You too."
Sandy hung up. They were just approaching the hospital. He parked in the visitor's car park and rushed inside to the emergency waiting area. Approaching a receptionist, he asked about the young man who'd just been brought in.
The tired looking receptionist glanced at her old computer screen and answered "They're taking him for x-rays, it could be awhile, there's a queue."
"Do you have any idea how long it might be?" Sandy pressed, concerned that the kid needed immediate help.
The girl sighed in what Sandy thought was slight annoyance "Could be a couple hours, are you a relative of the patient?" She asked.
"No, no I'm the one who found him." She looked suspiciously at him before apparently deciding he looked too clean cut to have been involved.
"He didn't to have any ID on him so we haven't been able to contact next of kin, if you want to wait for him I can have you told when he's out?"
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." Sandy answered and went to sit down. Hopefully it won't be that long he thought. He couldn't leave without knowing how the kid was but Kirsten's wrath was another thing he didn't especially want to face.
An hour and a half later a nurse made her way over to Sandy "Excuse me, sir?"
Sandy looked up from the paper he was trying without much success to read and stood up.
"Yes? How's the kid? Can I see him?" He eagerly asked.
"He is awake, he received several blunt force traumas to the head and face which we believed caused him to lose consciousness. He has a mild concussion and the medication we have him on will also make him quite disoriented and subdued for the time being."
Sandy took in this information, a feeling of unease forming in his stomach "He's ok though right? He'll be ok?" he questioned anxiously.
"He's not in a life threatening state and he is assumed to make a full recovery with enough rest and care." Sandy nodded, relieved but felt this wasn't the end of the story and continued to look expectantly at the nurse.
She continued "We took several x-rays of his body, there was extensive bruising across his torso and you would have seen the damage to his face."
Sandy nodded grimly.
"Fortunately no facial breaks were found but he has suffered from several fractured ribs and a single broken one which would have caused considerable pain. There looks to be some internal bleeding around his abdomen however this is manageable without surgery. Like I said, he is on medication including strong pain killers and anti nausea drugs, head trauma can often cause vertigo and he can't afford any more damage to his ribs." The nurse explained.
Sandy had paled at hearing all the details, imagining what had happened to the boy and feeling horrified. "Can I… Am I able to see him?" He asked in a tentative voice.
The nurse paused for a second "He hasn't said anything to us since he woke up." She said, a worried frown creasing her forehead. "We're not able to contact his family… there's paper work to be filled out." She seemed uncertain but eventually said "You can go in to see him but there will be a nurse in the room. Perhaps you might be able to get some information out of him…?" She trailed off hopefully.
"I just want to make sure he's alright" Sandy replied "I'll see what I can do." He added softly.
The nurse nodded. "Then if you'd like to follow me."
They walked down a corridor and the nurse motioned to a door on the left before leaving.
Sandy took a deep breath, readying himself for what he was about to do. He pushed the door open and saw the kid lying on a bed by the far wall. Surprisingly the other beds were empty and the nurse was the only other person in the room. Sandy saw that he was semi awake, blinking slowly as the nurse felt for his pulse.
Ryan was vaguely aware he was in the hospital. He'd woken on a bed in a white room with a couple people moving around him. Though his head had felt like it was about to explode and every breath was like swallowing knives he was aware where he was. His first thought had been shit! Then How did I get here? I wouldn't have come here, just holed up somewhere till I felt better. What do I last remember? …Leaving the house, stumbling away for a while… that's right an alley, oh shit and those guys… Ryan realized they must've knocked him out, someone must've seen him and called an ambulance. Damn it! He thought. Mom will kill me for this. And AJ… Shit shit shit!
Ryan had drifted in and out of sleep or consciousness or something for a while. The must've drugged him up cause the pain wasn't as bad anymore and everything was real fuzzy. A couple times when he woke the hospital staff had asked him questions, who he was, where he lived, who his parents were. Ryan knew he couldn't tell them, he'd get in so much trouble; he had to get out of here. He was too out of it to come up with something to tell them, he'd stick with silence for now. What if they called child services? He wouldn't be put into some group home, he'd heard stories and he knew he didn't want anything to do with that crap. He'd rather be his own person; free to do what he wanted, even if there was the occasional (or often, whatever) smack around from his mom's boyfriends. As much of a train wreck as she was, Ryan felt he needed to keep an eye out for his mom, Trey didn't bother and who else was there?
He woke up again when a nurse was checking his pulse and blood pressure and stuff. He was trying to clear his head to work a plan out when another movement in the room caught his attention. He spun his head to face it, the world warping as he did but at least there was no stabbing pain. His blue eyes fell on a tallish man in a suit with huge eyebrows. Ryan seemed to snap out of his sluggish haze as panic gripped him. He went rigid on the bed and bought his hands close to his body, causing the nurse to lose her count on his pulse. Who is this guy? He's pretty big, could he take him? Ryan's impulse thoughts sped through his head. Or is he child services? What the fuck is he doing here? Ryan was confused and in a disadvantaged position – safe to say he didn't feel comfortable.
Sandy saw the kid go tense and wondered at the reaction, maybe it was the medication making him jumpy he thought. The nurse took a few steps back and as he slowly approached the bed he noticed the boy's eyes widen and subtly dart around the room as if determining the best escape routes, as breaths also came faster he saw a flash of pain cross his face before it was gone the next second and the boy was staring intensely at him.
"My name's Sandy." He started in a quiet tone "I found you out cold on a street near here." No reaction from the kid. "Do you remember what happened? You're pretty beat up there." He tried.
The boy looked down and his brow creased, he seemed to be frantically trying to remember or think of something.
"What's your name?" Sandy tried.
The kid looked up at him and Sandy saw anxiety in his eyes before the stare was back as if he'd decided he wasn't going to speak to him. Sandy had seen that well hidden fear though and his heart went out for this kid yet again.
"Look kid I just want to help, are you in trouble? Who did this to you?"
Sandy watched as he again lowered his head and his eyes could not be seen. Sandy waited a long minute before deciding perhaps it was too soon and he'd ask the nurses for an update if anything happened, he could come back tomorrow, he clearly wasn't up to talking yet, but he was a good kid, Sandy could see it in his eyes, felt it when he saw him there on the sidewalk. He turned to leave and as he reached to door he heard a faint, raspy voice "…Ryan"
Sandy turned to look back but the kid had laid back down and turned his head the other way. Instead he replied softly "Thanks Ryan."
