Heading For Disaster Chapter 4

Obvious FYI: I don't own anything that even remotely has to do with the O.C.!

--Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it!

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Ryan was kept sedated for the rest of that Friday night and all of Saturday. By Sunday morning, the doctors deemed the swelling on his spinal cord low enough to lift his sedation, provided that he continue to stay still on his own accord.

"We're going to gradually let him come out of the coma, but until he is completely aware of his surroundings, we're going to put some soft restraints on him just in case he has movement," Dr. Mitchowski explained.

"What about his head injury?" Kirsten asked. She had left Ryan's side only once and that was to go home and shower while Sandy took over as watchman. "Will he remember the accident?" The thought of Ryan waking up in a hospital, panicking again at his inability to move was terrifying even for her.

"There is a possibility, yes, that he won't remember the accident, but we're hoping that since his images look great and his responses are as good as can be expected, he will quickly recall the situation. Now, as you can imagine, this ordeal is going to be frightening for Ryan," Dr. Mitchowski sat down as he spoke to Kirsten and Sandy. "The first thing he's going to try to do is move, and you need to keep him calm. If he sees you scared, it's going to multiply ten fold for him."

"But what do we tell him? I mean, there really isn't anything conclusive until he wakes up, right?" Sandy recalled the prognosis.

"That's right. As soon as you notice a change, please call a nurse who will page me. Just keep positive. Alright, I'm going to begin to lift the sedation now. We should start to see some signs of arousal in about a half an hour." Dr. Mitchowski fiddled with one of the IV's and smiled as he excused himself from the room.

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"Hey, Summer," Seth dejectedly answered his cell phone, seeing the caller ID.

"Geeze, Cohen. Nice to talk to you, too," Summer said without thinking. Of course he was upset, his brother was unconscious in the hospital.

"Sorry. I'm just thinking about Ryan. What's up?"

"Are you going to the hospital today?"

"Yah, I was just about to go over. Mom and Dad made me finish this stupid science project before I visited. I think the doctors are lifting the sedation today, maybe even as we speak."

"Oh that's great! Then we'll, well, know, right?" How else could she say it?

"I guess so. So what's up, Summer. I'm sorry, but I can tell you didn't just call out of the blue like this to talk." Seth felt bad accusing her of anything, but he could tell in her voice that there was something more than just a quick check up.

"Uh, yah. Sorry. Have you, uh, have you talked to Marissa lately? She left the hospital early and hasn't returned my phone calls. Did she say anything to you?"

"Like what, Summer? About how her boyfriend is in the hospital, possibly never walking again?" Seth's voice was dripping of sarcasm but he didn't care. He just wanted to get the project done as fast as possible and hurry over to HOAG. Nothing else needed his attention. "I haven't heard anything from her. Look, I'm sorry, but I've gotta go, ok? I'll talk to you later. Thanks for calling." He hung up.

Seth knew he'd regret that conversation later, but he didn't care. But Summer's words did make him think. He prayed to God for what felt like the millionth time that weekend, this one hoping that Marissa get over whatever she was obsessing about and be ready to help Ryan. Boy would he need it. He might not want it, but he would need it and he was going to get it.

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Just as Dr. Mitchowski predicted, Ryan's face and fingers began to twitch within twenty minutes of lifting the sedation. Kirsten had been just staring into space, a mixture of worry and exhaustion clouding her mind and Ryan's slight movements made her jump.

Sandy noticed the change as well, and as instructed, he pushed the nurse's call button. Ryan was restrained on both wrists and both ankles, and he was wearing a brace on his neck and one on his back. He was still lying completely flat. Even if he wanted to, Ryan wasn't going anywhere.

A nurse quickly answered the call and walked to the head of the bed to look at her patient. She paged Dr. Mitchowski before taking Ryan's temperature and spoke softly to the Cohens as they waited.

"He'll be opening his eyes soon. Just be patient, I'm sure—" her statement was cut short by the boisterous entrance of Seth.

"What did I miss? Anything happen? I can't believe you made be finish the project. I'll never look at Beryllium the same. It's a stupid element if you ask me, really it—" Seth began to ramble but was cut off by his mother.

"Seth. Seth, honey sit down. The medication is wearing off and Ryan's starting to wake up. You need to be really quiet, ok?" Kirsten put her hand on Seth's lap. Seth immediately calmed down and nodded, looking expectantly at his brother.

Dr. Mitchowski had entered the room by the time Ryan's eyes began to bat open. The neurologist was pleased with the pupil responses the boy was showing.

"Ryan?" The doctor began upon seeing clarity in his patient's eyes. "Ryan can you look at me?" Dr. Mitchowski was careful not to stand too far away or too much to the side. He wanted to be in Ryan's direct line of vision.

Slowly things started to come into focus for Ryan. What was taking him so long to wake up? Clearly he'd been asleep for a while. What time was it? Ryan blinked many times. Something wasn't right, not at all. He didn't recognize the voice calling his name. The noise came again and Ryan listened as closely as possible, trying to call upon some recognition.

"Ryan. You're in the hospital, Ryan. You're at HOAG. Can you look over here for me?"

Hospital? What the…

"Ryan, honey. It's Kirsten. You're doing great, sweetie."

Kirsten! She was here, too…

"Hey, kid. It's Sandy. Good to see you again."

Sandy was here…

"Yah, I'm here, too. Of course. I'd pick you over science projects any day." Seth shot a look at his parents.

That voice didn't need a name. Obviously it was Seth's. But what was going on? Hospital?

Ryan tried to move toward the voices. The Cohens were doing their best to be right in front of him, but they were still too far. Ryan panicked again when he could move only his eyes. His neck was restricted somehow and turning his torso seemed just as unlikely. Maybe he could gather some momentum with his legs…or not.

Then it all came flooding back.

Soccer…head ball…blood…hard ground…darkness…blurry vision…LEGS! AMBULANCE! PAIN! Shit! It was real!

The nurse noticed an increase in Ryan's heartbeat and saw him began to sweat.

"Ok, Ryan. It's ok. You had an accident, just stay calm," the nurse smoothed his hair.

"Honey. We're right here and we aren't going anywhere," Kirsten grabbed Ryan's hand.

"Ryan. I'm Dr. Mitchowski. We've been taking great care of you and your parents have been here the whole time. Can you look at me?"

Somehow Ryan felt the need to trust the guy. Something in his voice gave him confidence.

"You've got a neck brace on, Ryan. That's why you can't move your head. You've gotta use your words now, ok? Do you remember the accident?" The doctor continued.

"Yes," Ryan whispered, tears forming again in his eyes. Dr. Mitchowski did a few more neuro checks before continuing.

Kirsten didn't know what to think. At least they didn't have to repeat the situation again to Ryan. But she wished she knew what was going through his mind.

"Ok, Ryan. You've been sedated for a few days which allowed your spinal cord to begin to heal. Can you squeeze my hand?"

Ryan complied, good pressure from both hands.

"Good job. Now I want you to tell me when you feel me touching your foot, ok?"

Ryan nodded and was able to feel most of Dr. Mitchowski's pinches and was able to detect the direction his foot was moved in. The sensations were faint, but defiantly present.

Moving was the hard part.

Try as he might, Ryan could only muster enough force to wiggle his left toes and the big toe on his right foot. He didn't know what to think. Was this good? Bad? What the hell was happening?

"Ryan, you're doing great. Your spinal cord was not severed, and the lack of movement is caused by the swelling in your spinal column. Our hope is that once the swelling goes down a bit more, you'll be transferred to a rehab facility to work on your recovery." Dr. Mitchowski paused, carefully studying Ryan's face for his reaction. Sandy put his hand on Ryan's when the teen began to cry again.

"Recovery? Am I…" he couldn't say it. "Am I paralyzed?!"

"It looks like the paralysis will be only temporary, but you will have to work hard on your recovery. This still a serious injury, but you are lucky, Ryan. It's all relative," the doctor stated truthfully. "It could have been much worse."

Worse? What the fuck could be worse than this? Staring at the ceiling, not able to move? What could possibly top this?

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Marissa listened to Summer's voicemail for the tenth time, still not able to call her back.

"Marissa, it's me. I'm your best friend, so I need to shake you out of whatever you're doing. Why aren't you returning my calls? Why did you walk out on Ryan? He's your boyfriend, Coop, and he's hurt bad. You're being selfish now. You can't turn your back on him now or he'll never forgive you. Don't you get that? Call me back."

Summer was the one didn't get it. She, Marissa, would do anything to be there now with Ryan, but she couldn't. Ryan wouldn't want to see her. Not after what she said. Marissa couldn't help but play their last conversation over and over in her mind.

~Flashback~

"Ryan you're being so insensitive! How could you say that? You know we need to talk about it. Just stop thinking about the game and talk to me!"

"Marissa. Not now. Please. I don't even remember what we're fighting about, but I'm sorry for whatever I did, ok? We're undefeated, so are they. There's only a few games left in the season and this is the biggest one so far. Scouts will be here, ok? I can't think of anything else."

"Soccer? Really? You're choosing sports over your girlfriend. You actually are such a typical guy, Ryan. It's a meaningless game. You'll play, two hours later you'll be back here, nothing will have changed. Your life will be exactly the same, Ryan! Your life including what you said earlier!"

"Please, can we just talk about this later? Tonight, I promise. I'll come over and we'll work it out, just please not now."

"Fine. Think about your stupid game. I'm coming tonight, but not to see you. I told Luke I'd go because he's my friend. I'm not going to see my boyfriend."

With that, Marissa stormed out of the pool house leaving Ryan confused as ever.

Marissa was dying to know how he was doing, but she couldn't gather the courage to go see for herself. What good was she now?