Oops- forgot to mention soon. I don't own these characters or the O.C. Please don't sue me.
Ryan opened his eyes, then closed them, squinting them against the bright glare of sunlight, pouring into his room. He glanced at the clock. It was already 9am! He jumped out of bed, then was hit by a wave of dizziness. The room started to spin, and he practically fell back into bed, suddenly aware of his stomach doing cartwheels and back flips. He swallowed hard, and prayed the room would stop spinning. So he was still sick. Kirsten must have let him sleep in that morning. He gave a slight moan of frustration. Being sick was not his idea of a good time, despite how many times Seth like to claim fake illnesses in order to avoid various school assignments. Or girl problems. He wondered how Seth was holding up in school without him, his sidekick. Or was he Seth's sidekick? He then realized that he must have been slightly feverish, or else such nonsensical thoughts would not have been occurring in his brain.
Suddenly his stomach did a particularly overzealous what could have only been the intestinal version of a handspring, and he leapt out of bed, forgetting how dizzy he was, and attempted to stumble towards the bathroom. He only made it as far as the sink at the back of the pool house, before his stomach made an emphatic effort at emptying its contents, but since it was empty the attempt was futile and he had wasted any energy he might have had. The room was spinning faster, and he seemed to be losing his grip on the sink, and he fell to the floor, hitting his head on the cabinet.
For a moment he lay on the floor, slightly confused as to how he had winded up there, and realized now his head hurt on the outside as well as on the inside. He felt a tear slide down his cheek as he realized how impossible the task of getting to his feet would be. He had never been so glad or so embarrassed to hear Kirsten's voice as he was at that moment.
"Ryan? Ryan sweetie? Where are you?" She had evidently just come into the pool house- with out knocking he noticed.
"I'm here," he slowly tried to get to his feet and Kirsten rushed over to help him.
"Oh my god, Ryan are you okay?" She asked, as he leaned heavily against her as he stood.
"I fell…" He admitted, shame facedly, as if it wasn't obvious what had happened.
"Oh sweetie," She kissed his forehead. "Ryan, honey, you're burning up. When was the last time you took anything?"
"I woke up about four in the morning and took some Tylenol," He pulled away slightly, mortified at showing so much weakness to her, but still had to stay leaned against the counter to stay on his feet. His act didn't fool Kirsten.
"Let's get you back into bed, then I'm going to call the doctor. Don't even bother arguing with me Ryan,"
88
Kirsten went back into the house, her face set in a grim line. "How's the kid doing?" Sandy asked, but he already knew from his wife's expression. They had both stayed home that morning, neither one willing to leave the house until they knew Ryan would be taken care of, and if need be, one of them would just have to stay home today.
"Not good… he fell…"
"He fell? How?"
"I don't know, I walked in there and he was on the floor."
"Jesus, we need to get the kid to the doctor."
"I was thinking maybe the hospital,"
"Kirsten, honey, he'll never agree to that."
"He hit his head when he fell Sandy. He told me he was so dizzy he just fell, after he tried to puke and there was nothing in his stomach. I didn't even want to leave him alone in the pool house, but he can barely stand."
"Alright, let's take him."
"Sandy, one of us needs to go to work."
"Oh right…" As much as he didn't want to leave Ryan, he knew Kirsten was going to win this battle. "Alright, but I'll help you get him in the car, if he's as bad as you say."