*****

Ryan wouldn't wake up. He was breathing, his heart was beating but Sandy had been shaking him for five minutes and he hadn't reacted.

"Something's wrong, Sandy," Kirsten said, panicked. She was sitting on the opposite side of Ryan, holding his wrist. The boy was pale and his skin was clammy to the touch.

Seth had come into the kitchen a few minutes earlier, looking scared. He said that Ryan wouldn't wake up and Ryan always woke up.

"Ryan, wake up…open your eyes…" He urged, slapping Ryan's bruised face gently.

"Mom? Mom, I think he took some painkillers…" Seth's voice was urgent from the bathroom. Painkillers reminded Sandy of Mexico. Oh god. He shouldn't have been so hard on the kid.

"How many?" Sandy demanded.

"I don't know…"

"Count them, Seth. It's important," Kirsten said. She was on Ryan's other side, his wrist still in her shaking hand. He had a pulse because Kirsten still had some color in her face. But he was limp. He was cold and limp.

"Wake up, Ryan. Open your eyes, Ryan…"

"Five. There's five missing," Seth said, handing the bottle to Kirsten.

"I don't even know what this is…oxycodone…"

"Oxycontin?" Seth asked.

Sandy refocused on Ryan.

"Wake up." He turned to Seth. "Get me a glass of water." He shook Ryan gently.

"80 milligrams," Kirsten said. Seth handed him a cup of water and Sandy immediately doused Ryan.

Ryan gasped suddenly and wrenched away from Kirsten and Sandy in a panic.

"Ryan, Ryan…" Kirsten said, clearly relieved.

"What…what's going on…" Ryan panted. The kid was breathless, like he'd been drowning. Maybe the water was a bad idea.

"Look at me…Did you take some pills?" Sandy asked as Ryan seemed to deflate into Kirsten's arms. She held his shoulders, keeping him upright.

"Yeah…the doctor gave them to me at the hospital…" His speech was soft and slow. His pupils were so small that Sandy could barely see anything but blue.

"How many did you take? Ryan?" Kirsten steadied him as he wavered. His blinks were painfully slow and his eyelids wouldn't fully open.

"A couple…maybe three…" He murmured, dazed.

"Maybe five?" Kirsten urged. "Ryan?" She shook him.

"Maybe…can you not squeeze so hard? I didn't even look at them…Arturo gave them to me…" He blinked. He glanced at Sandy and then up at Seth. "Hey…" Seth was frozen.

Kirsten released him, seeing his bruised arms. Ryan went limp against the bed, struggling to focus.

"Seth. Call 911. Tell them that Ryan took about five 80 milligram oxycontin."

"On it," Seth said, picking up the phone and walking outside the poolhouse.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked after a short silence. He was breathing shallowly, like he hadn't caught his breath yet.

"Just stay awake, honey…" Kirsten said.

"It must be bad if you're calling me honey…" Ryan slurred.

"I call you honey all the time," Kirsten replied.

"I didn't mean to scare you…I've never been scary before…" Ryan murmured distantly.

Sandy gently lifted him to a sitting position. Ryan blinked, sluggish. The sound of sirens started filling the room.

"Am I on something?" Ryan asked, his head slumping to the side.

"Ryan…"

"Oh shit…I took too much…what the hell did I do…" Ryan eyes cleared suddenly.

"It's okay, it was an accident," Sandy said, not liking the expression on the boy's face.

"Oh shit…I'm sorry…" Ryan whispered. The kid was more lucid now and he was starting to panic. Seth led several paramedics into the poolhouse.

"We can take it from here. Step outside. Just for a minute," One of the EMT's said to Sandy. He let Kirsten pull him out of the poolhouse to the patio. They couldn't see Ryan because the medics were in the way.

"It was an accident. It had to be an accident. What happened to him?" Seth asked, starting to panic now that everything was settling down. Sandy finally let himself breathe.

"He took too many…" Kirsten started.

"No. Why is he so beat up? What's up with the bandages? Why are you guys so pissed at him?"

"We're not pissed at him…"

"Well, something happened today, you had Ryan on the stool of doom when Summer and I came in and now I find him hopped up on pills in the poolhouse…" Seth began.

"Seth. Stop," Kirsten sighed. She had her arms wrapped around herself. Sandy put an arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"He went to Chino and got into it with Eddie…"

"Eddie, Teresa's crazy boyfriend? Why the hell would he do that?" Seth asked, confused.

"He has his reasons," Sandy sighed.

"In other words you don't know," Seth replied, frustrated.

"He's trying. He called you, Sandy, he wanted your help. Seth, he probably called you, too. And he talked to me, we had a real conversation. He's still impulsive and short-tempered but he's trying to change," Kirsten said suddenly. "He's making the effort, he's just still got a ways to go…"

"Who thought you'd be the one defending him," Seth muttered.

"He doesn't need defending," Sandy said. "He's not in trouble, he's just…"

"Overdosing on oxycontin as we speak," Seth said quietly. "If that's not trouble…"

A paramedic stepped outside. "Do you know if he swallowed the pills or chewed them?"

"We don't know. Did you ask him?"

"He's in and out of consciousness. We're going to take him to the hospital, just so we can monitor him. Where did he get the prescription?" The medic asked.

"He went to a hospital in Chino, one of his friends took him in."

"He's only sixteen and he was treated without your consent?" The man questioned.

"Yes, we didn't even know he had been hurt until he got home. He didn't tell us that the doctor gave him anything, he said he didn't even look at the label," Kirsten answered.

"Oxycontin is given to patients with cancer, not kids with a few stitches. You guys could have a hell of a malpractice suit on your hands," The paramedic said quietly.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Thank god you guys found him. We need to watch him closely and make sure he doesn't have any serious respiratory distress, that's usually the big thing with oxycontin overdoses." The paramedic held open the door as the others pushed Ryan out on a stretcher. His eyes were closed and besides the paleness of his skin, he seemed to be sleeping.

"Can I ride with you?" Sandy asked.

"Of course," The man nodded.

"We'll be right behind you, Sandy," Kirsten said.

*****

Ryan woke up to the sound of voices. Distant voices. Where was he? It smelled like…disinfectant. Hospital. No, wait. He already went to the hospital today and he was sent home. He had talked to the Cohens. They were pissed. He had went to bed. He opened his eyes slowly.

"Ryan?" Kirsten's voice was concerned but she sounded like she was smiling.

Definitely a hospital. He started to sit up but there was an IV taped to his hand. He glanced at it and finished sitting up. God, he felt like he was hungover. There seemed to be clouds in his eyes. Everything was muffled but he could hear even the smallest sound. He thought he could hear Kirsten's heart beating.

"Hey. What happened?" Ryan asked. His throat was sore. Something was seriously wrong with this. He had to be dreaming. In stereo. He'd been dreaming in stereo for days it felt like.

"You scared the hell out of us," Seth answered. Ryan glanced to the opposite side of the bed and recognized Seth and Sandy watching him.

Ryan gave them all a confused look.

"The doctor prescribed you oxycontin, Ryan…" Kirsten said gently.

"What? Oxy? Why the fuck would he give me oxycontin?" Ryan asked in disbelief.

"You didn't even look at the label before swallowing them," Seth muttered.

"God, I fucking chewed them like candy, I just assumed they'd be Vicodin or Percocet or something," Ryan responded, stricken.

"And you would have just chewed Vicodin or Percocet like candy, too?" Sandy asked.

"Shit…sorry…I mean, I just…I wanted to go to sleep and my side was killing me, I didn't take anything before I drove home from the hospital…" Ryan started to explain.

"Well, thank god you didn't. You could have died. Again. That's twice in one day that you've come close to death," Sandy replied.

Ryan didn't speak again. He let his head rest against the pillow. He closed his eyes.

"Ryan?" Seth called, worried.

"Yeah?"

"You're not even going to ask when you're getting out of here or what happened to you?" Seth questioned.

"I'm sure you'll tell me," Ryan replied quietly. He didn't want to talk right now. He was tired. He felt like he'd been on a long trip. He didn't want the Cohens to be looking at him with their faces full of disappointment. It was like all that he was working for, their approval and their acceptance, all of it meant nothing now.

"Ryan, what's going on?" Seth called.

"I'm tired." He didn't open his eyes.

"Can't you stay awake and talk to us?" Kirsten said quietly. Ryan didn't open his eyes until he heard the door to the room close. Sandy had left.

"You're not in trouble," Kirsten said gently. Seth was shaking his head at him, confused and concerned.

Ryan didn't respond, he kept his eyes glued on the wall between Seth and Kirsten.

"Great. Now that he's awake, he's not going to talk. What's the point?" Seth stormed from the room.

Ryan sighed. Kirsten leaned forward and took his hand.

"Everything's going to be all right, Ryan."

"Okay, Kirsten," Ryan replied quietly. There was a long awkward pause. "You should go check on them."

"They'll be back. I'm going to stay with you."

Ryan closed his eyes. "Okay, Kirsten. Whatever you think is best." He kept his eyes closed and forced himself to breathe slowly. He didn't react when he heard her walk out from the room.

Everything would be all right. He'd always told himself that. Everything would be all right.