Disclaimer: I don't own the OC. Wow. Thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed. I never expected people to like my story, I just wanted to write it and see what people would think. Another thank you to everyone. I have plans for another story, but for now it's just this one. :)

They wheeled Ryan out of the ambulance, and Kirsten followed, almost stumbling over her skirt. She had dressed pretty for Ryan's birthday. She had really wanted him to have a fantastic birthday party with his family. But someone had ruined that. For the first time since the past few hours, she thought of Dawn. She had completely forgotten about her. She was in the house when Ryan was kidnaped. What if they had taken her as well? But they couldn't find anyone to pay for her, so they killed her? And all this time she had thought Dawn was a bad person. Kirsten sat down in the nearest chair once she was inside, and burst into tears.

Dr. Thompson came out to find Kirsten in the most uncomfortable chair they had in the room. She was crying, her head in her hands. Dr. Thompson cleared her throat to get her attention. Kirsten looked up. Her face was blotchy, and her mascara was running. Dr. Thompson gave her a tissue, and she gratefully wiped her face. "Thank you." she said quietly. "You're welcome. You are Mrs Cohen, I presume." Kirsten nodded. "Well, Ryan just got out of surgery, they extracted the bullet with no problems. If he has no stress or other problems, he'll be in ICU for a couple of days. If there are any problems, he could be in there for longer. After that he'll be placed in one of our bigger rooms. Would you like to know the extent of his-" Dr. Thompson was cut off hurriedly as Seth and Sandy suddenly ran in wildly looking from left to right. They saw Kirsten and ran towards her. Sandy embraced her and immediately turned his attention to the doctor. She cleared her throat and continued.

"So, would you like to know the extent of his injuries?" They all nodded. Dr. Thompson turned her attention on Seth. His arm was unnaturally swollen and purple. "What happened to your arm?" she asked. Sandy and Kirsten turned to face him. He went red, and started mumbling, as he did when he was nervous. "I, I tried to help him, and I sort of, I suck at tackling, and I fell funny." Kirsten opened her mouth to let out an "oh..." of understanding. Sandy looked surprisingly proud of his son. HIS son had tried to help Ryan, and succeeded. Then he remembered that he could have been killed, and his paternal instinct kicked in. "What were you thinking, Seth? You could have been killed." Seth cringed at the words. "So could Ryan." Sandy stared at the ground. "We'll talk about this later. Where can Seth get his arm checked out?" Dr. Thompson pointed Seth in the direction of a room, and he walked away, waving at his mom with his good arm.

"As I was saying, Ryan's injuries are very serious. He has a gunshot wound to the stomach, as you know, but he also has a broken leg, some broken and cracked ribs, a broken nose, and a very serious concussion, as well as a few cuts and bruises." Sandy and Kirsten were shocked. Sandy ran his hands through his hair. "Wow...that's..." he couldn't finish his sentence. But Dr. Thompson finished it for him. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I'd just like you to know that we really hope Ryan will be ok." Kirsten let out a small "Thank you" and asked where and when they could visit Ryan. "I think right now will be ok, as long as you don't stay too long. Don't worry, I'll tell Seth where you are." she added after seeing their eyes gazing down the hall to where Seth was.

Kirsten was conflicted. She wanted to go see how Seth was, but she knew he's understand that right now, Ryan was more important. She hated how that sounded in her mind, that one of her sons was more important than the other, but she had to make sure Ryan was ok. She had to see it with her own eyes. "There's something else..." said Dr. Thompson, not meeting their gaze.

She had almost forgotten to tell them the really bad news. "I told you that Ryan had a serious concussion...But what I didn't tell you was HOW serious it actually was." Kirsten gripped Sandy's outstretched hand so hard she hoped he wouldn't have a bruise later on. "The last time we checked, Ryan was unresponsive." Sandy closed his eyes, fighting tears. "He's in a coma." he said. "We're not calling it that yet. He might become responsive later on, but until we know for sure, he's not in a coma. He's just...unresponsive." Dr. Thompson corrected him. "I'll let you go see him now." she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she led the two Cohens to Ryan's room. She didn't know why, but she felt extremely sorry for Ryan. He seemed like such a sweet boy, and the fact that someone would beat him so badly and shoot him made her sick to her stomach. She opened the door to his room and the Cohens walked in.

Kirsten instantly sat down beside him, trying to ignore the IV, the breathing mask, and even the breathing machine attached to her son. She didn't want to think what would happen if he didn't have the devices to help him. She took his unmoving hand in hers as Sandy sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cohen-" said Dr. Thompson. "Kirsten" she corrected the doctor. "Kirsten, you need to check out your other son." Kirsten nodded. "Sandy, you'll take care of him, right?" she said worriedly. "You know it, honey." he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She left the room. Sandy replaced her seat and took Ryan's weak hand.

"Ryan. I know you can hear me." he said after a few minutes. "You know, there was always something about you that made you different from all those other kids I've worked with. You're so smart, kid. You have such a good chance of making something out of yourself. And, and no matter what anyone says, you are part of this family, and nothing is ever going to change that. So you better wake up and stay with us, you hear me?" There was no response. He sighed unhappily. Kirsten walked in and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look who's here." she whispered. Sandy looked back at Seth. His arm was in a sling, and he was grinning from ear to ear. "What are you so happy about?" asked Sandy, smiling. He couldn't help but smile. His son's happiness was contagious. "I have a war wound!" said Seth, still smiling. Sandy laughed. Seth sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed. "So how is he?" asked Kirsten, subconsciously moving the hair off of his face. "I tried talking to him, but no reply." he said sadly. Seth snorted, and made a weird movement with his lips. "That's 'cause you're boring, dad!" he said happily. Kirsten giggled. Sandy looked at her with mock anger. "What?" she asked. "He's funny!"

It was about half an hour later that Seth had fallen asleep in the couch, his arm no longer a war wound but an annoying problem. Sandy and Kirsten were still looking at Ryan, as if willing him to wake up. The steady beep of the heart monitor and the short "whish" of the breathing machine had become background music. They no longer heard it. Kirsten looked at Sandy. His face was riddled with what looked like confusion, anger, and guilt. "It kills me to see him like this." He suddenly said, somewhat surprising Kirsten. "I think he looks peaceful." she replied. She was lying, of course, but she just wanted to make him feel better. It didn't work. "Don't give me that bullshit." he said. "You hate this just as much as me." She nodded. "That's right." she said.

Sandy had had enough of watching his son, unconscious, or in a coma or whatever it was. "This is all my fault." he said. Kirsten scowled. "You know it isn't-" he cut her off. "IT IS!" Seth stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake up. "Seth, he's a real brother. Did you see what he did?" Kirsten nodded. "He risked his life to save Ryan's. What if there had been more bullets in that gun? He could've been killed! But he didn't care. He did it to help his brother. And what did I do? I sat there and watched him get shot. I didn't even try to stop him." Kirsten shook her head. "You seem to be forgetting the 'Kill me and they go free' request you pulled a few minutes before Ryan was...was shot." Sandy looked down, ashamed. "Yeah, and that helped." he whispered. "I'm a terrible father. I wouldn't be fit to parent a gerbil." He sighed. Kirsten didn't say anything. She knew nothing would change his mind at this point. She suddenly saw a weak hand move itself onto Sandy's. "You're the best father...anyone could have..." Sandy jumped at the feeble voice. He turned to see Ryan, his eyes half open, staring back at him.

How was that? More soon, and tell me what you think!