I don't own the OC, characters, Adam Brody or Benjamin McKenzie. That's a shame, ain't it? Side note- the writers on the OC keep on changing the name of the maid. Is it Rosie, or Rosa? I'm sticking with Rosa.

He was exhausted after hours of physiotherapy. All he wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and pass out. He was in so much pain he wasn't even able to concentrate on one point of his body that was in pain. When he started to focus on his stomach pain, his head hurt. When he thought about taking an aspirin, his leg hurt. He decided to go to bed, Kirsten looking over him the whole time, as if expecting a grimace, a scowl, a flinch of pain. But Ryan wouldn't give her that to worry about. She stopped at the entrance of his room, and he thanked her for everything, closing the door. He dug another hole in the dirt of the random plant and put the pills inside. He carefully covered them back up. He already had been given four that day, so he dug four holes, not wanting to put them too close together.

It took a lot of effort to lie down in bed. He thought it took forever. When he finally settled down, he was so exhausted he basically passed out. He didn't know when he woke up, but he knew he was awake, since he was accompanied by the ever present pain. "Hi there, pain, long time no see..." he mumbled to himself. "Well let's make it go away then." He started, his heart racing at the sound of her voice. "Oh. Uh, hey Kirsten." he said, well aware that he was blushing. God, they must think he was crazy now. Look kiddies, it's the psycho who sees things and talks to himself. Oh! Try to scare him. He scares easy! He tried to shake off the thoughts by coughing, as if the loud noise might make the annoying voices in his head to shut up. Kirsten was immediately, of course, worried, bringing the cup of water she already had in her hands.

"Here you go, sweetie." she whispered, dropping the two offending pills into his hand. He nodded and said something that sounded like "thanks", but you could never really tell when he mumbled. "How're you feeling?" asked Kirsten. "I'm good, thanks...you?" Another half smile. She rolled her eyes. "Nice try. For real, how do you feel?" He sighed. "For real?" She nodded solemnly. "Yes." He decided to tell her the truth. "For real, I feel like shit." He heard a snicker from the door. Sandy appeared from one side of the door, and Seth from the other. "Ooh, he said the 's' word, mom. Whatya gonna do?" He held his hand to his mouth to signify mock shock. Ryan just looked at him. "Hey! Still doesn't work. You're still all purple!" Sandy laughed, causing Seth to laugh as well. "Keep laughing Seth, but I'm gonna feel better soon and then you're going to be very sorry. So think about that." Seth "oooh'd" him and started looking around the room.

Kirsten continued pressuring Ryan, asking him where it hurt, if he wanted some tea, some juice, some food. He replied every question with a "Naw, that's ok." or something along those lines. Ryan saw Seth getting close to his plant, but didn't say anything. He couldn't just ignore Kirsten, who was trying to make him feel better. He didn't notice when Seth curiously looked inside the flowerpot, seeing something blue. He pulled out the now dirt covered pill, and put it in front of Ryan's face, but out of sight of the Cohens. "What the hell?" he mouthed, pointing to the pill. Ryan gave him small gestures to stop, and put the thing back, but Kirsten noticed them and turned around. Seth tried to hide the pill before she could see, but she grabbed it out of his hand. She recognized it immediately as the medication, and her face hardened. "Seth, where did you get this?" she asked, her voice emotionless. "I don't, why would you think, that's a new-". Ryan cut him off. "Seth. Stop. Just tell them." he said, his gaze shifting to the blur duvet cover, as though he saw something interesting on it.

Sandy stared intently at Ryan, while Seth whispered: "The flowerpot.". Kirsten looked inside the pot, digging holes in the dirt. "You're gonna mess up your nails." said Seth, trying to lighten the mood. His comedy was not well accepted, though. "Seth. Out. Now." said Kirsten, her eyes never leaving the plant. Seth nodded, mumbling something and leaving. Kirsten soon found many more pills in the pot, around nine in total. She slammed them on the counter beside Ryan, making him flinch. Sandy soon caught on, and looked at Ryan's closed fists. "Open your hands." he avoided making it sound like a question, making it a demand. Ryan unclenched his fists, revealing two more pills. Kirsten looked away. "So for the past few days you've not only been lying to us, but putting yourself at risk?" Ryan didn't answer the question. His hand started quivering, and he half expected Sandy to shove the pills down his throat.

"Why?" asked Kirsten, her eyes filled with tears. He hadn't expected tears. That made him feel worse. Dawn should have learnt how to cry on command, he thought. She would have convinced him to do much more that way. "I can't...I don't..." he stopped. He couldn't tell them. They'd ship him off to the hospital again, and he'd be lucky if he ever got out. "What if you'd gotten hurt again? You could have a breakdown. Those pills are there to help, Ryan." he said, his tone softer than before at seeing the teenager's trembling hands. He put his hand out to put on top of Ryan's, but he pulled away, shaking more than before. "Please don't." he whispered, his voice inaudible from far away. Sandy took a hint and pulled his own hand back.

"We're going to the hospital." said Sandy. Ryan looked up at him, shaking his head despite the pain. "No, I'm fine, please...no. I'll take the pills, I promise..." He was terrified of the hospital now. If his mother could get in to hurt him, he could name a long list of other people who could hurt him as well. Sandy tried to ignore the vacant stare in his eyes. "Well then you're in a hell of a lot of trouble." said Sandy suddenly, although he didn't really mean it. Ryan looked down, again interested in his duvet cover. He prepared himself for what he knew was no doubt coming. "Ok." he said, raising his face and closing his eyes tight, his teeth clenched. Sandy's confusion was obvious as he stared from Ryan to Kirsten and back again. He sat down next to Ryan. "What are you doing? Is something hurting you?" Ryan opened one eye. "Aren't you... aren't you going to hit me?" he whimpered, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

Kirsten tried to stifle her crying, but it instead came out as a little whimper. "Ryan?" said Sandy to the teenager, who had already closed his eye again. "Ryan, look at me now." he said, his voice emotionless again. Ryan opened his eyes and stared back at his adoptive father, his hands shaking uncontrollably despite his attempts to keep them still. "We will never intentionally hurt you, you understand that?" He put a lot of emphasis on the 'intentional' part. He looked over to Kirsten, who had made her way to his side, and was holding his shaking hand. Sandy took his other hand. "Tell me that you understand that, Ryan." Ryan looked at Kirsten, then back at Sandy. "I understand..." he whispered. Sandy opened Ryan's now clenched hand and shook two pills into it. "Do this for us. Please." he pleaded. Ryan put the two pills in his mouth, and Kirsten handed him some water. If this was what it took to get them to still care about him, then he was willing to suffer the pain.

"Let's see your hands." said Sandy, hating that he didn't trust Ryan. Ryan quickly complied, opening his empty hands to show to both of them. "Mouth." said Sandy, his voice low and sad. Ryan opened his mouth and moved his tongue around to prove that nothing was hidden underneath it. If Ryan Atwood said he was going to do something, he sure as hell was going to do it. Sandy nodded, and Ryan closed his mouth. "Are you hungry?" asked Kirsten, interrupting the uncomfortable silence. "Sort of..." muttered Ryan. "Ok. I'll go make some breakfast." Said Kirsten, feigning cheerfulness. Ryan faintly heard her go: "SETH! Get away from the door!" and he couldn't help but snicker.

Sandy stood and extended his hand to help Ryan up. He refused it, instead putting his hands on the bed and pushing himself up, only to fall back down again. Sandy brought over his wheelchair. "No. I don't need that." said Ryan with a groan. "No, Ryan. It's part of the deal." Sandy's voice seemed flat, but Ryan could see the emotion in his eyes. "What deal?" he asked, getting scared. "I...I didn't mean it like that. Please. Wheelchair." said Sandy, pointing to the chair. Ryan sighed morosely, and slid over to wheelchair.

"No! Mom, just flip them normally, don't try to be all cool. You, no wait! That's too much! Oh...I give up." Seth was trying to be casual, but he knew it wasn't working. He watched his mother put a bowl of god knows what the doctor prescribed in front of a very pale Ryan. He did a double-take and looked at Ryan again. He looked worse than he did before. That was not good. He was so pale he was almost white, and the bruising under his eyes seemed even darker than before. He noticed that the less intense bruising was more visible now against his pale skin, and his eyes were unfocused, as though he couldn't quite concentrate on anything. No one had spoken a word through breakfast, and it was really annoying him.

"Sooo..." said Seth, raising his eyebrows. "I'm gonna, so, yeah..." He cleared his throat. "Hey, at least this didn't happen during the school year! So you have no work to catch up on..." He cleared his throat again. Ryan played with his food. Sandy and Kirsten stared at him, completely ignoring Seth. "Ryan, eat your food..." said Kirsten gently, trying not to sound too demanding. Ryan simply nodded, his eyes still not completely focusing.

He had immediately started feeling sick after taking the pills. The pain intensified instead of going away. He couldn't really focus his eyes despite trying as hard as he could. He had lied when he said he was hungry. Now that he actually thought about the food, he felt like he was going to puke. He distantly heard Seth say something about sailing, or wailing, or something like that. He couldn't be sure. "Ryan?" asked a voice suddenly. He snapped out of the trance that had him gripped and his eyes finally focused on something. Sandy. He had his hand on his shoulder, and was staring at him with concern in his eyes. "You ok kid?" he asked, seeing Ryan's eyes finally had some expression in them, instead of being just a blank canvas. Ryan nodded, a half smile plastered on his face. "Yeah." he said.

"Well I have to go to work, but I'll be back at lunch to check on you, ok?" Ryan nodded slowly, since Sandy was talking quickly, and the words weren't quite registering in his brain. He got up to put on his jacket. "Kirsten, can I talk to you for a second?" He pulled Kirsten into the living room, while Seth inched his way closer to Ryan, instantly resuming his endless conversation. "I was thinking of taking Summer...." Ryan lost track of the words.

"Make sure he gets some sleep." said Sandy once he had Kirsten out of earshot. "He won't want it but he needs it." Kirsten nodded. "He can't actually think he's in trouble, can he?" asked Sandy, his voice cracking. "That is what you said, Sandy. What did you expect him to think?" Sandy shrugged nervously. "I didn't mean it...Do you think he can actually believe that we'd punish him after...after all he's done for us?" Kirsten's blue eyes narrowed. "You know he's a troubled kid, Sandy. Didn't you see what he thought you were going to do?" She didn't want to say when he thought Sandy was going to hit him, because those words sounded so wrong, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of being said.

"So I'll be back at noon, and call me if anything...ANYTHING happens." he repeated, reaching for the doorknob. She gave him a quick kiss and closed the door. She sighed and leaned against the door. She couldn't help but hide behind the wall and listen intently to the conversation Seth was having with Ryan. Or actually, it was more like the conversation Seth was having with himself. She suppressed a chuckle at Seth's quick words.

"So I was thinking I could take Summer to a comic book convention, and she could learn the art of, uh, being a nerd." Ryan said nothing. "What do you think? Do ya think it's a bit minty, huh?" He tilted his head thoughtfully, looking at the emotionless eyes in front of him. "Ryan?" He snapped his fingers. No response. "Fine. Don't answer me." There was a brief silence. "OH! So I was thinking of finally asking Summer to go to Tahiti with me! You know, now that she's my girlfriend and all. Do you think I should?" No response. "RYAN???" asked Seth, his voice growing increasingly annoyed. "Huh? Oh, yeah, you should ask Summer to a comic convention. It may not be her 'thing', but I'm sure she'd enjoy it." Another half smile. Seth wanted to rip it off his face. "Yeah, except I asked that like, five minutes ago." Ryan looked confused. "You did? Oh sorry, I, uh, wasn't paying...attention." he ended, his eyes starting to unfocus again.

"Dude? Are you ok?" asked Seth, his voice no longer annoyed, but concerned. Kirsten entered the room upon hearing the words. Seth laughed. "See! That's where I get my eavesdropping gene!" Kirsten payed him no attention. "Are you tired, honey?" she asked, worried. "No. Not tired." his response was quick. Too quick. "Are you sure?" Ryan nodded, but Kirsten glared at him anyways. She saw right through him. She knew everything about him. "You're going to get some sleep, you hear me?" He sighed, nodded, sighed again. "Ok." he mumbled, his head bowed. She nodded with a little smile, and wheeled him into his room, while Seth muttered something about going sailing.

He managed to get into bed, and instantly passed out. She was busy tidying up his already impeccable room. "You know, Sandy didn't really mean we were going to punish you, Ryan. It just slipped out. We wouldn't punish you so soon to your, uh, accident...we're just worried about you." She turned to face him, and found him sound asleep, and in a very uncomfortable position. She went over and tried to move him into a slightly less awkward stance, and was surprised when he didn't even stir. Not so much surprised as concerned. She sat down in the chair next to the bed. She found a need to watch over him, to make sure nothing happened to him.

Seth snuck in a few minutes later, his sailing equipment in hand. He was shocked to see Kirsten still there, staring at Ryan's unmoving figure. The only motion he saw was the slow rise and fall of his chest. His mother looked confused, worried, and angry all at once. "You ok, mom?" he asked, tilting his head again. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, it's just...Ryan hasn't moved once since he fell asleep." Seth raised an eyebrow. "Well that's usually what people do when they sleep. They don't move." Kirsten scowled, and Seth walked over to Ryan's side. "Hey dude?" he said, his voice mock-fear. "Dude, you're sleeping, and like, not moving. Oh my god, it's all, fearful!" He smiled as he looked at his mother, who was shaking her head.

Seth was more than a little bit troubled. He hid it well with jokes, but he was still worried. He poked Ryan. There was no movement. Poked him again. No response. He shook him violently, not caring if he got a thrashing from Ryan if he woke up. When he woke up. When, he corrected his thoughts. Ryan stirred slightly, but didn't open his eyes. Seth shrugged and walked over to the door. "See ya, mom. Call me when Ryan wakes up." he said, moving to close the door. "Seth?" he heard the whisper from Ryan, and stopped dead in his tracks.

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How was that? I decided to continue for a few more chapters, thanks to the wonderfully nice reviews. Thanks y'all! Sorry this one took so long, but writers block can be a bitch. Anywho, more when I can think of it!