Hello my dear, dear friends. How are you all? I hope you're good. Well, let me cut the crap and get to brass tax. Lol. I was having so much fun with this story I decided to keep going for a while. Yay for me! Well I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it. :)
Kirsten jumped into action, kneeling closer to Ryan so she could try to wake him. "Seth, give him some space." she said, when Seth got uncomfortably close. She could tell by the way his face changed. He seemed to get more scared when he saw Ryan up close. She did too. From far away Ryan didn't look all that bad, just seriously bruised. But close up, he looked horrible. Like a ghost. Kirsten looked at his shaking body. She hoped he wasn't having some sort of seizure. She decided not to touch him, despite the urge she had to shake him awake. His eyes were still closed. "Seth, let me take care of this. You can leave." Seth was confused. "But...do you want me to call an ambulance or something?" Kirsten shook her head. "No. He's ok. He has to be ok."
Ryan heard her voice. She sounded so scared. He didn't want her to be scared. He tried to walk towards the voice, but he couldn't. He heard Seth's voice. He was telling another retarded joke. He struggled to open his eyes. He knew it was a dream. He just wanted to wake up. He turned around. There he was, standing in front of him like nothing was wrong. "Yo, man, wassup?" Seth always had that way about him. He always made him feel better. Even when he felt like crap. He looked around. Oh, this was just great. He was in Chino. With Seth. "Seth..." he said loudly. "Woah, dude, you don't have to yell. I can hear you." said Seth, rubbing his ear with his hand. "Get out of here." said Ryan, whispering this time.
Ryan stopped shaking. "Get out..." they heard him whisper. Kirsten leaned in closer. "GET OUT OF HERE SETH!" he screamed, his eyes still closed. Kirsten chanced a look at Seth. He looked hurt, but concerned at the same time. "I'm gonna call an ambulance." he whispered. Kirsten shook her head. "No. He's ok. He's ok." That seemed to be her mantra nowadays. He was ok, and if he wasn't, well then she was screwed. "No..." they heard him whisper again. He was moving around underneath the covers, and Kirsten couldn't help but think that he'd be sore when he finally did wake up. "Leave him alone..." Kirsten didn't know what to do. She tried to console him. "Ryan, you're safe, don't worry. Just wake up. Just please open your eyes for me, please?" She was in tears. He wouldn't even acknowledge her presence.
"KILL ME INSTEAD!" he suddenly screamed. Seth flinched, visibly choking down the words. Kirsten almost got hit in the face by one of Ryan's flailing arms, so she decided to try and hold him down. She couldn't do much, though, and Ryan kept on tossing and turning in the bed. Seth ran over to help, successfully getting over the initial shock of Ryan's words. Between the two of them, they successfully held him down, but he was still shaking. "Ryan, you're ok. Just wake up. It's just a dream. You're fine. Please wake up..." pleaded Kirsten, her voice cracking as the tears flowed down her face. "Dude, you're scaring me...Please wake up." said Seth, speaking for the first time in minutes. Ryan's body convulsed one last time, and he was still.
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Seth just stood there. "Dude, why would I leave? I wanna see where you used to live!" Ryan shook his head. "No, you don't." Seth waggled his finger at him. "Yes, I totally do. And dude? This place is awesome!" Ryan shook his head. "You really think so?" asked a voice, but it wasn't Ryan's. Ryan slowly moved in front of Seth, shielding him from his father. "Seth, get out of here." he slowly whispered. "No, man, I'm staying here with you." said Seth, his voice defying his attempt at fearlessness. "GET OUT OF HERE SETH!" screamed Ryan, trying to yell some sense into him. He wouldn't move. Why was he being such a tard?
"Who's this? Your little 'friend'?" his father jeered. "Get the fuck outta my way, son." He shoved Ryan to the ground, leaving behind a very scared Seth. "No..." whispered Ryan. He had never seen Seth look so scared. And it was all his fault. Before he came into their lives, they probably wouldn't even be able to spell violence. Now, his brother was about to get killed, and he couldn't do anything about it. Dave, his monster of a father, had a gun. That was never a good sign. Seth was paralyzed with fear. Ryan didn't blame him. It had happened to him more than once in his lifetime. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" he screamed as Dave grabbed Seth's curly black hair and put the gun in his mouth.
Ryan got up, finding it incredibly hard for some reason. "Leave him alone." he repeated, his eyes half closed. He had no idea why he was so fucking tired, but he fought against the urge he had to close his eyes. "Why should I?" asked Dave, pulling his gaze away from the terrified teenager in front of his face. "Because he hasn't even done anything to you. Why would you want to kill him? Why wouldn't you want to kill me instead?" his voice had a hint of fear in it, but he hoped Dave hadn't heard it. "You want me to kill you instead? Why would I do that, when it would hurt you more to watch your new friend here die?" Ryan didn't respond until he saw Seth's face. He looked scared, more scared than he'd ever seen him in a long time.
"WAIT!" he screamed. "Kill me instead!" Dave paid him no attention. "KILL ME INSTEAD!" Ryan was going to have a breakdown soon. Dave sighed, annoyed. He tried to stop himself from what he knew he was going to do. He couldn't stop himself. He was a virus spreading evil wherever it went. He was a monster possessed by Satan. He was a pathetic excuse for a human being. So why should he care about his son? He turned around and shot Ryan in the head. Dave didn't deserve a son like Ryan, and he knew it. But Ryan didn't deserve to live in his opinion. He hadn't cared about his old man, instead going off to live with a bunch of rich assholes. Good riddance, he thought.
The world went dark all around him. He could hear his own heartbeat. He heard it slow down. That was just a dream, he reminded himself. Just a dream. Then why couldn't he wake up?
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"Sandy?" Sandy looked up from the paper he had been staring intently at for a moment to look around. The "team meeting" hadn't been going very well. He had way too much on his mind right now to be focusing on his work. His peers stared at him, not concerned, not worried. More like annoyed. Except Rachel. Rachel had heard about what happened, and she was worried. Even though she had been mad at him before. "Maybe you should go home and check on your son." she said, much to the amazement of Sandy. His get-out-of-jail-free card. "You know what? I think I will." He got up and put his jacket on. He gave a little wave to his colleagues and left.
He started his car, deciding against calling home to tell his wife he'd taken a vacation from work to be with the kids. He'd been able to get away with 3 weeks, considering the trauma they'd all been through. He sighed as he remembered how harsh he'd been with Ryan. He hadn't meant to be, but he had a bad past with injuries, and sickness. His brother had gotten shot when he was only a little boy, no more than five years old. Some punk had decided that his brother was in the way, and he'd pulled a gun on him. Seth, that was his name, had pushed Sandy out of the way so he wouldn't get hurt. Sandy shuddered as he remembered the sound the gun had made when it went off into his brothers chest. The same sound it had made when Ryan got shot.
His brother had recovered, but just like Ryan, he was stubborn. He had thrown away his pain medications, thinking he was strong, and didn't need them. Then he tripped down the stairs, and his lack of energy, as well as the pain, had sent him back to the hospital. He never did recover. And Sandy had to say goodbye to his brother at the young age of 6. No one should have to say goodbye to their brother, especially at such a young age. He wasn't going to let Seth go through what he went through with Seth. He smiled at how strange that had sounded in his head. He stopped the car, realizing that he had almost passed the house. It was amazing how fast time went by when you were thinking so deeply about something.
He opened the door slowly. The house was such a mess. They still hadn't gotten around to refurnishing it. He was hoping they'd find that bastard A.J. soon, and maybe they wouldn't have to refurnish. He mentally crossed that thought out. A.J. would have probably sold everything by now. No one was in the living room. He peeked into the kitchen. No one was there either. "NO. GO AWAY..." he heard the yell from Ryan's room. His heart started racing. He let out a quiet curse before running into Ryan's room, expecting to see his son fighting with A.J., Dawn, anyone. Instead, he was met with Ryan, a pained expression on his face and on his closed eyes. Kirsten was beside him, her hand on his forehead, whispering consolations into his ear.
She jumped when she saw him. He had immediately gone to Ryan's side, right across from her. He held down Ryan's thrashing arms, managing to control them much better than she had. He didn't ask any questions, didn't make any stupid jokes. He understood that she didn't need that right now, that she didn't want it. Instead, he remained silent, helping in his own way by controlling Ryan so that Kirsten could talk to him. "Sweetie, please wake up. Please..." His heart ached at the sound of her voice. It sounded so tired, so sad, yet so determined. She wasn't going to give up. Not ever.
"He hasn't woken up since this morning. He fell asleep at around eight, and it's 1:00." said Kirsten once Ryan's nightmare had subsided. "It's like- It's like he's in some sort of coma. Seth shook him for what must have been five minutes straight, and he didn't even move...his eyes didn't even flutter. What the hell is wrong with him, Sandy?" He hugged her softly, swaying her from side to side. "I don't know..." he whispered, kissing her on the top of the head. Ryan stirred slightly and Kirsten moved out of Sandy's hug, by his side in an instant. Ryan shivered, whimpering. "Shh...it's ok..." whispered Kirsten, already getting used to what she had to say to calm him down. Sandy seemed to understand what he had to do, and went back to the other side of the bed, holding down Ryan's wrists.
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Ryan was losing an everlasting battle. The voices in his head kept on telling him to wake up, to PLEASE wake up. He didn't know why anyone would care. Frankly, he thought someone was playing some sort of prank on him. Every time one nightmare would end, he'd be back in a dark room. It was black, although he thought it looked more dark blue. He had no idea why he was even thinking about the color of the room and not thinking about how the hell to get out of it. His head hurt. His ribs hurt. Come to think of it, everything hurt. "What the hell is wrong with him, Sandy?" he heard the voice in his head say. He snorted. He could think of a lot of things that were wrong with him. He had a short temper. He was overprotective and had quick fists. He was much too quiet, and he was naive in his own little way.
"I don't know..." said a man. Sandy, he guessed. God, he loved that man. He was more of a father to him than his actual father, and he respected him. And Ryan respected him back. It was just that simple. The great thing about it was that the respect didn't involve fear, or hatred. It involved love and kindness. "Oh crap." whispered Ryan. A blast of wind hit him, and he shivered. He hadn't realized how cold it was. His thoughts about Sandy had triggered another nightmare, and he sighed sadly. He didn't think he would be able to handle another nightmare.
He noticed that his hands were bound, though he couldn't quite remember when they had been tied together. He looked up. There was a bright light shining in his eyes, and A.J. was hovering over him. He shut his eyes tight, the bright light bothering him. "Look who we got here..." said A.J., who seemed to be the one with the bright flashlight. Ryan didn't dignify him with any kind of response. "You wanna tell us about the vaults?" asked A.J. Shit. Ryan knew Sandy never should have trusted his money with Ryan. He knew something would happen to their money, and it would be all his fault. He gulped as the flashlight was pulled away.
"What vaults?" he lied. He knew exactly which vaults A.J. was talking about. "Don't bullshit me, kid. I know that you know your family's money is in those vaults, and you're going to tell us the combos. I also know that you're going to tell us the combos eventually, and it all depends on how much pain you want to endure before giving in." Ryan coughed. He wasn't liking where this was going.
"Could you get me a cup of water?" asked Sandy. Ryan looked from left to right. He had no idea when Sandy had gotten there. He sighed. The worst dreams he had were when the Cohens were there because they always got killed. Or hurt. He stared intently at Sandy. A.J. made no move to hurt him, or point the gun to his head. He didn't even look at him. He looked back at Sandy, who now had a cup of water. He didn't know when he got it or how, but he sure as hell had it. He still didn't know why A.J. or his friends hadn't acknowledged his father, but he was glad that they didn't.
Sandy threw some water in his face. It wasn't enough for him to react in any way. He decided against coughing or doing something else to attract any attention from A.J. "You gonna tell us the combos now, or do we have to start 'interrogating' you?" asked A.J., a lopsided smirk on his face. Sandy stepped closer to Ryan, and completely unexpectedly, threw the cup of water in his face. He coughed, sputtering. Why would Sandy do that? His dream suddenly changed, and he was underwater. He couldn't breathe. He tried to swim up to the surface, but he was running out of air. He lungs suddenly ached, and he coughed under water, not surprised that it came out as bubbles.
"Crap." he heard Sandy say. He stared questioningly at his new father, who was in front of him, and wasn't at all as pained as Ryan was. "Whuh ore wou loing here?" asked Ryan, his words muffled. "Pass me the towel." said Sandy, completely ignoring Ryan's inaudible question. Then the blackness came around him again, and he could breathe. He had never been so happy to be greeted by the black- or blue- or whatever colored room that was void of anything. He looked around, only to find himself standing face to face with Sandy Cohen.
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Ryan had settled down enough that Sandy could loosen the death grip that he had on his wrists. He sighed. "Don't you wanna call the hospital? You know, take him there to see if he's ok?" Kirsten shook her head. "No. I want us to take care of this. I want him to be fine." Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head again. "Well then could you get me the first aid kit?" asked Sandy, understanding where Kirsten was coming from. Kirsten got up and went to Ryan's bathroom, where a first aid kit had been installed, just in case. She brought it back to Sandy, who let go of Ryan momentarily to look through the case. He found what he was looking for quickly enough.
"Here, take this." he told Kirsten, handing her the little white flashlight. She looked confused. "I'm going to hold his wrists down so he won't accidentally hit you or something, and you just open his eye and shine that into it." Kirsten nodded. It sounded simple enough. She gently pried Ryan's eye open. He stirred a bit and started shaking again. She heard the click of the flashlight when she turned it on, and she shone the bright light into Ryan's bloodshot eyes. The only response she got was a shudder from Ryan. She looked closer at his eyes. They didn't even move when she moved the light closer to them. Disheartened, she pulled the small flashlight away.
Sandy decided that they could try a different approach. "Could you get me a cup of water?" he asked, looking at Ryan's now immobile figure. Kirsten nodded, and, picking up one of the stray cups from Ryan's room, walked into the bathroom. Sandy heard her fill it up with water. She came back with a full cup and a towel. She pretty much knew what Sandy was going to do. He did it to her in college when she passed out from too much alcohol. It wasn't the greatest wake-up call, but it was better than nothing.
He decided to start with only a little bit. He cupped some water into his hands and threw it into Ryan's face. He was surprised when nothing happened. He thought the boy would at least react in some way. A shudder, another one of those things that seemed like seizures. Anything to distract him from the fact that he was lying there in front of him, lifeless and motionless. He took his pulse, relieved that he still had one. He sighed and prepared himself for his final act. If Ryan woke up now, he'd be pretty pissed off at him for throwing a cup of water in his face, but it was better than watching him in his comatose state.
He hurled the water at his face, and regretted it immediately. Ryan coughed and made choking sounds. He started flailing again, and Kirsten noticed that he stopped breathing. Sandy took his pulse, glad that he still had one. Ryan started breathing again, much to the relief of the two Cohens. He wasn't choking from the water, it was just the initial shock of getting water thrown in your face, thought Sandy. Actually, he didn't think, he hoped. He hoped and prayed. "Pass me the towel..." he pointed to the blue towel that was beside Kirsten. She passed it to him, and he wiped off Ryan's face. Ryan seemed to be sufficiently calmed.
Kirsten took the towel Sandy had dropped and went to put it back in the bathroom. Sandy took the moment of solitude to talk to Ryan. "Hey kid." he whispered. "Why did this have to happen?" he asked, his emotions almost getting the better of him. "Why did everything have to go wrong, just when they had started going right? I don't know...maybe I shouldn't have bribed that doctor to send you home early. You just seemed so...sad. But I guess right now 'sad' seems better than 'snow white'" He laughed. "Or 'sleeping beauty'. I'm not quite sure... Kiddo, you gotta wake up. It's time for you to wake up."
Kirsten stood at the door of the bathroom, listening intently to Sandy's heartfelt pleading. She felt tears forming in her eyes and pulled back into the bathroom. She had to let Sandy talk to Ryan. She continued to listen from the small bathroom. "Come on Ryan. Please. Wake up. Seth wants you to wake up. I'm sure of it. Kirsten told me that he left here depressed. But you know Kirsten. Her motherly instinct kicks in and she must have you all to herself. I probably don't have much time, since she'll come back from the bathroom and mother you silly. Oh, I'm sure of it." He pushed a wet clump of hair away from Ryan's forehead and chuckled. "Sorry about the water. It used to work on Kirsten when she was young. You know, when she lived in the back of a mail truck. She says she stank of Patchouli, but I thought she smelled fantastic." He laughed again. "But you don't want to hear about that, I'm sure."
Ryan didn't move. "Ryan, it's time to wake up." he said, his tone sad but determined. "Wake up now." He had tried to beg and plead, and it hadn't worked. He decided on a more straight forward approach, thinking about how it worked most times. "If you don't wake up now...we'll...we'll kick you out." He didn't smile when he said it. The words sounded so fake, so unbelievable, that he was sure that if Seth were there, he'd burst into squeals of laughter. As if they would ever kick Ryan out. He felt Ryan's hand move in his. "Wake up Ryan, for us." he felt the tears coming, and did nothing to hold them back. Kirsten had handled enough, and walked over to put a heavy hand on Sandy's shoulder.
Ryan coughed and fluttered his eyes open. It came as a complete surprise to the two Cohens, and they didn't even notice until Ryan hoarsely whispered: "Where am I?" Sandy abruptly let go of his hand. "Ryan." he said, sighing with relief. "Where am I? What happened?" asked Ryan, his voice a bit stronger. "Sweetie you're in the guest room...don't you remember?" Ryan moved his head slowly from side to side. "Who are you?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Sandy's face changed from relief to dismay, as did Kirsten's. "Don't you- don't you know who we are, son?" asked Sandy, hoping he'd remember. "No..." whispered Ryan. Sandy had been wrong. This was worse than Ryan being sad, or a "sleeping beauty". Now he didn't even remember who they were.
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Ha ha. That was fun. I didn't even want to do that but it just came out. Definitely fun though. More soon, and a very big surprise that will leave you wanting more! Except not. Because I don't say stuff like that. I say stuff like "freaky freak" and "kickass!". So, yeah. More of my craziness to come!
Kirsten jumped into action, kneeling closer to Ryan so she could try to wake him. "Seth, give him some space." she said, when Seth got uncomfortably close. She could tell by the way his face changed. He seemed to get more scared when he saw Ryan up close. She did too. From far away Ryan didn't look all that bad, just seriously bruised. But close up, he looked horrible. Like a ghost. Kirsten looked at his shaking body. She hoped he wasn't having some sort of seizure. She decided not to touch him, despite the urge she had to shake him awake. His eyes were still closed. "Seth, let me take care of this. You can leave." Seth was confused. "But...do you want me to call an ambulance or something?" Kirsten shook her head. "No. He's ok. He has to be ok."
Ryan heard her voice. She sounded so scared. He didn't want her to be scared. He tried to walk towards the voice, but he couldn't. He heard Seth's voice. He was telling another retarded joke. He struggled to open his eyes. He knew it was a dream. He just wanted to wake up. He turned around. There he was, standing in front of him like nothing was wrong. "Yo, man, wassup?" Seth always had that way about him. He always made him feel better. Even when he felt like crap. He looked around. Oh, this was just great. He was in Chino. With Seth. "Seth..." he said loudly. "Woah, dude, you don't have to yell. I can hear you." said Seth, rubbing his ear with his hand. "Get out of here." said Ryan, whispering this time.
Ryan stopped shaking. "Get out..." they heard him whisper. Kirsten leaned in closer. "GET OUT OF HERE SETH!" he screamed, his eyes still closed. Kirsten chanced a look at Seth. He looked hurt, but concerned at the same time. "I'm gonna call an ambulance." he whispered. Kirsten shook her head. "No. He's ok. He's ok." That seemed to be her mantra nowadays. He was ok, and if he wasn't, well then she was screwed. "No..." they heard him whisper again. He was moving around underneath the covers, and Kirsten couldn't help but think that he'd be sore when he finally did wake up. "Leave him alone..." Kirsten didn't know what to do. She tried to console him. "Ryan, you're safe, don't worry. Just wake up. Just please open your eyes for me, please?" She was in tears. He wouldn't even acknowledge her presence.
"KILL ME INSTEAD!" he suddenly screamed. Seth flinched, visibly choking down the words. Kirsten almost got hit in the face by one of Ryan's flailing arms, so she decided to try and hold him down. She couldn't do much, though, and Ryan kept on tossing and turning in the bed. Seth ran over to help, successfully getting over the initial shock of Ryan's words. Between the two of them, they successfully held him down, but he was still shaking. "Ryan, you're ok. Just wake up. It's just a dream. You're fine. Please wake up..." pleaded Kirsten, her voice cracking as the tears flowed down her face. "Dude, you're scaring me...Please wake up." said Seth, speaking for the first time in minutes. Ryan's body convulsed one last time, and he was still.
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Seth just stood there. "Dude, why would I leave? I wanna see where you used to live!" Ryan shook his head. "No, you don't." Seth waggled his finger at him. "Yes, I totally do. And dude? This place is awesome!" Ryan shook his head. "You really think so?" asked a voice, but it wasn't Ryan's. Ryan slowly moved in front of Seth, shielding him from his father. "Seth, get out of here." he slowly whispered. "No, man, I'm staying here with you." said Seth, his voice defying his attempt at fearlessness. "GET OUT OF HERE SETH!" screamed Ryan, trying to yell some sense into him. He wouldn't move. Why was he being such a tard?
"Who's this? Your little 'friend'?" his father jeered. "Get the fuck outta my way, son." He shoved Ryan to the ground, leaving behind a very scared Seth. "No..." whispered Ryan. He had never seen Seth look so scared. And it was all his fault. Before he came into their lives, they probably wouldn't even be able to spell violence. Now, his brother was about to get killed, and he couldn't do anything about it. Dave, his monster of a father, had a gun. That was never a good sign. Seth was paralyzed with fear. Ryan didn't blame him. It had happened to him more than once in his lifetime. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" he screamed as Dave grabbed Seth's curly black hair and put the gun in his mouth.
Ryan got up, finding it incredibly hard for some reason. "Leave him alone." he repeated, his eyes half closed. He had no idea why he was so fucking tired, but he fought against the urge he had to close his eyes. "Why should I?" asked Dave, pulling his gaze away from the terrified teenager in front of his face. "Because he hasn't even done anything to you. Why would you want to kill him? Why wouldn't you want to kill me instead?" his voice had a hint of fear in it, but he hoped Dave hadn't heard it. "You want me to kill you instead? Why would I do that, when it would hurt you more to watch your new friend here die?" Ryan didn't respond until he saw Seth's face. He looked scared, more scared than he'd ever seen him in a long time.
"WAIT!" he screamed. "Kill me instead!" Dave paid him no attention. "KILL ME INSTEAD!" Ryan was going to have a breakdown soon. Dave sighed, annoyed. He tried to stop himself from what he knew he was going to do. He couldn't stop himself. He was a virus spreading evil wherever it went. He was a monster possessed by Satan. He was a pathetic excuse for a human being. So why should he care about his son? He turned around and shot Ryan in the head. Dave didn't deserve a son like Ryan, and he knew it. But Ryan didn't deserve to live in his opinion. He hadn't cared about his old man, instead going off to live with a bunch of rich assholes. Good riddance, he thought.
The world went dark all around him. He could hear his own heartbeat. He heard it slow down. That was just a dream, he reminded himself. Just a dream. Then why couldn't he wake up?
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"Sandy?" Sandy looked up from the paper he had been staring intently at for a moment to look around. The "team meeting" hadn't been going very well. He had way too much on his mind right now to be focusing on his work. His peers stared at him, not concerned, not worried. More like annoyed. Except Rachel. Rachel had heard about what happened, and she was worried. Even though she had been mad at him before. "Maybe you should go home and check on your son." she said, much to the amazement of Sandy. His get-out-of-jail-free card. "You know what? I think I will." He got up and put his jacket on. He gave a little wave to his colleagues and left.
He started his car, deciding against calling home to tell his wife he'd taken a vacation from work to be with the kids. He'd been able to get away with 3 weeks, considering the trauma they'd all been through. He sighed as he remembered how harsh he'd been with Ryan. He hadn't meant to be, but he had a bad past with injuries, and sickness. His brother had gotten shot when he was only a little boy, no more than five years old. Some punk had decided that his brother was in the way, and he'd pulled a gun on him. Seth, that was his name, had pushed Sandy out of the way so he wouldn't get hurt. Sandy shuddered as he remembered the sound the gun had made when it went off into his brothers chest. The same sound it had made when Ryan got shot.
His brother had recovered, but just like Ryan, he was stubborn. He had thrown away his pain medications, thinking he was strong, and didn't need them. Then he tripped down the stairs, and his lack of energy, as well as the pain, had sent him back to the hospital. He never did recover. And Sandy had to say goodbye to his brother at the young age of 6. No one should have to say goodbye to their brother, especially at such a young age. He wasn't going to let Seth go through what he went through with Seth. He smiled at how strange that had sounded in his head. He stopped the car, realizing that he had almost passed the house. It was amazing how fast time went by when you were thinking so deeply about something.
He opened the door slowly. The house was such a mess. They still hadn't gotten around to refurnishing it. He was hoping they'd find that bastard A.J. soon, and maybe they wouldn't have to refurnish. He mentally crossed that thought out. A.J. would have probably sold everything by now. No one was in the living room. He peeked into the kitchen. No one was there either. "NO. GO AWAY..." he heard the yell from Ryan's room. His heart started racing. He let out a quiet curse before running into Ryan's room, expecting to see his son fighting with A.J., Dawn, anyone. Instead, he was met with Ryan, a pained expression on his face and on his closed eyes. Kirsten was beside him, her hand on his forehead, whispering consolations into his ear.
She jumped when she saw him. He had immediately gone to Ryan's side, right across from her. He held down Ryan's thrashing arms, managing to control them much better than she had. He didn't ask any questions, didn't make any stupid jokes. He understood that she didn't need that right now, that she didn't want it. Instead, he remained silent, helping in his own way by controlling Ryan so that Kirsten could talk to him. "Sweetie, please wake up. Please..." His heart ached at the sound of her voice. It sounded so tired, so sad, yet so determined. She wasn't going to give up. Not ever.
"He hasn't woken up since this morning. He fell asleep at around eight, and it's 1:00." said Kirsten once Ryan's nightmare had subsided. "It's like- It's like he's in some sort of coma. Seth shook him for what must have been five minutes straight, and he didn't even move...his eyes didn't even flutter. What the hell is wrong with him, Sandy?" He hugged her softly, swaying her from side to side. "I don't know..." he whispered, kissing her on the top of the head. Ryan stirred slightly and Kirsten moved out of Sandy's hug, by his side in an instant. Ryan shivered, whimpering. "Shh...it's ok..." whispered Kirsten, already getting used to what she had to say to calm him down. Sandy seemed to understand what he had to do, and went back to the other side of the bed, holding down Ryan's wrists.
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Ryan was losing an everlasting battle. The voices in his head kept on telling him to wake up, to PLEASE wake up. He didn't know why anyone would care. Frankly, he thought someone was playing some sort of prank on him. Every time one nightmare would end, he'd be back in a dark room. It was black, although he thought it looked more dark blue. He had no idea why he was even thinking about the color of the room and not thinking about how the hell to get out of it. His head hurt. His ribs hurt. Come to think of it, everything hurt. "What the hell is wrong with him, Sandy?" he heard the voice in his head say. He snorted. He could think of a lot of things that were wrong with him. He had a short temper. He was overprotective and had quick fists. He was much too quiet, and he was naive in his own little way.
"I don't know..." said a man. Sandy, he guessed. God, he loved that man. He was more of a father to him than his actual father, and he respected him. And Ryan respected him back. It was just that simple. The great thing about it was that the respect didn't involve fear, or hatred. It involved love and kindness. "Oh crap." whispered Ryan. A blast of wind hit him, and he shivered. He hadn't realized how cold it was. His thoughts about Sandy had triggered another nightmare, and he sighed sadly. He didn't think he would be able to handle another nightmare.
He noticed that his hands were bound, though he couldn't quite remember when they had been tied together. He looked up. There was a bright light shining in his eyes, and A.J. was hovering over him. He shut his eyes tight, the bright light bothering him. "Look who we got here..." said A.J., who seemed to be the one with the bright flashlight. Ryan didn't dignify him with any kind of response. "You wanna tell us about the vaults?" asked A.J. Shit. Ryan knew Sandy never should have trusted his money with Ryan. He knew something would happen to their money, and it would be all his fault. He gulped as the flashlight was pulled away.
"What vaults?" he lied. He knew exactly which vaults A.J. was talking about. "Don't bullshit me, kid. I know that you know your family's money is in those vaults, and you're going to tell us the combos. I also know that you're going to tell us the combos eventually, and it all depends on how much pain you want to endure before giving in." Ryan coughed. He wasn't liking where this was going.
"Could you get me a cup of water?" asked Sandy. Ryan looked from left to right. He had no idea when Sandy had gotten there. He sighed. The worst dreams he had were when the Cohens were there because they always got killed. Or hurt. He stared intently at Sandy. A.J. made no move to hurt him, or point the gun to his head. He didn't even look at him. He looked back at Sandy, who now had a cup of water. He didn't know when he got it or how, but he sure as hell had it. He still didn't know why A.J. or his friends hadn't acknowledged his father, but he was glad that they didn't.
Sandy threw some water in his face. It wasn't enough for him to react in any way. He decided against coughing or doing something else to attract any attention from A.J. "You gonna tell us the combos now, or do we have to start 'interrogating' you?" asked A.J., a lopsided smirk on his face. Sandy stepped closer to Ryan, and completely unexpectedly, threw the cup of water in his face. He coughed, sputtering. Why would Sandy do that? His dream suddenly changed, and he was underwater. He couldn't breathe. He tried to swim up to the surface, but he was running out of air. He lungs suddenly ached, and he coughed under water, not surprised that it came out as bubbles.
"Crap." he heard Sandy say. He stared questioningly at his new father, who was in front of him, and wasn't at all as pained as Ryan was. "Whuh ore wou loing here?" asked Ryan, his words muffled. "Pass me the towel." said Sandy, completely ignoring Ryan's inaudible question. Then the blackness came around him again, and he could breathe. He had never been so happy to be greeted by the black- or blue- or whatever colored room that was void of anything. He looked around, only to find himself standing face to face with Sandy Cohen.
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Ryan had settled down enough that Sandy could loosen the death grip that he had on his wrists. He sighed. "Don't you wanna call the hospital? You know, take him there to see if he's ok?" Kirsten shook her head. "No. I want us to take care of this. I want him to be fine." Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head again. "Well then could you get me the first aid kit?" asked Sandy, understanding where Kirsten was coming from. Kirsten got up and went to Ryan's bathroom, where a first aid kit had been installed, just in case. She brought it back to Sandy, who let go of Ryan momentarily to look through the case. He found what he was looking for quickly enough.
"Here, take this." he told Kirsten, handing her the little white flashlight. She looked confused. "I'm going to hold his wrists down so he won't accidentally hit you or something, and you just open his eye and shine that into it." Kirsten nodded. It sounded simple enough. She gently pried Ryan's eye open. He stirred a bit and started shaking again. She heard the click of the flashlight when she turned it on, and she shone the bright light into Ryan's bloodshot eyes. The only response she got was a shudder from Ryan. She looked closer at his eyes. They didn't even move when she moved the light closer to them. Disheartened, she pulled the small flashlight away.
Sandy decided that they could try a different approach. "Could you get me a cup of water?" he asked, looking at Ryan's now immobile figure. Kirsten nodded, and, picking up one of the stray cups from Ryan's room, walked into the bathroom. Sandy heard her fill it up with water. She came back with a full cup and a towel. She pretty much knew what Sandy was going to do. He did it to her in college when she passed out from too much alcohol. It wasn't the greatest wake-up call, but it was better than nothing.
He decided to start with only a little bit. He cupped some water into his hands and threw it into Ryan's face. He was surprised when nothing happened. He thought the boy would at least react in some way. A shudder, another one of those things that seemed like seizures. Anything to distract him from the fact that he was lying there in front of him, lifeless and motionless. He took his pulse, relieved that he still had one. He sighed and prepared himself for his final act. If Ryan woke up now, he'd be pretty pissed off at him for throwing a cup of water in his face, but it was better than watching him in his comatose state.
He hurled the water at his face, and regretted it immediately. Ryan coughed and made choking sounds. He started flailing again, and Kirsten noticed that he stopped breathing. Sandy took his pulse, glad that he still had one. Ryan started breathing again, much to the relief of the two Cohens. He wasn't choking from the water, it was just the initial shock of getting water thrown in your face, thought Sandy. Actually, he didn't think, he hoped. He hoped and prayed. "Pass me the towel..." he pointed to the blue towel that was beside Kirsten. She passed it to him, and he wiped off Ryan's face. Ryan seemed to be sufficiently calmed.
Kirsten took the towel Sandy had dropped and went to put it back in the bathroom. Sandy took the moment of solitude to talk to Ryan. "Hey kid." he whispered. "Why did this have to happen?" he asked, his emotions almost getting the better of him. "Why did everything have to go wrong, just when they had started going right? I don't know...maybe I shouldn't have bribed that doctor to send you home early. You just seemed so...sad. But I guess right now 'sad' seems better than 'snow white'" He laughed. "Or 'sleeping beauty'. I'm not quite sure... Kiddo, you gotta wake up. It's time for you to wake up."
Kirsten stood at the door of the bathroom, listening intently to Sandy's heartfelt pleading. She felt tears forming in her eyes and pulled back into the bathroom. She had to let Sandy talk to Ryan. She continued to listen from the small bathroom. "Come on Ryan. Please. Wake up. Seth wants you to wake up. I'm sure of it. Kirsten told me that he left here depressed. But you know Kirsten. Her motherly instinct kicks in and she must have you all to herself. I probably don't have much time, since she'll come back from the bathroom and mother you silly. Oh, I'm sure of it." He pushed a wet clump of hair away from Ryan's forehead and chuckled. "Sorry about the water. It used to work on Kirsten when she was young. You know, when she lived in the back of a mail truck. She says she stank of Patchouli, but I thought she smelled fantastic." He laughed again. "But you don't want to hear about that, I'm sure."
Ryan didn't move. "Ryan, it's time to wake up." he said, his tone sad but determined. "Wake up now." He had tried to beg and plead, and it hadn't worked. He decided on a more straight forward approach, thinking about how it worked most times. "If you don't wake up now...we'll...we'll kick you out." He didn't smile when he said it. The words sounded so fake, so unbelievable, that he was sure that if Seth were there, he'd burst into squeals of laughter. As if they would ever kick Ryan out. He felt Ryan's hand move in his. "Wake up Ryan, for us." he felt the tears coming, and did nothing to hold them back. Kirsten had handled enough, and walked over to put a heavy hand on Sandy's shoulder.
Ryan coughed and fluttered his eyes open. It came as a complete surprise to the two Cohens, and they didn't even notice until Ryan hoarsely whispered: "Where am I?" Sandy abruptly let go of his hand. "Ryan." he said, sighing with relief. "Where am I? What happened?" asked Ryan, his voice a bit stronger. "Sweetie you're in the guest room...don't you remember?" Ryan moved his head slowly from side to side. "Who are you?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Sandy's face changed from relief to dismay, as did Kirsten's. "Don't you- don't you know who we are, son?" asked Sandy, hoping he'd remember. "No..." whispered Ryan. Sandy had been wrong. This was worse than Ryan being sad, or a "sleeping beauty". Now he didn't even remember who they were.
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Ha ha. That was fun. I didn't even want to do that but it just came out. Definitely fun though. More soon, and a very big surprise that will leave you wanting more! Except not. Because I don't say stuff like that. I say stuff like "freaky freak" and "kickass!". So, yeah. More of my craziness to come!
