Wow, this story has taken on a life of its own. Thanks again for your kind
words. I should be wrapping this up in a couple more chapters. I don't
know if this is quite what jZzRgRl13 had intended for her story, but thanks
for letting me play with it.
I do not, repeat, je n'est pas own the characters of the OC. I am merely toying with them. If I've missed any disclaimers..well...they apply too.
Chapter Nine.
Kirsten returned to the hospital later that afternoon. She expected to see Sandy and the boys in Ryan's room. What she didn't expect to find was an empty room and a nurse's aide stripping the bed. Kirsten felt the panic rise in her throat.
"...Where's....?"
The aide turned around.
"Oh hi, Mrs. Cohen...Your husband and your sons are downstairs in the physio department. Do you know where that is?
Kirsten felt her heart start again. She felt a little foolish for making a quick assumption that something bad happened. She smiled weakly.
"Yes..downstairs...okay....thank-you.."
Kirsten made her way to the physical therapy department. Sandy and Dr. Meyers were watching Ryan and Seth play chess. Kirsten frowned slightly as she watched Ryan's shaky hand move a chess piece. The frown was replaced with a smile as she heard Ryan's voice.
"Ch-ch-check m-m-mate..!"
Seth shook his head.
"This is so unfair..I'm..I'm like a geek...This should be my game...This is something Mom's waspishness has prevented me from achieving.."
"So this is my fault...?"
Seth and Ryan looked up at Kirsten.
"Hold on guys..." Dr. Meyers interrupted.
"Seth, why don't you see if you can at least win one game while I talk to your parents."
With an almost angelic face, Seth looked at the doctor.
"Ha-ha...that's so funny.....Not!"
Dr. Meyers led Sandy and Kirsten to another table. He opened up Ryan's medical file as they sat down.
"There are a couple of things I wanted to go over with you now that Ryan's condition has improved...."
Kirsten spoke first.
"Are you telling us that there's going to be some sort of permanent impairment?"
Dr. Meyers shook his head."
"No....It's not that..Ryan did well today with standing and taking a few steps. He needed to be supported on both sides, but he should be able to use a walker in the next day or so and graduate to a cane within a week. His cognitive abilities..well...he beat Sandy here in a game of chess in 4 moves and uh, Seth fared just as badly. We use chess as one way of determining cognitive abilities because...."
"It's a game of logic and strategy.." Sandy finished.
Dr. Meyers raised an eyebrow at Sandy.
"Sorry." Sandy stated, a little embarrassed. "We lawyers just love to talk.."
Dr. Meyers became serious.
"He is making progress with his speech but the other concern we have is over Ryan's previous injuries..."
Sandy cut in.
"Look..We don't have a lot of information on his past..."
Now it was Dr. Meyers turn to interrupt.
"His x-rays showed some previous injuries to his head, chest and arms. These injuries are consistent with abuse.."
"He's our son..." Kirsten said. "We've been his legal guardians for the last 5 months, but he hasn't given us a lot of details on his life before then...we really don't know......Wait...."
Kirsten looked shocked.
"You don't think we did...have....abused him..?"
Sandy took his wife's hand.
"When there's suspected child abuse, the doctors are required to report it..It's okay Kirsten.."
Sandy looked hard at Dr. Meyers.
"But what I want to know is why there was never any investigation before...Like when he was hospitalized however many times for falling down the stairs. Why teachers never reported it when he'd come to school beat up by one of his mother's boyfriends..."
Sandy's voice was rising. Everyone in the room was now looking at him.
"What I want to know is why a pedophile was allowed to...."
"DAD..!"
Seth's voice cut him off. Sandy, Kirsten and Dr. Meyers looked at Seth and then Ryan. Ryan stared at the 3 adults, his eyes full of hurt and anger.
"Upstairs...I want go...." he said quietly to Seth.
******
Seth took the I.V. bag from the pole on the wheelchair and gently hung it on the stand beside Ryan's bed. Ryan had his left arm over his eyes, refusing to look at Seth.
"Leave alone....I want alone..."
"Ryan...Ry...Ryan....pl....please..." Seth stammered.
"NO!.........I WANT ALONE...!"
"Okay....It'll be okay..."
Seth quietly left the room, his heart aching for his brother.
Dr. Meyers and the Cohens went back to Ryan's room. Sandy and Kirsten had tried to continue talking with Dr. Meyers but in the end Sandy just took out one his business cards and wrote the name of the caseworker from child services who handled Ryan's case on the back on the back of it. Seth was sitting on the floor outside Ryan's room, visibly upset.
Kirsten went to her son.
"Are you okay Seth...why..?"
Seth looked angrily at his mother.
"He didn't want me in there...he told me to leave..You guys were talking about him like he wasn't there. Remember when you found his mom...?"
Seth nearly choked on the word.
"Ryan was so pissed when she...Dawn....his mom..Dawn let it 'slip' that AJ used to beat the crap out of Ryan.."
A loud crash from Ryan's room interrupted Seth.
Dr. Meyers pushed past Sandy and Kirsten to get inside. The Cohens were right behind him.
"GET OUT...." Ryan screamed. "...LEAVE.....ALONE...!"
Dr Meyers stepped over the remains of Ryan's dinner tray and approached the bed.
"STAY... 'WAY...!"
Ryan picked up the emesis bowl on the bedside table and threw it at the doctor.
"GO... 'WAY.....!
Dr. Meyers quickly pressed the call buzzer and said something into it. He then put his hands on Ryan's arms to try and get the boy to stop throwing things. "Ryan, please...calm down.."
Those words just seemed to incite Ryan to struggle more. Kirsten and Sandy stepped forward to try to help calm Ryan down.
"LEAVE....ALONE...ME....ALONE...I WANT...."
Ryan kicked out his legs.
Sandy instinctively reached in to hold them down, receiving a kick in the face for his trouble.
"Ryan..Please...You're safe..on one's going to hurt...."
Sandy was cut off by a nurse and couple of orderlies. A pair of large hands moved him out of the way. The nurse handed a small object to Dr. Meyers...A hypodermic needle. Ryan saw the needle in the doctor's hand. Strong arms held down his right wrist as he struggled.
"No..please....I be good...Please stop...I be...good....please..."
The last three words came out as a whimper as the sedative took hold of Ryan. His stiff body relaxed and his breathing slowed. Tears were streaming down Kirsten's face as Sandy held her. Seth looked on in shock and confusion.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED. A LITTLE WHILE AGO I WAS GETTING MY BUTT KICKED IN CHESS...WE WE'RE LAUGHING AT RYAN'S NEW 'VIN DIESEL' LOOK AND NOW MY BEST FRIEND.....MY BROTHER IS LYING THERE DRUGGED UP..."
"Seth...honey..."
Kirsten reached for her son as they watched the medical staff hover over Ryan, making sure he was stable.
Dr. Meyers turned to leave.
"He should stay asleep for the night....I can give you the names of a couple of counselors who deal with abuse victims..."
Sandy nodded his head and spoke quietly.
"That would be fine..We'll be here..."
Sandy decided to take Seth home. The boy could not calm down and kept up a frantic pacing in Ryan's room. Now in the car, Seth was silent. Opening the front door of the house, he went into his bedroom, closed the door, crawled into bed and cried. He cried for himself , he cried for Ryan....he cried himself to sleep. Sandy sat outside Seth's door with an ice pack on his jaw and listened as the bitter sobs gave way to ragged breaths which in turn gave way to the sounds of troubled slumber.
Kirsten woke with a start...She had pulled the recliner back to Ryan's bedside earlier and fell asleep holding his hand. She glanced at her watch. In the dim light she could barely make out the time...3:10 am. She leaned in and looked at Ryan, watching him breathe.
She spoke quietly, stroking his forehead.
"You've been through so much..I wish I knew how to help you..I wish I knew what to do...what to say to take away your pain..."
Kirsten took a deep breath.
"When Sandy brought you home, I was not happy. I pretended to be okay with it, but I wasn't and you knew it. You looked more scared than I did..You were beat up and tired but you were so quiet...you didn't even look me in the eyes..And then at the fashion show when I caught you with that drink, you didn't argue or try to deny you had alcohol in your glass...You just gave it to me..I hoped that Sandy was right about you...When I saw Seth the next morning with a black eye and a hang over I got scared. Seth had never been in a fight before, let alone drunk. I wish I'd known earlier that you had stepped in to defend him from other boys instead of me thinking you got him involved in a fight."
Kirsten steadied herself for a second.
"You were so polite...even when I asked you to leave..You didn't tell Seth the real reason why.....you just thanked me for everything....You knew I was going to ask you to leave, but you still made us breakfast. The thing I noticed after Sandy took you back to your house was that you only set the table for 3."
Tears were now sliding down Kirsten's face.
"I was actually relieved when Sandy came back with you. I was hoping we could talk but I was scared...I didn't know what to say to you...your mother had just left you...I thought it would be easier for us...me...if Sandy found you a foster home. I couldn't believe it when you came back after the fire at the development..to take responsibility...You could have just run. I wasn't angry about the house..we could rebuild it...I was angry because I was worried when you took off. I didn't know if you were on the street somewhere....if you were safe...I wasn't supposed to worry about you....You were Sandy's client...When Seth asked me to go with him to see you in Juvenile..uh..lock-up..the only reason I went with him was to get away from Julie Cooper and her entourage.."
Kirsten wiped her eyes.
"You looked so pale and tired in there and when that kid came after me..you stopped him....he could have hurt you...he could have killed you...."
"When you told me that you used to want to be an architect, but all you wanted to be now was 17, I didn't know what to say..I almost cried when you told me that. I wanted Sandy to find your mom because..because I was hoping you could work things out with her..When you left the dinner table that night when your mom was here it broke my heart...It was like you were trying to protect us..protect Seth from the ugliness in your life. After Vegas night when I caught your mom trying to leave..."
The tears started falling again, but Kirsten held her voice steady.
"Your mom, she looked incredibly sad..It's like she knew that for you to make it in life, she'd have to give you up...she had to protect you from herself. She must love you so much to do that..she didn't leave you....she saved you...she trusted us with someone special..she trusted us with you.."
Kirsten felt Ryan's fingers tighten around hers. She looked at him and saw a single tear slide out of his left eye.
"We love you Ryan and I can't imagine our family without you..The things in your past are not going to change how we feel about you...We only want to help you deal with them and help you move on...but we can't ignore your past sweetie or else it's going to eat you alive. You don't need to be a perfect kid...we didn't sign on for that...You started wrapping me around your finger that first Sunday you made bacon..Part of me wanted to hold on and not let Sandy take you....the other part of me...the scared part sent you away...."
" s'okay" came a groggy voice.
"Ryan..you are as much a part of this family as any of us and nothing is ever going to change that...."
Friday, January 9
Seth found his father sleeping outside his bedroom door. He decided to make a pot of coffee before waking his dad. The emotional release the night before had been somewhat cathartic, but his thoughts of Ryan still ran a mile a minute. It was all he could do to keep from calling his mom for an update. Ultimately Seth decided to wait. He went to the kitchen, prepped the coffee pot and got mugs and bowls out of the cupboard. After opening the pantry and mulling over the extensive choice of cereal, be pulled out the Count Chocula and poured 2 bowls. He went back to his dad and gently shook his shoulder.
"C'mon Rip van Winkle...rise and shine..coffee's almost ready and you don't have to chew it this time.."
Sandy slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey..how'd you sleep....?"
Seth gave a slight smile.
"With my eyes closed, on my side....How about you?"
"Eyes closed and on my butt."
Seth extended his hand to help pull his dad up. Sandy groaned as his back protested the sleeping position it had been subjected to. He leaned on his son as they made their way to the kitchen. He sat down heavily as Seth poured coffee. He put the mug down in front of his dad and sat in his own chair, pulling his cereal bowl closer. They sat silently, neither one wanting to talk about yesterday.
Sandy finished his coffee and looked at his son.
"I've got a few phone calls to make..I'll be up in my office.."
Seth looked down at his empty bowl.
"Are you going to call a shrink for Ryan...?"
"I've got the names of several psychiatrists that Dr. Meyers recommended...Ones who specialize in uh, dealing with...uh..."
Seth looked at his dad.
"It's okay dad, you can say it....specialize in dealing with abuse..I'm not going to fall apart again..."
Sandy spoke gently.
"Ryan's going to need to know we can deal with his past...that we're not going to see him as damaged. He need to know he doesn't have to pretend it never happened, but also that it doesn't have to define who he is...He's still the same kid who doesn't say a whole lot..well, compared to you..He's still the same kid who rolls his eyes at your jokes and he's still the same kid who kicked our asses in chess."
Seth sat quiet for a second and then smiled.
"Yeah...but I definitely want a rematch.."
I do not, repeat, je n'est pas own the characters of the OC. I am merely toying with them. If I've missed any disclaimers..well...they apply too.
Chapter Nine.
Kirsten returned to the hospital later that afternoon. She expected to see Sandy and the boys in Ryan's room. What she didn't expect to find was an empty room and a nurse's aide stripping the bed. Kirsten felt the panic rise in her throat.
"...Where's....?"
The aide turned around.
"Oh hi, Mrs. Cohen...Your husband and your sons are downstairs in the physio department. Do you know where that is?
Kirsten felt her heart start again. She felt a little foolish for making a quick assumption that something bad happened. She smiled weakly.
"Yes..downstairs...okay....thank-you.."
Kirsten made her way to the physical therapy department. Sandy and Dr. Meyers were watching Ryan and Seth play chess. Kirsten frowned slightly as she watched Ryan's shaky hand move a chess piece. The frown was replaced with a smile as she heard Ryan's voice.
"Ch-ch-check m-m-mate..!"
Seth shook his head.
"This is so unfair..I'm..I'm like a geek...This should be my game...This is something Mom's waspishness has prevented me from achieving.."
"So this is my fault...?"
Seth and Ryan looked up at Kirsten.
"Hold on guys..." Dr. Meyers interrupted.
"Seth, why don't you see if you can at least win one game while I talk to your parents."
With an almost angelic face, Seth looked at the doctor.
"Ha-ha...that's so funny.....Not!"
Dr. Meyers led Sandy and Kirsten to another table. He opened up Ryan's medical file as they sat down.
"There are a couple of things I wanted to go over with you now that Ryan's condition has improved...."
Kirsten spoke first.
"Are you telling us that there's going to be some sort of permanent impairment?"
Dr. Meyers shook his head."
"No....It's not that..Ryan did well today with standing and taking a few steps. He needed to be supported on both sides, but he should be able to use a walker in the next day or so and graduate to a cane within a week. His cognitive abilities..well...he beat Sandy here in a game of chess in 4 moves and uh, Seth fared just as badly. We use chess as one way of determining cognitive abilities because...."
"It's a game of logic and strategy.." Sandy finished.
Dr. Meyers raised an eyebrow at Sandy.
"Sorry." Sandy stated, a little embarrassed. "We lawyers just love to talk.."
Dr. Meyers became serious.
"He is making progress with his speech but the other concern we have is over Ryan's previous injuries..."
Sandy cut in.
"Look..We don't have a lot of information on his past..."
Now it was Dr. Meyers turn to interrupt.
"His x-rays showed some previous injuries to his head, chest and arms. These injuries are consistent with abuse.."
"He's our son..." Kirsten said. "We've been his legal guardians for the last 5 months, but he hasn't given us a lot of details on his life before then...we really don't know......Wait...."
Kirsten looked shocked.
"You don't think we did...have....abused him..?"
Sandy took his wife's hand.
"When there's suspected child abuse, the doctors are required to report it..It's okay Kirsten.."
Sandy looked hard at Dr. Meyers.
"But what I want to know is why there was never any investigation before...Like when he was hospitalized however many times for falling down the stairs. Why teachers never reported it when he'd come to school beat up by one of his mother's boyfriends..."
Sandy's voice was rising. Everyone in the room was now looking at him.
"What I want to know is why a pedophile was allowed to...."
"DAD..!"
Seth's voice cut him off. Sandy, Kirsten and Dr. Meyers looked at Seth and then Ryan. Ryan stared at the 3 adults, his eyes full of hurt and anger.
"Upstairs...I want go...." he said quietly to Seth.
******
Seth took the I.V. bag from the pole on the wheelchair and gently hung it on the stand beside Ryan's bed. Ryan had his left arm over his eyes, refusing to look at Seth.
"Leave alone....I want alone..."
"Ryan...Ry...Ryan....pl....please..." Seth stammered.
"NO!.........I WANT ALONE...!"
"Okay....It'll be okay..."
Seth quietly left the room, his heart aching for his brother.
Dr. Meyers and the Cohens went back to Ryan's room. Sandy and Kirsten had tried to continue talking with Dr. Meyers but in the end Sandy just took out one his business cards and wrote the name of the caseworker from child services who handled Ryan's case on the back on the back of it. Seth was sitting on the floor outside Ryan's room, visibly upset.
Kirsten went to her son.
"Are you okay Seth...why..?"
Seth looked angrily at his mother.
"He didn't want me in there...he told me to leave..You guys were talking about him like he wasn't there. Remember when you found his mom...?"
Seth nearly choked on the word.
"Ryan was so pissed when she...Dawn....his mom..Dawn let it 'slip' that AJ used to beat the crap out of Ryan.."
A loud crash from Ryan's room interrupted Seth.
Dr. Meyers pushed past Sandy and Kirsten to get inside. The Cohens were right behind him.
"GET OUT...." Ryan screamed. "...LEAVE.....ALONE...!"
Dr Meyers stepped over the remains of Ryan's dinner tray and approached the bed.
"STAY... 'WAY...!"
Ryan picked up the emesis bowl on the bedside table and threw it at the doctor.
"GO... 'WAY.....!
Dr. Meyers quickly pressed the call buzzer and said something into it. He then put his hands on Ryan's arms to try and get the boy to stop throwing things. "Ryan, please...calm down.."
Those words just seemed to incite Ryan to struggle more. Kirsten and Sandy stepped forward to try to help calm Ryan down.
"LEAVE....ALONE...ME....ALONE...I WANT...."
Ryan kicked out his legs.
Sandy instinctively reached in to hold them down, receiving a kick in the face for his trouble.
"Ryan..Please...You're safe..on one's going to hurt...."
Sandy was cut off by a nurse and couple of orderlies. A pair of large hands moved him out of the way. The nurse handed a small object to Dr. Meyers...A hypodermic needle. Ryan saw the needle in the doctor's hand. Strong arms held down his right wrist as he struggled.
"No..please....I be good...Please stop...I be...good....please..."
The last three words came out as a whimper as the sedative took hold of Ryan. His stiff body relaxed and his breathing slowed. Tears were streaming down Kirsten's face as Sandy held her. Seth looked on in shock and confusion.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED. A LITTLE WHILE AGO I WAS GETTING MY BUTT KICKED IN CHESS...WE WE'RE LAUGHING AT RYAN'S NEW 'VIN DIESEL' LOOK AND NOW MY BEST FRIEND.....MY BROTHER IS LYING THERE DRUGGED UP..."
"Seth...honey..."
Kirsten reached for her son as they watched the medical staff hover over Ryan, making sure he was stable.
Dr. Meyers turned to leave.
"He should stay asleep for the night....I can give you the names of a couple of counselors who deal with abuse victims..."
Sandy nodded his head and spoke quietly.
"That would be fine..We'll be here..."
Sandy decided to take Seth home. The boy could not calm down and kept up a frantic pacing in Ryan's room. Now in the car, Seth was silent. Opening the front door of the house, he went into his bedroom, closed the door, crawled into bed and cried. He cried for himself , he cried for Ryan....he cried himself to sleep. Sandy sat outside Seth's door with an ice pack on his jaw and listened as the bitter sobs gave way to ragged breaths which in turn gave way to the sounds of troubled slumber.
Kirsten woke with a start...She had pulled the recliner back to Ryan's bedside earlier and fell asleep holding his hand. She glanced at her watch. In the dim light she could barely make out the time...3:10 am. She leaned in and looked at Ryan, watching him breathe.
She spoke quietly, stroking his forehead.
"You've been through so much..I wish I knew how to help you..I wish I knew what to do...what to say to take away your pain..."
Kirsten took a deep breath.
"When Sandy brought you home, I was not happy. I pretended to be okay with it, but I wasn't and you knew it. You looked more scared than I did..You were beat up and tired but you were so quiet...you didn't even look me in the eyes..And then at the fashion show when I caught you with that drink, you didn't argue or try to deny you had alcohol in your glass...You just gave it to me..I hoped that Sandy was right about you...When I saw Seth the next morning with a black eye and a hang over I got scared. Seth had never been in a fight before, let alone drunk. I wish I'd known earlier that you had stepped in to defend him from other boys instead of me thinking you got him involved in a fight."
Kirsten steadied herself for a second.
"You were so polite...even when I asked you to leave..You didn't tell Seth the real reason why.....you just thanked me for everything....You knew I was going to ask you to leave, but you still made us breakfast. The thing I noticed after Sandy took you back to your house was that you only set the table for 3."
Tears were now sliding down Kirsten's face.
"I was actually relieved when Sandy came back with you. I was hoping we could talk but I was scared...I didn't know what to say to you...your mother had just left you...I thought it would be easier for us...me...if Sandy found you a foster home. I couldn't believe it when you came back after the fire at the development..to take responsibility...You could have just run. I wasn't angry about the house..we could rebuild it...I was angry because I was worried when you took off. I didn't know if you were on the street somewhere....if you were safe...I wasn't supposed to worry about you....You were Sandy's client...When Seth asked me to go with him to see you in Juvenile..uh..lock-up..the only reason I went with him was to get away from Julie Cooper and her entourage.."
Kirsten wiped her eyes.
"You looked so pale and tired in there and when that kid came after me..you stopped him....he could have hurt you...he could have killed you...."
"When you told me that you used to want to be an architect, but all you wanted to be now was 17, I didn't know what to say..I almost cried when you told me that. I wanted Sandy to find your mom because..because I was hoping you could work things out with her..When you left the dinner table that night when your mom was here it broke my heart...It was like you were trying to protect us..protect Seth from the ugliness in your life. After Vegas night when I caught your mom trying to leave..."
The tears started falling again, but Kirsten held her voice steady.
"Your mom, she looked incredibly sad..It's like she knew that for you to make it in life, she'd have to give you up...she had to protect you from herself. She must love you so much to do that..she didn't leave you....she saved you...she trusted us with someone special..she trusted us with you.."
Kirsten felt Ryan's fingers tighten around hers. She looked at him and saw a single tear slide out of his left eye.
"We love you Ryan and I can't imagine our family without you..The things in your past are not going to change how we feel about you...We only want to help you deal with them and help you move on...but we can't ignore your past sweetie or else it's going to eat you alive. You don't need to be a perfect kid...we didn't sign on for that...You started wrapping me around your finger that first Sunday you made bacon..Part of me wanted to hold on and not let Sandy take you....the other part of me...the scared part sent you away...."
" s'okay" came a groggy voice.
"Ryan..you are as much a part of this family as any of us and nothing is ever going to change that...."
Friday, January 9
Seth found his father sleeping outside his bedroom door. He decided to make a pot of coffee before waking his dad. The emotional release the night before had been somewhat cathartic, but his thoughts of Ryan still ran a mile a minute. It was all he could do to keep from calling his mom for an update. Ultimately Seth decided to wait. He went to the kitchen, prepped the coffee pot and got mugs and bowls out of the cupboard. After opening the pantry and mulling over the extensive choice of cereal, be pulled out the Count Chocula and poured 2 bowls. He went back to his dad and gently shook his shoulder.
"C'mon Rip van Winkle...rise and shine..coffee's almost ready and you don't have to chew it this time.."
Sandy slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey..how'd you sleep....?"
Seth gave a slight smile.
"With my eyes closed, on my side....How about you?"
"Eyes closed and on my butt."
Seth extended his hand to help pull his dad up. Sandy groaned as his back protested the sleeping position it had been subjected to. He leaned on his son as they made their way to the kitchen. He sat down heavily as Seth poured coffee. He put the mug down in front of his dad and sat in his own chair, pulling his cereal bowl closer. They sat silently, neither one wanting to talk about yesterday.
Sandy finished his coffee and looked at his son.
"I've got a few phone calls to make..I'll be up in my office.."
Seth looked down at his empty bowl.
"Are you going to call a shrink for Ryan...?"
"I've got the names of several psychiatrists that Dr. Meyers recommended...Ones who specialize in uh, dealing with...uh..."
Seth looked at his dad.
"It's okay dad, you can say it....specialize in dealing with abuse..I'm not going to fall apart again..."
Sandy spoke gently.
"Ryan's going to need to know we can deal with his past...that we're not going to see him as damaged. He need to know he doesn't have to pretend it never happened, but also that it doesn't have to define who he is...He's still the same kid who doesn't say a whole lot..well, compared to you..He's still the same kid who rolls his eyes at your jokes and he's still the same kid who kicked our asses in chess."
Seth sat quiet for a second and then smiled.
"Yeah...but I definitely want a rematch.."