Disclaimer: The OC and its characters belong to someone with much more
money than me.
Author's note: This story takes place sometime after the Rescue because Sandy has changed jobs. Well, we are marching on. Thanks to all for reading. Thanks L for reading and betaing.
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Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Four
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Kirsten pulls into the emergency entrance at HOAG and contemplates what to do.
"Seth?" she calls into the back seat. "Talk to me." Kirsten unhooks her seat belt and gets out of the car. Opening the back passenger door, she puts her hand on Seth's forehead. He's burning up.
Kirsten squats down and says to him gently, "Seth, we're here honey. You have about five seconds to convince me you don't need a stretcher."
Seth groans and tries to sit up. He covers his eyes when the sunlight meets them head on. Lovely, he has developed one hell of a headache.
"The light, it burns." He tries his best to sound like a vampire but the humor is lost on his mother.
"I'm getting a stretcher," Kirsten states but Seth reaches out and stops her. "Mom, it's ok. Everyone is overreacting."
Seth manages to get himself upright and edges towards the exit of the vehicle, sliding to the door. He uses the car door handle to ease himself slowly to a standing position. It's still too fast and suddenly Seth finds that the world is spinning. He was dizzy before he stood up, but now it's just hopeless. His feet lose the battle to stay upright and he crumples to the ground, landing on his ass. Kirsten scrambles to help her ailing son, managing to slow the descent.
"Maybe just a wheelchair," Seth suggests to the air.
Kirsten has already run off in search of assistance.
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Sandy hesitantly opens his office door. Ed Carden has composed himself slightly, picked up the knocked over chair and is sitting with several tissues wadded up in his hand. He glances up at Sandy, teary-eyed as the dark-haired lawyer enters the room.
"God, I must seem like a real nut-job to you. I'm sorry I lost it. I told myself not to. I'm just really...confused right now."
Sandy walks over to Carden and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Not at all. You've had one seriously twisted afternoon. I'm surprised you're keeping it together as well as you are."
Carden looks up at Sandy and smiles appreciatively. Seeing that the guy is calmer, Sandy feels more comfortable asking the man if they can wrap things up for now, get back together once Sandy knows what's up with Seth.
"Uh, that was just my wife on the phone," Sandy starts. "She's on her way to the hospital with our son Seth. She's not sure what's going on. He's sick, high temp. I need to go. I'm sorry; this couldn't have come up at a worse time. I feel horrible ending things like this."
Carden has two kids; he understands. Standing, he shakes Sandy's hand.
"I'm in town for two more days," he informs Sandy. After retrieving a piece of paper from his wallet, Ed hands over his hotel room phone number as well as his cell phone number. "I wrote these down before coming over here." Carden explains. "I had a feeling we would need more than an afternoon to resolve this...situation. Go, take care of your kid."
Sandy accepts the piece of paper and searches out one of his business cards from off the large desk. He jots down his cell number on the back of the card and hands it to Carden. "Are you going to be ok?" He asks Ed. Despite their short time together, Sandy has grown to like this guy. He is genuinely concerned about his well-being. "Do you have anyone you can talk to?"
Carden wipes at his eyes. "About this?" he laughs slightly. "Probably not. But I actually feel talked out. I'm going to grab a quiet dinner. Hit the bed early. Think about things. Can you call me tomorrow if everything is ok with your kid? I have some questions...about Ryan. How he is? Is he doing ok? I know we need to discuss paternity testing before this thing goes much further."
Sandy inches towards the door, "I'll definitely call you tomorrow morning. No way would I make you wait. I appreciate your flexibility on this. Thanks for understanding."
The two men shake hands once more and Carden goes to open the office door. Sandy has a sudden impulsive thought and tells the man, "Wait, I have something to show you." The lawyer grabs a candid photo of the three Cohens plus Ryan out of his desk drawer. He's been meaning to find a frame for it but hasn't had time.
"How old was that picture of Ryan that Dawn showed you?" he asks Carden.
"I don't know," the man shrugs. "Third, fourth grade?"
Sandy grins. He'd like to see it. He's never seen a picture of a younger Ryan except for a few Polaroids in Ryan's social services file. The kid was never smiling in those. Sandy holds out the photo, "This is Ryan now. We were at a charity event. The dark haired goof ball is Seth."
Carden hesitates before taking the photo from Sandy. He gazes down at it. The Cohen family looks happy. The boy he suspects in all likelihood is his first born son looks content; California sun-kissed hair, sparkling eyes. He's a handsome kid. Ed desperately wants to beg Sandy Cohen to stay. Explain to him what kind of a monster Ryan has to be to deserve abandonment by Dawn. She mentioned something about stealing a car but the kid in this picture looks far from being a street thug.
Carden returns the photo and reaches into his wallet.
"You have some handsome boys, Mr. Cohen. Thank you for sharing that with me."
Sandy replies with a quiet welcome and the two men exit his office.
As they stand at the elevator waiting for the doors to open, Carden hands Sandy two small photos. "These are my two boys," he says proudly. "Josh is ten, Brad is eight."
Sandy is becoming desperate to get out of his office building and to Kirsten and Seth. The sudden revelation concerning Ryan's possible parentage is overwhelming at best. It's profoundly not fair that he should have to balance it with Seth's health. He feels torn. Reaching for the two photos out of sheer politeness, Sandy spies a smiling kid, most likely the ten year old, beaming at the camera. The boy looks just like his father.
The elevator opens. Sandy and Ed step into it. As the door closes, Sandy flips to the other picture. His heart misses a beat. This must be Brad, the eight-year-old, he surmises.
Maybe he doesn't need to see a picture of a younger Ryan. Carden has more or less just provided him with one.
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To Be Continued
Author's note: This story takes place sometime after the Rescue because Sandy has changed jobs. Well, we are marching on. Thanks to all for reading. Thanks L for reading and betaing.
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Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Four
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Kirsten pulls into the emergency entrance at HOAG and contemplates what to do.
"Seth?" she calls into the back seat. "Talk to me." Kirsten unhooks her seat belt and gets out of the car. Opening the back passenger door, she puts her hand on Seth's forehead. He's burning up.
Kirsten squats down and says to him gently, "Seth, we're here honey. You have about five seconds to convince me you don't need a stretcher."
Seth groans and tries to sit up. He covers his eyes when the sunlight meets them head on. Lovely, he has developed one hell of a headache.
"The light, it burns." He tries his best to sound like a vampire but the humor is lost on his mother.
"I'm getting a stretcher," Kirsten states but Seth reaches out and stops her. "Mom, it's ok. Everyone is overreacting."
Seth manages to get himself upright and edges towards the exit of the vehicle, sliding to the door. He uses the car door handle to ease himself slowly to a standing position. It's still too fast and suddenly Seth finds that the world is spinning. He was dizzy before he stood up, but now it's just hopeless. His feet lose the battle to stay upright and he crumples to the ground, landing on his ass. Kirsten scrambles to help her ailing son, managing to slow the descent.
"Maybe just a wheelchair," Seth suggests to the air.
Kirsten has already run off in search of assistance.
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Sandy hesitantly opens his office door. Ed Carden has composed himself slightly, picked up the knocked over chair and is sitting with several tissues wadded up in his hand. He glances up at Sandy, teary-eyed as the dark-haired lawyer enters the room.
"God, I must seem like a real nut-job to you. I'm sorry I lost it. I told myself not to. I'm just really...confused right now."
Sandy walks over to Carden and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Not at all. You've had one seriously twisted afternoon. I'm surprised you're keeping it together as well as you are."
Carden looks up at Sandy and smiles appreciatively. Seeing that the guy is calmer, Sandy feels more comfortable asking the man if they can wrap things up for now, get back together once Sandy knows what's up with Seth.
"Uh, that was just my wife on the phone," Sandy starts. "She's on her way to the hospital with our son Seth. She's not sure what's going on. He's sick, high temp. I need to go. I'm sorry; this couldn't have come up at a worse time. I feel horrible ending things like this."
Carden has two kids; he understands. Standing, he shakes Sandy's hand.
"I'm in town for two more days," he informs Sandy. After retrieving a piece of paper from his wallet, Ed hands over his hotel room phone number as well as his cell phone number. "I wrote these down before coming over here." Carden explains. "I had a feeling we would need more than an afternoon to resolve this...situation. Go, take care of your kid."
Sandy accepts the piece of paper and searches out one of his business cards from off the large desk. He jots down his cell number on the back of the card and hands it to Carden. "Are you going to be ok?" He asks Ed. Despite their short time together, Sandy has grown to like this guy. He is genuinely concerned about his well-being. "Do you have anyone you can talk to?"
Carden wipes at his eyes. "About this?" he laughs slightly. "Probably not. But I actually feel talked out. I'm going to grab a quiet dinner. Hit the bed early. Think about things. Can you call me tomorrow if everything is ok with your kid? I have some questions...about Ryan. How he is? Is he doing ok? I know we need to discuss paternity testing before this thing goes much further."
Sandy inches towards the door, "I'll definitely call you tomorrow morning. No way would I make you wait. I appreciate your flexibility on this. Thanks for understanding."
The two men shake hands once more and Carden goes to open the office door. Sandy has a sudden impulsive thought and tells the man, "Wait, I have something to show you." The lawyer grabs a candid photo of the three Cohens plus Ryan out of his desk drawer. He's been meaning to find a frame for it but hasn't had time.
"How old was that picture of Ryan that Dawn showed you?" he asks Carden.
"I don't know," the man shrugs. "Third, fourth grade?"
Sandy grins. He'd like to see it. He's never seen a picture of a younger Ryan except for a few Polaroids in Ryan's social services file. The kid was never smiling in those. Sandy holds out the photo, "This is Ryan now. We were at a charity event. The dark haired goof ball is Seth."
Carden hesitates before taking the photo from Sandy. He gazes down at it. The Cohen family looks happy. The boy he suspects in all likelihood is his first born son looks content; California sun-kissed hair, sparkling eyes. He's a handsome kid. Ed desperately wants to beg Sandy Cohen to stay. Explain to him what kind of a monster Ryan has to be to deserve abandonment by Dawn. She mentioned something about stealing a car but the kid in this picture looks far from being a street thug.
Carden returns the photo and reaches into his wallet.
"You have some handsome boys, Mr. Cohen. Thank you for sharing that with me."
Sandy replies with a quiet welcome and the two men exit his office.
As they stand at the elevator waiting for the doors to open, Carden hands Sandy two small photos. "These are my two boys," he says proudly. "Josh is ten, Brad is eight."
Sandy is becoming desperate to get out of his office building and to Kirsten and Seth. The sudden revelation concerning Ryan's possible parentage is overwhelming at best. It's profoundly not fair that he should have to balance it with Seth's health. He feels torn. Reaching for the two photos out of sheer politeness, Sandy spies a smiling kid, most likely the ten year old, beaming at the camera. The boy looks just like his father.
The elevator opens. Sandy and Ed step into it. As the door closes, Sandy flips to the other picture. His heart misses a beat. This must be Brad, the eight-year-old, he surmises.
Maybe he doesn't need to see a picture of a younger Ryan. Carden has more or less just provided him with one.
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To Be Continued