Disclaimer: The OC and its characters belong to someone with much more
money than me.
Author's note: I had most of this story written weeks ago. After reading all the unbelievable reviews, I'm a little freaked out that my story isn't going to live up to expectations. Hope these future chapters don't disappoint. And I always say it but I truly mean it, thanks for reading and the reviews are MUCH appreciated.
Bow to my beta Liz.
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Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Eight
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Caleb calls from New York, asking where Kirsten is. Ryan tells him she's out with Sandy and Seth.
It's not a lie and Ryan's not sure what he should be saying. Getting Caleb all stirred up about Seth when the old man is on another coast isn't going to help the situation.
He wanders into the kitchen, still in search of food. Ryan tried eating once, but his heart wasn't in it. He grabs a piece of luncheon meat and stuffs it into his mouth. There's a bottle of Seagrams 7 in the cabinet above the fridge. He's trying really hard to ignore it. There's a pack of cigarettes in his backpack that he has taken the time to pay attention to.
He made sure to throw the butts away.
Ambling into the den, Ryan collapses on the couch, picks at an odd thread on the arm. He spent thirty minutes on the computer reading about meningitis. He's more confused now than when he started. Some of the web sites acted as if Seth would come home right away, some talked about long hospital stays. They all ended with big bold print at the bottom; IN EXTREME CASES, DEATH CAN RESULT.
He walked away from the computer in frustration, smacking the hard drive tower. Oops, might have to talk to Sandy about that one.
Ryan pulls himself off the couch and meanders upstairs, looks into Seth's room. It's a mess; the bed unmade, clothes everywhere, CD cases piled hodgepodge. They were supposed to go to a party tonight. Seth was looking forward to it.
That's the way it is with them. Seth makes the plans and Ryan tags along. Ryan likes it that way. He likes Seth's high energy, his constant motion. It distracts everyone from Ryan's lack of participation. Helps everyone in the house forget that Ryan is always just one step away from snapping like a guitar string. He tries; God knows he tries to relax. It's gotten better. He's learning to at least listen before he decides to punch.
Well, sometimes he listens.
Ryan walks into Seth's room and sits on the bed. Looking around, he decides that he should pack a bag for Seth, bring him a CD player, some CD's, maybe that bottle of Seagrams.
He picks up a CD case - The Shins – but it's empty. He should find it. It's one of Seth's favorites. Ryan digs into several stacks; no Shins disc. He tries the CD player; no luck.
Seth's bedroom is so quiet; as if the room is holding it's breath for Seth to return.
Sometimes Ryan misses the tension his mom's home provided. In many ways, his life in Chino was more emotionally comfortable. Anger, action, screaming, crying, tears, apologies. This house, the Cohen's home, allows him too much time to think, too peaceful. Gives him the luxury of steady meals, sleep, people who notice. Forces him to pay attention to the chaos in his head, not just the chaos surrounding him. Maybe that's why he clings to Seth, took to the kid right away. Seth still represents insane movement, constant activity, and instant diversion.
Ryan finds another pile to rummage through and smiles as he locates the missing CD. He'll pack a bag for Seth, put all his favorites in it. Go downstairs, eat something substantial for Kirsten, ignore the Seagrams for Sandy, smoke one more cigarette for himself.
Wait for news.
Try not to think too hard about Seth.
The phone rings, interrupting his plans. Ryan's disappointed when he sees the gatehouse number pop up. Roger, the security officer, asks if Sandy is expecting anyone. Ryan has no idea, but this is Newport right? Even robbers in Newport wouldn't stop and check in at gatehouses. He tells Roger to go ahead and send the person in.
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Doctor Holbrith glides into the waiting room with a manila folder in her hand. Sandy and Kirsten both stand up to greet her. They don't know what else to do.
"Well, I owe Doctor Demsky a steak dinner," Holbrith announces.
Kirsten understands. She lets out a quiet, "Oh thank God," and turns to face the wall. Sandy is confused. He looks to Holbrith for an answer.
"It's not meningitis, Mr. Cohen," the doctor smiles reassuringly. "It's not looking like strep throat either. We're still waiting on lab results from the nasal swab and some blood work we ran. The strep test should be repeated one more time in the next twenty-four hours before it's officially ruled out."
Sandy realizes that he has just been delivered good news, but his kid is still lying in a hospital bed. He's not ready to celebrate. He probes the doctor for more information.
"If it's not meningitis, what is it? Seth is still sick. Is not knowing better than knowing?"
Holbrith shrugs, "In this case, most likely yes. I believe once it is said and done, the flu culture is going to turn up positive. Now that we know it's not meningitis, I can treat the dehydration more aggressively. Get more fluids into Seth. That will help significantly. He's already responding to the Tordal we gave him for his headache."
Sandy is still not convinced. "What about his temperature? It's still going up."
Holbrith nods, "Well, that is a concern, yes, but it's slowing down. The drip is helping. We'll start pushing a combination of acetaminophen and ibuprophen intravenously every two hours. The additional fluids will help."
Sandy is speechless, staring at the doctor, mouth agape. Five minutes ago he thought his son might have a possibly deadly disease. Now, if he's following along correctly, Seth most likely has the flu. Holbrith seems to recognize Sandy's befuddlement.
"Mr. Cohen, I know it seems like things have just switched gears suddenly, and they have. But please understand that when Seth came to the hospital earlier this evening, I would have bet the farm we were looking at meningitis. I live to give parents news like this. I am thrilled to have been proven wrong. And I don't mean to belittle Seth's condition. He's still a very sick kid. There are lots of things to be ruled out yet. But no meningitis is a good place to start. We're going to work on getting that temp down, wait for more lab results, keep him isolated as a precaution against respiratory infection."
Kirsten's head snaps up.
The doctor holds out her hand in a stop motion, "Isolation at this point in the game is simply a prudent precaution. His lungs sound good. We want to keep it that way. We'll continue to aggressively treat the dehydration. The additional test results should be available within the next hour or so."
Holbrith shakes hands with the Cohens and excuses herself. A call just came in concerning a seven-year-old hit and run victim. She's needed elsewhere.
Sandy and Kirsten look at each other stunned and gradually ease into chairs.
"When he gets out of this hospital," Sandy mumbles, "I'm so going to kick his ass for putting us through this."
"Yep." Kirsten nods slowly in agreement, "Get in line."
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Ryan opens the front door anticipating an old, fossily, lawyer kind of guy. Instead he finds a blond headed man, maybe Kirsten's age.
Ryan stares at the man. The guy stares back, his gaze intense, making Ryan feel like he is being studied.
Straightening his shoulders, Ryan pulls himself up as tall as possible, cocks his head, waits for the guy to make the first move.
Finally the man breaks the silence. He scratches the back of his neck. "Um, hi, I'm Ed Carden. I'm an acquaintance of Sandy's. Maybe he's mentioned me?"
Ryan shakes his head no, waits for more information.
The man extends his hand. Ryan shakes it, but keeps his guard up. He offers, "Sandy's not here. I don't know when he'll be home. Something, uh, came up... unexpectedly."
The man bites his bottom lip. "Yeah, Seth is sick."
Ryan swings his head to the other side. This guy knows Sandy well enough to know Seth is sick.
"So you uh, work with Sandy?" Ryan poses. The guy is dressed like he could be a lawyer. Boring.
"Um, yeah," the man verifies. "Sandy had to leave the office in a hurry. He asked me to stop by and drop something off." The guy smiles and pats his briefcase.
Ryan opens the door a little wider, providing the gentleman room to come into the house.
"Um," Ryan gestures with his thumb, suggesting that the man should follow him into the house.
Carden eases his way in, looks around, impressed with the foyer. Tells himself he is doing the right thing. Takes a deep breath. Closes the front door.
Ryan is five feet ahead, already heading for the dining room.
"Yeah, so if you leave it here," Ryan pats the top of the dining room table, "I'll make sure Sandy gets it when he comes home."
Carden nods in appreciation and pretends to dig something out of his briefcase. "You must be Ryan." Ed tries to stall the moment, figure out a way to get this kid to let him stay a few more minutes. "Sandy's told me a lot about you."
Ryan watches Carden poking through his briefcase. He's uncomfortable with the thought of Sandy using him as casual office conversation. Something about this guy doesn't feel right. He shouldn't have let him in the house. Newport is making him soft. Instead of responding to the man, Ryan glances at his watch, trying to throw the guy a hint. 'Give me the freaking whatever you came to give and get the hell out of here.'
Carden is desperately trying to find something to pull out of his briefcase when the phone rings.
Ryan excuses himself to go answer it and Carden blows out a huge sigh of relief.
"Hello?" Ed hears Ryan ask. Silence, then a reserved, "That's good news, right? Can I come see Seth now?"
Carden inches his way towards where Ryan is speaking on the phone.
"Well when can I come?" Ryan implores into the phone. The boy nods to himself. "Ok, I understand. But I can see him tonight, right?" Whatever answer the teen gets seems to appease him and Carden notices Ryan's entire stance relax. A quick smile flashes and then disappears. The boy races his fingers through his hair. "Thanks Kirsten. Thanks for calling."
Carden hopes that the kid will just hang up, forget to mention his presence. But no such luck.
Ryan spies the man in the dining room and adds, "Oh, tell Sandy that his friend from work stopped by with..." Ryan's still not sure what the guy did stop by with. He turns to the man, "What was your name again?"
Ed takes a step towards Ryan. He's trying not to panic. All he wanted was a quick interaction with the kid. Just meet him, get a feel of whether or not this boy could really be his son. Make sure he could leave California knowing Ryan is safe with the Cohen family. Now he's second-guessing himself. He shouldn't have come. This was a huge mistake. He points to the phone. "Is Sandy there? Can I speak with him a second?"
Ryan shrugs. He asks into the receiver, "Is Sandy around? The guy wants to talk to him."
Ed takes a few more steps, accepts the phone from Ryan, and steels his nerves. He holds his breath and listens for Cohen's voice.
Sandy comes on the line. "Hello? Ryan? Kirsten said somebody from the office is there?"
"Uh, no," Carden responds, "It's Ed Carden, Sandy."
Dead Air.
Then Sandy explodes, "What in the hell are you doing in my home Ed?"
Carden winces; he smiles up at Ryan, praying the kid didn't overhear Cohen's shouting. "Uh, well Sandy. We got cut off so quickly at the office, I wanted to..."
Sandy interrupts him. "Does Ryan know? Did you tell him anything?"
Carden looks around the house. He wishes Ryan would give him some privacy, but the kid has no obvious reason to leave the room. He's just standing there, curiously watching Ed stumble his way through the phone conversation.
"No Sandy, I just got here." Ed nods at Ryan. Smiles.
"Well get the hell out." Sandy demands. "This isn't the way to go about things Ed. This isn't fair to Ryan. You have no right to be doing this."
Ryan is getting anxious. What the hell is taking so long? He wants this guy out of the house. Kirsten told him to call a cab and come to the hospital in an hour. He wants to get back upstairs and pack Seth a bag; be with Kirsten and Sandy. See for himself that Seth is ok. Feel like a part of their family instead of the kid they let hang out to dry by the phone all day.
That damn guy is still smiling at him.
Carden tries to save the situation. He didn't come here to cause trouble. He turns his back to Ryan, cups the receiver with his hand, hunches over and whispers into the phone, "I'm leaving, all right?"
"Damn straight," Sandy confirms angrily. "Do not, I repeat do NOT say a word to Ryan. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll try to figure out how to salvage this train wreck you've created."
Carden turns back around and raises his voice, smiles again at Ryan. "Ok, well, sounds good Sandy. I look forward to your call tomorrow."
"Please, just get the hell out of my house," Sandy replies tersely.
"Bye now," Ed effuses with false cheerfulness. He hangs up.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes to Ryan, "Did you need to talk to them anymore?"
Ryan shakes his head no. "You should go now," he tells Carden. "I have to go to the hospital."
"Uh ...right." Ed absolutely agrees. He should most certainly should be getting the hell out of dodge immediately. He starts walking to the front door.
Ryan follows him asking, "What was I supposed to give Sandy?"
"Oh," Carden stops abruptly. "I uh, just realized I forgot it. Sorry. I'm such an idiot."
Ryan silently agrees. This guy is a dork. Sandy should have stuck with the D.A.'s office.
Ed opens the front door. He knows he should leave. Cohen told him to leave. He should most definitely leave. Right. Now.
Instead he turns to Ryan. "Do you drive? How are you getting to the hospital?"
"I have my license but there's no cars left," Ryan replies. "I'm calling a cab."
"Nonsense," Carden refutes. "I'll drive you."
Ryan considers his options. Sure the guy is a bore, but he seems harmless enough. Sandy knows him. He probably feels bad about Seth, wants to help. What the hell, it'll be more comfortable than a taxi.
"Ok," Ryan shrugs. "I uh, just have to grab a couple of things."
Carden smiles, "Cool, I'll go wait in the car."
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Ryan heads upstairs, trying to decide what else he should pack for Seth.
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Ed gets into the rental, wondering what in the hell he is doing.
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Across town at HOAG, Sandy's nervous system is developing a miserable pattern. It freezes up. Sandy takes a quick breath. Gets control. Proceeds. "Kirsten..."
She is looking at him like he beat the family dog to death.
Kirsten only heard Sandy's side of the bizarre phone conversation but it's enough to let her know there's something going on she has no knowledge of.
"Sandy," she takes a hold of his arm, her face a mixture of confusion and fear. "What in the hell was that all about? Who's that man in the house with Ryan?"
Sandy Cohen takes a cue from Seth's doctor.
"Honey, let's have a seat. We should talk."
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To Be Continued
Author's note: I had most of this story written weeks ago. After reading all the unbelievable reviews, I'm a little freaked out that my story isn't going to live up to expectations. Hope these future chapters don't disappoint. And I always say it but I truly mean it, thanks for reading and the reviews are MUCH appreciated.
Bow to my beta Liz.
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Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Eight
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Caleb calls from New York, asking where Kirsten is. Ryan tells him she's out with Sandy and Seth.
It's not a lie and Ryan's not sure what he should be saying. Getting Caleb all stirred up about Seth when the old man is on another coast isn't going to help the situation.
He wanders into the kitchen, still in search of food. Ryan tried eating once, but his heart wasn't in it. He grabs a piece of luncheon meat and stuffs it into his mouth. There's a bottle of Seagrams 7 in the cabinet above the fridge. He's trying really hard to ignore it. There's a pack of cigarettes in his backpack that he has taken the time to pay attention to.
He made sure to throw the butts away.
Ambling into the den, Ryan collapses on the couch, picks at an odd thread on the arm. He spent thirty minutes on the computer reading about meningitis. He's more confused now than when he started. Some of the web sites acted as if Seth would come home right away, some talked about long hospital stays. They all ended with big bold print at the bottom; IN EXTREME CASES, DEATH CAN RESULT.
He walked away from the computer in frustration, smacking the hard drive tower. Oops, might have to talk to Sandy about that one.
Ryan pulls himself off the couch and meanders upstairs, looks into Seth's room. It's a mess; the bed unmade, clothes everywhere, CD cases piled hodgepodge. They were supposed to go to a party tonight. Seth was looking forward to it.
That's the way it is with them. Seth makes the plans and Ryan tags along. Ryan likes it that way. He likes Seth's high energy, his constant motion. It distracts everyone from Ryan's lack of participation. Helps everyone in the house forget that Ryan is always just one step away from snapping like a guitar string. He tries; God knows he tries to relax. It's gotten better. He's learning to at least listen before he decides to punch.
Well, sometimes he listens.
Ryan walks into Seth's room and sits on the bed. Looking around, he decides that he should pack a bag for Seth, bring him a CD player, some CD's, maybe that bottle of Seagrams.
He picks up a CD case - The Shins – but it's empty. He should find it. It's one of Seth's favorites. Ryan digs into several stacks; no Shins disc. He tries the CD player; no luck.
Seth's bedroom is so quiet; as if the room is holding it's breath for Seth to return.
Sometimes Ryan misses the tension his mom's home provided. In many ways, his life in Chino was more emotionally comfortable. Anger, action, screaming, crying, tears, apologies. This house, the Cohen's home, allows him too much time to think, too peaceful. Gives him the luxury of steady meals, sleep, people who notice. Forces him to pay attention to the chaos in his head, not just the chaos surrounding him. Maybe that's why he clings to Seth, took to the kid right away. Seth still represents insane movement, constant activity, and instant diversion.
Ryan finds another pile to rummage through and smiles as he locates the missing CD. He'll pack a bag for Seth, put all his favorites in it. Go downstairs, eat something substantial for Kirsten, ignore the Seagrams for Sandy, smoke one more cigarette for himself.
Wait for news.
Try not to think too hard about Seth.
The phone rings, interrupting his plans. Ryan's disappointed when he sees the gatehouse number pop up. Roger, the security officer, asks if Sandy is expecting anyone. Ryan has no idea, but this is Newport right? Even robbers in Newport wouldn't stop and check in at gatehouses. He tells Roger to go ahead and send the person in.
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Doctor Holbrith glides into the waiting room with a manila folder in her hand. Sandy and Kirsten both stand up to greet her. They don't know what else to do.
"Well, I owe Doctor Demsky a steak dinner," Holbrith announces.
Kirsten understands. She lets out a quiet, "Oh thank God," and turns to face the wall. Sandy is confused. He looks to Holbrith for an answer.
"It's not meningitis, Mr. Cohen," the doctor smiles reassuringly. "It's not looking like strep throat either. We're still waiting on lab results from the nasal swab and some blood work we ran. The strep test should be repeated one more time in the next twenty-four hours before it's officially ruled out."
Sandy realizes that he has just been delivered good news, but his kid is still lying in a hospital bed. He's not ready to celebrate. He probes the doctor for more information.
"If it's not meningitis, what is it? Seth is still sick. Is not knowing better than knowing?"
Holbrith shrugs, "In this case, most likely yes. I believe once it is said and done, the flu culture is going to turn up positive. Now that we know it's not meningitis, I can treat the dehydration more aggressively. Get more fluids into Seth. That will help significantly. He's already responding to the Tordal we gave him for his headache."
Sandy is still not convinced. "What about his temperature? It's still going up."
Holbrith nods, "Well, that is a concern, yes, but it's slowing down. The drip is helping. We'll start pushing a combination of acetaminophen and ibuprophen intravenously every two hours. The additional fluids will help."
Sandy is speechless, staring at the doctor, mouth agape. Five minutes ago he thought his son might have a possibly deadly disease. Now, if he's following along correctly, Seth most likely has the flu. Holbrith seems to recognize Sandy's befuddlement.
"Mr. Cohen, I know it seems like things have just switched gears suddenly, and they have. But please understand that when Seth came to the hospital earlier this evening, I would have bet the farm we were looking at meningitis. I live to give parents news like this. I am thrilled to have been proven wrong. And I don't mean to belittle Seth's condition. He's still a very sick kid. There are lots of things to be ruled out yet. But no meningitis is a good place to start. We're going to work on getting that temp down, wait for more lab results, keep him isolated as a precaution against respiratory infection."
Kirsten's head snaps up.
The doctor holds out her hand in a stop motion, "Isolation at this point in the game is simply a prudent precaution. His lungs sound good. We want to keep it that way. We'll continue to aggressively treat the dehydration. The additional test results should be available within the next hour or so."
Holbrith shakes hands with the Cohens and excuses herself. A call just came in concerning a seven-year-old hit and run victim. She's needed elsewhere.
Sandy and Kirsten look at each other stunned and gradually ease into chairs.
"When he gets out of this hospital," Sandy mumbles, "I'm so going to kick his ass for putting us through this."
"Yep." Kirsten nods slowly in agreement, "Get in line."
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Ryan opens the front door anticipating an old, fossily, lawyer kind of guy. Instead he finds a blond headed man, maybe Kirsten's age.
Ryan stares at the man. The guy stares back, his gaze intense, making Ryan feel like he is being studied.
Straightening his shoulders, Ryan pulls himself up as tall as possible, cocks his head, waits for the guy to make the first move.
Finally the man breaks the silence. He scratches the back of his neck. "Um, hi, I'm Ed Carden. I'm an acquaintance of Sandy's. Maybe he's mentioned me?"
Ryan shakes his head no, waits for more information.
The man extends his hand. Ryan shakes it, but keeps his guard up. He offers, "Sandy's not here. I don't know when he'll be home. Something, uh, came up... unexpectedly."
The man bites his bottom lip. "Yeah, Seth is sick."
Ryan swings his head to the other side. This guy knows Sandy well enough to know Seth is sick.
"So you uh, work with Sandy?" Ryan poses. The guy is dressed like he could be a lawyer. Boring.
"Um, yeah," the man verifies. "Sandy had to leave the office in a hurry. He asked me to stop by and drop something off." The guy smiles and pats his briefcase.
Ryan opens the door a little wider, providing the gentleman room to come into the house.
"Um," Ryan gestures with his thumb, suggesting that the man should follow him into the house.
Carden eases his way in, looks around, impressed with the foyer. Tells himself he is doing the right thing. Takes a deep breath. Closes the front door.
Ryan is five feet ahead, already heading for the dining room.
"Yeah, so if you leave it here," Ryan pats the top of the dining room table, "I'll make sure Sandy gets it when he comes home."
Carden nods in appreciation and pretends to dig something out of his briefcase. "You must be Ryan." Ed tries to stall the moment, figure out a way to get this kid to let him stay a few more minutes. "Sandy's told me a lot about you."
Ryan watches Carden poking through his briefcase. He's uncomfortable with the thought of Sandy using him as casual office conversation. Something about this guy doesn't feel right. He shouldn't have let him in the house. Newport is making him soft. Instead of responding to the man, Ryan glances at his watch, trying to throw the guy a hint. 'Give me the freaking whatever you came to give and get the hell out of here.'
Carden is desperately trying to find something to pull out of his briefcase when the phone rings.
Ryan excuses himself to go answer it and Carden blows out a huge sigh of relief.
"Hello?" Ed hears Ryan ask. Silence, then a reserved, "That's good news, right? Can I come see Seth now?"
Carden inches his way towards where Ryan is speaking on the phone.
"Well when can I come?" Ryan implores into the phone. The boy nods to himself. "Ok, I understand. But I can see him tonight, right?" Whatever answer the teen gets seems to appease him and Carden notices Ryan's entire stance relax. A quick smile flashes and then disappears. The boy races his fingers through his hair. "Thanks Kirsten. Thanks for calling."
Carden hopes that the kid will just hang up, forget to mention his presence. But no such luck.
Ryan spies the man in the dining room and adds, "Oh, tell Sandy that his friend from work stopped by with..." Ryan's still not sure what the guy did stop by with. He turns to the man, "What was your name again?"
Ed takes a step towards Ryan. He's trying not to panic. All he wanted was a quick interaction with the kid. Just meet him, get a feel of whether or not this boy could really be his son. Make sure he could leave California knowing Ryan is safe with the Cohen family. Now he's second-guessing himself. He shouldn't have come. This was a huge mistake. He points to the phone. "Is Sandy there? Can I speak with him a second?"
Ryan shrugs. He asks into the receiver, "Is Sandy around? The guy wants to talk to him."
Ed takes a few more steps, accepts the phone from Ryan, and steels his nerves. He holds his breath and listens for Cohen's voice.
Sandy comes on the line. "Hello? Ryan? Kirsten said somebody from the office is there?"
"Uh, no," Carden responds, "It's Ed Carden, Sandy."
Dead Air.
Then Sandy explodes, "What in the hell are you doing in my home Ed?"
Carden winces; he smiles up at Ryan, praying the kid didn't overhear Cohen's shouting. "Uh, well Sandy. We got cut off so quickly at the office, I wanted to..."
Sandy interrupts him. "Does Ryan know? Did you tell him anything?"
Carden looks around the house. He wishes Ryan would give him some privacy, but the kid has no obvious reason to leave the room. He's just standing there, curiously watching Ed stumble his way through the phone conversation.
"No Sandy, I just got here." Ed nods at Ryan. Smiles.
"Well get the hell out." Sandy demands. "This isn't the way to go about things Ed. This isn't fair to Ryan. You have no right to be doing this."
Ryan is getting anxious. What the hell is taking so long? He wants this guy out of the house. Kirsten told him to call a cab and come to the hospital in an hour. He wants to get back upstairs and pack Seth a bag; be with Kirsten and Sandy. See for himself that Seth is ok. Feel like a part of their family instead of the kid they let hang out to dry by the phone all day.
That damn guy is still smiling at him.
Carden tries to save the situation. He didn't come here to cause trouble. He turns his back to Ryan, cups the receiver with his hand, hunches over and whispers into the phone, "I'm leaving, all right?"
"Damn straight," Sandy confirms angrily. "Do not, I repeat do NOT say a word to Ryan. I'll call you tomorrow and we'll try to figure out how to salvage this train wreck you've created."
Carden turns back around and raises his voice, smiles again at Ryan. "Ok, well, sounds good Sandy. I look forward to your call tomorrow."
"Please, just get the hell out of my house," Sandy replies tersely.
"Bye now," Ed effuses with false cheerfulness. He hangs up.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes to Ryan, "Did you need to talk to them anymore?"
Ryan shakes his head no. "You should go now," he tells Carden. "I have to go to the hospital."
"Uh ...right." Ed absolutely agrees. He should most certainly should be getting the hell out of dodge immediately. He starts walking to the front door.
Ryan follows him asking, "What was I supposed to give Sandy?"
"Oh," Carden stops abruptly. "I uh, just realized I forgot it. Sorry. I'm such an idiot."
Ryan silently agrees. This guy is a dork. Sandy should have stuck with the D.A.'s office.
Ed opens the front door. He knows he should leave. Cohen told him to leave. He should most definitely leave. Right. Now.
Instead he turns to Ryan. "Do you drive? How are you getting to the hospital?"
"I have my license but there's no cars left," Ryan replies. "I'm calling a cab."
"Nonsense," Carden refutes. "I'll drive you."
Ryan considers his options. Sure the guy is a bore, but he seems harmless enough. Sandy knows him. He probably feels bad about Seth, wants to help. What the hell, it'll be more comfortable than a taxi.
"Ok," Ryan shrugs. "I uh, just have to grab a couple of things."
Carden smiles, "Cool, I'll go wait in the car."
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Ryan heads upstairs, trying to decide what else he should pack for Seth.
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Ed gets into the rental, wondering what in the hell he is doing.
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Across town at HOAG, Sandy's nervous system is developing a miserable pattern. It freezes up. Sandy takes a quick breath. Gets control. Proceeds. "Kirsten..."
She is looking at him like he beat the family dog to death.
Kirsten only heard Sandy's side of the bizarre phone conversation but it's enough to let her know there's something going on she has no knowledge of.
"Sandy," she takes a hold of his arm, her face a mixture of confusion and fear. "What in the hell was that all about? Who's that man in the house with Ryan?"
Sandy Cohen takes a cue from Seth's doctor.
"Honey, let's have a seat. We should talk."
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To Be Continued