Disclaimer: The OC belongs to someone who makes much more money than I do.
Author's Note: Can my head fit into this post? Maybe not. It has swelled to gigantic proportions after I read all my reviews. Unbelievable. I say it every time, but I really didn't expect anyone to be reading this story. Thanks guys!!! You are all awesome. I'm just SO ashamed of my months of lurking and not reviewing. I'm going to go back and review every single story I enjoyed.
Shout out to my beta Liz. I changed the chapter a bunch-o-times since she beta'd. All mistakes are mine. Wink to my mystery reader who suggested a little more in the middle. Your suggestions have been applied.
Triple XXX everyone for reading.
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Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Eleven
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Seth has nodded off again. Kirsten convinces herself that he's doing better. There's less activity in the room, and the hospital staff seems less frenzied. The nurse, Kelly, tells Kirsten that a nasty strain of the flu has been going around. HOAG admitted two people yesterday. Sure they were both in their eighties, but the flu is funny. Seth could have already had a minor cold, his immune system compromised. Kirsten knows that the woman is trying to make her feel better. And she wants to buy into the flu theory, really she does. But she's still scared. It's unnatural for Seth to be this still, quiet, subservient.
Kelly has just finished recording Seth's latest round of vitals. On her way to leave the hospital room she asks Kirsten, "Is Seth your only child?"
"Yes," Kirsten answers without thinking, then quickly modifies her answer, "Uh, no actually, Sandy and I just recently took in a foster son. He's Seth's age." She hopes the nurse can't see the guilt Kirsten's feeling over her initial response.
"Good for you!" Kelly replies with enthusiasm. "Taking in a teenager is a very selfless act."
Her words only add to Kirsten's self-reproach. The Cohens have their own reasons for allowing Ryan to live with them. It's not all about noble sacrifice.
Kirsten rushes out the next sentence. "Do you think Seth will be asleep very long?"
Kelly nods, "Probably. A fever does that, plus with the Tordal, his body is relaxing. It's going to want to sleep more than anything."
"I need to leave for a few minutes," Kirsten tells the nurse. "My husband went to meet our foster...our other son. I'm going to go check on them. Seth will be okay, right?"
Kelly steps back in the room slightly, "Absolutely. I'll keep a close eye on him." She winks at Kirsten.
Grateful for the woman's kindness, Kirsten issues a soft thank you, and exits the hospital room. She hurries down the hallway in search of Ryan and Sandy.
-------------------------------------------------
Ryan's only sixteen.
There's a limited amount of past experience he can fall back on. His mom runs or drinks when she is overwhelmed, stressed. His dad...well he can't really remember his dad's reactions. Just glimpses of anger and regret. Trey? No real layers there. Ryan doubts that Trey even acknowledges emotions. His brother simply shifts attitudes upon impact.
Ryan's not stupid.
He understands what he wasn't supposed to overhear. He's just not sure what to do about it. His family's coping tree doesn't harbor roots this deep. He feels lifeless, incapable of a reaction.
"Ryan?"
The teen hears his name called and turns his head towards the source, his eyes cast down but somehow managing to still see everything. Ed Carden is slothing his way towards Ryan, the man's right hand held up in a 'just hold on' gesture.
As Ed gets closer, Ryan backs up a little more, looks towards Sandy but issues a murmured, solid warning in Carden's direction, "Stay away from me."
Ed flinches but Sandy remains impassive, unreadable, and silent.
Ryan stiffens his jaw, draws heavy breaths, his eyes boring into Sandy.
Ed stops moving but continues to try and communicate with the boy. "Ryan, I'm not sure what you think you heard, but this is all my fault. Please, go with Sandy, I'm sure you're upset about Seth. Go, see him. We'll all talk later. I made a huge mistake tonight. I understand that now. I don't want you hurt in all this." Carden waits for Ryan to make some kind of an acknowledgement of his words, but nothing happens. Ryan is frozen, eyes still locked with Sandy's.
Carden moves back to his car, opens the drivers side door. "I think I should go now. Ryan, please, just... you need to go with Sandy."
"Fuck you," Ryan snaps at Carden, glares at Sandy, flips Seth's bag off his shoulder to the ground, pointing at it.
"That's full of Seth's stuff," he mutters to Sandy, "Tell him I'll be by later."
Ryan turns his back to the two men and walks away.
-------------------------------------------
Seth is dreaming.
He's happy, content. The ocean is a cool blue, waves winking at him.
Nothing is wrong.
The sun is setting in the sky, a burst of orange, the rays a last strong warmth of a beautiful day.
Seth leans over and hands Summer a drink, touches her hand.
Corona beer can kiss his ass. This is the perfect commercial.
------------------------------------------
Ed hovers above the driver's seat, one leg in his car, the other planted firmly on the HOAG emergency lane. His mouth hanging open, Carden watches Ryan walk into the night.
Sandy wearily picks up the bag that Ryan has deposited, puts it on his shoulder, and takes care to tuck in a few items that have become dislodged and are threatening to fall out of the bag.
Ryan is getting further and further away.
From across his rental, Carden looks at Sandy. "Should we do something?" Ed asks helplessly. He barely pauses before adding, "We should go stop him, right? Should we go stop him?"
Sandy lets out a disgusted laugh, raises his head to the sky. "I'm sorry Ed, did you just ask me for advice?"
Carden remains silent.
Sandy laughs again. "Because if you just asked me advice? You can go to hell."
Ed lowers his head. Ryan is almost out of view.
"I mean," Sandy continues, "That if you are truly concerned about Ryan's well being, this is maybe not the way to go about showing it."
"I'm sorry," Ed says, attempting to convey his regret.
"I thought we had an understanding," Sandy counters. "At my office, in the elevator. I thought we agreed, for Ryan's sake, to take this slow Ed. I thought I could trust you."
Carden doesn't know what to say. There is nothing to say.
"Just go away," Sandy tells him. "I'll take care of this. Just leave."
Ed raises his head and looks at Sandy. "I never meant for this to happen," he tells the lawyer. "I...this is not what I wanted. I just...I wanted to see him."
Sandy walks over to the rental, puts his hand on the still open passenger side door. "I'll call you in the morning Ed." He slams the door shut.
Carden begins to ease himself into his vehicle and then stops, stands back up, affirms to Sandy, "This is not what I wanted. I'm so sorry."
Sandy doesn't answer. He hears Carden close the driver seat door, start the car's engine, drive away.
Sandy looks out in the parking lot.
Ryan is gone.
--------------------------------------------
As the emergency room exit gets closer, Kirsten feels herself moving faster and faster. She hits the automatic door button, quickly departures the first set of doors and runs smack into Sandy.
She spots the bag in her husband's hand, looks around - where's Ryan?
"Sandy?" she leads. "Where is he?"
Sandy runs his fingers through his hair. Sets the bag down on the ground. "He overheard Carden and I talking. I'm sorry Kirsten; I thought he had come inside. I'm tired. I'm not using my head. It was unbelievable stupid of me."
Kirsten's face drops, registers the shock of Sandy's words.
"Where is he?" She repeats, her words fueled by mounting panic, "Where's Ryan? Did he go with that man?"
Sandy shakes his head slowly, "No. He walked away."
Kirsten's face sinks into more disbelief. "And you just let him?"
"What was I supposed to do Kirsten? You know as well as I that Ryan's not the type of kid that you force anything on. At least he didn't go ballistic. He said he'd be back. He wants space Kirsten; we have to give it to him. We have to trust Ryan to come back on his own."
Kirsten shakes her head and walks past Sandy to the last two set of doors that lead out of the hospital.
"Honey," Sandy turns, calls after her, "Kirsten, where are you going?"
She stops in the archway. "We are talking about a sixteen-year-old child Sandy, where do you think I'm going? Maybe you're comfortable with giving him space but I can't do that. I'll call you when I find him."
As his wife disappears into the hospital parking lot, Sandy wearily picks up the bag and makes his way back to Seth's room.
Sandy's not comfortable with any of this.
He's just the one left holding the bag.
------------------------------------------
To Be Continued
"She did NOT just end the chapter with that cheesy line!" Oh...but I think I did. Couldn't resist. Next chapter Friday night, I promise. muchtvs
Author's Note: Can my head fit into this post? Maybe not. It has swelled to gigantic proportions after I read all my reviews. Unbelievable. I say it every time, but I really didn't expect anyone to be reading this story. Thanks guys!!! You are all awesome. I'm just SO ashamed of my months of lurking and not reviewing. I'm going to go back and review every single story I enjoyed.
Shout out to my beta Liz. I changed the chapter a bunch-o-times since she beta'd. All mistakes are mine. Wink to my mystery reader who suggested a little more in the middle. Your suggestions have been applied.
Triple XXX everyone for reading.
---------------------------------------
Thursday Afternoon
Chapter Eleven
---------------------------------------
Seth has nodded off again. Kirsten convinces herself that he's doing better. There's less activity in the room, and the hospital staff seems less frenzied. The nurse, Kelly, tells Kirsten that a nasty strain of the flu has been going around. HOAG admitted two people yesterday. Sure they were both in their eighties, but the flu is funny. Seth could have already had a minor cold, his immune system compromised. Kirsten knows that the woman is trying to make her feel better. And she wants to buy into the flu theory, really she does. But she's still scared. It's unnatural for Seth to be this still, quiet, subservient.
Kelly has just finished recording Seth's latest round of vitals. On her way to leave the hospital room she asks Kirsten, "Is Seth your only child?"
"Yes," Kirsten answers without thinking, then quickly modifies her answer, "Uh, no actually, Sandy and I just recently took in a foster son. He's Seth's age." She hopes the nurse can't see the guilt Kirsten's feeling over her initial response.
"Good for you!" Kelly replies with enthusiasm. "Taking in a teenager is a very selfless act."
Her words only add to Kirsten's self-reproach. The Cohens have their own reasons for allowing Ryan to live with them. It's not all about noble sacrifice.
Kirsten rushes out the next sentence. "Do you think Seth will be asleep very long?"
Kelly nods, "Probably. A fever does that, plus with the Tordal, his body is relaxing. It's going to want to sleep more than anything."
"I need to leave for a few minutes," Kirsten tells the nurse. "My husband went to meet our foster...our other son. I'm going to go check on them. Seth will be okay, right?"
Kelly steps back in the room slightly, "Absolutely. I'll keep a close eye on him." She winks at Kirsten.
Grateful for the woman's kindness, Kirsten issues a soft thank you, and exits the hospital room. She hurries down the hallway in search of Ryan and Sandy.
-------------------------------------------------
Ryan's only sixteen.
There's a limited amount of past experience he can fall back on. His mom runs or drinks when she is overwhelmed, stressed. His dad...well he can't really remember his dad's reactions. Just glimpses of anger and regret. Trey? No real layers there. Ryan doubts that Trey even acknowledges emotions. His brother simply shifts attitudes upon impact.
Ryan's not stupid.
He understands what he wasn't supposed to overhear. He's just not sure what to do about it. His family's coping tree doesn't harbor roots this deep. He feels lifeless, incapable of a reaction.
"Ryan?"
The teen hears his name called and turns his head towards the source, his eyes cast down but somehow managing to still see everything. Ed Carden is slothing his way towards Ryan, the man's right hand held up in a 'just hold on' gesture.
As Ed gets closer, Ryan backs up a little more, looks towards Sandy but issues a murmured, solid warning in Carden's direction, "Stay away from me."
Ed flinches but Sandy remains impassive, unreadable, and silent.
Ryan stiffens his jaw, draws heavy breaths, his eyes boring into Sandy.
Ed stops moving but continues to try and communicate with the boy. "Ryan, I'm not sure what you think you heard, but this is all my fault. Please, go with Sandy, I'm sure you're upset about Seth. Go, see him. We'll all talk later. I made a huge mistake tonight. I understand that now. I don't want you hurt in all this." Carden waits for Ryan to make some kind of an acknowledgement of his words, but nothing happens. Ryan is frozen, eyes still locked with Sandy's.
Carden moves back to his car, opens the drivers side door. "I think I should go now. Ryan, please, just... you need to go with Sandy."
"Fuck you," Ryan snaps at Carden, glares at Sandy, flips Seth's bag off his shoulder to the ground, pointing at it.
"That's full of Seth's stuff," he mutters to Sandy, "Tell him I'll be by later."
Ryan turns his back to the two men and walks away.
-------------------------------------------
Seth is dreaming.
He's happy, content. The ocean is a cool blue, waves winking at him.
Nothing is wrong.
The sun is setting in the sky, a burst of orange, the rays a last strong warmth of a beautiful day.
Seth leans over and hands Summer a drink, touches her hand.
Corona beer can kiss his ass. This is the perfect commercial.
------------------------------------------
Ed hovers above the driver's seat, one leg in his car, the other planted firmly on the HOAG emergency lane. His mouth hanging open, Carden watches Ryan walk into the night.
Sandy wearily picks up the bag that Ryan has deposited, puts it on his shoulder, and takes care to tuck in a few items that have become dislodged and are threatening to fall out of the bag.
Ryan is getting further and further away.
From across his rental, Carden looks at Sandy. "Should we do something?" Ed asks helplessly. He barely pauses before adding, "We should go stop him, right? Should we go stop him?"
Sandy lets out a disgusted laugh, raises his head to the sky. "I'm sorry Ed, did you just ask me for advice?"
Carden remains silent.
Sandy laughs again. "Because if you just asked me advice? You can go to hell."
Ed lowers his head. Ryan is almost out of view.
"I mean," Sandy continues, "That if you are truly concerned about Ryan's well being, this is maybe not the way to go about showing it."
"I'm sorry," Ed says, attempting to convey his regret.
"I thought we had an understanding," Sandy counters. "At my office, in the elevator. I thought we agreed, for Ryan's sake, to take this slow Ed. I thought I could trust you."
Carden doesn't know what to say. There is nothing to say.
"Just go away," Sandy tells him. "I'll take care of this. Just leave."
Ed raises his head and looks at Sandy. "I never meant for this to happen," he tells the lawyer. "I...this is not what I wanted. I just...I wanted to see him."
Sandy walks over to the rental, puts his hand on the still open passenger side door. "I'll call you in the morning Ed." He slams the door shut.
Carden begins to ease himself into his vehicle and then stops, stands back up, affirms to Sandy, "This is not what I wanted. I'm so sorry."
Sandy doesn't answer. He hears Carden close the driver seat door, start the car's engine, drive away.
Sandy looks out in the parking lot.
Ryan is gone.
--------------------------------------------
As the emergency room exit gets closer, Kirsten feels herself moving faster and faster. She hits the automatic door button, quickly departures the first set of doors and runs smack into Sandy.
She spots the bag in her husband's hand, looks around - where's Ryan?
"Sandy?" she leads. "Where is he?"
Sandy runs his fingers through his hair. Sets the bag down on the ground. "He overheard Carden and I talking. I'm sorry Kirsten; I thought he had come inside. I'm tired. I'm not using my head. It was unbelievable stupid of me."
Kirsten's face drops, registers the shock of Sandy's words.
"Where is he?" She repeats, her words fueled by mounting panic, "Where's Ryan? Did he go with that man?"
Sandy shakes his head slowly, "No. He walked away."
Kirsten's face sinks into more disbelief. "And you just let him?"
"What was I supposed to do Kirsten? You know as well as I that Ryan's not the type of kid that you force anything on. At least he didn't go ballistic. He said he'd be back. He wants space Kirsten; we have to give it to him. We have to trust Ryan to come back on his own."
Kirsten shakes her head and walks past Sandy to the last two set of doors that lead out of the hospital.
"Honey," Sandy turns, calls after her, "Kirsten, where are you going?"
She stops in the archway. "We are talking about a sixteen-year-old child Sandy, where do you think I'm going? Maybe you're comfortable with giving him space but I can't do that. I'll call you when I find him."
As his wife disappears into the hospital parking lot, Sandy wearily picks up the bag and makes his way back to Seth's room.
Sandy's not comfortable with any of this.
He's just the one left holding the bag.
------------------------------------------
To Be Continued
"She did NOT just end the chapter with that cheesy line!" Oh...but I think I did. Couldn't resist. Next chapter Friday night, I promise. muchtvs