Disclaimer: The OC belongs to someone with much more money than me.

Author's note: I'll update sooner on next chapter, promise. Thanks for reading.

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Thursday Afternoon Chapter 15

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Ryan is sitting in the dark. He's turned off all the lights, put the chair back by the bed. Scrunched up in a corner with his iPOD blaring, the teenager is hoping to will himself invisible. If anyone casually glances into the room, they won't see him.

The door opens, emitting a slim stream of light. Ryan sees Sandy peek his head in, look around, then the door closes again.

Ryan's heart beats a little faster.

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Sandy stands outside the room confused. Maybe Ryan took an emergency exit out. But they are all equipped with sensors. He couldn't have gone to the bathroom; it's located by the waiting room. Sandy notices all the rooms that line the corridor. He's too tired to search every one of them. Besides, hiding in plain sight is more Ryan's modus operandi.

He opens Seth's door again and steps inside.

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Ryan watches Sandy come all the way into the room and knows he is busted. Where's Kirsten to intercede? She promised to keep everyone away.

"Ryan?" He hears Sandy say his name. "Ryan?" A little louder this time, a little more assertive.

Ryan cranks the volume on his iPOD.

"Ryan!"

Oh yeah, Ryan recognizes that tone in Sandy's voice. The man has brought his ball and bat. It's time to play. Ryan slips the iPOD from his ears, sets it down on the ground next to him.

Sandy turns toward the noise, steps closer to the corner Ryan is in.

"Can we turn a light on please?" Sandy asks into the darkness.

"I'm not doing this here." Ryan answers coldly.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sandy counters with false cheerfulness.

He walks over to the wall and flips the light switch up. The room is instantly illuminated. Sandy sees Ryan's head snap down. He's sitting with his knees pulled up, arms tightly wrapped around his legs. It appears that the boy is attempting to melt into the wall that supports his back.

"Ryan," Sandy walks to the chair sitting beside the bed, turns it towards the corner the teen is camped out in, and sits down. "I'm going to tell you what happened in my office this afternoon. You don't have to say anything, or answer me, or interact in any way. But you are going to sit there and listen."

Ryan clenches his eyes shut.

Don't do this to me Sandy, he screams in his head. Don't make me kick your ass or say something I can't take back. Just get the fuck out.

Sandy notices Ryan's hands start to ball up, his right fist nervously pounding up and down on his leg. His feet begin twitching. Either Ryan's getting ready for take off or having a seizure. Sandy guesses it's the former and not the latter.

"I was sitting in my office this afternoon Ryan and your mother called."

Ryan's head shoots up. He avoids his foster father's eyes, stares blankly at the wall. "I'm not doing this here Mr. Cohen."

Sandy flinches at Ryan's use of his formal name, recovers and informs Ryan, "Well that's too damn bad Mr. Atwood, because yes you are. So, as I was saying, your mother called today and told me she was sending someone over to speak with me."

Ryan uses his back to slide up against the wall, into a standing position, his voice low, calculated, "I'm not doing this here."

Sandy ignores the teen, continues with his story. "And Ryan, I feel compelled to tell you that she had been drinking. I'm not going to sugar coat any of this. I'm going to be completely honest with you."

Ryan takes a step towards the door but the hospital bed is in his way. If he wants to leave the room, he's going to have to climb over it or go around Sandy.

"Sure enough, a few hours later, a gentleman, by the name of Ed Carden shows up, and...that's where things get really interesting."

Ryan takes another step.

Sandy stands up.

"I think you'd be more comfortable sitting down Ryan," he says and adds, "You're not leaving this room Ryan until you at least do me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say."

"But you're not listening to ME!" Ryan emphasizes the last word, squeezes his fists, and then regains a bit of his composure. He lowers his voice but the anger and frustration that are swirling around him are still obvious. "I told you, I'm not doing this here."

"And I told you Ryan, yes, you are."

The boy breathes heavily, braces himself and swings his head halfway towards Sandy, throws side-glance daggers at the older man.

Sandy picks up the chair, brings it to Ryan, sets it down next to the teenager, and pats the back of it, indicating that Ryan should sit down.

"Believe me Ryan; God knows this isn't the place I would pick either. Hey, don't blame me. This is all Seth's fault. He should be back in 50 minutes or so. We can yell at him then, that's assuming he isn't asleep or sedated." Sandy pats the back of the chair again, walks away a bit, giving Ryan some breathing room.

Sandy points to the chair.

Ryan ignores the gesture.

Sandy marches on. "So, back to the situation at hand. Ed, Mr. Carden, actually Major Carden, Air Force I believe, introduces himself and informs me that he used to live next door to your parents, back in Fresno. Obviously we are discussing a time before you were born Ryan, Trey was a toddler, very early in your parent's marriage. They were young, trying to make it alone."

Ryan lowers his head, shakes it back and forth, and emits a disgusted laugh.

"According to Ed Carden, your mother and father would drink, quite a bit, and fight, quite a bit. And unfortunately, you father began doing some fairly hard-core drugs."

Ryan has had enough. He will not stay in this room and be forced to listen to the hellish events that preceded his own hellish experiences with Dawn and Russell. "I'm leaving," he announces, moves the chair out of his way, advances on Sandy.

"Ryan, sit down," Sandy stands his ground, blocks Ryan's exit out of the room. "Please, just sit and listen to me Ryan."

Having reached Sandy, Ryan tries to take a step to the lawyer's right but Sandy compensates, keeps his position in front of the teen.

Making a quick decision, Sandy moves as close to Ryan as he can without touching the boy, and locks eyes with his foster son. "Where are we taking this Ryan? I don't want this anymore than you do kid."

"Then get the hell out of my way," Ryan warns.

Sandy doesn't budge and Ryan makes a decision of his own. He drops his head, takes a step backwards and then proceeds to shove his guardian aside with every ounce of strength he can muster. Sandy is struck off balance, stumbles backwards but manages to stay upright. Ryan rushes past him, out of the hospital room. By the time Sandy can make it to the door himself, Ryan is halfway down the hallway.

A nurse is leaning over the nursing station, watching the boy stomp down the corridor.

"Ryan!" Sandy calls out, "Ryan do not walk away from me. You're better than this Ryan. We're better than this."

Sandy's voice has summoned Kirsten. She stands at the edge of the waiting room, watching the confrontation unfold. Ryan spots her, stops.

"Ryan," Sandy tries to speak as calmly as possibly, removing all emotion. "I never lied to you Ryan. Seth was sick, Kirsten needed me, and I wasn't going to tell you over the phone. I did the best I could Ryan. I would have told you tonight. You're going to have to trust me on that. I have only ever acted in your best interests."

The boy's not moving and with Ryan's back to him, Sandy can't tell if the teenager is listening to him or plotting how he's going to elude Kirsten. Sandy knows that Ryan would never hurt Kirsten; he's more concerned that the kid will somehow make it past her. They got lucky the first time, coaxing him back from the parking lot. There isn't going to be a second chance, Ryan's too upset.

The nurse is fully engrossed now, viewing the circumstances like a tennis match, her eyes darting back and forth between Sandy and Ryan.

"You don't have to walk out Ryan," Sandy states bluntly, "It's just as easy to stay. All you have to do is turn around."

Ryan glances at Kirsten and then looks over his shoulder at Sandy. The boy has lost most of his momentum. He no longer seems angry, his body more dejection than a promise of violence.

"I pushed you," Ryan says quietly, his voice part remorse, part unstated question.

"No Ryan," Sandy corrects him, "I pushed you. All you did was push back."

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To be continued.........