Officer Greene walked out of Ryan's room, just shaking his head. He knew
there was much more to the story than Ryan was telling him. As he turned
to leave, he noticed Dr. Bollard talking to a couple and knew immediately
that they had to be there for Ryan. One look at them and Officer Greene
could tell; they weren't from Chino.
He walked over to them and listened quietly as Dr. Bollard explained Ryan's injuries. The concussion, the broken nose, bruised kidney, fractured ribs, collapsed lung, facial lacerations, and the many other contusions. He hoped with the laundry list of injuries that Dr. Bollard was presenting them; they would recognize the severity of the situation and get Ryan to tell them who attacked him. When he was done listing the injuries and explaining the treatment plain and tests he wanted to run, Dr. Bollard turned to Officer Greene and introduced him,
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, this is Officer Jim Greene. He and his partner are the two who found Ryan in the park."
"Mr. Cohen," he said, as he shook Sandy's hand, "We spoke on the phone this morning. I'm sorry to have called so early, but we wanted to locate you as quickly as possible."
"No apology needed. We're just thankful to you for finding Ryan. For helping him. You and your partner both. Thank you." Kirsten said as she too shook Officer Greene's hand. "Has Ryan said anything to you about what happened? Who attacked him? What he was doing in the park in the middle of the night."
"Unfortunately, no. I haven't been able to get very much out of Ryan." Officer Greene explained to them, "He keeps claiming that he doesn't remember. The only bit of information we did get from him was when we first found him. He said that it wasn't Eddie's fault. Now he won't tell us who Eddie is. Claims Eddie is his brother."
Kirsten looked at Sandy and told him,
"I knew it was Eddie. See, I knew it."
Officer Greene took his pad and pen out. He figured he'd be able to get more information from the parents.
"And I take it this Eddie is not Ryan's brother?" He asked.
"No. Seth is." Sandy said, "Eddie is a kid that Ryan has had trouble with in the past. Unfortunately, we don't know Eddie's last name."
"Santos." They heard someone say from behind them.
"Eddie Santos." Teresa said as she approached the group.
Officer Greene looked at the young woman who approached them and asked,
"And you are?"
"Teresa. Teresa DeLaCruz. I'm a......friend of Ryan's." She told the officer.
Officer Greene looked from Teresa to the Cohens. At least now someone could give him the information he needed.
"Were you there? Did you see the attack?" he asked Teresa.
"I didn't see it," she told them, "But Eddie called me this morning. Told me that he found Ryan, and if I wanted to find Ryan, I should look here. Told me that Ryan wasn't so pretty anymore, and that maybe now I would love him instead. I didn't have to see the attack. Eddie told me he and his friends did it. Is Ryan ok?"
Kirsten put her arm around Teresa and told her,
"He will be. Don't worry. He'll be fine. In time. How are you?"
Teresa only nodded. She wasn't fine. She was a wreck, but she doubted the Cohens were really interested in how she was doing. She knew they were there for Ryan. She was, too. But because it was her fault. All of it was her fault, and she knew she needed to make it right.
"Miss?" Officer Greene said, interrupting her thoughts, "Can you give me the names and addresses of Eddie's friends, and the address of Eddie, as well as any information that you think may be helpful?"
Teresa again nodded. Officer Greene walked her over to a row of chairs to take her statement, and Kirsten went with them. She wanted to know what Teresa knew. She nodded at Sandy, who excused himself. They didn't need him at that moment, so he wanted to go in and see Ryan. He needed to go see Ryan. They needed to talk.
Sandy opened the door to Ryan's room quietly. Dr. Bollard said they had given Ryan something for the pain and Ryan might be asleep, and as much as Sandy wanted to talk to him, he knew Ryan would probably be better off sleeping. Sandy was surprised when he walked in and saw Ryan look at him. But not nearly as surprised as Ryan was to see Sandy.
"Hey," Ryan asked, "What are you doing here?"
At first, Sandy found it hard to look at Ryan. His face was so bruised, so battered. But looking at him made Sandy more determined than ever that Ryan was coming home. Kirsten was right. This was no longer Ryan's choice.
"The hospital called us," he told Ryan, "We are still your guardians."
"But how did they know?" Ryan asked. He couldn't figure out how they would know to call his guardians in Newport Beach.
Sandy shrugged and told him,
"Apparently, you never changed the information in your wallet. They traced us through that, I guess. How are you doing?"
"I'm ok," Ryan told him, "It looks worse than I feel. You know, painkillers."
Sandy sighed. He should have guessed Ryan would try to shrug it off.
"Well, it looks pretty bad," he informed Ryan, "But the doctor says you'll be ok. You just need a lot of rest, and you should be back on your feet in no time."
It finally dawned on Ryan what the doctor was talking about. "When your family gets here." They meant Sandy. That's why they called him Ryan from Newport Beach, and why Officer Greene couldn't figure out why he would be in a Chino park after dark. He still had Newport Beach listed as his home address, which meant they would call Sandy and Kirsten, not Teresa and Eva.
"So, when can I get out of here?" Ryan asked. He knew the doctors would have given Sandy that kind of information.
"It looks like maybe tomorrow. The doctor wants to keep you under observation for a little bit and run a few more tests, and then they'll release you to our care." Sandy told him.
Ryan looked at Sandy and asked,
"Your care?"
Sandy nodded. Here we go, Sandy thought.
"Yes, Ryan." he told him, "Our care. You're coming home with us. To Newport."
"Sandy..." Ryan started to say, before being cut off by Sandy,
"Forget it, Ryan. You're coming home with us. I'm not arguing with you about it. We tried it your way and look what happened. Now you're doing this our way. You're coming back to Newport to recover. When the baby is born in the fall, we'll address it then, but until then you're coming back to Newport."
It actually sounded good to Ryan, but he didn't want to be a burden to them. He couldn't impose on them. Not now. If he went back now, they would have to take care of him, and he didn't want that. He didn't want them feeling sorry for him.
"Look, Sandy," Ryan started, "Kirsten doesn't need that. This. Me. I read about Caleb. I know he's in trouble. You guys don't need to deal with all of this, too. I'll just go back to Teresa's. I'll be ok. Really."
Suddenly Sandy found himself getting angry. He didn't want to get mad. He didn't want to fight with Ryan, but he knew he needed to get through to Ryan. And if fighting with him was the only way, then he was willing to yell at an injured kid.
"No, Ryan!" he said, "You're not. We haven't heard from you since you left. Over two months ago. You didn't return any of our calls. Never came home to check in. Nothing. How do you think Kirsten felt? How I felt? Don't tell me what we need and don't need! You're coming back to Newport with us. That's it. That's final. And believe me, right now, Kirsten needs her family. Her entire family, and that means you, too."
Ryan was quiet for a minute. He didn't like seeing Sandy mad, especially at him. He wanted nothing more then to just go home, and knowing they still wanted him made him very happy, as well as very relieved. He wouldn't argue about going home. He would just make sure when he got there, he spent as much time in the pool house as possible so he didn't bother any of them.
"Ok." he said, quietly. He was starting to get tired again and closed his eyes. Hopefully, Sandy wouldn't want to continue to talk. He agreed to leave Chino and go back to Newport. He hoped that would be enough talking for right now. But then he realized something. He couldn't just leave Teresa alone in Chino, not with her mother pushing her back to Eddie. He opened his eyes and asked Sandy,
"But what about Teresa? What happens if she goes back to Eddie? Then what do I do?"
Again Sandy sighed. Even beaten and battered, Ryan was still thinking about someone else.
"If she chooses to go back to Eddie after he's released," Sandy explained, "then that is her choice. You can't stop her from going back to him if that is what she wants. And if it appears that the baby will be in any kind of danger, then we will file for custody."
Ryan shook his head, "I can't ask you guys to do that."
"You didn't ask, so we don't need to talk about it right now." Sandy said.
Ryan recognized the tone. He knew there were times to argue with Sandy, and times when it wasn't really a good idea to argue with him. This was one of those times when Ryan knew not to argue with him. Instead he laid his head back and again closed his eyes. But opened them again when he realized something,
"Wait," he said, "What do you mean when Eddie gets released?"
"From jail," Sandy told him, "For assault. Battery, and whatever else they come up with."
It must have been the morphine or something, because Ryan really couldn't follow what Sandy was talking about. So he asked,
"For what?"
"For you. For attacking you." Sandy said.
Ryan shook his head and informed Sandy,
"I'm not pressing charges."
"No?" Sandy told him, "Well, I am."
Ryan began to panic. Sandy didn't understand.
"No, Sandy. Don't. You can't." Ryan told him.
"Yes I can, and I am. I am still your guardian. You are still a minor, and I can still call the shots. He attacked you. Severely beat you. Broke your ribs, your nose, punctured your lung, gave you a concussion. Do I need to go on? I am pressing charges. Against Eddie and his friends."
"No, Sandy, listen," Ryan tried to explain, "You can't press charges. It doesn't work that way here. Eddie was mad. About Teresa and me. He was just getting even. He made his point. Now we just move on."
"Well, he's moving on to jail," Sandy informed him, "That's how it works in Newport. Someone beats you severely enough to send you to the hospital, then you press charges."
"Sandy, if you do that, then I'll never be able to come back to Chino." Ryan said.
Sandy shrugged and told him,
"Exactly."
Ryan was getting really tired and was still really sore, and he didn't really want to continue this fight with Sandy so he just told him,
"Fine. But I'm not giving you their names." Without their names, there was nothing the cops could do, Ryan knew that much.
"You don't have to. Teresa did." Sandy said.
"Sandy...." Ryan again started, but he was too tired. He knew he was wasting his time with this argument. Sandy was in no mood to listen to him, so for right now, Ryan had to let it go.
This time when he closed his eyes, he fell asleep. And Sandy sat there and watched him.
He walked over to them and listened quietly as Dr. Bollard explained Ryan's injuries. The concussion, the broken nose, bruised kidney, fractured ribs, collapsed lung, facial lacerations, and the many other contusions. He hoped with the laundry list of injuries that Dr. Bollard was presenting them; they would recognize the severity of the situation and get Ryan to tell them who attacked him. When he was done listing the injuries and explaining the treatment plain and tests he wanted to run, Dr. Bollard turned to Officer Greene and introduced him,
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, this is Officer Jim Greene. He and his partner are the two who found Ryan in the park."
"Mr. Cohen," he said, as he shook Sandy's hand, "We spoke on the phone this morning. I'm sorry to have called so early, but we wanted to locate you as quickly as possible."
"No apology needed. We're just thankful to you for finding Ryan. For helping him. You and your partner both. Thank you." Kirsten said as she too shook Officer Greene's hand. "Has Ryan said anything to you about what happened? Who attacked him? What he was doing in the park in the middle of the night."
"Unfortunately, no. I haven't been able to get very much out of Ryan." Officer Greene explained to them, "He keeps claiming that he doesn't remember. The only bit of information we did get from him was when we first found him. He said that it wasn't Eddie's fault. Now he won't tell us who Eddie is. Claims Eddie is his brother."
Kirsten looked at Sandy and told him,
"I knew it was Eddie. See, I knew it."
Officer Greene took his pad and pen out. He figured he'd be able to get more information from the parents.
"And I take it this Eddie is not Ryan's brother?" He asked.
"No. Seth is." Sandy said, "Eddie is a kid that Ryan has had trouble with in the past. Unfortunately, we don't know Eddie's last name."
"Santos." They heard someone say from behind them.
"Eddie Santos." Teresa said as she approached the group.
Officer Greene looked at the young woman who approached them and asked,
"And you are?"
"Teresa. Teresa DeLaCruz. I'm a......friend of Ryan's." She told the officer.
Officer Greene looked from Teresa to the Cohens. At least now someone could give him the information he needed.
"Were you there? Did you see the attack?" he asked Teresa.
"I didn't see it," she told them, "But Eddie called me this morning. Told me that he found Ryan, and if I wanted to find Ryan, I should look here. Told me that Ryan wasn't so pretty anymore, and that maybe now I would love him instead. I didn't have to see the attack. Eddie told me he and his friends did it. Is Ryan ok?"
Kirsten put her arm around Teresa and told her,
"He will be. Don't worry. He'll be fine. In time. How are you?"
Teresa only nodded. She wasn't fine. She was a wreck, but she doubted the Cohens were really interested in how she was doing. She knew they were there for Ryan. She was, too. But because it was her fault. All of it was her fault, and she knew she needed to make it right.
"Miss?" Officer Greene said, interrupting her thoughts, "Can you give me the names and addresses of Eddie's friends, and the address of Eddie, as well as any information that you think may be helpful?"
Teresa again nodded. Officer Greene walked her over to a row of chairs to take her statement, and Kirsten went with them. She wanted to know what Teresa knew. She nodded at Sandy, who excused himself. They didn't need him at that moment, so he wanted to go in and see Ryan. He needed to go see Ryan. They needed to talk.
Sandy opened the door to Ryan's room quietly. Dr. Bollard said they had given Ryan something for the pain and Ryan might be asleep, and as much as Sandy wanted to talk to him, he knew Ryan would probably be better off sleeping. Sandy was surprised when he walked in and saw Ryan look at him. But not nearly as surprised as Ryan was to see Sandy.
"Hey," Ryan asked, "What are you doing here?"
At first, Sandy found it hard to look at Ryan. His face was so bruised, so battered. But looking at him made Sandy more determined than ever that Ryan was coming home. Kirsten was right. This was no longer Ryan's choice.
"The hospital called us," he told Ryan, "We are still your guardians."
"But how did they know?" Ryan asked. He couldn't figure out how they would know to call his guardians in Newport Beach.
Sandy shrugged and told him,
"Apparently, you never changed the information in your wallet. They traced us through that, I guess. How are you doing?"
"I'm ok," Ryan told him, "It looks worse than I feel. You know, painkillers."
Sandy sighed. He should have guessed Ryan would try to shrug it off.
"Well, it looks pretty bad," he informed Ryan, "But the doctor says you'll be ok. You just need a lot of rest, and you should be back on your feet in no time."
It finally dawned on Ryan what the doctor was talking about. "When your family gets here." They meant Sandy. That's why they called him Ryan from Newport Beach, and why Officer Greene couldn't figure out why he would be in a Chino park after dark. He still had Newport Beach listed as his home address, which meant they would call Sandy and Kirsten, not Teresa and Eva.
"So, when can I get out of here?" Ryan asked. He knew the doctors would have given Sandy that kind of information.
"It looks like maybe tomorrow. The doctor wants to keep you under observation for a little bit and run a few more tests, and then they'll release you to our care." Sandy told him.
Ryan looked at Sandy and asked,
"Your care?"
Sandy nodded. Here we go, Sandy thought.
"Yes, Ryan." he told him, "Our care. You're coming home with us. To Newport."
"Sandy..." Ryan started to say, before being cut off by Sandy,
"Forget it, Ryan. You're coming home with us. I'm not arguing with you about it. We tried it your way and look what happened. Now you're doing this our way. You're coming back to Newport to recover. When the baby is born in the fall, we'll address it then, but until then you're coming back to Newport."
It actually sounded good to Ryan, but he didn't want to be a burden to them. He couldn't impose on them. Not now. If he went back now, they would have to take care of him, and he didn't want that. He didn't want them feeling sorry for him.
"Look, Sandy," Ryan started, "Kirsten doesn't need that. This. Me. I read about Caleb. I know he's in trouble. You guys don't need to deal with all of this, too. I'll just go back to Teresa's. I'll be ok. Really."
Suddenly Sandy found himself getting angry. He didn't want to get mad. He didn't want to fight with Ryan, but he knew he needed to get through to Ryan. And if fighting with him was the only way, then he was willing to yell at an injured kid.
"No, Ryan!" he said, "You're not. We haven't heard from you since you left. Over two months ago. You didn't return any of our calls. Never came home to check in. Nothing. How do you think Kirsten felt? How I felt? Don't tell me what we need and don't need! You're coming back to Newport with us. That's it. That's final. And believe me, right now, Kirsten needs her family. Her entire family, and that means you, too."
Ryan was quiet for a minute. He didn't like seeing Sandy mad, especially at him. He wanted nothing more then to just go home, and knowing they still wanted him made him very happy, as well as very relieved. He wouldn't argue about going home. He would just make sure when he got there, he spent as much time in the pool house as possible so he didn't bother any of them.
"Ok." he said, quietly. He was starting to get tired again and closed his eyes. Hopefully, Sandy wouldn't want to continue to talk. He agreed to leave Chino and go back to Newport. He hoped that would be enough talking for right now. But then he realized something. He couldn't just leave Teresa alone in Chino, not with her mother pushing her back to Eddie. He opened his eyes and asked Sandy,
"But what about Teresa? What happens if she goes back to Eddie? Then what do I do?"
Again Sandy sighed. Even beaten and battered, Ryan was still thinking about someone else.
"If she chooses to go back to Eddie after he's released," Sandy explained, "then that is her choice. You can't stop her from going back to him if that is what she wants. And if it appears that the baby will be in any kind of danger, then we will file for custody."
Ryan shook his head, "I can't ask you guys to do that."
"You didn't ask, so we don't need to talk about it right now." Sandy said.
Ryan recognized the tone. He knew there were times to argue with Sandy, and times when it wasn't really a good idea to argue with him. This was one of those times when Ryan knew not to argue with him. Instead he laid his head back and again closed his eyes. But opened them again when he realized something,
"Wait," he said, "What do you mean when Eddie gets released?"
"From jail," Sandy told him, "For assault. Battery, and whatever else they come up with."
It must have been the morphine or something, because Ryan really couldn't follow what Sandy was talking about. So he asked,
"For what?"
"For you. For attacking you." Sandy said.
Ryan shook his head and informed Sandy,
"I'm not pressing charges."
"No?" Sandy told him, "Well, I am."
Ryan began to panic. Sandy didn't understand.
"No, Sandy. Don't. You can't." Ryan told him.
"Yes I can, and I am. I am still your guardian. You are still a minor, and I can still call the shots. He attacked you. Severely beat you. Broke your ribs, your nose, punctured your lung, gave you a concussion. Do I need to go on? I am pressing charges. Against Eddie and his friends."
"No, Sandy, listen," Ryan tried to explain, "You can't press charges. It doesn't work that way here. Eddie was mad. About Teresa and me. He was just getting even. He made his point. Now we just move on."
"Well, he's moving on to jail," Sandy informed him, "That's how it works in Newport. Someone beats you severely enough to send you to the hospital, then you press charges."
"Sandy, if you do that, then I'll never be able to come back to Chino." Ryan said.
Sandy shrugged and told him,
"Exactly."
Ryan was getting really tired and was still really sore, and he didn't really want to continue this fight with Sandy so he just told him,
"Fine. But I'm not giving you their names." Without their names, there was nothing the cops could do, Ryan knew that much.
"You don't have to. Teresa did." Sandy said.
"Sandy...." Ryan again started, but he was too tired. He knew he was wasting his time with this argument. Sandy was in no mood to listen to him, so for right now, Ryan had to let it go.
This time when he closed his eyes, he fell asleep. And Sandy sat there and watched him.