Ryan opened his eyes and searched his surroundings, finally settling his gaze on Kirsten.
"Hey there," Kirsten smiled.
"Hey…" He replied.
"You had us worried."
Ryan turned his head away.
"You upset Sandy. But I'm not going to let you upset me. Because you're not going to die." She took his hand.
"You promise?"
"I promise. But you have to hang on. You're strong, you have to rely on that…" Kirsten paused. Ryan was breathing shallowly from the pain. "I'll get the nurse…"
"I don't want to sleep…don't…its okay…" Ryan whispered, his blue eyes glazed with pain and fear.
"Ryan, you have to rest…there's nothing to be afraid of," Kirsten said gently.
"What if I can't wake up?"
"Hey," She tenderly ran her fingers through his hair. "I'll be right here, okay? There's nothing to fear…"
He had tears on his cheeks and shuddered.
"Just relax…" She pushed the button for the nurse. "You have to rest, don't worry…"
"I'm sorry about Sandy…will you tell him I'm sorry?"
"You can tell him yourself, Ryan."
The nurse came in and gave Ryan some pain medication and checked his vitals. Ryan drifted back to sleep.
She'd never seen him so scared before.
------------/------------/-------------/-------------/--------------/-----------/------------
"Dude. Dude. Wake up."
Seth sat up with a jolt in the waiting room. Luke was sitting across the room.
"You were talking in your sleep again."
"What are you still doing here?"
"I didn't think you should be alone. Your folks are both exhausted and I sort of promised Chino that I'd look out for you…"
"When?"
"He called. Wanted me to promise to look after you if something happened."
"What else did he say?"
"That Trey sold him out to Tony."
Seth shook his head in disbelief. "Dammit…his family is just…"
"Shit. His family is shit," Luke finished.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"He was worried about you and Hailey walking into something. You know Ryan, he's all about taking the hit before anybody else…he thinks he's invincible…"
"He was fucking scared, Luke…"
"He took 3 bullets, that'd scare anybody…"
------------/--------------/-----------------/---------------/--------------/-----------/-
Ryan woke up and took a deep breath. The air tasted different but he inhaled deeply.
"That's it, just breathe…"
Ryan recognized Kirsten beside him. He had an n oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.
"Ryan?"
He focused on the doctor on his other side.
"We'd like you to try and stay awake for a little while, okay?"
Ryan nodded.
"We want to take you for some tests and we need you to be alert and honest, okay?"
"Okay," Ryan said.
"Good. You had a nightmare and your breathing was irregular so we want you to keep this oxygen on for a few more minutes." The doctor smiled at him. "I'll be right back."
Ryan was dizzy from the oxygen and lazily looked at Kirsten. "This is good stuff…"
"Glad you approve."
Ryan blinked. "Sandy must be pretty mad…"
"Oh, he's not mad…your machines just started going off when you had the bad dream and he got a little upset…" Kirsten said immediately.
Sorry…I don't remember…is Seth okay?"
"He's keeping vigil in the waiting room."
"Yeah? Hope he's drinking decaf…"
She smiled.
"And Hailey's safe?"
"Everyone's okay, Ryan."
Ryan seemed to relax.
"You feel like seeing Seth a few minutes?"
"Can I? Like, is he mad?"
"Why do you think everyone is mad at you? You're not in trouble, you didn't do anything wrong, all right?"
"Oh…okay…"
"What's wrong?" Kirsten asked, concerned.
"I don't know…it's like my head's all mixed up…" Ryan confessed.
"Just relax. I'll get Seth for you."
Ryan closed his eyes and took several deep breaths despite the pain.
"Hey, man."
Ryan opened his eyes. Seth seemed stricken, his brown eyes were wide with worry.
"Hey, Seth…don't look at me like that…"
"Sorry," Seth stammered.
Ryan smiled. "Relax…" He pulled the oxygen mask off. "You all right?"
"I thought you were dead," Seth whispered.
"Yeah, me, too," Ryan muttered honestly.
"But you're going to be okay."
"Okay. Yeah. I'll be fine."
"You should've seen it, dude, Grandpa went all mafia on the hospital and threatened them…" Seth started. He continued talking and replaced the oxygen mask over Ryan's face.
Ryan was content to let Seth babble and found himself relaxing.
"Dude?"
"Yeah?"
"What's up?"
"I was just listening to you talk…you're strangely soothing…" Ryan smiled.
"Seth?" Sandy stepped in. "Where's Kirsten?"
"Mom's with the doctor."
"Hey, Sandy," Ryan called.
"Hey, kid." Sandy smiled, relieved.
"I just wanted to talk to Seth a few minutes," Ryan said.
"Good…" Sandy replied.
"You look shaken," Seth commented.
"A little. Ryan here seems to enjoy scaring the hell out of me," Sandy admitted.
"I was sleeping. I plead the fifth," Ryan replied.
Sandy smiled. "I guess I'm just a little on edge."
"I think I'm better…" Ryan said through the mask.
"He says I'm soothing," Seth told his father.
"And I love oxygen," Ryan added.
"That's just weird," Seth teased.
"Okay, guys," Kirsten said as she walked in. "Ryan has to go for some tests."
"Tests?" Seth asked.
"It's cool," Ryan said.
"It shouldn't take long," Kirsten continued.
"I think you both should get some sleep, guys. You all look like hell," Ryan said.
"I'm going with Ryan for his tests, but he's right. You guys should go home for a few hours. We'll see you both around six. Now get out."
"Kirsten…" Sandy protested.
"You better listen to her," Ryan warned.
"You take care of yourself," Seth said. "We'll be back."
---------/-----------/-------------/----------/------------/----------/-----------/---------/----
Kirsten was waiting outside radiology.
"Hey. How is he?"
"Dawn. What are you doing here?" Kirsten recognized Ryan's mother beside her.
"Came to check on my boy."
"How'd you find out?"
Dawn didn't reply. She was stiff with tension but her blue eyes were alert.
"Dawn? How'd you find out?" Kirsten repeated, chilled.
"Got a call from Toney. Offering his fucking condolences," Dawn replied with venom in her tone.
"What? Tony…"
"So I called up Trey in the pen. He told me what's been going down. How he sold out Ry…"
"Dawn…"
Dawn's eyes were dark with anger and worry. "So I told him that he'd regret where he put his loyalty. He should know better. Family's all he's got…anyway. I just needed to make sure he was okay."
"Dawn," Kirsten started again.
"Tony won't bother your family anymore."
"What?" Kirsten was confused.
"The best thing I ever did for Ry was let him go. Let him stay with your family. So to have that fucking lowlife Tony go after him…it's not fair. Ryan's a good kid, he was doing the right thing…"
"What did you do, Dawn?"
"I called Ry's dad. He might not be father of the year, but he loves his boys. He took care of Tony…"
"Oh , Dawn, what the hell did you do?"
Dawn smiled at Kirsten. "Take care of my boy, okay?" She turned and walked away before Kirsten could stop her.
