Thanks for the reviews. I was going to quit after the second chapter, b/c I felt like I wasn't getting the characters exactly right, but the reviews are helping me feel a little better about writing OC fics.

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(Sandy's POV)

Ryan's eyelids slide close against their own will, and I hold his limp body in my arms, trying to catch my breath as the doctor checks Ryan's heart rate and breathing. He directs the nurse that was previously sitting in the other room to go get a wheelchair, and as I turn to watch her leave, I see Seth standing in the doorway, his hands buried in his pockets and his face flushed from shock at what he just saw.

The nurse returns a few moments later with a wheelchair, and I turn my attention back to Ryan as I pick him up and set him in the wheelchair. The doctor walks over to the side of the room, and I manage to stop him as he picks up a phone in a attempt to call security.

"He just lost his moth, he's just a little... emotional at the moment. I promise to pay for any of the damage that he's done, just let me take him home so my wife and I can take care of him ourselves. The last thing that would help him is to be sent to the psych ward, just because he's trying to deal with a loss."

He looks over at Ryan before looking back at me, and reluctantly takes his hand off the phone before telling the nurse to help escort us out of the hospital. I think the doctor and give him one of my business cards, telling him to call me with the bill before grabbing Seth's arm and pulling him out of the room as we follow the nurse who's pushing Ryan.

As we walk through the sterile halls of the hospital, I look over at Seth who's still pale and speechless. His eyes are focused on the back of Ryan, and I squeeze his arm gently, causing him to look at me.

"Are you okay?" My voice comes out slightly cracked, and I curse myself quietly as he looks angrily at me.

"What did you do to him?"

There's a look in his eyes that I've never seen before, and I let go of his arm as he pulls away from me, and continues to look at me, waiting for my response.

"The doctor sedated him to calm him down. He'll be okay in a few hours, he just needs to sleep it off."

He doesn't say anything else to me as he opens the back passenger door and gets in the car, letting the door slam shut as I turn back to the nurse and help her put Ryan in the front passenger seat. I thank the lady as I put the seatbelt over Ryan's shoulder and buckle him in before laying the seat back a little so that he'll be more comfortable.

As I get in the drivers seat of the car, I look back at Seth who's staring out the window, and then look at Ryan, who's sleeping with a pained expression on his face.

The ride home is a deathly silence as the unconscious teenager sits in the seat next to me, his head turned to the side facing towards me, and I reach over and grab his hand that's resting in his lap. His skin is somewhat cold and pale, but I feel like I can still feel him shaking, like he was at the hospital before he was sedated. I look over at him, expecting him to be awake, but his eyes are still closed as he seemingly fights against whatever it is he's dreaming about.

I notice Seth move in the backseat slightly, and look back to see him staring quietly out the window. I try to rack my brain for something to say to him, something that will explain to him why we had to sedate Ryan, but all I draw are blanks as I turn into the driveway and shut the engine off.

The second I turn the car off, Seth jumps out of the car and walks up the driveway, passing by Kirsten as he enters the house and immediately goes up the stairs. Kirsten looks at him worried, before turning back to me and coming over to the car, enveloping me in a hug as I step out of the car.

"What's wrong with Seth?"

She pulls away from the hug and follows me as I walk over to the passenger side of the car, opening the door and removing the seatbelt from the younger man.

"He's mad that we had to sedate Ryan. I don't think he realizes how much anger Ryan has built up in him, and that at any minute he could just completely go off again the way he did at the morgue. Seth's just trying to be protective of his brother, the same way we are."

"And how is Ryan doing? You were vague about what exactly happened when you called me earlier." She reaches over and brushes a stray hair from Ryan's face as she talks, and I can see how he's becoming more and more part of this family everyday. He's our son, and Seth's brother, and I will fight anyone who steps in my way of keeping it that way.

"The doctor gave him a mild sedative, but he said Ryan should be out until the morning. I want him to stay in the guestroom tonight so we can keep an eye on him though, just in case he does wake up in the middle of the night. I think he's just having a lot of mixed feelings about how he should be dealing with this."

She nods her head and steps away from the door as I move in closer and slip my hands behind Ryan's back and under his knees, pulling his limp body out of the car as I begin to walk towards the house. Kirsten follows close behind me as I enter the house, and she closes the door behind us as I make my way into the guestroom and lay Ryan on the bed.

Kirsten walks into the room seconds later, and pulls the blanket up around Ryan's sleeping form after I remove his shoes, and I hold her close to me as we stand on the side of the bed, watching the younger boy sleep quietly.

"Sandy, What are we going to do? I know he felt abandoned before when his mom left the first two times, but now she's abandoned him completely. I know we're his family now, but he's not just going to forget about this." Kirsten's voice is soft as she continues to watch him, and I wrap my arms tightly around her waist holding her close to me like she might disappear if I let her go.

"We can do everything we can for him. Let him know that we're here anytime he needs to talk, and let him know that no matter what, we won't abandon him or let him slip through our fingers. This is where he belongs, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him believe that he's in this alone."

Kirsten pulls my arms away from her, and I watch confused as she walks over to Ryan and turns his head to the side, her fingers brushing gently over his neck as she stares down at him.

"Sandy, what happened to his neck?"

I quickly walk over to her, hearing the fear in her voice, and look at the dark bruise circling his neck. I don't remember seeing it there before, and I definitely don't remember him getting it from the hospital.

"I don't know, I didn't see it there before. He must have gotten it before he went to see his mom."

She traces her fingers over it lightly before leaning down and placing a kiss on his forehead, and I pull her up so she's standing as I tell her to let him get some sleep, and that we can talk about it in the morning.

She reluctantly follows me out of the room, and I leave to door open a slight bit as we walk into the living room and sit on the couch, letting the dark silence surround us. Kirsten yawns quietly from next to me, and I pull her down so that she's lying with her head in my lap.

We sit on the couch for a good hour with neither of us talking, and after a while, I finally hear her breathing becoming steady as she finally falls asleep. My mind is too busy playing the days events in my head over and over again, preventing me from getting any sleep, and I just stare blankly in front of me as I wait for morning to come, so that maybe we'll all be able to sit and talk about this, and figure out what's going on in Ryan's head.

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