THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE COHEN
By Allegra
NOTE: I'm really sorry this part has been soooo long coming. I just lost all impetus to writing anything. That said, I hope this chapter doesn't seem too lack lustre! Don't forget to review (or Ryan gets it!).
Part 4 : Limbo
Everything was moving in slow motion, even Marissa's thoughts. She had never witnessed anything quite like this in her life before. Orange County didn't exactly throw up a huge amount of serious beatings, certainly not to this extent. Marissa was barely aware of Kirsten's hand on her arm, gripping it tightly as they watched the morbid scene unfold in Ryan's room.
Defibrillators were applied to his chest, causing the teenager's body to stiffen and lurch from the bed as spasms of electricity shot through him. A nurse was pumping oxygen into his weakened lungs as the Cohen family looked on helplessly. It was difficult to reconcile their memories of Ryan Atwood with the inert figure being worked on through the glass. Joules of energy were forced through him as the heart monitor continued its steady tone of the dead. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Time was frozen in stark contrast to the frenzied activity going on next door.
Finally, a thready, irregular beat registered on the monitor as Ryan returned to the land of the living. Marissa watched with sickening fascination as her friend was intubated and a curtain was draw around his bed. The doctor emerged, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. Beneath the lenses, his eyes were bright and alert as he approached the waiting family. "Mr and Mrs Cohen. Ryan is going to be airlifted to the private facility you specified. His condition is currently unstable but we do not have adequate resources to treat this level of injury at the center."
"What are you saying?" Kirsten asked, her voice hoarse.
"Ryan has suffered significant internal injuries. We were able to do a patch up job which, as you just saw, is not enough for his body to begin healing itself. He needs a intensive care unit that can provide him with the very best care. The helicopter should be here in a matter of minutes." He gave the couple a moment for this information to sink in.
Sandy gathered his senses enough to ask, "Can anyone ride with him?"
"No. As you can imagine, the helicopter can only accommodate the patient and two paramedics. If you leave now, you should arrive at the hospital shortly after Ryan. I'm sorry there isn't more I can do."
"Thank you, doctor." Sandy turned to his wife and son. "Well, let's make a move. Marissa? Are you coming with us?"
The teenager was still standing near the window to Ryan's room, staring blankly at the curtain separating her from him. Her brain wasn't functioning quickly enough to register anything Sandy Cohen was saying.
"Marissa?" Kirsten moved up alongside the girl and laid a gentle hand on her arm. "Ryan's being moved. Do you want to come with us?" Marissa turned to her, dazed, then nodded mutely. Kirsten steered her back along the corridor, sparing a desperate glance back at Seth and Sandy. This was going to be a long night.
Ryan was unaware of the danger his life was in, the fine spider thread from which he hung. He was floating blissfully in numb darkness, free from pain, free from coherent thought. Fragments of images, sounds and smells began to come and go but none were never vivid enough to draw his full attention. There was a blonde woman cradling him as she stroked his hair. His mother perhaps? Ryan felt love for her but the image did not make him feel safe. There was danger…abandonment behind her eyes. The image faded to be replaced by an engine roar followed by the acrid smell of petroleum. A young man, a brother, grinned at him from the driver's seat. The grin was merely a smile at first but, the longer Ryan looked at it, the wider it grew until teeth and gums seemed to fill the man's entire face in a grotesque pastiche of happiness. The man's face became redder, crimson like oily face paints. The uneasiness Ryan felt was growing until he realised the paint was blood, dripping from his brother's face like the aftermath of some horrific accident. Before he had a chance to communicate, his brother faded once more from view.
Images flashed through the teenager's subconscious brain randomly. At first there was no pattern, just a collection of people and places. Then, gradually, a trend began to form. Whatever the picture, no matter how early the memory, the scene would mutate and contort into a nightmare version of events. Nothing was safe anymore, nothing told Ryan he was loved. There was simply darkness and all the terrors it harboured. If he could have turned away, he would have run for his life. But there was nowhere to escape to; he was trapped inside his own mind, held hostage to the worst fears his subconscious could conjure up.
The helicopter had landed safe and sound at the hospital and so had the Cohens, much to Seth's relief. Sandy had driven well above the speed limit for the entire journey. He had managed to avoid being pulled over but, even with the drama that was happening around them, it was still a white knuckle ride for the family and Marissa. They pulled into the parking lot and headed straight for the emergency room. They were kept waiting behind a queue of other expectant, anxious families wanting to know if their loved ones had been brought in. The wait, even for a few moments, was almost more than Seth could endure.
He had never had a friend like Ryan before. Any guy with muscles and an ounce of cool was usually way off his radar. The only kind of contact Seth Cohen was likely to get with guys like that was a punch in the face or worse. Yet, having Ryan around had been like having the brother his parents never gave him and a best friend who would never betray you all rolled into one. Seth might have only known Ryan for a short time but they had bonded in a way the teenager knew he never would again. He couldn't die now; there was too much they hadn't done together.
Seth followed his parents and Marissa blindly along the corridors, barely registering the sign posts as they passed them. Was he in X-ray? Was he already in the operating theatre? Finally they stopped by the OR where yet another anonymous, harassed surgeon met them. "Mr. Atwood is being prepped for surgery. He has a ruptured spleen as well as damage to his kidneys. We can't ascertain the full extent of these injuries until we've taken a proper look."
"Is he going to be okay?" Kirsten asked.
"He's got a lot of internal bleeding but we'll do everything we can. There are seats if you'd like to wait but he could be in there for several hours. There's a lot of work to do."
"We'd like to stay," Sandy replied firmly.
"Fine. I'll let you know as soon as we have some solid news." The surgeon offered a short smile of hope before returning through the swing doors to the theatres.
The wait was interminable and not even worry and extremely strong cups of coffee could keep the group from drifting into uncomfortable sleep from time to time. Marissa's parents came and went again when she insisted she was staying until she knew Ryan's status. Sandy promised to keep them abreast of any developments and Kirsten was grateful that her husband was able to remain so level-headed and calm in the eye of this unexpected storm.
Finally, the surgeon appeared again, his face completely unreadable. "Mr and Mrs Cohen? Ryan is in recovery now. We managed to stop the bleeding and mend the damage done. We had to remove one of his kidneys but, once his body has healed, that shouldn't pose a major problem. He had several broken bones – ribs, fingers, collar bone, not to mention a lot of severe bruising. All of this will heal with time."
"Can we sit with him?" Seth asked, not sure which answer he really wanted to hear. Out in the hallway, Ryan's predicament was easier to deal with somehow. There was the interminable waiting and never changing view of linoleum, interior decorating magazines and harsh strip lighting but at least things could only be as bad as your imagination allowed. Once he actually saw his friend again, Seth wasn't sure he'd be able to control the well of emotions he'd kept a lid on so far.
The surgeon turned a grave look upon the teenager. "Ryan lost a lot of blood before and during surgery which we are replacing. We've hooked him up to a ventilator until he is strong enough to breathe on his own. Two people at a time and only for short periods of time. We need to keep a close eye on him, make sure he is out of the woods before we release him to a private room." Acknowledging the acquiescing nods around him, the surgeon led the family towards the recovery ICU.
Sandy hung back, allowing his wife to enter the room first. He had never possessed much of a bedside manner and he knew how anxious Kirsten was. Marissa looked like she was about to pass out if she didn't see Ryan and acknowledge that he truly was alive so he let her go first, holding Seth back by one arm.
"Dad?" Seth whined but Sandy's disapproving look was enough to silence him. He strained to get a glimpse of Ryan as the door swung open and the two women entered the ICU.
Marissa opened her mouth to speak but no words would come out. Her throat was parched and paralysed. She had never seen someone look as beaten and frail as Ryan looked right now. A tube ran from his mouth to the respirator and electrode wires ran like spider legs out from the neck of his hospital gown. Kirsten found it hard to accept that he was in better condition now than he had been in the detention centre wing. If anything, Ryan looked worse. The bruises were deepening and the red track marks of scrapes and scratches had dried in burgundy ruts across his pallid skin.
Kirsten looked at the girl beside her, at Marissa's transfixed gaze. "Why don't you talk to him?"
Marissa whispered, "I don't know what to say. I've never seen anyone, I mean, done anything like this before."
"I know. It's okay. He'll be okay," Kirsten said, the words little more than hope and a prayer. "We've just got to give him time."
END OF PART 4
Sorry this part is short and partly repetitive of chapter 2, but I kind of set myself up for it and then couldn't go back. I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think!
By Allegra
NOTE: I'm really sorry this part has been soooo long coming. I just lost all impetus to writing anything. That said, I hope this chapter doesn't seem too lack lustre! Don't forget to review (or Ryan gets it!).
Part 4 : Limbo
Everything was moving in slow motion, even Marissa's thoughts. She had never witnessed anything quite like this in her life before. Orange County didn't exactly throw up a huge amount of serious beatings, certainly not to this extent. Marissa was barely aware of Kirsten's hand on her arm, gripping it tightly as they watched the morbid scene unfold in Ryan's room.
Defibrillators were applied to his chest, causing the teenager's body to stiffen and lurch from the bed as spasms of electricity shot through him. A nurse was pumping oxygen into his weakened lungs as the Cohen family looked on helplessly. It was difficult to reconcile their memories of Ryan Atwood with the inert figure being worked on through the glass. Joules of energy were forced through him as the heart monitor continued its steady tone of the dead. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Time was frozen in stark contrast to the frenzied activity going on next door.
Finally, a thready, irregular beat registered on the monitor as Ryan returned to the land of the living. Marissa watched with sickening fascination as her friend was intubated and a curtain was draw around his bed. The doctor emerged, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. Beneath the lenses, his eyes were bright and alert as he approached the waiting family. "Mr and Mrs Cohen. Ryan is going to be airlifted to the private facility you specified. His condition is currently unstable but we do not have adequate resources to treat this level of injury at the center."
"What are you saying?" Kirsten asked, her voice hoarse.
"Ryan has suffered significant internal injuries. We were able to do a patch up job which, as you just saw, is not enough for his body to begin healing itself. He needs a intensive care unit that can provide him with the very best care. The helicopter should be here in a matter of minutes." He gave the couple a moment for this information to sink in.
Sandy gathered his senses enough to ask, "Can anyone ride with him?"
"No. As you can imagine, the helicopter can only accommodate the patient and two paramedics. If you leave now, you should arrive at the hospital shortly after Ryan. I'm sorry there isn't more I can do."
"Thank you, doctor." Sandy turned to his wife and son. "Well, let's make a move. Marissa? Are you coming with us?"
The teenager was still standing near the window to Ryan's room, staring blankly at the curtain separating her from him. Her brain wasn't functioning quickly enough to register anything Sandy Cohen was saying.
"Marissa?" Kirsten moved up alongside the girl and laid a gentle hand on her arm. "Ryan's being moved. Do you want to come with us?" Marissa turned to her, dazed, then nodded mutely. Kirsten steered her back along the corridor, sparing a desperate glance back at Seth and Sandy. This was going to be a long night.
Ryan was unaware of the danger his life was in, the fine spider thread from which he hung. He was floating blissfully in numb darkness, free from pain, free from coherent thought. Fragments of images, sounds and smells began to come and go but none were never vivid enough to draw his full attention. There was a blonde woman cradling him as she stroked his hair. His mother perhaps? Ryan felt love for her but the image did not make him feel safe. There was danger…abandonment behind her eyes. The image faded to be replaced by an engine roar followed by the acrid smell of petroleum. A young man, a brother, grinned at him from the driver's seat. The grin was merely a smile at first but, the longer Ryan looked at it, the wider it grew until teeth and gums seemed to fill the man's entire face in a grotesque pastiche of happiness. The man's face became redder, crimson like oily face paints. The uneasiness Ryan felt was growing until he realised the paint was blood, dripping from his brother's face like the aftermath of some horrific accident. Before he had a chance to communicate, his brother faded once more from view.
Images flashed through the teenager's subconscious brain randomly. At first there was no pattern, just a collection of people and places. Then, gradually, a trend began to form. Whatever the picture, no matter how early the memory, the scene would mutate and contort into a nightmare version of events. Nothing was safe anymore, nothing told Ryan he was loved. There was simply darkness and all the terrors it harboured. If he could have turned away, he would have run for his life. But there was nowhere to escape to; he was trapped inside his own mind, held hostage to the worst fears his subconscious could conjure up.
The helicopter had landed safe and sound at the hospital and so had the Cohens, much to Seth's relief. Sandy had driven well above the speed limit for the entire journey. He had managed to avoid being pulled over but, even with the drama that was happening around them, it was still a white knuckle ride for the family and Marissa. They pulled into the parking lot and headed straight for the emergency room. They were kept waiting behind a queue of other expectant, anxious families wanting to know if their loved ones had been brought in. The wait, even for a few moments, was almost more than Seth could endure.
He had never had a friend like Ryan before. Any guy with muscles and an ounce of cool was usually way off his radar. The only kind of contact Seth Cohen was likely to get with guys like that was a punch in the face or worse. Yet, having Ryan around had been like having the brother his parents never gave him and a best friend who would never betray you all rolled into one. Seth might have only known Ryan for a short time but they had bonded in a way the teenager knew he never would again. He couldn't die now; there was too much they hadn't done together.
Seth followed his parents and Marissa blindly along the corridors, barely registering the sign posts as they passed them. Was he in X-ray? Was he already in the operating theatre? Finally they stopped by the OR where yet another anonymous, harassed surgeon met them. "Mr. Atwood is being prepped for surgery. He has a ruptured spleen as well as damage to his kidneys. We can't ascertain the full extent of these injuries until we've taken a proper look."
"Is he going to be okay?" Kirsten asked.
"He's got a lot of internal bleeding but we'll do everything we can. There are seats if you'd like to wait but he could be in there for several hours. There's a lot of work to do."
"We'd like to stay," Sandy replied firmly.
"Fine. I'll let you know as soon as we have some solid news." The surgeon offered a short smile of hope before returning through the swing doors to the theatres.
The wait was interminable and not even worry and extremely strong cups of coffee could keep the group from drifting into uncomfortable sleep from time to time. Marissa's parents came and went again when she insisted she was staying until she knew Ryan's status. Sandy promised to keep them abreast of any developments and Kirsten was grateful that her husband was able to remain so level-headed and calm in the eye of this unexpected storm.
Finally, the surgeon appeared again, his face completely unreadable. "Mr and Mrs Cohen? Ryan is in recovery now. We managed to stop the bleeding and mend the damage done. We had to remove one of his kidneys but, once his body has healed, that shouldn't pose a major problem. He had several broken bones – ribs, fingers, collar bone, not to mention a lot of severe bruising. All of this will heal with time."
"Can we sit with him?" Seth asked, not sure which answer he really wanted to hear. Out in the hallway, Ryan's predicament was easier to deal with somehow. There was the interminable waiting and never changing view of linoleum, interior decorating magazines and harsh strip lighting but at least things could only be as bad as your imagination allowed. Once he actually saw his friend again, Seth wasn't sure he'd be able to control the well of emotions he'd kept a lid on so far.
The surgeon turned a grave look upon the teenager. "Ryan lost a lot of blood before and during surgery which we are replacing. We've hooked him up to a ventilator until he is strong enough to breathe on his own. Two people at a time and only for short periods of time. We need to keep a close eye on him, make sure he is out of the woods before we release him to a private room." Acknowledging the acquiescing nods around him, the surgeon led the family towards the recovery ICU.
Sandy hung back, allowing his wife to enter the room first. He had never possessed much of a bedside manner and he knew how anxious Kirsten was. Marissa looked like she was about to pass out if she didn't see Ryan and acknowledge that he truly was alive so he let her go first, holding Seth back by one arm.
"Dad?" Seth whined but Sandy's disapproving look was enough to silence him. He strained to get a glimpse of Ryan as the door swung open and the two women entered the ICU.
Marissa opened her mouth to speak but no words would come out. Her throat was parched and paralysed. She had never seen someone look as beaten and frail as Ryan looked right now. A tube ran from his mouth to the respirator and electrode wires ran like spider legs out from the neck of his hospital gown. Kirsten found it hard to accept that he was in better condition now than he had been in the detention centre wing. If anything, Ryan looked worse. The bruises were deepening and the red track marks of scrapes and scratches had dried in burgundy ruts across his pallid skin.
Kirsten looked at the girl beside her, at Marissa's transfixed gaze. "Why don't you talk to him?"
Marissa whispered, "I don't know what to say. I've never seen anyone, I mean, done anything like this before."
"I know. It's okay. He'll be okay," Kirsten said, the words little more than hope and a prayer. "We've just got to give him time."
END OF PART 4
Sorry this part is short and partly repetitive of chapter 2, but I kind of set myself up for it and then couldn't go back. I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think!