Sorry gang I've been really sick, I am sometimes a bit slow getting new chapters up but never this bad.

Stupid asthma anyways lol

Once again thank you for all the nice comments... thanks to Eljay for Beta reading (and she's never even

seen an episode of the O.C.... but I am sending her a tape)

Oh just a note there is a bit of a graphic scene .. you have been warned

Kirsten and Sandy ran to the next room as quickly as possible. Kirsten's heart beat wildly in her chest.

What could be wrong?! She didn't think she could face the risk of losing one of her boys again. Please don't let it be something awful. Please, please, please, she chanted to herself. As she entered the doorway with Sandy at her side she covered her mouth with her hand.

Kirsten's heart had been beating out of control only a moment ago but now it felt like it has stopped. She shielded her eyes against Sandy's chest. Shenever ever wanted to see again what she just saw.

Ryan was on his bed. Yelling like the devil was here to take him home. Blood from the wound on his arm sprayed the wall. Doctors and nurse's dashed about.

An orderly apparently saw them. "Please, you'll need to wait out side."

Kirsten refused to look up.

She could hear Sandy's strong voice. "What's going on!?"

"I'm sorry Sir, please wait outside. The doctor will be out to talk to you soon."

"What do you mean you're sorry!?" Sandy demanded as they were shuffled out the door.

Kirsten allowed herself a brief glance upwards. The orderly looked so young; he had blue eyes like Ryan's.

The orderly smiled sadly. "It means I don't know what happened but the best Doctor here is working on him. Someone will be out to speak to you shortly."

As the young man ducked quickly back in to the room, Kirsten could feel Sandy's arms tighten around her.

He rested his chin on the top of her head. She looked up at him searching for comfort. He was the one who brought Ryan home to them. At first she couldn't imagine Ryan being in her home. Now she couldn't imagine a home without him. As she gazed up at her husband's pale and haggard face she realized she wasn't alone. Sandy has told her there was a no return policy when she had brought Ryan home from

Juvenile Hall. She was glad for it. As she watched Sandy's face she noticed a tear at the corner of his eye. It had been years since she had seen him cry. He loved Ryan just as much if not more then she did. She had to be strong for everyone's sake.

She raised her hand to her husband's cheek. "It's okay, it'll be okay. Ryan's strong."

Sandy smiled softly and his voice cracked with emotion. "I-I don't know what to do. I should do something."

"We'll go sit with Seth and wait, it's all we can do."

Kirsten led Sandy back it to Seth's room. Her beloved curly-headed boy was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. When Seth saw them he sat up with a jerk. He instantly turned pale and grabbed his side with a moan.

Kirsten was at his side and Sandy helped him to lie back down slowly.

"Ow, not cool," Seth managed to gasp after a moment.

"You'll have to move slow for a while, remember. Did you hurt anything? Do you need the nurse or a drink?" Sandy was obviously was still in full parental mode and desperately needing to take care of someone.

"Whoa, Dad take it down a notch," replied Seth. "I'm fine; what's up with Ryan?"

Kirsten was glad she wasn't the only one to notice her husband's state of mind. "We don't know, Seth. He was yelling... they wouldn't let us in. We're waiting to hear." She wouldn't tell Seth about the blood. She didn't want him to have that image in his head like she did.

She no sooner said the words when Dr. Casper walked in to the room. Her face looked more strained than it had when she had talked to them the first time. Still, she seemed calm.

The three Cohens stared at her anxiously. Kirsten unconsciously held her breath.

She nodded to them all formally. "Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, Seth."

"Is Ryan okay?" Seth voice squeaked from behind Kirsten's back.

"Well, we have him stable once again. He's got a bit of a fever which we are concerned about as we believe it is causing some delirium. That is why he was yelling. As a result he pulled out some of his stitches. We have him under light sedation. He's on his way up to x-rays now so soon we will know the full extent of his injuries. Until then we will just have to wait." The doctor seemed to gauge their reactions for a moment before continuing. "I do have a bit of good news though. Seth's room is ready. We'll have some orderlies take you up in a minute. If one of you could wait down here until Ryan comes back though, it would be greatly appreciated."

Sandy turned to his wife kissing her on the forehead. "You go with Seth. Ryan and I will be fine."

Kirsten was torn. She wanted to be with both of them. She gave Sandy a brief smile. "Are you sure I can't be cloned?"

Sandy gave her a soft smile. "I'll be up as soon as I can."

Time had passed.

Ryan couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep. It was dark and quiet. He felt cold. Like he was still in the water. He didn't want to be in the water anymore. He didn't like water.

"No," he moaned.

There was a hand on his head. "Shhh kid, it's okay... just rest."

Ryan blinked his eyes open blearily. "Mmm," he tried but then realized that probably wasn't a word.

"Sandy?" he managed to croak.

"Right here." Sandy sat on the edge of his bed he looked tired and despite the cheery smile he put on.

Ryan swallowed. "I feel weird. What's going on?"

Sandy's brow furrowed. "You feel weird? Should I call a nurse?"

Ryan shook his head and then wished that he hadn't. "No," he croaked. "I'm not sore; I feel ...foggy."

Sandy's hand returned to Ryan's forehead as if checking his temperature. "Well, you've been sick for a while. Do you remember what happened?"

Ryan tried to think about it. "There was a boat, it hit us. Seth was hurt. There was water...lots of water and sharks." Ryan couldn't keep the shudder out of his breath as he felt his heart beat faster.

Sandy tried to calm him down. "It's okay Ryan--deep breaths. You're okay now."

"I know, I'm fine," replied Ryan automatically. Desperate to change the subject, he asked, "What time is it?"

"Nearly eleven in the morning."

"Gawd," he moaned. "I have an assignment due first thing Monday morning."

Sandy snickered. "Well I think it's going to be a little late, considering it's Wednesday."

Ryan started at Sandy in shock. "Wednesday, when the heck did that happen."

Sandy turned away to look out the window. "You were sick." Even his voice sounded tired.

Ryan took the time then to take stock of himself. His arm was wrapped in a think cast that went all the way up to his elbow. He tried but he couldn't really wiggle his fingers. His side hurt, but that didn't seem too bad; just a bit stiff. His leg was in some sort of metal and cloth brace thingy. "Man, I look like something out of one of Seth's comics."

Sandy gave a grim smile. "I was thinking more along the lines of the six million dollar man."

Ryan wanted to say something snarky in return but he realized then how much his head hurt. He made a move to sit up straighter but was forced to close his eyes and wait for the little men to stop banging on the inside of his skull.

"You okay?" Sandy questioned immediately.

"Yeah, fine," replied Ryan, but he had to stifle a groan. He looked up after a moment and met Sandy's eyes. "Really."

Sandy blew the breath out of his cheeks. They stared at each other in silence. A million thoughts raced through Ryan's brain. Did he do something wrong? Did Sandy blame him for the accident? Was Seth okay? Or were they just lying to him before. Ryan had been in the hospital before, but never too long.

Being in the hospital cost a lot. If... if he had been in here since early Sunday there was going to be a big bill.

Sandy stepped forward and helped Ryan to adjust his bed so he was sitting. "You need anything else?"

Ryan was going to shake his head but thought better of it. "Umm, no, I'm good."

Ryan kept his eyes low and picked at the edge of his cast with his good hand. "Did I do something wrong?"

Sandy looked at him with surprise. "What? No, of course not!? Why would you even think that?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really remember what happened. Well bits, but nothing really clearly." Ryan sat there for a moment trying to think about the best way to phrase his question. Sandy waited for him patiently. Some times straightforward was the best. "Is Seth okay?"

Sandy sat on the edge of his bed again and placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan forced himself to look up at the older man.

Sandy smiled. "Right now Seth is at home on the couch, bored out of his skull because he has no one to play x-box with. I think he's finally given up trying to convince Kirsten that he needs to be up here 24 hours a day. I sent them both home to rest. He had a couple of broken ribs after the accident but as long as he takes it easy, he'll be fine."

"You look tired."

Sandy laughed. "I am. It's been a long couple of days. I nearly lost both of my boys. Made me stop and take stock. Sometimes life goes along so smoothly you forget how good you have it. You scared me kid."

"Sorry."

Sandy smiled. "Nothing to be sorry about."

Just then Seth And Kirsten burst in. Well Seth burst in; Kirsten just sort of strolled.

"Ryan!" shouted Seth, as he leapt on to the bed. The leap then caused Seth's face to contort in pain as he moaned dramatically. "Oh, ow!!! The ribs, the ribs!"

Ryan smiled despite himself.

Kirsten walked over and kissed Ryan on the forehead. "Glad to see you awake finally, sleepyhead."

Sandy began to protest. "Hey, didn't I just send you guys home a few hours ago?"

"We did, well were," replied Seth quickly. "But Mom was a restless and after 15 minutes she was begging to come back."

"Uh huh, I see. Why do I find that hard to believe?" Sandy replied dryly.

Kirsten smiled seemingly bemused by the three men. Still, it only took about a minute and a half before 'full mother mode' kicked in.

The first thing she did was place a hand on his forehead like Sandy did. Why did everyone keep doing that?

"How you feel, Honey?"

"Fine." Actually he was getting a bit tired. His head hurt, his arm, hurt, and his leg hurt. He wished he could just close his eyes and sleep for a thousand years. None of this he would mention to the Cohens. If he learned nothing else from his life in Chino, he learned that; pain was weakness.

"Here let me pour you some water."

Kirsten reached over and grabbed a blue Tupperware jug and a glass from Ryan's bedside table.

Ryan watched the water slowly trickle from the jug in to the glass. It was as if time slowed to a near stand still. Drop by crystalline drop the wet cold liquid poured in to the glass.

No words came to Ryan's mind then only an onslaught of feelings and images.

Cold, hurt, Seth, can't breath, sharks, death.

Kirsten leaned forward offering him the glass. Ryan yelped and batted it from her hand.

They all stared at each other in stunned silence. Nobody quite knew what had just happened.

TBC