Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Ryan felt like crying. He was trying his best to hold back the tears that so badly wanted to flow freely. He was sitting in the back next to Seth. He was groaning and crying in pain and it killed Ryan. He looked at Seth and noticed his left eye was closed. He thought the Shingles might have something to do with that, which made him want to cry even more.
They got to Dr. Johnson's and they saw the ophthalmologist standing outside, waiting.
"Hello. You must be Ryan. It's nice to meet you," he said.
Ryan shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too. But Seth is in need of medical attention. He has a very severe case of the Shingles and it's getting worse. The blisters on his eye are increasing and his left eye won't open."
"I see. Well, tell him to come in."
Ryan looked at him. "He's too tired to walk."
"My God. This is bad. Son, we have to get him to a hospital. Now. Tell the Cohens. I'm calling an ambulance to take him to Hoag Hospital."
Ryan went over to the Cohens and shocked Sandy and Kirsten. He started to cry. Kirsten went over and hugged him.
"What happened sweetie?" Kirsten asked.
"Seth h-h-has to g-go t-to the hospital. Now."
Kirsten eyes started turning red and tearing. Sandy came over and comforted her. Meanwhile, Ryan went over to the car. Seth was half awake.
"Hey man," Ryan said.
Seth smiled at him.
"We have to take you to Hoag. Now. OK?"
Seth nodded his head and fell asleep.
Ryan turned around and saw that the ambulance had pulled up.
"Ryan, can you go with Sandy and bring the Range Rover to the hospital? I'm going to go in the ambulance," Kirsten said.
Ryan nodded and hopped in the passenger seat. He watched as they put Seth into the ambulance and drove away. Ryan felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Sandy. They followed the ambulance out as it led them to Hoag Hospital.
Ryan stepped out of the Range Rover and looked at the hospital. It was nothing like hospitals in Chino. It was nice and from what he could see, the rooms looked gorgeous. Ryan stepped into the hospital and saw Kirsten waiting there.
"He's in his room now. They put his IV in and they are going to run tests soon. They said they have never seen such a bad case of Shingles before. They told me not to worry and that we can go see him. The nurse just told me about a minute before you guys got here that we can see him."
Sandy, Ryan and Kirsten went up to the room. Seth was able to get a private room. He was half sleeping, half watching television. He was watching The Valley.
"Summer likes this show," Seth said. He didn't realize they were in there.
"The doctor said he was a little delusional. He might actually be funny," Kirsten joked.
Ryan let out a chuckle and remembered something. Summer. "I'll be right back," he said. He went downstairs and outside of the hospital. He took out his cell phone and called Summer.
"Hey Chino!"
"Hey Summer."
"Whoa! Who died?"
Ryan was silent.
"Ryan? Did someone die?"
Ryan started to cry again.
"Oh Chino! Don't cry! What happened?"
Ryan took a deep breath. "Seth has Shingles. It's bad though Summer. He's in the hospital. He has just been admitted to Hoag."
Ryan heard Summer crying. "I'm coming." She hung up the phone.
About 10 minutes later, Summer was there.
"How fast were you going?" Ryan asked.
"90. Leave me alone."
She went to go in, but Ryan stopped her.
"Summer, what you are going to see might scare you. Seth has blisters all over his eye and ear. He is delusional and he might be sleeping. If he's awake, he might not make sense. But he was asking for you Summer."
Summer nodded.
"He loves you. I wanted to tell you that. He told me so when he wasn't acting delusional."
Summer grabbed Ryan's hand and squeezed it. Ryan pulled her into a hug. "Let's go," he said.
Summer walked into the waiting room and saw Sandy and Kirsten sitting there. Summer went over and hugged them each.
"They are running some tests and will be done in about 10 minutes," Sandy said.
The doctor came out and called Kirsten in. "He wants you," the doctor said.
About 10 minutes later, Kirsten came out. She was crying. "It was the most horrible thing ever Sandy. They gave him a spinal tap. He started crying. We can go into his room. They moved him back." Kirsten looked at Summer. "He wants to see you."
Summer got up and down the hall to room 204. She opened the door and saw Seth sitting up watching TV. He looked over when he saw the door opened. His face lit up and he waved at her. She waved back and went over to him.
"They gave me some medicine to keep me awake long enough to do the tests. They took my temperature. I have a fever, which isn't good. It's very high. It's about 104.3. That's my dad's favorite station." Seth looked at the TV. Bugs Bunny was on. Summer went to say something, but Seth started singing the song. "Food around the corner. Food around the corner. Food around the corner for me, me, me. I like this episode."
Summer grabbed his hand. "Seth, there's something I need to tell you." Seth looked away from the TV and looked at Summer. "I love you. I really wanted to tell you that." She pulled Seth into a hug. He couldn't move his right arm because he had the IV in, but he returned the hug with his left.
"I love you too," he said. He looked at Summer. "So, since I'm awake, do you want to know what I have?"
"Sure. Why not," Summer said.
THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS ALL TRUE...
"Well, I have Shingles. Anyone can get Shingles really. If you had chicken pox, even though you are immune to it, the varicella virus remains in your spinal cord and if it reactivates, Shingles forms. You can get Shingles if you have a condition that affects the immune system, such as HIV, periods of increased stress, excess alcohol intake, long term use of steroids, cancer treatments, or medicines used after organ transplants. But it is usually minor. You know, I might lose my hearing and sight in my left ear and eye if they aren't careful. But don't worry, you can only get Shingles if you drink from the same cup as me or shove your tongue down my throat. I'm serious. Anyway, I have something called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. I have it because I got the blisters on my ear and that's how you get it. I sometimes have an earache and dizziness. They are afraid that I am going to develop the deafness and the paralysis part soon. Don't worry, it will just be my face and it will be temporarily, hopefully. Sometimes the hearing is permanently impaired. They are checking for Encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain. It is very rare, but I have the symptoms. They are confusion and high fever. Other symptoms that I have or might get are loss of memory, exhaustion, severe headache and any symptoms affecting the eye area. They have been giving me doses of paracetamol and I am going to have to use calamine lotion to soothe the pain."
Seth grabbed his head.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah. I'm just tired again. I'm gonna go to sleep for a little while. Good night Summer."
"Night Seth."
Before she went to walk out, she looked back at Seth. He was looking at her and smiling.
"Love you," he said.
"Love you too." She went back over to him and hugged him again.
"Sleep sweet," she said.
He was asleep in a matter of seconds.