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Ryan insisted he was fine all the way to the hospital but his bandages were saturated when Rita met them at the entrance.
She had the wheelchair ready and Ryan gave her a smile as he reluctantly sat down.
"He's all mine now. You guys just relax and park the car. Seth, you can all wait in the waiting room on the usual floor, okay?"
"Can I…" Seth started.
"Seth. Chill. I'm fine," Ryan said. Seth forced himself to relax as Rita pushed Ryan into the hospital.
Anna took Seth's hand with a worried sigh. "He's okay…"
"He's okay," Seth repeated blankly.
"I'm parking the car. Can you guys wait and show me where to go?" Luke asked.
Seth nodded. "Yeah. Luke?"
Luke paused outside the opened driver's door. "Yeah?"
"Thanks, man. I'm totally freaked," Seth admitted.
"Me, too…keep busy…" Luke muttered, getting into the car to park it.
Ryan was telling Rita what happened on the elevator ride. If she was concerned about the blood, she didn't show it. She rolled him into an empty room and to the bed.
He stood up and the dizziness that had been taunting him took hold and everything swerved.
Rita caught him and lowered him to the bed. "Kid? Look at me, kid…"
"Sorry," Ryan said, regaining his vision.
"Let me take a look now…are you in pain?"
"Honestly?" He asked, breathing shallowly as he lay flat.
"Yeah," Rita said seriously as she unwrapped his arm.
"Yeah…but I'm more worried about my shaky consciousness right now…" Ryan said.
She winced as she saw the gash.
"Not that look…" Ryan said.
"You're going to be fine, kid…you're still bleeding but we'll fix that right up," She said, pushing the call button on the bed. She pressed fresh gauze against his arm. "Have you called your folks?"
"I haven't really done anything…Seth and Luke were on point…" Ryan explained.
Several nurses came in and Rita fired off several orders as a chill washed over Ryan.
When he blinked again, Dr. Tarleton was in his vision.
"I have to say you're accident prone…" He smiled.
"Sorry…can you fix me up by seven?" Ryan asked.
"I'll certainly try…can you stay awake? Let's sit you up…" He said. Ryan sat up and was startled when the doctor put an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.
"Just for a little while, I promise…it'll make things clearer…do you want Seth?" The doctor asked.
"No…he'd freak out…just try and hurry?"
"We're giving you something for the pain but we really need you to stay awake…" The doctor held up his tools.
"For stitches? And I thought you were nice…" Ryan snorted, looking away as Dr. Tarleton started to sew.
Summer walked into the waiting room with several white shopping bags.
"Summer?" Seth paused from his manic pacing for a moment. Anna and Luke were sitting side by side, silent.
"You all have blood on you," Summer pointed out. "So I raided the school gift shop and I come bearing slightly less gross clothes," She said.
"Sweet…thanks," Seth said, giving her a kiss.
"Yeah, thanks, Summer…I'll be right back…" Anna grabbed a bag and left to change.
"How's Chino?" Summer asked Seth.
Luke changed shirts quickly from the corner before sitting down again.
"He's with the doctor. They haven't told us anything…" Seth said.
"Well, the school's a war zone," Summer said, walking Seth over to sit down. "Chip kicked Lou's ass and then Todd went after Chip and the coach sent everyone home that was in the classroom. I just ditched." Her words calmed Seth down and he seemed to regain a little color in his face.
Anna returned in a pink Harbor tracksuit. "Seth, you did call your parents, right?"
"Shit…" Seth gasped, pulling out his phone.
Rita stepped in before he could dial. "All right, kids. Ryan needs to rest but he wants you to come in. We're going to keep him a couple of hours…"
They followed her to Ryan's room. She paused outside the door. "Keep it down, okay? There's a lot of you and only one of him," She said. She tapped Luke on the shoulder. "I'll be back to fix up your face, okay?"
"It's…" Luke started to protest.
"It needs to be cleaned. Don't worry, I don't bite," She winked, leaving them alone.
Ryan was sleeping with his bandaged arm elevated on a pillow. He was pale and there was a half-full bag of blood going into an IV on his good arm.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Dr. Tarleton startled them from the corner. "He's going to be fine."
Seth went to Ryan's side and breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know…lately, he's been almost normal. I forgot how fragile he is…" Luke whispered, clearly still shaken.
"He's getting stronger," Seth replied.
"I know, I didn't mean…" Luke recanted.
"I know," Seth said. "This whole thing sucks."
Ryan sighed and sluggishly opened his eyes. "Hey…"
"What's up? How're you feeling?" Seth asked.
"I have twelve stitches in my arm and I'm getting half a pint of blood for the road…" Ryan said. He smiled lazily. "I'm also a little dopey."
"I'm sorry, man…" Luke started.
"It's not your fault. It's not even Stupid Lou's fault…I'm just a little breakable right now. But I'm already on the mend…" Ryan said.
"You're really okay?" Anna asked.
"Yeah," He smiled.
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Seth answered his phone absently. Summer had left to take Luke and Anna to their cars. Ryan was asleep again beside him. The doctor was coming to give him one more exam before releasing him.
"Seth? It's your mom, where are you?"
"I forgot to call you, I'm so sorry…"
"Seth…"
"All this stuff happened at school and we had to leave and then…" Seth started.
"Seth."
"The hospital."
"What?"
"Everything's fine, we're with Dr. Tarleton and Ryan's getting out as soon as the doctor gets back…"
What happened? I'm on the way…"
"It's fine…he got cut at school…"
"Cut?"
"Accidentally with some glass, but the bleeding wouldn't stop and…"
"Seth. Slow down and tell me everything."
Seth sighed. He glanced over and saw Ryan looking at him with tired eyes. He held out his hand and Seth gave him the phone.
"Kirsten?"
"Ryan, honey, what happened, are you okay?"
"I am fine. Everything is fine…"
"But you are at the hospital…"
"For only a few more minutes. There was this argument at school and one of the kids started throwing things and I got cut with some glass…"
"Are you…"
"I'm okay, Kirsten. But my blood is thin from all the chemo and the meds so it took a while to stop bleeding…I called the doctor as soon as it happened and he told me to come in. They gave me some stitches, they gave me some blood and I'm totally fine."
"I'm still on my way…"
"Kirsten, please don't panic. If you come down, I'll end up staying for hours and I really want to go home…" Ryan said urgently. "How about I get Dr. Tarleton to call you?"
"I'm calling him now. Don't go anywhere until I get there, I'm on the way…" Kirsten said, hanging up.
"She's coming?"
"Yep. You better call Sandy, too," Ryan said. "You forgot?"
"Yeah. I was a little panicked, you know," Seth replied.
"It's cool. I appreciate the way you handled stuff today..."
"You just told me what to do…you sure you're okay?"
"I am for right now. I'm not sure what your folks are going to do, though. You think they'll still let me go to the game tonight?" Ryan asked.
"Highly doubtful," Seth said. Dr. Tarleton stepped in.
"Kirsten's going to call you. She's pretty mad. Seth forgot to call her," Ryan said.
"Ah. So you'll be staying until she arrives?" The doctor asked.
"Executive order," Seth nodded.
"Okay, then. You want us to bring you something to eat?"
"I'm okay. I just want to get out of here," Ryan admitted. "I'll eat at home."
"I'll go call Kirsten, you seem to be doing fine for now, your pulse is normal, you seem almost good as new. Are you in pain?"
"I'm good, Dr. Thank you."
"Well, you got me out of a budget meeting so I really should be thanking you," He smiled, leaving as his pager went off.
"So…"
"If you ask me if I'm okay one more time, I'm going to snap," Ryan said, sitting up.
"Sorry."
"What did we talk about before I was sick?" Ryan asked.
"Um…I talked and you nodded politely, I think," Seth teased.
The door opened and Coach Jenkins and Mr. Anderson stepped in. "Ryan…you're looking much better," Mr. Anderson said, clearly relieved.
"Yeah, I'd be out of here by now if Seth hadn't forgotten to call his parents," Ryan teased.
"You didn't think of it either, genius," Seth retorted, smiling.
"So, we finally got the whole story out of the twins," the coach said. Seth's phone rang and he glanced at the ID and immediately stepped out of the room.
"Lou's just hot-tempered sometimes, he didn't mean any harm…" Ryan said.
"Well, he did a lot of harm. He trashed the classroom and…you could've bled to death, Ryan…" Mr. Anderson said quietly.
"But I didn't…"
"I know, Ryan. But it shouldn't have happened, not on our watch," Mr. Anderson said. "We want you to be in school so you don't fall behind, but things like this…shouldn't happen. The team shouldn't have been in there…"
"The boys just wanted to talk to him…" Coach Jenkins protested.
"Listen, it was an accident. Everything's okay…it was just an accident. They fight all the time, hell, I used to fight pretty often…this was just an…"
"Accident," The coach nodded.
"I know I'm supposed to be careful, but I was just talking to my friends…" Ryan started.
"Which shouldn't involve flying glass," Mr. Anderson grumbled, glaring at the coach.
"The doctor says I'm fine. I appreciate you both coming down to see me…" Ryan said.
"We're glad you're okay," Coach Jenkins said.
Seth returned. "So, we're free to go."
"Really?" Ryan asked.
"Mom and Dad are meeting us at home. Rita's bringing the wheelchair and I'll meet you downstairs."
"Thanks, Seth," Ryan said, sitting up.
"Tell your parents to give us a call, okay?" Mr. Anderson said, walking out with the coach.
Ryan was still in his bloody clothes from school but he didn't care. He stood up and picked up the sling Rita had ordered him to wear. As soon as he sat back down, Rita arrived with the wheelchair.
"Good boy with the sling. Now, have a seat," She said.
"So, Kirsten and Sandy Ok'd me to leave?"
"Yep. You need to take it easy and don't use your arm until the doctor tells you its okay. It's really important, if you hurt the stitches, the wound…"
"I don't want to bleed, Rita. I understand. I'll be really careful," Ryan promised.
"Let's get you out of here," Rita nodded.
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Sandy and Kirsten were both wanting when Seth walked in with Ryan.
"Come on, Ryan, sit down…" Kirsten's face was drawn with concern.
"Guys, I'm totally fine…" Ryan started.
"Ryan, just sit," Sandy sighed.
Ryan sat down on the couch and Seth took the seat beside him.
"It was a freak accident. If I'd been wearing my sweatshirt it wouldn't have even scratched me…" Ryan said.
"Ryan, you could've…" Kirsten interrupted.
"Nothing happened. Please don't overreact. You can't just lock me away, stuff's going to happen to me eventually…" Ryan said.
"You know how serious you could've been hurt…"
"I know, Sandy…" Ryan insisted. "But…do you hear what I'm trying to say?"
"Yeah, Ryan, you're right…We're just glad you're okay," Sandy said, patting him on the back.
"Well, I'm not as easily satisfied," Kirsten said. "I'm going to have to have a long talk with Dr. Kim about this before you're going back to that school…"
"Kirsten…"
"Go lie down," She said, pulling out her phone.
"I'll take care of it. Go get cleaned up and I'll be in to check on you," Sandy said gently.
Ryan nodded and went to his room. Seth followed him after a glare from his mother.
"I'm cool. I'll talk to you later," Ryan said when Seth tried to follow him in.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," Ryan smiled and closed the door.
Ryan was really tired. The drugs were wearing off and Kirsten's protective anger wasn't something he'd anticipated.
He'd been scared enough at the hospital and keeping his brave face on had been a task. He trusted Dr. Tarleton to take care of him, but he'd focused on staying calm for Seth and his friends.
But he was fine. He'd just had a setback.
He couldn't have prevented it.
He hadn't worn short sleeves in weeks, he was usually cold but today, for the first time in a long time, he'd been warm. He'd taken his sweatshirt off in his first class and he'd paid for it.
He took off the sling and tried to hold his arm still but it hurt as he struggled to get his shirt off.
He walked to the bathroom and closed the door. He washed where blood had soaked through as best he could without a shower.
He was too tired for a shower, he doubted his strength.
Satisfied, he pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He stepped out of the room and saw Sandy waiting by his dresser.
"Sorry…I thought you might need some help," Sandy didn't wait for him to respond, he just gently slipped a wifebeater on him before hanging the sling around his neck.
"Thanks."
"Lie down."
"I'm fine. I'm actually sort of hungry…" Ryan started.
Sandy shook his head. "Lie down."
Ryan sighed but sat down.
"You need to rest. I know you think it's silly and you want to keep doing everything that you're doing but things change. Until further notice…Kirsten and I don't want you to leave the house…" Sandy said, sitting down beside him.
Ryan was stunned. He blinked. "What?"
"You're not being punished…"
"But I'm grounded? Sandy, this was just a freak accident, I don't need to…"
"Ryan. I know…but Kirsten…" He lowered his voice. "This really scared her. Give her a couple of days to relax and I'm sure this will blow over…"
"So…I can't leave the house. I can't go to school…"
"She…" Sandy was clearly trying to keep Ryan calm without coming out and saying that Kirsten was being unreasonable. "We think it would be better if you limited your activities for a few days. Stay home, limit your guests…"
"So, I'm grounded…" Ryan repeated, still shocked.
"You're not being punished…"
"I don't understand, then. I don't understand why when I'm finally getting my strength back that I'm confined to the house again…"
"Ryan. You're tired, you're hurt, you need your rest. We'll talk more later…"
"Whatever, Sandy. I don't have a say in this anyway, right?" Ryan sighed.
"Ryan…"
"Get out, Sandy," Ryan said quietly, standing up.
"Don't…"
"Get out, Sandy. Please."
"You said you were hungry…"
"I'm not. Leave me alone. I need to rest, right? Let me rest…" Ryan snapped.
Sandy was clearly hurt but left, closing the door behind him.
Ryan hadn't expected this. Kirsten was worried, but this was downright cruel.
He stretched out on top of his bed and closed his eyes. The timid knock on the door didn't make him sit up.
"Dude?"
"Seth. What's up?"
"Um…Mom and Dad are arguing pretty hard core out here…can I come in?"
"Actually, can you do me a favor, man?" Ryan asked.
"Sure, man. Like what?"
"I'm grounded."
"What?" Seth was clearly surprised.
"Not really grounded, just not allowed out of the house. Your mom's sort of…"
"Flipping out? Yeah…so…what are you going to do?"
"I was supposed to go to the game tonight. And you were going out with Summer, right? Could you swing by there and tell them that I'm okay and that I won't be seeing them awhile?"
"Yeah, man…we can do that, no problem…you don't want us to stay here and hang out with you?"
"No, dude. I'm fine. A little pissed, but fine. I'm just going to crash out," Ryan admitted.
"Okay, man, if you're sure…I'll make sure the guys know you wanted to be there tonight."
"Thanks," Ryan said.
"Get some rest. You want me to talk to Mom?"
"No. She wouldn't even tell me herself, she sent Sandy in. I'll talk to her when she's ready to face me," Ryan replied with a sigh.
"Okay, man. I'll stop in when I get back…"
"Actually, I'll just see you tomorrow. I think I need some time to myself," Ryan admitted.
"Understandable. Take it easy…" Seth left and Ryan got up, locking the door.
He didn't want to see anyone else tonight. He needed to sleep.