Title: Trouble in Portland

Summary: What if Ryan had a harder time dealing with the loss of the baby in episode 2.01 The Distance?

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C. No profit is taken from this story.

Chapter 5

After Officer Simpson left, Ryan went back to lying on his back on the bunk, staring at the ceiling.

He'd been lying there thinking about how his little plan last night to forget everything by drinking didn't work at all. Now he was stuck here, and all he could do was think. Not just because he was locked in a little room with nothing to do, but also because he had this killer hangover headache which wouldn't have allowed him to do pretty much anything except lie in bed anyway.

Ryan turned on his side to stare at the wall.

It was inevitable -- every time he let his mind wander, it always directed him down a path that led back to the two things he didn't want to think about -- Theresa and the baby.

He started thinking about how pissed Sandy would be at him for getting drunk and picked up by the police, which led him to thinking that he'd be more understanding with his own son, which led him right back to the baby.

He started thinking about he should know better than to think that drinking would help, given his mother's history, which led him back to how Theresa threw him out just like his Mom did.

Even when he asked the policewoman if she had kids, it reminded him of his own kid that now he wasn't going to have.

It was hopeless.

Ryan sighed and turned over to stare at the other wall.

It was so strange. Just a couple of days ago, he was the man of the house, working to support his own family -- his girlfriend and their child on the way -- and now, today, he was back to being the kid, worried about Sandy yelling at him, wondering if Sandy was going to ground him. That is, assuming that he was going back to Newport once he got out of here -- which he supposed he would, since he had nowhere else to go.

Ryan sighed again and closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Sandy Cohen, attorney extraordinaire, was just starting his day at the prestigious private law firm of Partridge, Savage, and Kahn, reading the facts about yet another petty nuisance lawsuit and drinking his coffee, when his cell phone started to ring. He checked the caller ID. It didn't identify the caller by name, but it did display a phone number with an area code in Portland. Sandy smiled. Hopefully this was Seth, saying that yes he did want to come home after all. Hey, a father can dream.

Sandy flipped his cell phone open. "Hello?"

A woman's voice asked him, "Is this Sandy Cohen?"

"Speaking."

"Mr. Cohen, this is Officer Marge Simpson of the Portland Police --"

Sandy sat bolt upright. "Oh, my god. Is it my son Seth? Is he hurt? Is he OK?"

"Mr. Cohen, this isn't about your son Seth." Sandy breathed a sigh of relief, for about 2 seconds, because the policewoman continued, "Are you the legal guardian of Ryan Atwood?"

Sandy's heart sank. There was no way that a call from the police about Ryan could be good news. Not to mention that Sandy had figured that Ryan would have flown back to Chino yesterday so that he could go to work today. It bothered Sandy more than a little that he had no idea where Ryan was, until this moment.

So Sandy replied, with some trepidation, "Yes?" Then he cleared his throat and said, more strongly, "I mean, yes, yes I am. Is he hurt? Or is he under arrest? Or --"

"Ryan is not hurt nor is he under arrest." Sandy breathed another sigh of relief, which again was short-lived. "However, he was picked up last night by two of our officers. He was passed out from drinking, so he spent the night in one of our holding cells at the station here so he could sleep it off."

Sandy sank back into his very expensive high-tech office chair. "He was drunk?"

"Yes, sir. I am notifying you as his legal guardian. I realize that you are in California. Normally I would have you or your wife come down, and we would release him into your custody --"

Sandy felt some hope come back. "So you're not keeping him?"

"No, but we are holding him for now. We need an adult to take responsibility for him before we can release him. Ryan gave me the name of a friend's father that I've been trying to reach -- Carson Ward."

"Good, good. Carson is a good man, a friend of mine. He'll take responsibility for Ryan. You haven't been able to reach him?"

"Not yet. Ryan gave me his home phone number, but it has been busy."

"I can give you his cell phone number. Would that help?"

"Yes, sir, that would be helpful."

After Sandy gave the officer Carson's cell phone number, she surprised him by saying, "Mr. Cohen, do you mind if I say something of a personal nature?"

"Um... certainly, go ahead."

"I've gotten to know Ryan a little bit this morning here, and I just wanted to say that, in my professional opinion, he's basically a good kid. I think he knows that he did the wrong thing last night. I think if he can stay out of trouble, he could have a bright future ahead of him."

"Thank you, officer. Thank you for saying that."

After Sandy hung up with the Portland Police officer, he was relieved that Ryan wasn't under arrest and would get released as soon as Carson got there. But mixed in with the relief was anger. Sandy could feel himself getting more and more angry -- at Ryan. He agreed with everything that Officer Simpson said about Ryan, but it was the "if he can stay out of trouble" part that worried him. That kid -- that kid -- well, he should know better than to go out and get drunk. He could think of quite a few words that he wanted to say to Ryan, when he got the chance.

Sandy tried to get his emotions under control so he could call Kirsten and give her the bad news.

Officer Simpson was just about to try calling Carson Ward's cell phone when a call was forwarded to her desk.

"Marge, there's a Carson Ward on the phone looking for a Ryan Atwood? He's one of your kids, right?"

Marge smiled. That made things easier. "Yes. Thank you, Doris. Put him through."

"Hello?"

"Officer Simpson? This is Carson Ward --"

"Yes, Mr. Ward. I've been trying to contact you --"

"Ryan's there? Is he all right?"

"Yes, he's fine. He's a little hung over, but that's to be expected. He got very drunk last night."

"But he's not under arrest?"

"No."

Marge could hear Mr. Ward sigh with relief on the other end of the phone.

She continued, "But we need a responsible adult to release him to. I have spoken to Ryan's legal guardian, Sandy Cohen, and he approves of you taking responsibility for Ryan. Are you willing to do that?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"If you could come down here and sign for him, we can release him into your custody."

"I'll be right there. Can you give me directions?"

"Of course."

Marge gave Carson Ward directions to the precinct house and then ended the call.

Marge smiled to herself. She loved happy endings. Kids coming in like this could go either way -- no adult in their life was willing to come for them, or they had loving parents who came right down. In this case, even a friend's father was willing to come. This was one lucky kid. Especially since apparently he'd already had some hardship in his life, since he wasn't living with his parents, but with guardians. And he seems to have gotten lucky in that department as well. In their short conversation, Marge could tell that Sandy Cohen cared very much about Ryan.

Marge headed off to the holding cells to let Ryan know the good news.

To be continued.