Disclaimer: Not mine. If they were, there would be a mandatory dress code requiring Ryan to only wear towels. And there would be a lot more angst, and I'd have at least one episode dedicated to the Cohen/Atwood boys doing strip karaoke.

Author's Notes:

Whew! I apologize for taking longer to get this chapter up, but midterms and dissertation intervened. But the Red Sox won the World Series and I have the Season One DVDs, so I can't complain. I had no idea that Dr. Kim was in Freaky Friday! It kind of makes me hard to take her seriously when I picture her running a Chinese restaurant.

Leentje—Thanks for your reviews. I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this.

Controversyqueen—Aw, you don't get the DVDs yet? I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get them as soon as they come out. They would definitely be an awesome birthday present.

Storymom—I hear you about real life. I tend to ignore it in favor of writing fanfic, but I managed to get my dissertation proposal, well, not done but I made progress, and finished my midterms, so it shouldn't matter how much fanfic I write, right? But yes, I understand about real life pressures, so take your time and whenever you manage to update your wonderful story, I will be absolutely thrilled. And thank you again for your kind comments about mine. It makes me happy that such a wonderful writer is enjoying this.

OCLover1—Thanks again for your review. I'm really glad you like this.

HateToSayIToldYouSo—I know what you mean. The staff at Best Buy must think I'm a totally obsessed fan, although I guess they're right. Besides, I can handle some people thinking I'm insane if it means that I get my OC wonderfulness. ;)

Sara—I agree, Bondage!Ryan is way hot. ;)

Amber—Thanks for your comments. Angst does work well with Ryan, doesn't it? I do so love to torture him, but I promise he'll be happy eventually.

After the Cohens left, Ryan planned on retreating back to his room, maybe try to catch a quick nap. At this point, he figured that the easiest way out of this would be to keep to himself, keep from getting into any trouble. When he got back, he found that he'd been issued a set of standard psycho ward attire, green cotton pants and shirt and a pair of slippers. No shoelaces, no belt, nothing you could use to off yourself. Not that he planned on it. It took enough energy just being out of bed.

But still, the clothes were an improvement over the hospital gown. He thought about asking the Cohens to bring him some clothes when they came to visit, but he hated the thought of asking them for anything. They had spent thousands of dollars on him in the last two years, he had repaid them by breaking their hearts, and even now they were paying his hospital bills, which couldn't be cheap. They had done enough for him.

Ryan had changed and was just about to settle back into bed when a knock sounded at his door. He looked up as a youngish woman stepped into the room and held out her hand. "Hi Ryan," she greeted him. "I'm Dana. I'm the psychology intern for this ward."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "An intern?"

"I know," she smiled apologetically. "I'll have my PhD at the end of next spring."

Ryan shrugged. "It makes no difference to me."

"Anyhow," Dana continued, smiling brightly, "I'm supposed to take you to do some testing. Do you need a moment to get ready?"

"I'm fine," Ryan answered. Play along, don't cause trouble, and he'd be out of here next week like they promised.

"Actually, we can do this here," Dana suggested, motioning toward the table and chairs by the window. The intern had brown eyes and long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she reminded him of Theresa a little, or maybe Theresa's older sister if she'd had one. "The testing will take most of the day today, I'm afraid, but you'll be starting individual and group therapy tomorrow. Oh, and I run an art therapy class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you're interested."

"Okay," Ryan mumbled, trying to summon some enthusiasm. "Sounds cool."

"Sit down," Dana urged, sinking into one of the chairs and gesturing toward the other one. "I promise this will be painless."

Ryan gave her a skeptical look as he sat down. "Painless?"

"Okay, mostly painless," Dana amended. "No guarantees."

Ryan snorted. "That's comforting."

"Ryan, whatever you tell me stays between the two of us," Dana explained. "The only exception to this is if you told me you were planning on hurting yourself, or hurting someone else. Other than that, this is all confidential."

"You mean you won't tell the Cohens about what I say?" Ryan asked.

"Not exactly," Dana explained. "I'll be writing up a report tonight after we finish with this testing, so I'll write about what the tests results say about you, and any observations I have about your mood and how I think you're doing, but I ethically can't tell your family anything that you say to me unless I have your permission."

Ryan felt himself relax a little. This didn't sound too bad. "Okay."

"Good," Dana smiled. "Cause we've got a lot of work to do."

"You've got two options, Seth," Kirsten announced to her son. "You can come with me to buy clothes for Ryan, or you can go with your dad to shop for books and music."

"Clothes shopping?" Sandy echoed in mock horror. "Seth, son, you don't want to torture yourself like that."

Kirsten sighed. "Maybe I should let you buy clothes and I'll be in charge of books and music."

"Oh, no," Sandy protested, holding his hands up. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"Seth, come on," Kirsten pleaded. "I know you're upset about Ryan, but he needs our support right now."

Seth shook his head. "All Ryan needs is to get some rest. At home. I can't believe you agreed to lock him up."

"That's enough, Seth," Sandy barked. "Ryan isn't locked up, and your sulking isn't going to help him."

"Sandy, please." Kirsten put a hand on her husband's arm. "Why don't you go shopping for books, Seth can be in charge of buying CDs, and I'll buy clothes? We can all meet back here in two hours." She cast a glance at her son. "Sound okay to you, Seth?"

Seth shrugged. "I guess."

Sandy chose not to press things any further. "Wise choice," he tried to joke as he opened his wallet and handed Seth a handful of bills. "I wouldn't know where to start with music."

There was a trace of a smile on Seth's face as he took the money. "Yeah, your taste in music really sucks, Dad."

Sandy laughed and shook his head. "Get out of here. Be back in two hours."

"You know, Dad," Seth began, a mischievous look in his eyes, "Ryan might heal faster if he had his own X-Box."

"Nice try, Seth," Kirsten replied, but she was glad to see the old Seth returning, and she couldn't help smiling.

The Cohens showed up shortly after six. Ryan couldn't help feeling glad to see them, and even more so after he saw that they had brought food.

"Nice timing," he greeted them. "They serve dinner here at six thirty."

Kirsten frowned. "Well, if you'd wait and eat then, it's okay with us."

"Mom, are you crazy?" Seth argued. "Everyone knows that hospital food sucks."

"Here, Ryan." Sandy reached into the paper bag and handed him a burger. "No ketchup, extra onions."

Ryan couldn't help being impressed that the Cohens remembered how he liked his hamburgers. "Thanks."

"And we brought some clothes too," Kirsten added. "If you don't like them, I can exchange them tomorrow."

"Kirsten, it's okay," Ryan assured her. "It's fine. And thanks."

"So how was it today, Ryan?" Sandy asked. "They treating you okay?"

Ryan shrugged. "It was okay." Not bad, really, but he wasn't about to go that far. "I just took a lot of tests. They made me look at inkblots."

"No way," Seth shook his head. "They really do those?"

"Yeah." Ryan nodded. "It was a little weird, but not bad."

"We brought you books as well," Sandy added, handing a Barnes and Noble bag to Ryan. "Hopefully you haven't read all of these."

"Thank you," Ryan said automatically. He felt uneasy about the Cohens spending all this money on him, but he knew from two years of living with them that protesting usually yielded futile results. "These are great."

"And music too," Seth added, tossing another bag across the room to Ryan. "I tried to score you an X-Box, but The Kirsten shot me down."

Ryan grinned as he watched Seth and Kirsten bicker, while Sandy looked on in amusement. He thought about Marissa's suicide attempt, and how Julie had tried to send her away. Of course, he was in the hospital for another week, but the Cohens were here for him. They cared, and they weren't afraid to show their affection for him. He didn't deserve a family like this.

He pushed the thought out of his mind. Not tonight, he told himself. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that one good day signified the end of his problems. But it had been a good day all the same. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good day.

He could definitely live with this hopeful thing.