Awakenings
Thanks to you lot out there for the awesome reviews – there what make me keep writing.
Special shout out to Beach Tree whose detailed reviews have been helping everyone out.
One more day off so maybe just maybe you might see another chapter if the reviews are good I will continue onward and put my little Ryan through some more horrors.
"Seth! I'm going now! I'll call you later!" Sandy yelled up the stairs toward his son's room while grappling with the front door, car keys and backpack over flowing with items.
"'K Dad, just coming." Sandy paused for a moment and listened to the familiar sound of a door being hastily shut followed by the quick patter of feet down the landing steps.
Seth's curly head appeared at the top of the stair and to Sandy's surprise he too was carrying a large bag.
"Uh where are you going?"
"With you." Came the simple reply.
"Seth." Sandy waited until Seth had reached the bottom of the stairs and was standing in front of him. He took the bag of his sons shoulder and replaced it with his hand. "I told you before you can't come kiddo. Intensive care is parents only so you'd be sleeping in the corridor."
"That's okay Dad, I don't care. I packed some stuff to do, you know the latest graphic novels and some snacks in case I get peckish – did I just say peckish – anyway I put some of Ryan's clothes in too you know a classic wife beater his i-pod, oh and I thought he might want…"
Sandy sighed and prepared himself for what he had to say, "Seth let's sit for minute okay." Wrapping an arm around Seth's shoulder he led him over to the couch. Letting him sit first Sandy positioned himself so that his hands rested on top of Seth's knees.
"I need you to listen to me Seth and understand what I'm saying." He paused catching Seth's eyes with his to convey the seriousness of what was happening. "Ryan is very sick. You need to be clear on that, I know your mother said he was okay but he's not…not really. The drugs that Ryan...that Marissa…anyway he had a bad reaction to them. Regardless of what was in it, L.S.D has a huge impact on a person and their perceptions of the world. Ryan had to be sedated by the doctors because he was hallucinating. It might be a while before he wakes up Seth and even when he does he could still have…problems."
Seth looked up at his father suddenly fighting the urge to climb into his lap and be rocked like he had as a child. "Problems…"
"Yeah the doctors think that Ryan's...background might effect the delusions that he has."
Sandy sat for a moments rubbing circles on the back of Seth's hand as Kirsten was probably doing right this moment for Ryan. He glanced around his living room, bottles were strewn everywhere, footprints were embedded in the rug and several pieces were missing from their usual places of residence.
"Seth I've got to go, your mom needs me right now. You'll be okay on your own?" Sandy stood and headed back toward the door leaving Seth still sitting in surprise at what he had been told.
"Maybe while we're at the hospital you could tidy up the mess?"
Seth had heard that loud and clear, he hated when his parents were disappointed in him. Usually all it took was a home made breakfast and some puppy dog eyes but Seth knew that this time it would take a lot more.
Kirsten had long ago unfolded the beds and arranged them either side of Ryan, she had thought about trying to rest but the site of Ryan's lifeless body had compelled her to remain awake. She had gone over recent events in her head a dozen times, the plane journey with Sandy tense and anxious, the doctors breaking the news of Ryan's condition, seeing what damage had been done to her son and lastly the slap she had delivered to Julie Cooper's smug face.
The last part was something which she had been revelling in for sometime, reliving every move and hurtful word. She wished she'd had the chance to do it under better circumstances not because her son almost died due to Julie's daughter.
She had been around the room several times waiting for Sandy's return, she had straightened out Ryan's blankets, adjusted and readjusted the flowers by the bed, tidied the bathroom and even made sure his curtains hung in a straight line.
Nurses had come and gone every half an hour, checking Ryan's vitals and adding fresh drips when needed. One nurse, a young fresh faced girl who appeared relatively new to the job, had advised her that speaking to Ryan would help him. Kirsten wasn't so sure about speaking to him when he was sedated but the nurse had promised that Ryan could hear her and if he was having a bad dream her voice would sooth him.
Left with nothing else to organise Kirsten lowered the bed rail and sat down beside Ryan. She brushed the hair from his forehead feeling the heat radiating off his skin, she began to talk trying to pick a neutral subject.
"Hey baby, you gave us a scare you know. Although I must admit that I'm glad to be away from The Nana. All the way there Sandy had been telling me how the chemo had mellowed her and that she wouldn't even give me a second glance. But what happens the second we get in the door...she starts that's what. 'Did you have to bring so many bags?' 'Oh Sandy I'm making your favourite I know how much you must miss it?' On and on like just like the first time we met, for a woman who tries to be so charitable she's awful judgemental…"
"Hey that's my mother you're talking about!" Sandy's voice boomed from behind Kirsten.
Jumping up Kirsten spun to face her husband, slapping on her best smile to get him to forgive her. "We were just talking; it's the only thing I could think of."
"We?"
"Yeah Ryan and I." Kirsten paused realising how that must sound. "I mean a nurse told me talking to him would help."
"You could've picked a better topic than my mother." Sandy smiled and made his way over to the bed, kissing his wife as he went. "Hey kiddo, how you holding up?"
Just a Sandy was about to pull back from the bed Ryan's head jerked forcefully to the left. Kirsten noticed the movement too but in his hands, both formed tight fists clenching onto the bed sheets.
The parents were by the bed before he could make any further movements, Kirsten took his hand in hers trying to relax the muscles while Sandy cupped his chin desperately trying to get him to stop jerking and dislodging the ventilator.
Frantically Sandy pressed the call button again and again even though he could hear hurried footsteps approaching down the hall.
Ryan began to pant and gasp against the tube that had been forced down his throat, his whole body shook from the effort. His arms and legs fighting against the restraints as his eyes rolled beneath his eyelids.
All Kirsten and Sandy could do was mutter reassurances until help arrived, thankfully that wasn't too long. The room filled with doctors, nurses and orderlies all rushing to pin various parts of Ryan down. Sandy and Kirsten were shoved to the side, helplessly watching on as their son was pumped full of drugs. Commands which appeared to be in a foreign language were roared back and forth as Ryan's body writhed beneath their prying hands.
"What's happening?" Sandy called above the noise.
"It's alright Mr. Cohen, the sedatives worn off that's all. Ryan just got a fright. He's still dreaming so we're going to have to sedate him again."
This time it was Kirsten who called out, "Please don't. Let us try talking to him, if he's frightened he'll calm down with us. Please, please don't put him back under?"
The doctor looked up at a distraught Kirsten Cohen and stepped back slightly from the bed to allow her access to her son's head.
Placing her hands gently on his cheeks Kirsten began to speak calmly and softly, "Ryan, sweetie everything's alright. Your safe here. Sandy and I are right here by your side. Nothing bad is going to happen anymore we've got you and we're not letting you go." As she spoke she ran her thumbs across his cheekbones, she saw his arms and legs begin to still although his head still roamed restlessly. "Come on sweetie calm down for me. Settle down baby; let the doctors do their job. Good boy that's it, clever boy. You're doing so well Ryan."
Kirsten continued to chant as the orderlies stepped back from the bed letting Ryan's body rest on the mattress. The nurses finished their checks and put down the syringes that had been posed for action.
Sandy stepped up to join Kirsten beginning to stroke Ryan's forearm in which the muscles were still tensed. "Yeah kiddo that's not the way to wake up. Going for too dramatic an entrance just isn't you. We're going to stay here all week if we have too; you just take your time waking up. Come on kid just relax take things easy."
They sat together for hours talking to Ryan telling him everything about anything; when they first met, Seth's childhood, Christmas', birthdays and anniversaries. Every time he began to get agitated the would fall back into the same pattern Kirsten at his head whispering soft assurances while Sandy massaged his muscles trying to stop them from cramping.
Eventually when they were sure he had fallen into a deep sleep, they were only sure because Dr. Fleming had returned with a mild sedative designed specifically for this purpose; they began to get some sleep themselves.
However instead of separating one to either side of Ryan, Sandy squished in behind Kirsten wrapping his arms firmly around her. Breathing in the scent of her hair as Kirsten settled into his chest they said nothing as the two feel into deep rhythmical breathing.
Just before drifting off Kirsten murmured, "I wonder what he's dreaming."
Sandy waited until she was asleep before answering, "I don't honey. I just don't know but whatever it is, it isn't good."
Well there you go I did another one – the next chapter will be all about Ryan so stay tuned folks.
Review away everybody!
