Hello and thank you again for the wonderful reviews! A big hug to all of you and the warmest hug goes to you Misty who once again have helped me with the editing. Thanks a million :)At first I thought I would end this story with this chapter but then decided against it, especially since you wanted it to go on :) so here you are...one more chapter and a few more to come...So letsget onwith the show...

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to OC. This is purely fiction and not intended to hurt anyone.

Chapter 6

"Hi Hot li...I mean Martha this is Seth Cohen. Can I speak to Mom, please?"

"One moment," Seth could hear the woman on the other end push a button and he while waiting he urged her to hurry up.

He'd just come back from the pool house and by the looks of it Ryan wasn't doing much better. His prediction had been right Ryan had made a good use of the bucket, only to seconds later rush into the bathroom. Whatever bug that had his brother in a tight grip was making its move down south. Shortly after that he'd left, to give Ryan some more privacy.

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Cohen is busy in a meeting right now and she won't take any calls. May I take a message?" The woman talked with a sleepy southern accent. Seth had never liked her and he wondered why his mother kept such an annoying and bitching secretary. Upon asking his mother about it she'd just told him that it was Caleb's decision, besides the woman knew how to do her job.

"Are you sure?" He pressed on. "She wanted me to call her, as a matter of fact she insisted that I call."

Bitch he thought irritated. She was probably just putting him on hold out of spite or because her nail polish had to dry. He had his own nickname for her. And it wasn't a nice one either. He guessed that she had a similar name for him.

"She did?"

"Yes."

Seth could hear the secretary search through some papers. "It doesn't say anything about it here, but if you want I can go and check if she can take a phone call?"

Seth thought for a while, and then decided against it. Whenever his mom, or dad for that matter, wanted privacy at work it was usually something very important and they shouldn't be disturbed. They often had their lines open so Seth or Ryan could reach them at work and ask about different things. Seth had taken advantage of this parental concern many times when he'd call to ask if they could rent a movie or buy a different taste of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

"Nah that's okay. Just tell her that I've called."

"I will do that. Good bye Seth." The woman instantly hung up the phone.

Scratching his head he thought about what to do now. It wasn't so much that he was fed up with playing the house keeper, no it was more that he wanted someone to be there for Ryan. An adult, a parent. Just like they had been there for him in the past. He wanted that even more when he'd come to realise that Ryan hadn't had people caring for him when he was little.

With this gesture he wanted to give his brother a bit of his childhood back.

Picking up the phone he pressed the speed dial to his dad's office. It didn't take long before Sandy Cohen answered the phone.

"Hi dad it's me. I was wondering…"

"Hi Seth. Is everything all right at home?" His dad cut him short. "Actually that's why I'm calling you…" Seth started, he did his best to find the right words.

Once again Sandy interrupted him with an urgent tone in his voice. "Is it Ryan?"

"Well yeah…Actually dad...Ryan's got a fever close to 103 and…"

"What did you say?" Sandy's voice boomed so loud that Seth had to hold the phone away from him. "Did you call your mom?"

"I did, but she was busy and I was wondering if you could come." At once he felt like a small child again, asking for his parents to come home when he was little and left alone with his nanny. "He keeps throwing up and I don't know what from since he hasn't eaten anything and…" Seth didn't have to say much more since his father cut in.

"Don't worry son, I'm on my way." And with that he hung up.

Feeling relieved that help was on its way, parental help that was Seth decided to go back and see if Ryan wanted some company. He guessed that it would be a negative answer but he didn't want to leave his brother all alone, especially the way this illness was taking its turn.

Going back into the pool house he noticed that Ryan was still pre-occupied in the bathroom. He sat down on the bed to wait for his friends return. When he didn't hear much noise coming from the premises, Seth felt that he better check up on his foster brother. What if he was passed out cold in there? Walking over to the door he knocked softly. "Hey Ryan you in there?"

All he got back was a groan so at least he knew for certain that he was still alive. But not by much.

"Dude you doing okay?"

"Just peachy." There was pain in the voice. "I'm going to take a shower."

"You want me to come in and help you?"

"With what?" The tone was tired.

"Oh I don't know…help you get undressed or something... I don't know."

"You pervert."

Seth couldn't help but laugh. This was so much like Ryan. He could be feeling like total crap, yet he never lost the ability to throw out a sarcastic comment or two. "Okay but let me know if you trip and fall or something. You know so I can cover you up when the paramedics come to take you away." Two could play at that game.

"Har har." Seth could hear the shower start and he moved back to the bed. At least he knew that Ryan must be feeling a bit better if he wanted to take care of his personal hygiene. And for that Seth was very grateful for. He picked up the controller to the Play station and turned on the machine. He could always entertain himself while waiting for his brother to come back from the bathroom.

Seth was deep in the game when Ryan re-entered the room newly showered, dressed in a pair of boxers and a clean tee. He rubbed the towel against his wet hair. "How's it going?"

"All right, I'm winning by fifty points," Seth said, still not taking his eyes away from the game. "Did it feel good to take a shower? You feel better now?"

"Mmmm." Ryan climbed back to bed, pulling his sheets up to his neck, shivering.

Noticing this Seth frowned. "You cold?"

"Yeah. I've got goose bumps."

"You want a blanket?" Seth expected a headshake or a negative answer and was actually a bit surprised when Ryan nodded. Picking up the navy blue cotton blanket he put it over Ryan's shivering frame. "Maybe it wasn't all that smart to take a shower when you're running a fever?" He didn't want to make out like he was an expert but seeing his brother's discomfort had him wince.

"Maybe so…but I was all sweaty and icky and you complained that it stank in here."

"It did and it still does...and I wouldn't be surprised if I came down with what you've got. Especially the way you cough and spread those germs of yours." Seth scrunched up his nose. When he saw Ryan look away, without giving any smart remarks he added quickly, "But you know what…I don't care. If I'm supposed to get whatever bug you have then so be it. Meanwhile I'm going to stay here and take care of you. Sounds fun huh?" He grinned brightly and could've sworn that he saw Ryan's eyes darkened. He knew that if his brother had been well enough he would've been looking at a shiner but to his surprise Ryan lit up a weak, but still detectable smile on his face.

"Very."

"So what do you want to do then? Play a game?" Seth hoped that Ryan was feeling more up to it than the last time he'd asked.

"Not really." Ryan curled into a ball. "Listen Seth, I don't want to come out rude or anything but do you think you can go and do something else? You know watch a movie or…"

Seth felt like a small kid the way he was being treated. Like an nobody. Just like the old times. "You wanna watch a movie?" He said with an hint of sarcasm. "That's great. Which one do you think we should watch? That old Start Trek movie or maybe we could watch some re-runs from the Valley or?"

"No." Ryan groaned as he rubbed his temples. "I don't want to watch anything. It hurts my eyes, my head." He stopped before adding´with false cheerfullness. "But don't let it stop you. You can always watch..."

Seth shook his head with disbelief. "Nah." It was no fun watching movies alone. "That's okay." There were major disappointment in his voice. It was clear that Ryan wanted to be left alone no matter what he said or did. That was something Seth could never understand. The times when he was sick, which wasn't very often according to himself, he liked all the company he could get. The more attention the better while his foster brohter was the total opposite.

Ryan got something warm, something comforting in his eyes and he said with a forced smile on his lips. "It's okay. Really. You know what, just let me sleep for a little while and then I might feel better and we can do something. You know play a video game or a watch a movie. How does that sound?"

Normally Seth would've been all happy over this suggestion, now it only made him feel bad. He liked spending his time with Ryan and when he'd first moved here he had been on his case all the time. Things had changed however and they didn't spend as much time together as before. Ryan got his friends and he…well he got Summer. What hadn't changed was that they were brothers and that they were taking care of each other. Okay that was mostly Ryan's doing but Seth had his share too. Now it made him feel crummy that Ryan was taking on his "care taker" act even when he was burning up with a fever and he felt he had to do something, just anything, about it. The roles had to be reversed.

"You don't need to do that," Seth said with a sigh. "I'm the one that should back off and let you rest, besides dad will be home soon."

Ryan did a double take. "Sandy?"

"Yeah," Seth said causally like it was the most natural thing to happen.

"Where did the time go? Have I been asleep that long?" Ryan asked and Seth could detect a certain level of suspicion in his voice.

"No you haven't. I called and he is coming home."

Seth thought that Ryan would jump out off his skin. "He's what? You called Sandy?" His eyes shone with anger.

"I thought you would need someone that could take care of you…you know some parental guidance," Seth defended himself, but he noticed he'd stepped on a weak spot.

Ryan, who was too weak to lift his head, much less sit up balled his fist. "Don't...you…ever...do...that...again." The words were well marked which had Seth in for a loop. He'd thought, ok not really maybe more hoped, that Ryan would be grateful that his parents would come to be with him. Instead he got the total opposite.

Talk about a tough nut to crack.

"I didn't mean any harm," said Seth with an apologizing tone. "I thought you wanted them to be there for you. Just like I want them to be there for me when I'm sick."

Ryan sighed deeply. The anger had vanished from his face and instead he looked mostly exhausted. "That's you Seth. Not me. I can handle this by myself. I'm not some kind of…"

"Baby," Seth filled in, feeling his temper rise. "Yeah you told me that before didn't you? And I told you that here we don't do things alone and that you better get used to it because that is what families do." Ryan opened his mouth to object when Seth held up a hand. "No let me finish. You come here and brood and act like you're the one that always has the hard time..And when I want to help you...you just want to be alone. Well I'm starting to get fed up with it. Just because you had a shitty childhood and you were always the one that had to manage on your own, doesn't mean that you can't accept help now."

Ryan stared at him, face flushed, mouth open and with tears in his eyes. If the tears came from anger or being sick or sadness, Seth had no idea but it made him feel more remorseful than he'd ever been. At that moment he felt like he could've bit off his tongue. He regretted every word he said, yet they couldn't be unspoken. Here he was yelling at Ryan who was sick as a dog. Biting his lip he wanted to take it all back. It was just that he was so sick and tired of Ryan always acting like a loner and knowing that whatever he did for Ryan, the help he provided, he was always met with resistance.

It made him feel so small and alone.

Both guys stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. The air so tense that you could cut it with a knife. Standing up he picked up his Playstation as well as the games and then said to Ryan who lay pale in bed, "I'm leaving so you can be alone. since that is what you want anyways." Just when he was about to get outside he heard Ryan call out for him.

"Seth?"

"Yeah?" He had his back against him.

"Stay."

Kirsten gathered up her papers and put them in her briefcase. Casting a glance at her watch she noticed that it was a quarter past three. With a frown she wondered why her son hadn't called her, especially since she'd given him strict order to do so. The meeting with the new marketing consultant had taken some time and to her dismay they couldn't come up with any solution for the project. She blamed it on not being prepared when deep inside she knew that it was because her thoughts were constantly somewhere else. They were on her two boys back home. How they were doing. Why she wasn't there for them. Guilt gnawed on her consciousness.

"Kirsten?" Carter put his hand on her arm. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Uh?" She immediately jerked back to reality. "No, I'm sorry." A smile toyed at the corner of her lips.

"I said that I can handle this and you should go home to your family." Carter looked at her a bit worried. "I'll wrap this up."

Her first thought was to say that she could manage, that she didn't have to leave but then her heart took over and she said with a smile. "All right, thanks Carter. I'll call you in the morning."

"Sounds great." Carter handed her the briefcase. "And if you need to stay at home tomorrow too, don't worry I can look after the firm."

Just when she stepped out from the room her secretary called out for her. "Mrs Cohen!" Martha Simmons was a woman in her mid forties. She had a mess of tight curls of a fiery red colour, a pinched nose and dark frame glasses. Sometimes Kirsten wondered if she was more interested in her manicure nails and what lipstick to match her clothes then she was in her work. But Caleb seemed to like her and since she did her job Kirsten had let her be. However she knew that Seth wasn't too found of her and that he had a nickname for her "Hot lips"

"Yes?" This was it. Seth had probably called and left her a message. With fast steps she walked over to the woman who handed her a small note.

"Mr Cohen called. He wanted you to call back as soon as you got this message."

"Thank you Martha." She read the number on the note. It was to Sandy's cell phone. "I'll call him in the car." Looking over at the desk she asked with a frown. "No one else called?"

"No," The secretary shook her head then she suddenly seemed to change her mind. "Yes, your son called but I told him you were busy and couldn't take a call so I asked him if…"

"You did what?" Kirsten interrupted the older woman who looked at her with pinched lips. "Why didn't you patch him through?"

"I thought you said that you didn't want anyone put through," the secretary said in defence, her mouth pierced into a red line.

"Yes but this is Seth and you know very well that he and Ryan, are the only ones that I accept no matter what." Her tone was hard and cold. She was just about to tell the woman what she thought about her antics when her dad came into the room.

"Kiki, just the one I wanted to talk to," Caleb said nodding to Martha who smiled widely at him.

"I can't, not now Dad. I'm on my way home." She picked up her mauve trench coat and put it on her arm.

"On your way home?" Caleb looked displeased. "At this time of hour? Isn't that a bit early?"

"Dad I have to get home. The boys are sick and…"

"Seth's sick?" The older man interrupted her, a deep frown on his forehead. "I hope it's not something serious."

"It's not, actually its Ryan that is sic…" She didn't get to end her sentence before Caleb cut her short with an annoyed look.

"That kid from Chino? Don't you think he is a bit old for having to be babysat?" Major sarcasm was involved in his question and in an attempt to mark his opinion he gave the secretary a knowing look. She nodded back to him and Kirsten could see what they thought of her foster son. And it wasn't nice.

She did her best to ignore the gestures. "That kid from Chino is my son, our son Ryan and he has been living with us for almost two years dad." She sighed tiredly. "And yes he is sick and I'm going home to take of him." She picked up her briefcase. "So if you'll excuse me I'm leaving now." Not waiting for any response she walked out off the office with fast steps, all the while breathing in and out in an attempt to calm her nerves.

As soon as she got in the car she picked up the phone and called home. The signals went through but no one was answering. This made her heart beat a little faster. What if something had happen? What if they were lying on the floor unconscious? Dead? Once again she went through a guilt trip and was just about to call home again when her cell gave out a beeping signal. Thinking that it was her son on the other line she said irritably, "Seth! How many times have I told you to pick up the phone when you're at home?" She drew in a breath to continue when a dark male voice could be heard on the other end.

"Kirsten? What is it honey?"

It was Sandy that had called her and relieved to hear her husbands voice she blurted out, "Seth isn't answering. I'm afraid something bad has happen."

"Calm down honey." Sandy's dark voice was comforting. "I've talked to Seth and both him and Ryan are safe, there is nothing you need to worry about. I'm on my way home to be with them."

"Seth called? You on your way home?"

"Seth told me that Ryan has… "The signal was weak and the scratchy sound that followed made Kirsten have a hard time figuring out what her husband was saying.

"Yes? What about Ryan?" She was urging an answer. "Sandy hello?"

The signal went stronger for a sec and before she'd worked up a frenzy he said, "Honey hold on, the signal is a bit low. I'll call you back in a minute." With that the line went dead.

"Damn!" Kirsten wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was still raining outside but her not knowing what was going on in her own household was making her nervous and sweaty. It felt like hours before her cell phone beeped again.

"Yes? Sandy what is it with Ryan?" She wasted no time in throwing in her questions.

"Calm down honey, it's nothing bad. Seth called to say that Ryan had a fever close to 103 and…" Her husband didn't have a chance to continue.

"103! Sandy! How can you say that it's nothing!" Kirsten nearly drove off the road. "That is a high temperature and as far as I know Ryan is low temped so that is unnaturally high. Did you call the doctor?" Her mind went into overdrive and she was thinking up all kinds of causes that had made her son that sick.

"No, and I don't think it's that necessary either," Sandy said calmly. "Seth said he had been throwing up all day so my guess is that he caught a stomach bug or the stomach flu. Nothing to be all that worked up about."

Kirsten bit back a sneer comment. "So," she said, calming herself down. "You're on your way home then?"

"Yes, I will soon be in the drive way."

"Me too," Kirsten said as she showed her card for the gate to be opened to their restricted area.

"Good, then I'll meet you at home."

But..but.." Sandy hung up and she sighed. That was so much like her husband. Always taking it easy, always looking at the positive side of things. Sometimes she wished that it was him that was the worrier. Him that was the one that was loaded with guilt and not her.

It didn't take long for Kirsten to drive up to the driveway and Sandy's car was already parked when she reached her destination. Jumping out she went inside straight away. Her husband was nowhere to be seen so she guessed that he'd already gone to the pool house. With quick steps she hurried out only to see her husband close the door to the pool house.

"Sandy? Why are you not with the boys?" she asked totally out of breath. Noticing the large smile on his face she asked a bit annoyed. "What's so funny?"

"Come in and see for yourself." Sandy laid his arm around her waist, gently guiding her through the door. Kirsten, expecting to see the worst wasn't as amused as her husband and she was just going to give him a reprimand when he gently pushed her forward.

"Go on."

Stepping into the dusk pool house that was as hot as a sauna and smelled just as stale, and where the only light lighting up the room was a small lamp, she soon saw what had caught her husband's attention. A wide smile spread on her face.

There on the Queen sized bed was both of her sons. Asleep.

Seth lay on the cover with a comic book over his chest and by the look of it he'd fallen asleep mid sentence. Her first thought that he was ill too but then she saw the peaceful expression he had on his face and the soft snores he uttered made her think that he was quite comfortable, Ryan on the other hand, face drawn from pain, was sweaty and flushed with fever. He too was on his back but he didn't look as comfortable as his brother. Instead he moved restlessly letting out small moans. Yet he was sound asleep too.

"Do you think we should wake them up?" she whispered. "Ryan looks like he could need some medication and I don't like the way he is so flushed and…"

Her husband hushed her down. "No why? Kirsten, come on let's leave them alone. I'm sure they wake up when it's time and then we'll deal with it. Until then I say we'll let them sleep. You know; being sick can really take a toll on you."

"Yes," Kirsten chuckled, "apparently taking care off your sick brother too." With that they closed the door to the pool house gently behind them...