First I would like to thank Misty for the editing :) Big hug to you. Then a big thank you for all that have reviewed this story. It's for you I write :) And here comes another chapter. Hope you'll like it! swenglish

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

Chapter

The second Seth set his foot inside the kitchen he regretted his moves. There, in the family room were his parents watching TV and talking. It was obvious that they had come home early to see him but meeting them was one thing that he wanted to avoid at all costs. His mom and dad wouldn't be too pleased that he'd brought Summer home when he was suppose to be sick. They never liked it when he ditched school, not that it happened too often, and he knew that they would probably chew him out.

Quickly, he weighed up his options. Either he could walk straight up to them and confess his mistake with Summer or he could sneak away and hide in his room. Maybe they would have forgotten all about it by dinner time. Taking off his slippers he picked them up and then tip toed as silently as he could past his parents. Hopefully they would be too busy with whatever they were discussing to notice his existence. He was almost sure that he'd made it across the kitchen unseen, when….

"Seth Ezekiel!"

At first Seth tried to act as though he hadn't hear his mother's loud voice and continued to walk like he wasn't caught when another, more booming, voice cut in. "Seth, where do you think you're going?"

Skidding to a stop he sighed heavily and walked back in at a slow pace. A false cheerful grin was plastered on his face. "Mom? Dad? I didn't know that you were home. And so soon."

"Yes and we need to have a talk."

Trying to find a way out Seth mumbled, "But dad I was on my way to the bedroom and I really…" He raised his finger in a gesture as if to stop his parents for lashing out at him. "You sure it's me you wanted to see? I mean I can always ask Ryan if he would be up to it, although I doubt it the way he'd been going today, but anyway…" He knew he was talking gibberish but the truth was that he was trying to stall the situation, waiting until he found a better solution, or had tired his parents out. Whatever came first would do.

His father wasn't impressed and his mother looked mighty upset. "Seth! Sit down."

"Me?" He gestured dramatically towards his chest. "You mean me?"

"Yes you." There was an impatient tone in his mom's voice when she patted on the sofa next to her. "Come here."

Ignoring the gesture Seth tried once again. "You sure it's me you want to talk to? I mean I've only been asleep in the pool house and I haven't done anything remotely interesting today. As a matter of fact the most daring thing I've done is watching Ryan stick his head into a bucket. I don't know if something like that would…"

His father cut him short. "Seth, stop it. Sit down and listen to what your mom has to say." Seth knew that tone. It was the non-negotiation tone and it was one that he never won over.

"Seth Cohen when have we ever taught you to lie?" Kirsten sounded genuinely upset.

"Lie? Who? Me?" Once again he gestured towards his chest. Just like a drama queen.

"Yes you. Stop pretending to be innocent. When I called home today it was Summer that answered. What were you doing with her?"

"What do you mean?" Seth cleared his throat several times. "What I was doing with her?"

"Not actually doing, that we don't care to know about." His dad came unexpectedly to his defence. An irritated snort came from his mom, which made his dad add, "Or do we honey?"

Kirsten's face was now red in anger. "Sandy you're taking his side. As always."

"I'm not."

Surprised but also amused Seth watched the conversation turning into a discussion between his mom and dad. When he thought they weren't watching him, he silently backed out of the room. If luck smiled on him they wouldn't even notice that he was gone and they would just keep on bickering.

"And just where do you think you're going?" His dads tone was hard this time.

"Uh Oh Me?" He knew that it was useless to try to deny his event with Summer, yet he couldn't just quit. Could he? Then he got an idea! With his weakest voice he croaked. "You know I think I might be coming down with whatever flu Ryan's got and I think I should really go lay down." He coughed harshly to state his point.

At first he thought he saw a glint of concern in his parent's eyes but then it turned into suspicion. "You're not just saying that to get out of the conversation are you?"

Seth did his best to act offended. "No I would never sink so low."

"Good because we're having the talk."

Seth groaned. "But dad."

"No buts, your mom says that Summer was here. Is that correct?"

His dad had his lawyer voice on.

"Yeah I guess." Seth looked down.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" The question was directed towards his mom.

"Seth," Kirsten sounded at once tired. "You got to stay home from school today because you said that you felt sick."

"I had a fever. You said that yourself." Seth interrupted her.

"Or at least that was what the thermometer showed." She looked sad. "We trusted you; let you stay at home and then you take advantage of us and let Summer come over to the house." Seth twisted uncomfortable. He never liked it when they drew out a conversation for that long. It was a bad omen. "But mom nothing happened." Okay that was a white lie but then when did parents have to know everything?

"What your mom is saying is that you told us you were sick and still invited Summer to come over. That was a lousy thing to do and we can't go easy on you."

"What do you mean? I'm being grounded?" The penny finally dropped, Seth was starting to realise the consequences of his actions.

"We'll have to think about that."

That last sentence was what set Seth off. "That is not fair. Here I've been at home taking care of Ryan and changing sick buckets and now you're thinking of grounding me just because Summer was nice and wanted to come over with some chicken soup so we wouldn't have to starve and…"

"Chicken soup?"

"Yes!" 'That'll do it,' Seth thought as he went on. "It's not my fault that you couldn't take time off your work and instead let me do things that parents are suppose to do." Drawing breath he looked at his mom and dad who were clearly flustered by now. "I wouldn't be surprised if this qualified as child labour and you," he pointed at his father. "You if anyone should know that child labour here in the States is forbidden and I think that people would get really interested if they found out that…"

"Cut it out!" His dad had had enough and the tone told him that he was in deep water. Biting back any comment that were on the tip of his tongue Seth nodded quickly. "Okay."

Battle lost. Game over.

It was dark in the pool house by the time Ryan woke up from his nap. The only light provided was coming from the lamp in the corner of the room. Looking around, feeling disoriented, he noticed that he was all alone. The only trace of his foster brother, who'd occupied the space next to him on the bed, was the comic book laying carelessly on the bed spread. It was hot and stuffy in the room, no doubt an affect from the fever he could feel running through his veins. His skin felt all icky and his tee stuck to him like a second skin. To say that he was miserable would be an understatement.

Ryans stomach had calmed down a little. It was still doing summersaults but not as much as it had all day. His innards didn't feel like they wanted to jump up and take a peak at the world outside through his throat, and that was always something. Thirst made itself known and with a groan he reached out for the glass on the bedside table only to find that it was empty. "Shit!" Too weak to get up and get some replacement liquids he sank down into the pillows again. The dry coughs that seemed to have his body in a tight grip combined with the blinding headache made him want to crawl into a ball and hope that sleep would over take him again and bliss would come.

But no such thing happened. Instead the door opened and someone came inside the room. By the silent and careful steps Ryan guessed that it couldn't be Seth since he just barged inside the pool house like he had something urgent to say. A whiff of perfume gave the intruder away and before he had a chance to react he felt a cold hand pressing down on his forehead. Opening his eyes he noticed a pair of blue ones looking down at him, gently.

"Hi honey, I'm sorry I woke you up. I just wanted to check on you."

"That's okay," Licking his parched dry lips Ryan did his best to find his bearings. "What time izzit?" His mind felt all jumbled and he was having hard time thinking.

"Quarter past six. You've slept a long time. You must have needed it." Kirsten smiled softly at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." He didn't care to elaborate.

She frowned. "Does your stomach still hurt? Still feel upset?"

Feeling with his hand across the abdomen he gently palpated it only to notice that the worst cramps seemed to have subsided and left was just a dull ache. The kind of aches you got when your stomach was empty. "Just a little."

Ryan could see the relief shining in her eyes. "That's good. You think you feel up to eating something? Some crackers maybe?"

He shook his head. The mere thought off putting something in his mouth made him feel queasy and his stomach was still too uneasy to ignore the signs. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass for now.

"You should really try to put something in that stomach of yours. I'm sure it'll make you feel better and…," She stopped when he made a face, "All right lets leave it for now, shall we? So are you thirsty?" Kirsten motioned with her hand towards the empty glass.

"Yea..Yes." His throat was so parched that he had a hard time talking and he had to cough several times to clear his voice.

"That's a real nasty cough you've got. Did you have it this morning?" Kirsten frowned and when she got no answer from the teen she added, "I'll go and get you some water then, hold on." With that she walked over to the bathroom where Ryan could hear her running some fresh water from the tap and a moment later she was back again. "Here you go." She handed him the glass but his hands shook too much from the exhaustion that he couldn't even hold the glass. Drops of water spilled onto his tee.

"Wait I'll help you." Kirsten was there with her arm, holding up his back and head and he let the cool liquid sooth his sore throat. It felt good. When he was done he was going to lay back down when Kirsten asked him to wait for a minute. He watched how she turned his pillow. This was a gesture that his own mother had never done for him and it made him feel good. "There you go. That should make you feel much more comfortable."

"Thanks," he mumbled when she helped him to lie down again. Closing his eyes Ryan savoured the cool pillow against his hot skin. He was so tired yet it felt like all the bones in his body ached and he couldn't sleep.

She placed her cool hand on his forehead again. "You're still very hot. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to take a shower, try to lower the fever."

"I did that and all I got was the chills." Ryan shivered as he remembered how long and how many blankets it had taken for him to stop shaking since that last incident. Seth had hovered by him like a fly to honey and if it wasn't because he knew his friend was just concerned about him he would've kicked him out of the pool house. It was so damned annoying, yet strangely comforting.

"Oh," Kirsten looked at him with sympathy. "You really have had a rough time today, haven't you?" She sat down next to him on the bed.

Not knowing what to say, his thoughts all jumbled from fever but also because he wasn't used to this kind of attention when he was sick. His mother hated taking care of sick people and when he'd been sick in the past he had to do what he could to take care of himself, that was if Trey wasn't around. She acted like he had the plague and when he puked she didn't even dare to be close to him, and either she closed the door, afraid to catch whatever bug he got, or she left him alone in the house, stating that she had to get to work and if she got sick who would earn the money? This was the total opposite to how Kirsten and Sandy acted and all this attention made Ryan blush. "Yeah a little."

Stroking away his sweaty bangs she went on, "When was the last time you took any Tylenol?"

Thinking hard Ryan struggled to remember but his brain felt fried with fever and his vision was so blurry that it made him dizzy. This resulted in him closing his eyes again. "I don't remember," he mumbled wearily when another dry cough wrecked his body. "Sorry." A shiver ran down his spine and the nausea that he'd thought he'd kicked for good was back again. With vengeance.

"That's okay. It doesn't matter. I'll give you some medication to lower the fever but first I'd like to take your temperature. Is that okay?" Kirsten's voice was so soft, almost like a whisper.

Ryan, feeling too weak to object nodded slowly. With that he felt the device in his mouth and he had to do everything not to gag on the object. He wanted to cough so badly, yet he knew he had to hold still or the thermometer wouldn't do its job then he would have to do the process all over again. When he thought he couldn't hold down the cough or the retching reflex any longer he felt Kirsten take away the device. He didn't have a chance to ask how high of a fever he had when dry coughs wracked his body and he felt his stomach churn violently. He had no idea what happened but before he knew what hit him he was sitting there dry heaving while Kirsten rubbed his back comfortingly.

"That's it," she urged him as he spat the bile into the bucket. "Let it all out. Let it come."

He shook so violently that he was certain that he would've dropped the bucket if Kirsten hadn't been there for him. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and the weakness was really starting to take its toll. His head swam every time he moved and it felt like he would pass out from the exhaustion.

He whimpered and Kirsten stroked his hair.

"I know it's bad," she said in a soothing voice, "Try to relax and then you'll see that the worst bout will pass."

He was too weak to do anything but lay there with closed eyes as he felt Kirsten wipe his face and mouth with a cool towel. This made him feel so small and for a moment it felt like he was little again. Not that his mother had done that too him anyway. He had a vague memory of someone helping him out one time when he had a high fever. He didn't know how long ago that was but he guessed he was around eleven since there was a man in the picture. He didn't think it could've been his dad either since he never remembered him showing that kind of affection. Maybe it was Trey? Maybe it was a neighbour?

Ryan didn't know. He didn't care. All he wanted at the moment was to be able to fall into a deep sleep. Yet the fever denied him any kind of comfort.

The door opened and someone came into the pool house again. He felt Kirsten move from the bed.

"How's he doing?" A dark voice asked and he recognized it to belong to his foster dad.

"Not so good. He can't even hold down water."

Ryan couldn't make out what more Kirsten said, but he guessed it couldn't be all that good since second's later Sandy's rough hand was on his forehead. "He's awfully warm. How high did you say it was?"

"103.7," said Kirsten and Ryan could detect a hint of worry in her voice. "That is at least seven points up since Seth took his temperature. You think we should call the doctor?"

Upon hearing the word doctor mentioned Ryan felt he had to object. In his life calling a doctor meant money and that was not something he was used to. It also meant people asking stuff about him and his family and it meant that social service could be called in if he wasn't careful. Therefore his mom never called a doctor unless someone was half dying.

"Didn't Ryan tell you that he was prone to high fevers?" Sandy's voice sounded so far away.

"Yes. But I don't like the way it keeps rising. I think it would be best if Doctor Green took a look at him."

Sandy was right. Ryan knew from past experience that when he got sick, which wasn't very often, he was prone to high fevers and his stomach had the habit of betraying him. This was probably the reason why the vomiting was so severe, that was if he hadn't caught a stomach virus which he doubted. What made him feel uneasy was that they called their doctor just to confirm something as simple as a nasty case of the flu. It felt much too embarrassing.

He had met Dr Green on a couple of occasions; he was a nice gentleman in his late fifties. A distinguished man with grey hair and glasses, he was the family doctor and had from what Ryan heard been with the family ever since Seth was born. The first time he'd met the doctor had been last year when he'd suffered from a bad throat infection, he thought he was a bit strange, but the Cohen's liked him and after all he was there family doctor. Seth seemed to like him too, but then that didn't say much since his foster brother seemed to like all kinds of weirdoes.

"No. No doctors. You don't need to do that." Ryan croaked, surprised by how weak his voice really was.

"Oh hey kiddo, I didn't know that you were awake?" Sandy ignored his comment."How are you feeling?" Something wet and cold was pressed against his forehead, he guessed it was a towel in an attempt to lower his fever.

"Okay." Monosyllables seemed to be the only thing he could muster these days. Everything seemed so blurry and he had to close his eyes again or he was afraid he would pass out from dizziness.

Kirsten and Sandy were talking to each other again and all he could make out was that they had decided to call the doctor. He wanted to object but couldn't find the strength to do so and before he knew it Kirsten had walked out from the room, leaving him with Sandy by his side. The older man didn't say much, just provided the comfort he needed by being there and his calm relaxing posture made Ryan feel safe and soon sleep took over again. The next time he woke up there were another man beside him, he recognized the man as Doctor Green. Kirsten was there but Sandy was no where to be seen and Ryan moaned silently just to let them know that he was awake. This worked and immediately Doctor Green leaned over him with a gentle smile on his lips. "Hello Ryan. Long time no see. That's a good thing since that means that you've been healthy."

Too tired to think clearly Ryan just shrugged.

The doctor must have sensed that he wasn't in a talkative mood and instantly changed to get down to business. "Kirsten told me that you've been having a really rough time today?"

A sigh. "I guess."

The doctor felt on his forehead then frowned. "Your temperature seems a bit too high. Have you been experiencing any other symptoms… besides the fever?"

Before Ryan had a chance to answer Kirsten cut in, "Yes he's been throwing up all day, he's got a bad cough and…"

Dr Green interrupted her gently. "Thanks Kirsten, but I'd like Ryan to answer my questions about his symptoms, if that's all right with you?"

Ryan saw that Kirsten looked a bit taken aback at first but then she smiled at the doctor. "Of course."

"Good." The older man turned to Ryan again. "So you've been vomiting then?"

Ryan nodded.

"Any other symptoms? Any headaches? Sore throat? "

Once again Kirsten beat him to it. "Yes he has been saying he got a headache. I know that he was given some Tylenol but I doubt it stayed down long enough to have any effect and…"

"Kirsten!" This time the doctors' voice was firm. "Do you mind if I speak with Ryan alone?"

Surprised over the doctors' sudden outburst she mumbled, "Sure."

"Good. Meanwhile do you think you can look for Ryan's insurance papers in case they're needed?"

Insurance papers? Ryan didn't know what to think. Was Doctor Green thinking of sending him to the hospital? For a bad case of the flu?

Once Kirsten was out of the house Ryan asked. "So you're thinking of taking me to the hospital then?" The only time he'd been in the hospital a couple of times before when one of his moms boyfriends had broke his arm, hand or given him a concussion. Like he said before, doctors or hospitals was generally never called for since that meant that they would pry and ask too many questions and like Dawn said "the social people could come and take my babies away from me."

"The hospital? No, should I?"

Ryan had a hard time following the lines. "But why else would you need my insurance papers?"

The doctor smiled and when Ryan still looked puzzled he went on, "You see, whenever I need to talk with a patient alone and the relative's keeps answering the questions I find a solution to the problem. I send them out to search for the insurance papers. It keeps them occupied as well as gives me a respite to talk to the patient, in this case you." He chuckled slightly. "Don't tell Kirsten, but it works all the time."

"Okay I won't."

"That's good. Let's get down to business then, shall we?" With that the doctor asked his patients all kinds of questions to do with his health and he made a quick examination of his stomach, lungs and heart. Doctor Green suddenly asked, "Have you been in any stressful situations lately?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking because sometimes stressful emotions can affect the stomach lining." He pressed on Ryan's abdomen. "Your stomach is a bit swollen, but it's probably due to the vomiting. So have you been stressed out lately?"

"Not that I know of," Ryan lied. He didn't feel like talking about Lindsay since it only made him feel even more miserable than before.

"Really?" Doctor Green frowned and Ryan saw that he didn't believe him. "Lots to do in school? Any fights with the girlfriend?"

"No."

"Okay." The doctor didn't press the issue anymore. "But you said that you were out in the rain yesterday?"

"Yeah." Ryan nodded. "I think maybe it's when I got this cold."

"Could be…could be," the doctor mumbled. "But I don't think it's something as simple as a common cold."

Annoyed that the older man didn't spill the beans on whatever bug he had Ryan asked, "So what's wrong with me then? The flu?" He really wanted this examination to be over with so that he could go to sleep again.

"You could say that yes, but I'm also a bit concerned over that cough of yours as well as the high fever which can point to upcoming pneumonia if we're not being careful."

Pneumonia? Ryan couldn't believe his ears! He had lived all his life in Chino, practically on the streets and never caught that nasty disease, but when he came to Newport, the place where everything was clean and he went out in the rain a few minutes then he got Pneumonia! Life could be so ironic.

"I'm prescribing you some antibiotics, which might upset your stomach but I can't take the risk of neglecting your lungs." The doctor could see that Ryan looked a bit shocked and did his best to calm him down. "It's not bad yet and like I said I think we've caught it in the early stages. And as for the stomach I'd say that the reason why you're stomach is upset is mainly because of the fever. Kirsten said that you have experienced similar symptoms at other occasions when your fever has been rather high. However I'm also declared to think that you got yourself a nasty flu bug too, which doesn't exactly help the situation. The flu will have to run it's course in the meantime you might experience some different kind of discomforts from your stomach and therefore it's important that you keep yourself from getting dehydrated and I want you to drink as much fluid as you can and if this doesn't do the trick then I want Kirsten to call me back."

Ryan sighed, that was what he'd thought all along. He knew his body well enough to get his own diagnosis. Now if the doctor could just stop talking so he could lie down and get a few minutes of sleep before it was time for another bout to shake his stomach. He'd stopped listening a long time ago and was actually relieved when Doctor Green had decided that he was done with the examination and went outside to find Kirsten and give her the receipt.

He hadn't even closed his eyes before another person made an entrance!

What was this? Grand Central Station? What did a sick guy have to do to be left alone? Ryan groaned and put his head underneath his pillow. Suddenly his childhood didn't seem so bad, at least no one bothered him when he was under the weather. Okay truth was that they probably didn't care, except maybe Trey. However there was also a vague memory of a time when he was lying in a bed and AJ came barging into the room claiming that they needed his bed and he was just a lazy bum. It didn't help that Ryan had tried to explain that he was sick with a bad case of the flu, similar to now, and he got kicked out of the house. His mom was too drunk to even notice or care how sick her teenage son was and that left him having to sleep on the streets. It was cold outside, around Christmas time and he was certain he'd froze to death if it hadn't been for Theresa and her mother who took him in. Thank God for Theresa's mother. Without her he doubted that he'd survived his life in Chino.

"What did the old man say?" Seth asked as he threw himself on the bed, not caring that the extreme movement made his brother feel motion sick.

"Not much." Ryan said looking up from his nest. His only hope was that if he didn't talk all that much Seth would see the signs and then leave him alone.

"Oh really?" Seth looked up from the bed sheets. "That wasn't what mom and dad said."

Ryan sighed. Why did his brother have to ask if he already knew the answer?

"They said that you're in the early stages of pneumonia as well as having the flu." Seth looked at him sympathetically. "Aww man that sucks so bad."

Ryan shrugged. What more could he do?

"Well look on the bright side now you don't have to go to school the rest of the week and if we're lucky I can get to stay at home too and we can watch some videos and…" Seth didn't even have time to finish his sentence before Ryan simply had enough.

The thought of having to spend all his time with a hyper brother was too much and he belted out as loud as he could with the fever pulsating in his body, "Seth! Get out!"

Seth looked at him, hurt in his eyes and this time it was Ryan's turn to feel bad over his behaviour. Maybe he had exaggerated. After all, his brother did it out of concern and not in an attempt to hurt him. Before he had a chance to apologize Seth jumped off the bed.

"Jeezee man, you could've just told me if you wanted to be left alone!"

Seth walked quickly out off the pool house, leaving Ryan lying there feeling like the bad guy. If he had more strength he would've gone after his brother but now he felt weaker than a baby and his head hurt too much to even think of standing up. Instead he decided that whenever he felt better he would apologize to Seth. With that on his mind he drifted off to another restless sleep.