Sandy knocked on the door of the pool house, where he could see Ryan lying on his bed.
"Ryan…" he said, opening the door. "Can I come in?"
"I guess" Ryan answered, not looking away from the ceiling he was staring at.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine"
"No really. Anything you need to talk about?" Sandy asked gently, sitting at the end of his bed.
"I don't think I'm the one that needs to talk" Ryan said calmly back. "Don't you think you should be talking to Seth, or Kirsten?"
"Don't worry about them Ryan. I'll be getting to them, trust me. But first, I want to make sure your ok. Today hasn't been easy for anyone…"
Ryan nodded, trying to get his thoughts into order.
"I just…I feel guilty. I should have noticed there was something going on." He stuttered.
"Ryan, this isn't your fault. None of us were aware of any of this."
"But Seth was. And we both knew that Kirsten wasn't acting herself…but no one bothered to see what was really going on. I just wish we'd talked to her, asked her what was going on you know?"
Sandy sighed, standing up.
"Yeah I know. You're a good kid Ryan, and I think you and I just need to be here for her. And once we sort Seth out, he'll be here to help us too."
Ryan sat up as Sandy left his room.
"Thanks Sandy" he said to his back.
"Take it easy ok?"
Ryan nodded, going back to lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
The doctor exited Seth's room, to where Sandy was waiting in the kitchen.
"How is he?" he asked quickly.
"He's fine. Aside from being highly intoxicated, I don't think there's any real damage. He should still go and be fully checked out tomorrow or something though."
"Thanks so much." Sandy said relieved.
"Um, there is actually something else that needs to be spoken about." The doctor said awkwardly.
"Ok…" Sandy agreed, a little suspiciously.
"Look I'm not sure what happened here today, but I still have to ask you a few questions, whether he was drunk or not."
Sandy nodded, gulping back the lump in his throat.
"Now, the cuts on your son's wrist, do you know if they were acts of self-harm?"
"Um, yes they were. My wife and I walked in on him with a razor."
The doctor nodded, pondering his next question.
"And do you think he was trying to commit suicide here today?"
"What?" Sandy asked shocked. "Of course not! I know he wasn't trying to kill himself. He's just…he's had some problems with his mother…and, I'm sure he just got confused."
"Where is Kirsten?" the doctor asked.
"She…um she took off before. It was just a bit much for her" Sandy stuttered.
"Ok" The doctor picked up his bag, searching through it.
"I still need to refer Seth to a therapist. Here's the number of quite a good one…or if you would rather he spoke to his school counselor or therapist, he can do that. As long as he sees someone about it."
"Sure" Sandy said, taking the business card of him.
The doctor smiled slightly, letting himself out of the Cohen house.
Summer and Marissa got to the boys house, all of a sudden a little nervous about going in to see them. Something was definitely not right.
Summer knocked on the door timidly, stepping back a little when Sandy opened the door. His face was tired, and his eyes were fallen.
"Hi Mr. Cohen" she said.
"Hey girls. I uh…I don't think the boys are up for visitors tonight."
"Has something happened to them?" Marissa asked quickly.
"No, there fine now. It's just; it's been a really long day for both of them. I'll tell them you dropped by, but maybe you should just come back tomorrow."
Summer nodded, not wanting to push Sandy.
"Um, we just saw Kirsten on the beach…"
"Is she ok?" he interrupted.
"Uh…I don't know. She was really crying. She didn't look too good."
"Oh no" Sandy breathed, running his hands through his hair. He should go find her, but he couldn't leave the boys alone…especially not Seth.
He looked at the two girls in front of them. He could tell they were confused and worried about their boyfriends. Maybe it would do the boys some good to talk to the girls alone for a little while?
"Actually, come in girls. I should go find Kirsten. I'll go and get Ryan for you"
The girls followed Sandy in, watching as he ran outside to the pool house. Sandy came back, grabbing his car keys.
"Look after them" he said seriously, before taking off.
"What? Why? What does he mean?" Summer said frustrated.
Ryan emerged, his face looking he same as Sandy's did. Tired, withdrawn, upset. He stopped where he was, just looking at the girls. His eyes focused on Marissa, and before she knew it he was hugging her tightly, not ever wanting to let go.