Chapter Five
Seth sat in a chair in Ryan's hospital room, attempting to pull off the angst, brooding teenager look that Ryan had mastered so perfectly. It obviously wasn't working as his parents were taking no notice of him. Kirsten had called them early that morning, telling them that Ryan had woken up and was expecting to see them when he woke up again. Sandy had called into school and had explained to them what was going on. Dr. Kim had seemed understanding, but there were still questions to be answered, Seth could tell by the way Sandy had hung up the phone with white, clenched knuckles and stood with his back to Seth, seething for a moment before turning on his happy face and telling him it was time to go see Ryan. Seth hadn't pressed.
But now that they were here, Ryan had yet to wake up. Kirsten had told them that Ryan had been rather groggy and disoriented when he'd woken up before, but aside from that, he'd seemed fine. Seth was relieved. He had hoped that Ryan would come away clean, without any traumatizing symptoms. But he supposed it was still too early to get his hopes up. But there was always a good batch of optimism when it came to Seth Cohen.
"They should have a tv in here," Seth mumbled, flipping the page of a comic he'd thought to bring for Ryan. Sandy turned to look at him from where he sat on the other side of Ryan's bed, looking just as bored.
"This is the ICU, Seth. People normally aren't aware enough to watch television." Sandy replied. Seth only grunted out his disapproval. He glanced towards Ryan, who had shifted a bit on the bed. Sandy was immediately on his feet, while Kirsten was leaning over him, brushing his hair back, not sure whether to wake him or to let him rest. Her decision was made for her when Ryan's eyes fluttered open.
It took a moment for Ryan to get a sense of where he was, and when he did, he relaxed a bit with a smile. "Glad you could join the living," Seth said, standing as well. Ryan turned to look at him, the smile still on his face.
"Ignore him," Kirsten joked. "How are you feeling? Any pain?" She rubbed his hair back again and Seth wanted to tell her to stop, that Ryan wouldn't like the combed back look she was giving him. He was more into the frumpy bangs. But he managed to hold back the smart remark, knowing that an important question had been asked.
Ryan seemed to analyze himself for a moment. There was a flicker of something in his eyes, but he shook his head before raising a hand to point at the comic Seth held in his hand. "New Legion," he whispered, his voice still hushed and rather hoarse.
"Yeah, man," Seth said, grinning and handing the comic to Ryan. "Thought you would like that. Something to keep you entertained when you aren't being seduced by all the nurses around here. I'm serious Ry, you should see some of them. Hot. It's just a matter of time before you pick one of them up."
Ryan chuckled softly, but it turned into a half wince that didn't go unnoticed by Kirsten or Sandy. Sandy leaned over now, taking on the worried parental role. "What's wrong? Are you sure there isn't any pain?" Sandy asked, ready to lift up the blankets to inspect Ryan for himself. Ryan brushed Sandy away with a small wave of his hand.
"It just aches," he replied, looking between Sandy and Kirsten. "Seriously, I'm fine." He said, willing his voice to sound a little stronger. He succeeded in warding off the worried Cohens, for a little while at least. Seth studied Ryan's face, knowing that his foster brother was probably lying. He wondered if he should say anything, knowing that he'd get much more out of Ryan right now than his parents would. But Seth wasn't given the time to press any further when the door to the ICU room opened. The three Cohen's and Ryan all turned to look.
Dawn Atwood stood in the doorway, her sunglasses covering her eyes. Her hair was disheveled, and she wore the familiar jean coat that Ryan had always known her to wear. The room was awkwardly quiet as Dawn stood in the doorway. No one knew what to say. They hadn't exactly parted on good terms, thought at least she'd made it clear she was leaving last time, instead of just up and moving out with only a note as a goodbye. Ryan didn't know entirely if he wanted her here or not. He'd been a little uneasy with the Cohen's here, but his Mom?
Finally, Dawn made a move. She took her sunglasses off first and Ryan saw her red brimmed eyes. She'd been crying. He wondered if it was over him or over something he didn't want to know about. "Hey," Dawn gave quietly, not taking her eyes off her son. "I came as soon as I could."
"Why?" Ryan asked before he could stop himself.
Seth bit back a snort and moved to stand near the back of the room. Kirsten stood from the side of the bed and went to sit in one of the chairs, allowing Dawn to come and stand by Ryan's bed. Sandy didn't move, unsure of how well Ryan would take having his mother show up like this.
Dawn reached for Ryan's hand, but he pulled it away rather harshly, frowning at her. She looked horrible. The circles under her eyes were pronounced, her face was droopy, and she had a scattered look in her eyes. He knew she was drinking again. He wondered if she was using again. He wouldn't put it past her. Even though she'd left AJ for good, as far as he knew, he wondered if she had perhaps gotten too addicted to the coke when AJ had been around.
"I wanted to see if you were okay," Dawn said, reaching out to touch Ryan's head. He moved away , a distressed look crossing his face for a second. Seth saw his mom tense. He wasn't sure if they should leave the room. He didn't think leaving Dawn alone with Ryan was such a good thing, considering the last time she'd shown up.
"I'm fine," Ryan snapped, though he looked anything but fine at the moment. The wild anger in his eyes only made him look sicker. He had paled a bit and Seth was suddenly worried that maybe this was all too much for him all at once. Kirsten must have thought the same thing, because she took a step forward and placed a hand on Dawn's arm.
"Dawn, I think it would do Ryan some good if he got some rest and you came back later," she suggested, trying not to sound too condescending when she said it.
Dawn gave her an incredulous look. "I'd like to talk to my son," she said with a bob of her head. Her voice had raised a little and Ryan closed his eyes, knowing without a doubt that she was under some influence, whether it be alcohol of cocaine, he didn't know and didn't care, he was suddenly not feeling very well. Nausea was churning his stomach and making his head spin. Not to mention, the sharp pain he'd felt in his side had spread and was now adding to his discomfort.
"This is no place to make a scene," Sandy warned, his face stern.
"A scene?" Dawn scoffed. "I'm not making a scene!" She yelled and Ryan's headache suddenly increased tenfold. He scrunched his face in an attempt to make the ache go away. "Is it wrong for a mother to want to see her son?" Dawn's mouth was left hanging open as she waited for a response.
Seth didn't know what to do. He wanted to tell Dawn to shove off, but he thought he'd let his parents handle her. Though, if they asked him to, he wouldn't mind calling for a nurse to escort the stoned woman out. Seth looked to his Dad and they made eye contact. Sandy sighed and rounded the bed. "Come on, why don't we talk in the hall?"
Dawn shoved Sandy's hands off and started off on another rant. Kirsten was trying to get them to quiet down. Seth chanced a glance at Ryan and saw how pale his face had gotten. Ryan's eyes were closed and his breathing was rather heavy. Seth knew someone who was about to vomit when he saw one. "Mom," Seth called, not knowing what to do.
Kirsten turned immediately and took in the situation. She went into action quickly, grabbing the bucket at the side of Ryan's bed and holding it out for him. He was already moving before she had it firmly in place. He grabbed onto the edge and wretched horribly. Kirsten rubbed his back. Seth was once again at a loss over what to do. He knew Ryan probably wouldn't appreciate all these pairs of eyes at him, but he also knew that right now, he didn't care what Ryan thought. He wanted to make sure the other boy was all right. Ryan gasped suddenly and grabbed his side.
"What's the matter?" Sandy asked, his voice raised in worry and mild panic as he came around and sat on the bed, trying to get a good look at Ryan's face, which was still hovering over the bucket. "What hurts?" Sandy asked.
Ryan couldn't answer as another spurt of vomiting erupted from his throat. "Sandy," Kirsten gasped. Sandy was instantly on his feet and pushing past Dawn, who was standing shocked. He tore into the hall and immediately called for a nurse or a doctor.
Seth had missed something, he knew he had. He took a step forward and looked into the bucket. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the blood that had come out with the last round of vomit. Ryan raised his head a little, his face scrunched in a grimace. Blood stained his mouth and Ryan let out a small whimper as he vomited yet again, more blood coming up.
"Oh God," Kirsten whispered.
Sandy was still in the hall, trying to get a doctor. Dawn stood still, shocked. Finally she found her words. "Ryan?" she asked quietly and tried to come forward. "God, is he okay?" Kirsten didn't answer.
Seth could only stand by helplessly as doctors rushed in, followed by Sandy. The doctors moved Kirsten and Dawn out of the way, immediately taking over. One of them lifted the blankets and pulled Ryan's hospital gown to the side. Seth gasped at the sight of Ryan's wound. Around it where scars that had been stitched up. But the whole area was bruised a dark purple and blue and pink. When the doctor prodded the area, Ryan bucked at the sudden pain, nearly knocking a doctor over.
"We've got to get this kid in surgery, now," the doctor said, looking at the nurse who was preparing a needle. She plunged it into Ryan's thigh, but Ryan barely seemed to notice.
Sandy wrapped his arm around Kirsten, who took hold of Seth's hand. They watched in silence as Ryan's eyes closed almost immediately, his head lolling to the side. A nurse suddenly turned to them and ushered them out the door.
The Cohen's and Dawn were led to the waiting room, where they stood, shocked.
"I don't get it," Seth said to himself. "He was fine like two minutes ago."
"He was hurting," Sandy said, almost angrily. "He just didn't tell us." Kirsten, who was near tears, only nodded.
Seth ran a hand over his face and suddenly had a thought. "I have to call Summer." He went to find a payphone, looking back over his shoulder to see Sandy and Kirsten standing awkwardly next to Dawn, who had yet to find her words.
Review Responses:
I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies: So that was my twist. I guess I'll deal with it more in the next chapter, hehe. But yeah, I always picture Ryan not wanting anything to do with hospital stuff like that. He's more of a natural, "I'm tough" type of person. :)
Vancouverite: Haha, yeah, winging it is the only way I do most of my fanfic. I usually have some ideas of where to go, but for this one, I'm just doing what I want to do and we'll see where it goes from there. :) I know this chapter wasn't that long either, but I just can't write much longer ones. I'll try though, I promise.