Author's Note: Sorry for the bit of a longer wait. Classes are in full swing and I've got some MAJORLY hard ones this semester. So please forgive me! I'm still writing it, it's just going to come a bit slower. But who knows, after season three primere tonight, maybe I'll go ahead and write a bazillion chapters this weekend. ;) Love ya all!
Chapter Eleven
Two more days had passed, mostly uneventful. Ryan had been rather groggy and grumpy for those two days, insisting that everyone go home and that he'd be fine. It had taken a lot of arguing and some stern actions from both Sandy and Kirsten to get Ryan to accept that they weren't going anywhere. But whether Ryan truly accepted it or not, Seth knew that there were still issues they had to deal with, deeper issues than Seth wanted to delve into.
But on Monday, with a mixture of both Ryan's stubbornness and his parents' attempts to compromise with Ryan, Seth found himself at home, in the living room trying to show Summer how to play the ninja game. Though Summer seemed to be getting frustrated, which was obvious from her ever-so-often mutterings of the word "ass" aimed towards Seth, he was finding it rather relaxing. It had been a while since they had done something that had nothing to do with Ryan's hospitalization. Seth was grateful for Summer's ability to distract him.
"Cohen!" Summer yelled, throwing down the controller. "This is lame, you cut off my leg."
"Um, well looking at this it would seem that you cut off my leg," Seth said, pointing his controller at the television to show it.
Summer threw her hands up in the air. "Well I give up," she said and stood up, leaving Seth to sit on the couch by himself, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. "Cohen, lets do something else, something that has less to do with ninjas."
"Like what?" Seth asked, leaning back on the couch. "We've got to stay near the phone. Just in case there's an emergency. God…I'm sounding like a nagging mother, dear lord the genes are kicking in. Now I just have to wait for the eyebrows."
"I can think of something we could do," Summer said, sitting back down onto the couch next to him. She leaned over and brushed the side of his face with her hand. "I mean, we do have the whole house to ourselves and your parents won't be back for a while."
"This is true," Seth muttered, feigning innocence. "Why Summer, whatever did you have in mind?"
"Just, this," she leaned in and kissed him. Seth kissed her back and when she pulled away, he smiled.
"That is indeed a good plan," he said before pulling her into him. She giggled and for a moment, Seth forgot about everything that was wrong with the world. For a moment, Seth could only think of the girl laying in his lap, the girl he had loved since he was a child. For a moment, things were good again.
But he should have known better.
The phone rang, making both Seth and Summer freeze instantly. Summer sat up quickly, wiping the smeared lipstick from her lips and straightening her shirt as though Sandy Cohen himself had walked into the room. Seth sighed, smiling at Summer in an apology before he rose and retrieved the phone from the kitchen. He walked back into the living room, knowing Summer would want the full report.
"Cohen residence, how may I serve you?" Seth asked, the humor masking the irritation and worry that had formed in his stomach.
"Seth," Kirsten's voice came through the line and for a moment, Seth felt as though his world had stopped. His stomach dropped and his knuckles turned white gripping the phone.
"Mom?" Seth asked, looking over at Summer who instantly sobered. "What is it? Is something wrong? Is it Ryan? Is he okay?"
"Seth," Kirsten interrupted, knowing full well that Seth's worry could fuel an hours worth of questions and concerns. Seth stopped, ready to hear what horrible news had befallen his foster brother. "Ryan's fine. Actually, that's why I'm calling. Dr. Mahogan said Ryan could come home. I was wondering if you could bring over some of his clothes."
Seth let out an audible sigh of relief. He put his hand to his head for a moment, forcing himself to calm down from the near panic. "Yeah, of course," he said. "Wife beaters and sweatpants are on the way."
"Seth…" Kirsten warned, but Seth was too pleased with the news to take her warning seriously.
"I'll be there in half an hour," he told her before hanging up. He looked over at Summer who was looking anxious. "Ryan's coming home," he informed her.
Summer's eyes widened and then she rose to her feet. "You get the clothes, I'll start the car."
"You're coming?" Seth asked, eyeing her.
"Someone's gotta drive and I don't trust you behind the wheel just yet. You look excited enough to have a hernia." Summer grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. Seth watched her go for a second, marveling once again in her ability to distract him and keep her cool.
"Funny you should mention that…"
Seth seemed to have gotten to the hospital in record time. They made it to Ryan's room, Seth out of breath and Summer flustered at keeping up with her anxious Cohen. But Seth had never wanted to have something over and done with more than Ryan's escapade with the hospital. Seth hated hospitals in the first place. But Ryan and hospitals, now those were two things that, when put together, made Seth feel completely out of his element.
"We made it," Seth announced as he entered the room. He got a look from Kirsten that instantly told him things had been tense before he opened the door. Sandy, who stood on the other side of the bed, had his arms crossed over his chest in a rather irritated stance. Seth didn't want to even guess what the discussion had been before he got there. But now that he was here, he could serve his purpose as the comic relief. And boy was he ready to do so. "Here we are, Ryan," Seth said, pulling the clothes out of his backpack. "Wife beater, sweatpants, and what's this? That's right, who knows you best, buddy?" He handed the leather wrist band to Ryan, who had taken it off for Caleb's party.
Taking a good look at his foster brother for the first time since coming into the room, Seth saw that Ryan looked somewhat worse off than when he had seem him yesterday. His face, though the color had returned, was flushed slightly, as though he had run a mile and was just now catching his breath. He was sitting up, but there was obvious discomfort in the way he made it a point to maintain perfect equilibrium between his spine and hips, not to mention the look of pain that crossed his face every so often. Seth had known this wouldn't be easy, but he sort of had hoped it would.
"Thanks," Ryan gave softly, accepting the clothes. He looked hesitantly towards the bathroom and finally took in a breath before pulling back the covers. He was still in the hospital gown, which Seth found to be god awful looking on Ryan. But Ryan didn't seem to notice, or care, as he gently swung his legs off the bed, barely managing to keep a straight face at the pain the movement caused him.
"Do you need help?" Kirsten asked, obviously caught between her urge to leap up and guide him and knowing that Ryan would want to do things on his own.
Ryan shook his head, not wanting to give anything away by talking. He used the bed frame to help himself stand up. Once on his feet, he wavered for a moment, getting used to walking again. His eyes darted to the bathroom again and Seth knew that Ryan was silently cursing the distance between the bed and the bathroom.
"Here," Sandy finally said as Ryan took one unsteady step. "I'll help you out, for my own sake," he said as he took one of Ryan's arms. To Seth's surprise, Ryan didn't argue but instead clung to Sandy's arm as though it was his life support. Seth supposed that it was. If Ryan wasn't trying to lie about how "fine" he was, then he must really have been in pain. The trek to the bathroom was slow, but when Sandy and Ryan finally reached it, Ryan disappeared behind the doors and Sandy leaned against the wall, trying to listen inside the bathroom should Ryan lose his balance or need help.
"That must really hurt," Summer whispered, taking hold of Seth's arm. Kirsten gave them a wan smile, her eyes going back to the bathroom doors as they waited for Ryan to reemerge. It took a bit, but finally, the bathroom doors opened and Ryan hobbled out, looking a bit paler, but otherwise satisfied. "I liked it better when I could see your butt, Chino," Summer chided.
Ryan managed to give her the look before a nurse came in pushing a wheelchair. The look simply transferred from one target to another, but seemed to intensify as Ryan noticed the wheelchair. "What's that for?" Ryan asked with venom in his voice.
"Hospital policy," the nurse said coldly. "Now sit down."
Ryan went to protest, but Sandy cut him off. "Come on, kid," he said, taking Ryan's arm and guiding him toward the chair. "Otherwise it will take us hours to get you out to the car." Ryan sighed, even though it was meant to be a joke. He sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, the pout evident in his face.
"Dude," Seth intervened. "Take advantage of the luxuries, man. I, for one, have always wanted to be waited on hand and foot."
"Then you get in this chair," Ryan snapped. Seth was surprised at the nasty words and immediately shut his mouth. He wasn't used to Ryan being angry with him. Annoyed, yes, but angry, never. He felt Summer's hand tighten its grip on his arm and he remembered that perhaps Ryan wasn't having the best of days.
The nurse turned the chair and wheeled Ryan out. Sandy squeezed Seth's shoulder and then followed. Kirsten lingered a bit. "Don't worry," she said to both Seth and Summer. "He's just frustrated, grumpy, and tired."
"I know," Seth said, nodding. "I just thought he'd be happy to go home."
"He is," Kirsten agreed. "Just, going home means facing the fact that his movement is going to be limited and he's going to have to accept help from us."
"Something which he takes full advantage of on a daily basis," Seth's sarcastic remark was not lost on Kirsten, who managed to do a very good impression of Ryan's infamous glare. Seth held up his hands. "Don't worry, Mom. I know he's grumpy. I won't get my delicate feelings hurt."
"Good," Kirsten nodded. "Then lets get him home."
Review Responses:
Vancouverite: Don't worry about the reviewing! As long as you're still reading. :) I'm loving what you're doing with Fading. It's still my favorite Ryan angst yet. I can't wait for your next chapter. I hope that you write more fics after Fading is done. I would love to see what else you can do. Also, thanks for reviewing The Deep End. I appreciate it. :)
Steph: The further along I get, the more I think that Theresa won't make another appearance in this fic. But, there's still the matter of her note that Ryan has to read, so you have that to look forward to. :)
Dumbeblondie02: Oh geez! Sorry! Hehe. I'll see what I can do to give you some extra good Seth/Ryan time.
IY-ROX: Could be. :) Although, I got that one spoiler from one website and none of the other websites say anything about it, so it may not be true. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
kandy4eva: There's going to be some nice Kandy coming up in the next couple of chapters, so you just wait.
forgottenletters: I worked up the courage and wrote The Deep End. It actually came to me while I was trying to fall asleep, so I had to write it. It's not much of Ryan's past, just a glimpse and an event that helped shaped him into who he is during the show.
beachtree: This chapter is a little lacking, I feel like, but the next chapters will be better. Seth and Ryan are going to have to talk, because i don't think Seth will be able to contain himself much longer. He needs Ryan to know that he'll always be there for him and vice versa. It's going to be fun to write.
xoleanderx: I'm thinking there will be five chapters, though no guarantee. And you'll just have to wait and see what I have up my sleeve. It's a very large sleeve...;)
SVOC Luva: Kirsten and Ryan's relationship is going to be confronted in one of the next couple of chapters. But I think it's going to be a secondary confrontation through another character. I'm not sure yet. I have to see where this next chapter will lead to.
slimkay: Ryan is on his way to healing. But he's still got some issues to work out.
Izzy: I didn't know what the TWOP boards were, so I had to look them up. Maybe I should join. :) I'm glad people are liking my stories. It's giving me confidence to write some more OC stories, the tougher ones.