Part 2 – When you know you know that you don't know

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This wasn't easy for me to write, it's like the 10th version (seriously). That happened partly because I got bored with my own idea and so I altered it. Now I like it and I have plenty of ideas! My parents are redoing our whole flat and I live like... well, not nicely. This made it even harder to write. But I am glad I finished it, the next part might not take so long. Enjoy! Oh, and review!

Ryan awoke to hushed voices around him. Trying to open his eyes, he felt a terrible pain shooting through his head.

"Ryan?" the voice sounded distant, somehow familiar and then again not. He blamed his confused mind on the fact that he'd just woken up.

"Can you open your eyes?" the voice asked. Ryan forced himself to open his eyes completely. The pain got worse and was accompanied by nausea.

"What happened?" Ryan asked, his eyes now half opened and overwhelmed by the ache that spread over his whole body. He couldn't remember having hurt himself so badly.

"You had a little accident, do you remember anything?" Ryan gently shook his head no. He could hear how the voice and some more, other voices whispered. He wondered what was going on.

"Ryan, I'm Dr.Nibler, you have a concussion so I'm sure you've got a terrible headache." Another soft nod from the boy.

"I'll give him some medication." Another new voice. All those voices got on Ryan's nerves. He still wasn't able to see properly and it annoyed him that no one, except for the doctor, had said their name. After a moment of silence, he felt a needle shoot through his skin. The sting wore off soon and his throbbing headache subsided slowly.

"What kind of stuff is that?" yet another voice asked. Ryan tried to place it but couldn't.

"Are you better, sweetie?" that was the first voice, Ryan noticed. Forcing his eyes open he saw a foogy face. After a moment, he could make out it was a woman. But it was one he'd never seen.

"Where is Theresa?" he asked, looking at the woman in front of him. She looked at loss and turned to the doctor, who shrugged.

"That's what I tried to tell you. Ryan is not exactly himself. We don't know what causes this yet and we also don't know if he's got retrograde amnesia or if it's something else." Dr.Nibler explained quietly so Ryan couldn't hear them, he only saw them whispering and occasionally glare at him.

"I'm Sandy," one of the voices with a foggy face told him. Ryan could make out dark hair but that was all. Details still didn't show clearly.

"Where's Theresa?" he asked again, this time more persistent. She was the only one he wanted to see. She could definitely help him, she always did.

"She's not here now. In fact, I don't know where she is. You only mentioned her once."

"Who are you?" Ryan wanted to know. The man acted as if he knew him.

"I'm Sandy," he repeated, "you live with me and my family." The boy tried to grasp on that fact, tried to see faces but he only saw his own family, and Theresa.

"Where is Theresa?" he asked once again.

When the medication started to work properly, Ryan fell asleep. The nurse ushered them all out except for the doctor who followed after a moment. Sandy was the first to speak.

"What is the matter with him?"

"Is it amnesia?" Kirsten added.

"We truly don't yet... it might just be amnesia. We'll have to see if parts of his brain are hurt. This could explain this behavior, too." Dr.Nibler explained them.

"The accident wasn't that bad! Geez, I was driving like my grandmother! How could that hurt him so badly?" Seth was angry. Not at Ryan, but at Dr.Nibler. He wasn't giving any real information and it was making him crazy. After all, it was his fault this thing was happening. The worse Ryan was hurt, the more guilty he felt. Sandy squeezed his son's shoulder to console him but the boy jerked away. He couldn't but let it be for the moment, later they would have to talk about the whole situation.

"We don't know anything yet. Like I told you earlier, a concussion often produces amnesia. We'll take some tests and then we can only wait. Time is an important factor in this case."

While his parents still talked to Dr.Nibler, Seth stormed off. He just couldn't believe Ryan's brain was damaged. The car didn't even crash anywhere, it couldn't be so bad. 'Now I have to wait again', Seth thought bitterly. Time really wasn't on his side. He watched as Summer and Marissa slowly walked towards them. Watching Summer looking around rather nervously, he tried to find out what those feelings in him meant. He was confused because whenever he saw her, there were many emotions running through him.

"How is he?" Marissa asked. Seth only glared at her shortly but he could tell she was as tired as he was. Also she had cried. For a moment he wondered why.

"He's weird," Seth said simply, turning to watch his parents again.

"What do mean with weird, Cohen?" Summer wanted to know.

"Just that." With that he walked off. Listening to Dr.Nibler didn't see so bad after all.

"Ryan's weird?" Summer mumbled, watching Seth walk away with a mix of emotions,

"I'd say Cohen's acting weird!"

Awakening with a start, Ryan was surprised but glad to see he was alone again. He wanted to see his own family. 'They must worry about me', he thought. It made him angry to think that no one cared to tell him about his whereabouts. Frustrated, he pushed one of the alarm buttons. Only a few moments later, a nurse, whose name was Rosanna, entered. She looked nice enough, Ryan thought.

"What's the matter? You need some more painkillers?" she asked worried.

"Nah, I was just wondering... this family that was here earlier," he trailed off, not remembering their name.

"The Cohens," Rosanna helped. Ryan just nodded.

"Who are they? I mean I've got my own family. When will they be here?" the nurse looked at him confused.

"I thought this was your family." She told him, but the boy shook his head.

"No, no. Can you call them, please? They're sure worried." Rosanna nodded absently. Of course, she wouldn't call anyone because she knew there was no other family of Ryan. He lived with the Cohens. She knew his brother and father were in jail and his mother had left him with his new family. The doctor would need to know about this. Apparently, Ryan suffered something else than the usual amnesia.

"Can we see him?" Marissa asked Sandy and Kirsten. Summer was almost hiding behind her. She didn't think Seth would tell his parents about the way she treated him but with Cohen... who knew? Judging by the parents' look, Summer figured they wouldn't get to see Ryan. It disappointed her. Both boys were still new to her life and as much as she tried to hide and ignore it, she liked them.

"I am not sure..." Kirsten began.

"Only a short moment." Sandy said sharply. Even Marissa was surprised he granted them the entrance. Happily, she walked into Ryan's room, Summer right behind her.

"Why did you let them in there? Isn't he confused enough?" Kirsten asked her husband furiously after the girls had stepped in.

"For all I know it's good to confront Ryan with his life. It could make him remember." But Sandy looked as sceptical as Kirsten felt.

Hesitantly, Marissa walked closer to the bed Ryan was laying in. His eyes were closed and she was afraid to wake him. She figured it was easier to see he was ok if he was asleep. That way she wouldn't have to answer any questions. Summer stayed behind at the door. The whole atmosphere scared her in a way.

Ryan wasn't asleep though. Having heard the door open, he had closed his eyes tightly for the case it was one of these Cohens. He could tell even without looking that this was someone else. Because of the difficulty with his eyes, his other senses were sharper. Ryan smelled the difference therefore rather than anything else. This was a sweet, girly scent. Carefully he opened his eyes. His visitor startled and backed away.

"You're awake!" she squeaked. Ryan stared at her, her blue eyes widened in shock, her messy hair framing her beautiful face. Although not quite knowing who she was, he found her nice.

"Who're you?" he asked softly.

"I'm Marissa." She stated. She had blocked out that Ryan apparently had amnesia. She felt Summer slowly approaching the bed.

"Theresa!" he exclaimed as he spotted the dark haired girl. Marissa and Summer exchanged a confused look.

"This is Summer." Marissa explained to him. Ryan stared at her as if she was stupid. Summer waved at him as if that would clear anything.

"Don't you think I recognize her? That's so Theresa, right?" he smiled at Summer. The girl was taken aback, not only because he confused her with someone he obviously knew but because she had never seen him smile so genuine.

"Could you call my parents? No one wants to do that. They're worried. They get worried so easily, you know." Ryan said. He felt glad to see a familiar face. Marissa was nervous. She had no idea what to do. This version of Ryan scared her. Something was wrong with him.

"Ah, we'll see what we can do." She started to leave but Summer seemed glued to her place. So Marissa grabbed her arm and dragged her with her.

"What happened in there?" Summer asked when they were outside.

"I have no idea." Marissa replied honestly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Sandy walked over to them, anxious to find out how Ryan had reacted, especially when he saw their ashen faces.

"He thinks I'm some girl named Theresa!" Summer blunted before Sandy even had a chance to open his mouth. Ever since Ryan had mentioned that name earlied, he searched his mind for it. Theresa, Theresa... he was sure Ryan had mentioned her once.

"He asked if she could call his parents because no one wanted to do it and he was concerned that they'd worry." Marissa finished the story. Sandy was thinking hard. Theresa! Right, when he'd taken Ryan home with him again after his mother had abandoned him, he had wanted to live in Theresa's house. She was from Chino, from his past. Sandy wondered what this meant. Summer asked, disturbed. After all that had just happened with Ryan, she needed every adult to be at least normal. The look on his face reminded her of Seth and he was the last person she wanted to think about right now.

"I'll talk with the doctor. There must be something we can do."

Not knowing where everyone had gone to, Seth found himself in front of Ryan's room. Although having been troubled by the Ryan he'd seen earlier, he tentativly opened the door. His foster brother and best friend was awake and looked at him questiongly.

"Hey Ry." Seth stepped in and closed the door softly behind him.

"Are my parents here already?" Ryan wanted to know. He didn't care for any visitors, he just wanted his parents and brother around. Seth was speechless a moment.

"Ah, no. I mean it depends who you mean by your parents... my parents, well, they are kinda our parents, I mean your guardians but it's the same thing, right? Or do you mean your mom?" Seth was at a loss. What did Ryan mean? Ryan hadn't been an open from the moment he had entered his life, but this was just puzzling.

"My parents." Ryan repeated. He was getting impatient, wondering why no one understood him. What kind of hospital was that, they didn't even inform his parents!

"I don't know your parents." Seth stated. This conversation was awkward and he wished he had never gone in alone.

"My father is a cop, if he finds out about this, he's gonna kick some ass!" Ryan told Seth coldy, who was taken aback. Although he didn't know much about Ryan's father, he knew for sure that he'd never been a cop. He had problems with cops, yes, but he wasn't one himself.

"Really? Huh, I didn't know that," Seth chuckled uncomfortable, "My father is just a lawyer. P.D., actually, pretty unspectacular." Ryan wasn't interested. Seth decided he had spent enough time with him.

"Well, I'll see what I can do for you, see if your parents are there. I could get you some comics, maybe that'll make the wait easier." If Seth had learned one thing today it was that waiting was hell.

"Comics are for kids." Ryan said, almost disgusted. Seth turned and just left quietly.

Trying to stay awake to see if his parents showed after all, Ryan's eyes drifted close ever so often. He was exhausted. The painkillers had done great work, he was hardly feeling the throbbing headache and the nausea had worn off, too. His wrist, that was now bandaged, didn't hurt at all. But he wanted to see his family before he fell asleep. His brother, who could always cheer him up, no matter what. He was there for Ryan whenever he needed him, ever since they had been little kids. Or his father who could make things better, even just by words. Ryan adored him, he told cop stories and loved Ryan and his brother dearly. Of course, his mother... he wanted to see her the most. She was always so nice when he was hurt. She was constantly worried about her baby son. Lulled by the thoughts of his family, Ryan fell into a dreamless sleep...

END, part 2

So, what is the matter with Ryan? Who is this family he thinks is his? And why does Seth treat Summer like crap all of sudden? To find out, you'll have to read the next part which I hope will come easier than this one. Now press the button and leave a tiny review! Thanks.

Written by Anika