Part 6 – The truth shines through
Like a movie Ryan saw the images flash before his eyes. Only faster. Much faster. His eyes, his head hurt. The film just went on. Ryan wanted to stop the images but he couldn't. He saw his parents- his biological ones- fighting, hitting, crying. Desperatly, he shook his head. Trying to shake this off. Ryan didn't want to remember this. 'Stop, stop', like a mantra he whispered. 'Help me', and he was back in unconciousness.
Dr.Nibler existed Ryan's room only to be surrounded by two concerned families. The power of love that came from both took him aback. This whole case was complicated. He'd have to talk with the parents- all four of them.
"He is remembering." He finally said, not looking at anyone.
"What does that mean?" Seth asked because the parents didn't seem able to.
"Frankly, I don't know. Either he is remembering the truth, his actual life or the alteration that his mind has made up. If the second is the case- well, then we'd have to operate."
"So either way he'll remember?" Nigel asked with a sad undertone. Dr.Nibler nodded, looking away from the man. Both knew what it meant.
"He won't think of us as his parents anymore?" Amanda asked, her voice already breaking.
"No, he won't." Dr.Nibler confirmed. Stan had to try hard not to smile. But Seth saw the happiness in the other boy's face and was shocked.
While the Carlsons were rather depressed, the Cohens were overly excited. They couldn't wait for 'their' Ryan to be back. Dr.Nibler knew he had to take some edge of this happiness. There were risks and if something happened... they wouldn't be as glad anymore.
"Mr.and we have to talk about the complications that may take place if an operation is needed." Amanda and Nigel looked over to them. There was a twinkle of hope in their eyes.
"Of course." Sandy said. This doctor was one of the worst he'd ever dealt with- and Sandy Cohen had dealt with quite a lot- he just wanted to get it over with. One look at Kirsten told him she felt the same.
When the three adults were alone, Dr.Nibler began.
"I know I told you earlier we'd definitely have to operate Ryan. Well, from what has happened now we're not sure." Always 'we'; so far Sandy had only talked to this man.
"Yes, you told us there was no other way." Kirsten angrily stated. She wanted Ryan back but she was scared of any kind of operation.
"I was wrong." Dr.Nibler admitted shyly.
"What happens now?"
"We have to wait. Ryan is still unconcious. He was awake for a moment but it didn't last long. We will have to take more tests. See what this has done to his brain, if anything has changed. And I hope it has."
"What could happen if you'd have to operate?" Kirsten asked.
"Well, it's a very dificult operation. We have to be careful not to damage any parts of the brain, of course. But also... there is a chance the operation will not be successful. In that case..." he trailed off.
"He'd be dead?" Sandy asked worried. Dr.Nibler shook his head.
"No, in that case his memories could be even more mixed up. There's a chance... wrong memories might be permanent."
"So he'd still tink the Carlsons are his family? For real?"
"Not necessarily. It could be even worse."
Kirsten grasped for her husband's hand to support her. It seemed like no matter what they would do, they had to lose.
Seth was pacing again. What he'd seen in Stan's face disturbed him. He wanted to tell someone about it, only he didn't know what to say exactly. There was one thing he could do: talk to Stan himself. The boy gave him the creeps. But if Ryan- and he could only hope this was not the case- would end up living with this guy, Seth had to know Ryan had a brother and not an enemy under the same roof.
"Hey." He greeted the young man, who was sitting in the waiting area. His parents and Seth's parents for that matter, were nowhere near.
"Hey." Stan replied rather bored.
"Um, you don't know me. If you did, you'd know I talk a lot and although it seems I only talk about myself, that's not true. There's also some other stuff I like to talk about like comics and Summer," Seth stopped to check if Stan was following him. He looked just confused and annoyed.
"Well, right know I want to talk about Ryan. Do you have anything to say about him?"
"Dude, what do you want from me?"
"Do you see Ryan as a brother or a family member at all? Do you even like him? Cause I tell you I do and if he doesn't remember me and my folks but only you and your weird family then..." he trailed off to see if Stan had to say something.
"My relationship with Ryan doesn't concern you. Also, if you're talking about weird- look at yourself." Stan was about to get up but Seth held up a hand to stop him.
"Ryan is my best friend and my brother- I just need to know that you feel the same about him. If you don't tell me now." Seth said in a voice that surprised himself because he sounded like his father. At first Stan just stared at him.
"I'd be glad if Ryan remembers his real life." With that he walked off. As happy as Seth was that Stan didn't want to steal his brother, he was worried what would happen if Ryan became a Carlson again.
Pitchblack. The room he was in was too dark to see anything. Opened eyes, closed eyes. It didn't matter because there was no light. Ryan was cold, he was scared. The room could be huge or tiny, Ryan didn't know. He was laying on the cold, cold ground hoping for someone to turn on the lights, to talk to him, to explain things. Nothing happened.
With two cups of steaming hot coffee, Sandy entered Ryan's room expecting to see his wife. Instead he saw Amanda sitting at the boy's bed. She looked at him pitifully so he stepped in eventually. Awkwardly, Sandy handed the woman one of the cups. She smiled gratefully. These days everybody needed coffee like the air to breathe.
For a while the two adults silently watched Ryan. Sandy wondered what the expression on his face meant. He'd never actually seen his young ward sleep but something in his face showed discomfort. Sandy was slightly worried.
"Shorthly before he went... back, he started calling me 'mom'." Amanda suddenly said without looking at Sandy.
"I'm sorry." Sandy didn't know what else to say to that.
"He started calling Nigel 'dad' much earlier. He just had problems with 'mom'. But eventually he realized that a mother wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He made me feel so proud," Amanda started sobbing. Sandy had dealt with many crying women but he was uncomfortable anyway.
"But he had to go back. Called Dawn his mother again. We couldn't do anything against her. We love him." Now the sobbing became even worse. Sandy cautiously approached the weeping woman and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shake it off.
Drops. Rain drops. Rain drops falling down. A light, a tiny light shone through the darkness. Ryan opened his eyes widely but there was nothing to see. Only the steady sound of rain drops falling. He felt restless but he couldn't even move. Staring into the feeble light, Ryan tried to understand what was happening.
When Amanda left the room, Sandy stayed. He sat down next to Ryan. Carefully, he touched the bandaged wrist. Suddenly, he felt responsible for the whole mess. But he shook it off. It wasn't his fault, not even Seth's fault. No one was to blame for this.
"Kid, we thought if trouble came up it would be social services not this. I know you're not conscious right now but you gotta listen to what I have to say now. I don't know what this all means but we're here. Right now you don't want us to, I know that. I have to accept that. For now anyway. I want- I need you to know that we love you. No matter what. Also we are not giving up on you. Don't remember us today? Well, we'll check again tomorrow. You're part of the Cohen family now." Sandy finished. He whished Ryan would open his eyes and react somehow but his eyes stayed closed.
Summer was alone with Marissa. She felt the strong need to explain what had happened- or r almost happened- with her and Seth outside.
"What you saw outside- you know, Cohen and me. It wasn't what it looked like." Summer said.
"Sum, Seth is nice. Weird, yes but nice still. It's ok to like him." Marissa told her friend. She was more occupied with the whole Ryan thing anyway.
"We weren't doing anything. I am not interested that way... " it felt wrong lieing to Marissa.
"Ok, yes I am interested. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to kiss Seth Cohen. I like Seth Cohen... isn't that ew?" Marissa laughed.
"You're cute. I think he likes you, too. Very much. Maybe you should keep him some company." She pointed at Seth who was standing alone once again.
"I'm not leaving you." Summer protested. True, she didn't want Marissa alone in this situation but also she was a bit afraid to go over to Seth after their almost-kiss.
"I was going to see Ryan anyway."
"Ah, well I am not in the mood for another round of Theresa so I think I might go over to Cohen... maybe." With a smile Marissa went to see Ryan while Summer considered what to do next.
After years of having silently watched Summer, Seth was shocked to have her staring at him now. At first he pretended not to notice anything but he got too excited and walked over to her. Of course Summer feigned surprise.
"Summer." He adressed her with a grin.
"Cohen." Trying to act as coolly as ever, she turned away from him.
"You know, out there you almost stuck your tongue into my mouth." Summer almost knocked Seth over when she turned to face him again because he had come extremly close. She was taken aback.
"You must have dreamed, Cohen." Mentally, she slapped herself. She wanted to be nice to Seth!
"Nah... it's kinda different in my dreams. Hotter, actually. But you wanted it out there. Just like at my grandpa's-"
"Don't say it!" she pressed her hand over his mouth to stop him. They were in public. She was against public displays of affection but he looked so cute with eyes like a puppy and his messy hair. Summer removed her hand and replaced it with her mouth. Seth wasn't as surprised as last time she'd spontanously kissed him. He returned the kiss eagerly, not caring that they were standing in a hospital hallway where everyone could see them.
"No, young lady visiting hours are over." Marissa was told as she was about to open Ryan's door.
"Just a short moment?" Marissa carefully asked. She earned a stern look and decided it was better to just obey. Disappointed, she decided to accompany Seth and Summer. A smile appeared on her face when she saw what the two were doing. She hadn't believed Summer would kiss Seth publically. Not wanting to disturb the young love, she went outside to get some fresh air and do some thinking for her own love life. All her thoughts revolved around Ryan and a little part of her felt guilty that she didn't think about Luke at all. After all, he was her boyfriend.
In all this misery, Sandy was overjoyed to see his son successful in the girl's department. He knew how much Seth liked Summer and the fact that they were kissing was a good sign she did, too. But he had to destroy their happy moment, as much as he hated it. He and Kirsten had to talk to Seth about the operation that would take place- or not if they decided differently. It was all complicated but Seth had to decide with them.
"Son." Sandy said loudly, standing next to the kissing couple. Only hesitantly they parted. Both were blushing.
"Father." Seth replied, kinda out of breath.
"I am truly sorry to interrupt but your mother and I have to talk to you about Ryan." Seth's blissful expression changed immediately.
"He's not-" Seth couldn't even say it. Summer took his hand, staring at Sandy and waiting for an answer.
"God no, there's just some stuff to talk about. An operation. We want you to decide with us." Seth nodded solemnly. He looked at Summer and she gave a small smile, letting go off his hand. As he walked off he knew the kissing session wasn't over yet.
Summer needed to tell Marissa about her breathtaking kiss with Seth Cohen. Never in her life had she believed he could kiss like that! Thinking her best friend was still with Ryan, Summer walked towards Ryan's room. Lucky for her, no nurse was to be seen and she could pass easily. She entered without any problems. Surprised that Marissa wasn't there, Summer was about to leave again when she noticed Ryan stir.
"Ryan?" she whispered. The boy was clearly awake but his eyes were still closed. Summer felt uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what to do. For all she knew Ryan could have been in terrible pain or having some sort of seizure.
Eventually, Ryan opened his eyes. Having been unconscious, his eyes hurt and his vision was foggy.
"Ryan, are you ok?" Summer asked again, walking closer. He stared at her as if he'd never seen her his entire life.
"You're scaring me." She said and laughed uneasily.
"Summer, what are you doing here?" he asked, confusion written all over his face andSummer thought she'd faint any second.
End, part 6
I think that was the hardest part to write. Figures, it took like forever. Anyway, it's done. Just for the record, I suck at medical stuff and probably everything about that is wrong. But I think I've become better at inventing stuff like that. When I was little I invented head injuries for my Playmobil people that could be healed by washing their heads a hundred times. So bare with me : ) and please review! The end is nearing.
Written by Anika