A/N: Well, I know I promised you by Friday, but my Mom's computer crashed early this week and my network is connected to hers and she had to upload a whole bunch of new software for Internet protection on my computer anddidn't get to it untillate this evening (Sunday)because she's been really busy w/ work. I apologize for the inconvenience. So here we go again, chapter 5! Please read and review!
Disclaimer: So not mine.
Chapter 5When both Kirsten and Seth heard Sandy's panicked voice, their hearts stopped simultaneously. They had been in the kitchen, preparing the table for dinner. Both of them rushed out the front door to see Sandy kneeling on the ground with something in his arms. Neither could quite figure out what it was until they got closer.
"Oh my God Sandy! What happened? What's going on?" Kirsten said, panic rising in her voice. She had noticed all of Ryan's injuries, particularly his forearms and left cheekbone. It had some major swelling and a very nasty bruise was forming. But what concerned her most were his arms. 'Self mutilation' she thought, tears forming in her eyes. 'Why didn't he just come to us if there was problem?' Kirsten thought sadly.
"I really don't know what happened, he just got here and collapsed in my arms! Seth, go in and call an ambulance!"
Seth, who had been silently standing in horror, only nodded numbly and jogged back into the house. 'How could they? How could they do this to him? What has he done to deserve this? I don't get it!' Seth thought angrily, making his way to the phone.
Meanwhile, Kirsten came back in and retrieved 2 towels and an ice pack. Glancing nervously towards Seth, she left the kitchen again.
When she reached Sandy a second time she noticed he had lain Ryan down on the pavement and was still kneeling beside him, a hand stroking Ryan's bangs away from his face. If Sandy's skin was pale it was nothing compared to Ryan's, whose skin was a very pasty white. A thin film of sweat covered his skin and he was shaking horribly.
Kneeling down on the other side of Ryan, Kirsten handed the ice pack to Sandy who placed it gently on Ryan's face. Ryan groaned and tried to turn his face away, but Sandy held his face still.
Kirsten took a towel and wrapped it around one wrist and the other towel around the other wrist. By that time Seth had returned, walking slowly towards them.
"The ambulance is on its way Dad."
"Okay, thanks Seth."
While waiting for the ambulance, Seth sat on the porch, his mind reeling on what just happened. He couldn't help but feel guilty. As if there was something he could have done and just didn't see it. Maybe if he had pressed Ryan more, or maybe if he had approached Dawn, or maybe if he had done something this wouldn't have happened.
A few minutes later the ambulance finally arrived. Seth got up and walked over to his parents as the paramedics got Ryan onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Kirsten decided to ride in the ambulance and Seth and Sandy took the Rover.
About an hour later they were all in the waiting room. Sandy looked tired and restless at the same time. His clothes were covered in blood and he seemed to be in a deep state of thinking. Kirsten was on edge, constantly looking out the doorway for the doctor, pacing around. And Seth was just numb. Guilt was still plaguing him and for once words eluded him.
None of them had even bothered to call Dawn. They figured they'd wait and see what Ryan wanted to do. The doctor finally came in. They all rose looking at the doctor expectantly.
"I'm Dr. Evans, and Ryan has been put under my care for this evening. I must say that Ryan is one lucky kid. Even with all the blood loss only one transfusion was necessary. He did have some nasty bruises on his lower torso, so all of his organs are bruised but will heal just fine within a few days. His cheekbone is broken but I'm glad to say that it will probably heal with no problems. But what I'm concerned about are the cuts on his arms. Do you know anything about this? Or how long it's been going on?"
Sandy spoke first, "No Dr. Evans. We just found out about it when he came to our house and collapsed in my arms. That's when we noticed it."
"What do you mean 'came to our house'? He doesn't live with you?"
"No, awhile back he and his mother moved here to Newport and started a fresh life. Before, Ryan's mother, Dawn, had an alcohol problem and put Ryan through some pretty tough times. Ryan and Seth became good friends during the summer and about a month ago Seth noticed Ryan acting differently – more guarded, moody, wouldn't really talk to anyone. So we began to think maybe Dawn had gone back to her old ways and Ryan was trying to hide it. But Ryan wouldn't talk so there was nothing we could do about it. Anyway, things calmed down again and then this evening he pulled in and stumbled over to me and just collapsed in my arms. He didn't get a chance to tell us what had happened to him."
"Okay, thank you for the background, that really helps me understand a little more about his arms. We will have to ask Ryan for the details. I must warn you that I might have to report Dawn to Social Services, depending on what Ryan says."
"I know. Thank you doctor."
"Hey doctor? How's Ryan now? May we see him?"
"Yes Mrs. Cohen, if you would just follow me please."
Dr. Evans led them a short way down the hall and into a single hospital room. Ryan was in the bed asleep. Both of his arms had been wrapped and there was a bandage on his cheek. An I.V. was attached to his hand. He had a few other small cuts a scrapes, but none of them were too significant.
His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady. As soon as he heard them come in, his eyes fluttered open. Ryan couldn't bring himself to look at them. He was ashamed. Ashamed of having to come to them because his own mother couldn't take care of him, couldn't protect him from herself. He really hated admitting that, but it was the truth.
All three Cohens stood silently waiting for someone to start speaking. None of them did, so Dr. Evans took it in his own hands to break the ice.
"Ryan, I will be back later to check up on your stats and to ask what happened to you. For now, I'll be doing rounds with my other patients so that you have a chance to talk to the Cohens. So if you need anything just call the nurse and she will help you with anything you need, okay?"
"Okay." Ryan mumbled quietly still not looking up.
The doctor left and the Cohens decided to finally take a seat and stared expectantly at Ryan. After a long silence, tension filling the room, Ryan finally spoke two words so softly it was barely audible:
"I'm sorry."
"But Honey, why didn't you come to us before now?" Kirsten started.
"I was scared. I don't want to go to Foster Care. I know abuse is wrong, but I had school and a job to keep bills paid, so I was fine with the way it was."
"If you were fine, why were you cutting yourself?" Seth finally spoke. He stared at Ryan, hurt in his eyes. Ryan only looked back at him and then at the floor.
"I felt like my life was falling apart and I couldn't do anything to stop it. But when I cut myself all that pain went away, like I had some control again and it felt good. The first time I started cutting myself was the night before I started talking to you again. Everything felt normal again and I liked it. I didn't have to cut myself again until today."
"Why? What happened Ryan?" Sandy asked. It took awhile for Ryan to respond to that.
"Mom got fired for not coming in and decided that we were moving and I argued with her and John told me basically to shut up and go pack and we got into a fistfight."
"Wait a minute, who's John?" Kirsten asked, confused.
"My mom's boyfriend who got her back into drinking." Ryan responded, anger evident in his voice. "Mom may not hit me, but she sure doesn't do anything to stop him from doing it." He continued. Kirsten sat shocked. 'How can any mother just let her child get beaten and do nothing, nothing at all?' She reached over and put a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan looked up into her eyes as tears began to form behind his own. He looked down again as they began to fall. Kirsten put a hand on his shoulder squeezing slightly. Her maternal instinct was taking over. She switched over to the other side of the bed and stroked his soft blond hair. Ryan wiped the tears from his face and spoke again.
"What happens now?"
"That depends on what you want to do Ryan." Sandy said. "Do you want to report her to Social Services?" Ryan's head shot up, shock on his face.
"I don't know. She's my mom. I don't know what to do."
"If you report her to Social Services she can get the help she needs and maybe you can try being a family again?" Sandy responded.
Ryan nodded in response and finally said, "Okay. But where will I go? I don't want to go to Foster Care."
"Well, I don't know, but I will try to see if you can't stay with us. I don't see why not."
"No Sandy, you can't do that, I'd be asking to much of you."
"You're not asking we're offering, besides if you say no, you will end up in Foster Care."
"Yeah man! We can hang out 24/7 if you want and do homework, meet girls, whatever brothers do!" Seth had found his eagerness once again, guilt leaving him for now.
"Yeah Sweetie, why not? Kirsten prodded.
"Okay. Thank you guys, so much." Ryan mumbled quietly, once again unable to look into any of their eyes.
The doctor came in soon after the conversation. Seth was entertaining them with his famous witty rambling. But as soon as the door opened all went quiet as all eyes turned towards Dr. Evans. He smiled brightly and took a seat next to Ryan's bed.
"Okay Ryan, my rounds are done. So do you feel up to explaining what happened?"
Ryan looked to the Cohen's who only smiled and nodded. He turned back towards the doctor and began his explanation that was quite similar to Sandy's only more in detail when it came to the abuse.
"Well, I have no choice but to report her to Social Services. I'll make that call first thing in the morning. You will probably go into Foster Care until everything is sorted out. Unless you have somewhere to stay?"
"I was hoping to stay with them." Ryan said, gesturing towards Sandy and Kirsten who looked hopefully at the doctor.
"I don't see how that will be a problem, you will just have to arrange it with Social Services tomorrow. Well, I think that clears things up, I will see you folks tomorrow morning, around eight, to contact Social Services?"
Sandy nodded and shook the doctors hand mumbling a quiet thank you. The doctor left and soon after, Seth went and grabbed some food from McDonald's and brought it back for them. They talked quietly for a little while until Ryan finally dozed off. It was then that the Cohens decided to head home for the night. They knew they had a big day ahead of them.
By the next morning Ryan was feeling much better. He was scheduled for release early this afternoon. But tension knotted up his stomach. How would Dawn react to Social Services? What would she do to him; better yet, what would John do to him when he found out? Those questions and many like them ran through his mind, causing him to second-guess himself.
Around seven-thirty Sandy arrived to visit him before they made the call to Social Services. He came in cheerfully holding a paper bag full of bagels and a small container of cream cheese. Sandy set them down on the tray table and began to prepare one for himself and Ryan, splitting it between them. Ryan smiled and bit into his hungrily. They didn't really say anything; their presence was enough to calm each other. Ryan's questions quit bothering him and he enjoyed his breakfast.
Too soon eight 'o clock came and Sandy patted him on the back and left to go to the doctor's office to make the phone call. Again his nerves began to fray, the self-doubt coming back to haunt him. Ryan grabbed a magazine off the table and tried, unsuccessfully, to distract his mind from what plagued it.
An hour or so later Sandy and Dr. Evans walked in, smiles on their faces.
"So how'd it go?"
"Well, Social Services is on their way to your house to approach Dawn. All Sandy and Kirsten have to do now is go down to the courthouse and register as your guardians."
"Yeah, I just called Kirsten, she's gonna meet me here and we'll go to the courthouse and register. Then we'll be back for lunch and then we'll take you home okay kid?"
"Sounds great Sandy. Thanks" Ryan said, smiling a genuine smile, his eyes gleaming. Sandy could see the hope coming back again and was happy to see it.
Moments later Kirsten walked in and hugged Ryan, kissing him on the forehead as well.
"Ryan, Sweetie, good morning!" Ryan only smiled at her.
Soon after, both her and Sandy left for the courthouse. Doctor Evans gave a final check up and then left. Ryan again occupied himself with a magazine, only this time he could actually read it. He was happy again. Life was coming back together for him.
About two hours later Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth arrived holding lunch. They ate happily, talking about many things. After lunch Seth left to go prepare the pool house for Ryan and Kirsten and Sandy went to go talk to Dr. Evans about any medications Ryan might need and stuff like that. Ryan got out of bed and put on his clothes from yesterday. He had just put on his shirt, making sure no one would be able to see the bandages on his lower abdomen, when he heard a voice from behind that made the hair on the back of his head stand up straight.
"You little shit. How could you do that to your mother?"
Ryan felt his anger spark and couldn't stop himself from speaking, turning to face John, his death glare quite evident on his face.
"How could you do this to me? You've put me into this hospital twice. I don't think you have much room to talk."
As usual, his mouth always got him into trouble. John rushed him and took a swing. Ryan ducked under his arm and stood in the doorway. John rushed him again and Ryan took off running down the hallway, his midsection cursing him. Adrenaline had him now and he just ran. By the sound of footsteps behind him, John was just as good at running as he was. He kept running until he turned a corner and saw Sandy, Kirsten and Dr. Evans standing in the hall, still talking.
"Come back here you little shit!" John yelled, his voice booming.
At the sound of yelling the three turned to see John leap towards Ryan and grab him around the knees. Both men collapsed to the floor skidding to a halt just a few feet before them. John now straddled Ryan, his right arm cocked, getting ready to punch. Ryan's arms were in front of his face to protect himself as much as possible. Sandy took this moment to rush the man and punched him straight across the face. John rolled over onto the floor, knocked out. Ryan rolled to his side, clutching his abdomen in pain. His running and John's weight had been too much for his bruised body to handle at once. Dr. Evans and Kirsten rushed over to him. Kirsten brushed his bangs away and did her best to comfort him until the pain receded.
Ryan lay there panting until the pain finally went away. Slowly, with some help from Dr. Evans and Kirsten, he got up. Sandy was standing holding his fist, a look of shock and amazement on his face.
"Feels good don't it?" Ryan said, smirking at Sandy with a knowing look on his face. Sandy only grinned back at him and nodded.
"So I take it this is John?" Kirsten asked, gesturing towards the man on the floor.
Ryan's smile vanished and he nodded, glaring at the man.
"What do we do with him?" Ryan asked.
"We call the police. He should be arrested for assault." Sandy responded.
Soon after giving their statements to the cops, the four of them went to the front desk and got Ryan released from the hospital. As they were walking out the front doors they all stopped dead. Dawn stood a few feet from them, her face not a happy one.
A/N: Well there it is! Chapter 5 for ya'll! I hope you liked it as much as I did! I'm sad to say that the next chapter will probably be the last one unless someone has an idea or something they want to share with me? If you do just give it to me in a review or e-mail me So, thank you all for reading but don't forget to review! The more I get the faster I update (hint hint)