1So, I'm sorry I haven't updated. I don't know how exactly to explain it. I've been so busy with school, but I did indeed update. Sorry guys.
"Now, this is going to take a while. About an hour or so. But you have to stay as still as you can," the nurse informed Ryan as he laid down.
Kirsten waited outside patiently. Well, not that patiently. She was nervous as hell. She wanted Sandy to be there. What if they did find something? What would they do?
All Ryan could see was white. All he could hear was a clicking. It didn't stop, and drove him insane. For once, he wanted someone to talk to. How in the world was he supposed to stay completely still for an hour?
His mind slowly began to drift to Trey. He hadn't seen his brother in almost a month. Last Ryan heard of him was that he was going to Vegas to find Jess, a.k.a. "Dead Girl in the pool."
Ryan couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. What did Dr. Thomas see? He supposed he'd figure out later. Was it serious? A computer screw-up? Ryan prayed there was nothing wrong.
At 3:37, Sandy walked in. Kirsten was going insane in the waiting room. Ryan was going insane during his MRI. Sandy was going insane at work, worrying about Kirsten and Ryan. All were going to lose it if that MRI didn't end soon.
Kirsten hugged Sandy and fell into him. They still had twenty minutes. Kristen could shake off her bad feeling. She wanted to see Ryan. She wanted to hear everything was all right.
"How was Ryan?" Sandy asked. He had to leave early, so he didn't get to see his boys.
"Fine...quiet, as usual," Kirsten replied.
"Oh. So, how are you?" Sandy always was worried about his wife.
"Okay. A little nervous," Kirsten lied to him and herself.
"Don't be. Ryan'll be fine. The computer just screwed up," Sandy reassured her.
"Yeah, you're right. Nothing's wrong," Kirsten tried to feel a little better. Not a lot of help though.
Ryan had lost track of time. All he knew was that he wanted it to end soon. This was too long. He could keep staring at the same thing for much longer. It was driving him insane. He wanted to scream. His arm was falling asleep. He wanted out.
Thankfully, it ended soon. His mind was thinking about a million things. The results. Marissa. The results. Trey. The results. The Cohens. The results. He wanted to know what they found.
The nurse smiled at him as he sat up before leaving. It was just after four, and he had to wait another half an hour for the results. At least he could move.
Sandy and Kirsten sat waiting for him. He approached them as he normally would, with caution, but he really was so glad they were there. He was worried he'd have to deal with this alone.
Of course, even with any amount of people around him, he always dealt with it alone. That was just the way he was brought up. Don't bother anyone with your problems.
Dr. Thomas appeared and led them to a room, then went to retrieve Ryan's MRI scans. She returned, and they all braced themselves.
"Did you find anything?" Kirsten asked, the anticipation getting to her.
Dr. Thomas took a quick second, which felt like an hour, to compose herself before replying, "yes."
Ryan immediately felt sick to his stomach. They had found something. He had been right.
"It seems Ryan has an AVM," Dr. Thomas began to put the scans of Ryan's head up so they could see it.
"What is that?" Sandy took over questions. He knew his wife couldn't.
"Arterio-Venous Malformation. An abnormal collection of blood vessels. It's an area that lacks capillaries, which connect the oxygenated blood in arteries to the de-oxygenated blood in veins," Dr. Thomas explained, pointing to the area.
Ryan stared at it, every second losing more of himself. What did it all mean? Was he going to die? Could he die from it?
"How did he get it?" Sandy asked, not even being able to look at his wife's face.
"That cause is pretty unknown. What we know is that it appears to be caused by a rupture of blood vessels during the embryonic or fetal stage, or even right after birth. It's not hereditary, communicable, it's a slight mystery, but we know how to deal with it," Dr. Thomas answered.
"How do we...is there a prescription to get rid of it?" Sandy was the only one talking to the doctor.
"There are a few medications that I can give to Ryan to alleviate the headaches, or even seizures. Um, Ryan, have you ever had a seizure?" Dr. Thomas replied.
"No," Ryan lied. He didn't look up. He remembered too long ago having one. He thought it was just odd. He never even thought about that. It hadn't meant anything. But in actuality, it had meant something.
"Good. Um, there are three ways of getting rid of the AVM. First, there's embolization, which seals the abnormal blood vessels with a glue-like substance. Then there's radiation, which destroys the blood vessels with high intensity radiation. And the last is a surgical removal of the AVM.
"Pretty much, we have to take the AVMs case by case. Right now, I wouldn't suggest embolization. But before you make a decision, I'd like to run a few more tests, MRIs, angiograms, and the like."
Sandy nodded as he listened. Kirsten sat there stunned. Ryan finally spoke.
"Is it fatal?"
Dr. Thomas was a little taken aback by Ryan's question, but not at all surprised.
"Uh, yes and no. A small percent of all AVMs hemorrhage. And even if it does, it might not even be too noticeable, so it goes undetected. But massive bleedings have occurred. Ryan, if you ever have a sudden, severe headache, difficulty speaking or understanding someone, numbness, vision loss, severe unsteadiness, I want you to get in here right away.
"The chance of a bleed is unlikely and AVMs aren't very common. But Ryan is quite young, most people go their whole lives not knowing. It's just that the faster we get it done, the better we'll all be."
Ryan was gone. He could die. He was only seventeen. Sure, he had thought of killing himself in previous years, but he was with the Cohens. He was supposed to be safe. Not possibly dying because of a brain hemorrhage.
"So, I'll prescribe the medication, and I'd like to get Ryan in for another MRI next week. We'll go from there," Dr. Thomas concluded. Ryan stopped paying attention. All he remembered was shaking hands with the doctor and following Kirsten and Sandy out.
What was going to happen? Surgery? Radiation? He'd have to tell Marissa. And Seth, and Summer. His parents probably. Trey.
He could die. Of course anyone can die at any minute, but he had so much more of a chance. Any second his brain could just start bleeding and he could die.
Mortality was never more real.
So, sorry if this was short, I will try to update more, but I can't make any promises. Please read and review, I love to hear your thoughts.