The nurse shouldn't have been surprised by what she saw when she came back into the room. Mr. Cohen did tell her that their foster son was angry with all of them, that the accident was their biological son's fault and that Ryan thought they were trying to cover for him. Still, it bothered her to see the parents who obviously loved this kid just staring at his back. The Cohens just smiled at her when Julie walked in, but she noticed Ryan stiffen.

"Hi. I hope I'm not bothering you. I have some free time now so I thought maybe I could work with Ryan for a while, before the doctor gets here." She noticed the tray on the floor. "I take it things aren't going very well right now?"

Kirsten moved quickly to clean up the mess that was still on the floor. "I'm sorry. It kind of, um, slipped off the tray table. Ryan wasn't really very hungry. He was tired and wanted to take a nap."

"Mrs. Cohen, please leave it. I'll call someone from housekeeping to clean up. Why don't you and Mr. Cohen go down to the cafeteria? I see you didn't eat your breakfast either."

"But Ryan's sleeping."

Sandy gently pulled Kirsten up and began to lead her towards the door. "I'm sure Julie knows what she's doing. Come on. Let's get some fresh soggy bacon and stale bagels."

"I promise, Mrs. Cohen, if it appears Ryan isn't up to this right now, I'll let him go back to sleep. Go, relax, have something to eat. Give us about thirty or forty minutes. Okay?"

Kirsten just nodded as she and Sandy left. Julie waited until the door closed behind them before turning to Ryan. "Okay, Sleeping Beauty. They're gone. You can cut the act."

She only waited a split second longer before she pulled his covers back. "Come on, Ryan. You may have tricked your folks, but I can spot a fake a mile away. You're no more asleep than I am."

Julie waited until Ryan rolled onto his back and put his sunglasses back on. "So?"

When Ryan just stared at the ceiling and didn't say anything, Julie went on. "Well, was it worth it? Did you over hear any juicy gossip? Catch any talk about what Santa was bringing you?"

"No."

Julie waited again for Ryan to continue, but when he didn't, she did. "Okay. The name of this game is I talk, you either repeat or you answer. The more I talk, the more you talk. The more you talk, the more your speech will improve, unless of course you like sounding like a two year old. Understand?"

"Mmm."

"No, see 'mmm' isn't a real word. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

Julie sighed first then she raised her voice. "Do. You. Understand!"

"I understand."

"Very good. I was beginning to think you were all looks and no brains. Would you like to tell me now why you were pretending to sleep so you could eavesdrop ontheir conversation?"

"Not pretending. Not my fault didn't check."

"Not your fault? Well, okay, at least you answered, albeit a rather stupid answer. So then explain to me why your breakfast is all over the floor."

"Not hungry."

"Excuse me? Did you say 'not hungry'? That's why you threw your food on the floor, because you weren't hungry? Did you consider pushing your tray to the side instead of onto the floor? Apparently it doesn't bother you in the least that now someone has to clean up after you. Oh, that's right – you're from Newport Beach. You must be used to having other people clean up after you."

Ryan stared at this nurse for a second, wanting so much to tell her where to go, but knowing it wouldn't come out right if he tried. He finally just mumbled, "bitch."

"You need to speak louder and annunciate. You want to get better, you need to speak up. Shout 'bitch', and next time try adding 'go to hell'. More words, remember. You need to use more words."

"Why you nasty? Don't like, leave."

"The nurses down in ICU said you seemed like such a nice kid. So far, all I've seen is a rich, spoiled little brat who treats everyone, including his parents, like they owe him something simply because he's in the hospital."

"Not rich. Not spoiled. Not real parents."

"Really? Huh. Do you think they know that? Seriously, I think someone forgot to tell them that little fact."

"Not funny."

Julie actually softened her voice. "I'm not trying to be funny, Ryan. Nothing about this is funny. Look, I know you're angry and upset about the accident, but so are those 'not real' parents of yours. I talked to the nurses in ICU. Do you know that one of them has been with you the entire time? Some nights they both stayed. Last night was the first night that 'not real' mom of yours didn't sleep in a chair next to your bed, and that's only because your 'not real' dad stayed. That 'not real' dad also ran around this hospital demanding the best medical attention we have to offer – just for you. They may not be your biological parents, but don't ever try to tell me they aren't real."

Ryan didn't answer. He just looked down at his bed and then over at the tray on the floor. He started to slowly inch off the bed, moving careful so it didn't hurt much as Julie watched in disbelief. "Um, Ryan. Where do you think you're going?"

"My mess. I clean. Myself."

Julie laid her hand on Ryan's chest and gently pushed him back. "Not this time. This time you have to watch someone else clean up your mess. But if there is a next time, I will personally stand over you while you clean up every last piece. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Yes. I understand."

"Very good. Okay, my hard ass lecturing is done for now. Remember - I speak, you repeat. Let's start with something simple. Try this – Mary had a little lamb."

Ryan stared at the nurse again for a moment. "You kidding?"

"No, I'm not kidding. Come on, Ryan. Nursery rhythms are taught to small children for a reason. They're simple to remember and repeat. Mary had a little lamb."

Ryan sighed first. He was not going to enjoy this at all. "Mary had lamb."

Julie tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it. "It's a nursery rhythm, Ryan. Try not to make it sound so, well, wrong - like Mary went out and massacred some poor defenseless animal. Poor little lamb. Come on, try again, but this time try to sound a little less menacing."

Ryan tried to give her his standard 'look' but Julie didn't seem to care. "Repeat it back to me, Ryan. You may hate nursery rhythms, but I doubt you're ready to repeat Shakespeare or Kafka back to me. Come on, I won't tell anyone. Mary had a little lamb."

"Mary had little lamb."

"Better."

"Stupid."

"Again."

Julie and Ryan continued with the nursery rhythms – doing all of Mary had a Little Lamb, Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill Went up a Hill. By the end of the thirty minutes, Ryan was truly exhausted, but his speech had made some real improvement. He had just fallen asleep when Kirsten and Sandy returned.

Julie carefully removed his sunglasses and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. "He did really well. I'm impressed with his tenacity."

Kirsten looked at Julie, trying to figure out how it really went between the two. "He didn't give you any trouble?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle. I think he wants to get better. He worked pretty hard and wore himself out. I reminded him again that he has to keep talking. Try to encourage that. It might not be easy, but try. If he doesn't want to talk, have him repeat sentences – from books, movies, television shows. I'll be in again later, after he sees the doctor. If you need me, just buzz the nurse's station."

After Julie left, Kirsten and Sandy quietly watched Ryan sleep. For a while they talked in low whispers so they didn't wake him until Sandy dozed off in the chair. Kirsten read her book for a while then she thumbed through some magazines, killing time until it was close to lunch. She headed down to the cafeteria so she and Sandy could attempt to eat with Ryan again. She just hoped his food didn't end up on the floor again. She doubted housekeeping would appreciate having to come in again to clean up.

As Kirsten waited for two cheeseburgers and fries, she looked around, hoping to find some decent fruit. Although she didn't find any, she did find some strawberry parfaits. Kirsten stared at them, remembering the first time she saw Ryan eating one. She had promised that she would buy them often since he seemed to really enjoy them.

She smiled as she remembered the baffled look on his face, with that small dab of whipped cream on his lip. "Par-what? Um, it's strawberries and whipped cream."

From that day on, they were 'par-what's' – a private Cohen-only joke that they shared as a family. Kirsten sighed as she paid for the food and headed back to Ryan's room.

She was surprised when she opened the door and found the doctor was already there. For some reason, she felt somewhat guilty that she wasn't there when the doctor first came in, especially when she noticed Ryan wasn't wearing his sunglasses. She knew that had to be bothering his eyes. Ryan was, luckily, cooperating with the doctor, since Kirsten doubted she'd be able to talk him into being cooperative this time. Since she didn't know what else to do, she just stood there, watching the doctor and holding onto the lunch bags.

After the doctor was done, he finally nodded an acknowledgement towards Kirsten before turning back to Ryan. "You're doing really well, Ryan. How's the pain?"

"'kay."

"Still the same or has it lessened at all?"

"Less. A little."

"That's good. I'd like to change your pain medication to something a little less strong. I'd also like to see you up on your feet sometime today. Maybe take a little walk."

Ryan looked down at his casted foot. "How?"

"It's a walking cast. You won't be able to run a marathon with it, but with the help of a walker and some support, you'll be able to move about a little bit. Short distances. When you're ready, the nurse will bring you the walker. She'll walk behind you. Since you were injured on the left side, I'd like to see your dad support you on that side with your mom on your right."

At the 'dad' and 'mom' comment, Ryan looked up first at Sandy and then at Kirsten. He then looked down at his bed before only slightly nodding his head.

The doctor moved onto the next subject. "The nurse tells me you remembered the accident. Did it come back to you on your own?"

Ryan immediately tensed and turned his head away. "Yeah."

Kirsten hated the tone in his voice, but refrained from moving closer to the bed. The doctor either didn't notice or care. "Excellent! It's a really good sign that you're able to remember something so traumatic on your own, with no prompting from anyone."

At first she could only stare at the doctor, wanting to shout at him for being such an idiot – reminding Ryan that they weren't the ones to explain the accident to him. Just what they needed! Kirsten watched as Ryan continued to stare down at the floor, and slowly begin to twist the blanket in his hand; the only sign that he, too, was not exactly happy at the reminder.

Sandy only gave an "ah…" as the doctor continued. "When your parents approached us about talking to you about the accident, I told them you probably wouldn't remember for a few days."

Ryan's head finally shot up as he again looked at Sandy first and then to Kirsten. When Kirsten offered him a weak smile, Ryan looked at the doctor and let go of his blanket. "Um, huh?"

"Yesterday before we saw you, your mother asked how they should address the accident. I told her that eventually you would remember the accident, but probably not for at least a day or two. But the nurse tells me you remembered on your own, last night before they got the chance to talk to you about it. That's a very good indication that you're well on the road to recovery."

Kirsten refrained from throwing her arms around the doctor she no longer considered an idiot. She only gave him a smile. A small smile since she didn't want Ryan to think she was going to start gushing, "I told you so."

As the doctor began making notes in Ryan's chart, Kirsten and Sandy looked at Ryan, who was doing everything he could not to look at either of them. The awkward moment was interrupted by the orderly delivering Ryan's lunch. Unfortunately, lunch turned out to be a very dry looking turkey sandwich, which Ryan promptly poked with his finger.

The doctor looked up from writing to notice that Ryan hadn't begun eating yet. "How's the food?"

"Gross."

"I mean, are you able to tolerate it? No more vomiting or nausea?"

"No."

"Good, then I'll note the chart to change to an unrestricted diet. They'll start bringing you a menu so you can start choosing your own meals, instead of having them picked for you."

"Kay. Thanks."

When Kirsten put the bag down on the chair, Ryan looked over at it. Since he barely ate the day before and his breakfast happened to end up on the floor, Ryan was hungry and the smell of the burgers only made that worse. He just didn't have the desire, however, to eat a plain, dry turkey sandwich.

The doctor again noticed that Ryan still hadn't begun to eat. "I would imagine that burger smells really good at this point."

"Yeah."

Sandy grabbed the bag and pulled the Styrofoam container out. "You want mine?" Before he placed it on the tray table, though, he turned to the doctor. "Can he have mine?"

"Sure, go ahead and try. Just eat slow and take small bites."

Sandy opened the container and turned it towards Ryan, bumping the plate of stale turkey to off to the side. Ryan just shook his head. "S'kay. Yours. You eat it."

"Nah. You know as well as I do, Kirsten had that burger overcooked. I mean, who could eat a burger that has no red in it? Well, besides you and Kirsten that is. I will split the fries with you."

Before Ryan could say another word, Sandy grabbed the turkey sandwich and the packet of mayonnaise. "Besides, schmearing isn't just for bagels. With the right amount of mayo, any sandwich tastes good."

The doctor chuckled as he left the three of them to enjoy their lunch, promising to hold off on any additional testing until after they saw how well Ryan was able to move about and leaving an awkward silence in the room.

Ryan continued to stare at Sandy's burger, waiting for one of them to say something. He knew he owed them an apology, but didn't know what to say without bringing up the accident and Seth - Seth causing the accident. Ryan really wasn't up for dealing with his feelings about that. Not now. It was something he wanted to figure out on his own, without the traditional Cohen super long, deep thought, feelings full conversation. So Ryan just stared at the cheeseburger until it moved. He looked up to see Sandy pushing the Styrofoam container closer.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then eat."

"Slow. Small bites." Kirsten added as she handed him back his sunglasses.

Ryan actually gave them a smile. A small one, but still – a smile. "I know."

"Here." Kirsten reached into the other bag and pulled out the parfait. "Manage the burger, and I've got desert."

Ryan stared at the container, unsure what to say other than, "Um, thanks," as Sandy quickly added, "Hey! A par-what! Forget splitting the fries; I'll split that with you."

"No. That's Ryan's. You can go down and get your own."

"Well, that's not fair. Come on, Ryan…"

"Don't 'Ryan' him. Leave him alone and leave his par-what alone."

Even though they were obviously joking with each other, Ryan still couldn't help but feel guilty. Really guilty. "No. S'kay. We share."

"Ha! See – we're sharing. Ryan said so himself."

"Just eat what you can. If there's any left over, you can give it to Sandy. But if you want to finish it – Sandy can go get his own. Okay?"

As he ran his finger up and down the side of the parfait, Ryan could only give a slight nod, unsure what to say next, waiting for the joking to stop and the "I told you so's" to begin.

"Ryan," Kirsten said softly. He looked up, expecting it and was surprised when all Kirsten said was, "you need to eat now. Before the burger gets any colder."

Ryan ate quietly while Kirsten and Sandy continued making small talk. He ate his burger, split the fries with Sandy, and ate about half of the par-what before pushing it towards Sandy while swearing to Kirsten that he really was full.

Shortly after lunch, Ryan fell asleep still waiting for the talk that never came.

A few hours later, Ryan woke up to noise – voices. He opened his eyes to find the nurse, Julie, standing next to a walker, talking quietly with Kirsten and Sandy. He immediately began to panic as he looked from Kirsten to Sandy to the nurse and back to Kirsten again, worried that Julie was telling them about their earlier conversation. Or worse – that she was telling them that he really wasn't asleep and listened in on their conversation. Things were bad enough – that would make the impending talk so much worse.

He decided to remain quiet so he could try to listen to what they were all saying, without getting caught. It was Julie who noticed him eavesdropping again. "Well, hello again, Sleeping Beauty! Nice to see you awake."

Ryan eyed Julie wearily, before looking over at Kirsten and Sandy to see if they knew what the Sleeping Beauty crack really meant. When Kirsten stepped closer to the bed, Ryan instinctively tensed up, but quickly relaxed when Kirsten just handed him his sunglasses and patted him on the shoulder. "Do you think you're up for taking a short walk?"

When Ryan only nodded, Julie couldn't resist. "Excuse me? I'm sorry, but I didn't hear that."

She couldn't help but smile when Ryan looked at her sideways and sighed loudly. "Yes. I ready to take walk."

"Very good. See, Ryan, words aren't such a bad thing! So anyway, as I was explaining to your folks, we're going to move slowly. First we'll swing your legs over the side and have you sit up for a few minutes. If you're okay with that then we'll try standing. Accomplish standing, and we'll see how well you can walk. Understand?"

"Yeah. Understand." Sounded easy enough, Ryan thought.

Never in his life had Ryan ever found sitting up to be so difficult. As he sat there with his head down and his eyes closed, he at least knew where each Cohen stood. The gentle hand slowly rubbing his back told him Kirsten was on his right, and the firm hand on his shoulder meant Sandy was on the left. What he didn't know was when the dizziness was going to pass. He hoped it was before he either passed out or threw up.

He could tell Julie was standing in front of him when she started talking. "Just keep breathing slowly. In and out. It should pass."

"When?"

To add to Kirsten's back rub and Sandy's shoulder squeeze, Julie began to pat his leg. "Soon. Just keep breathing slowly. If you still feel dizzy in a few minutes, we'll help you lay back down, and we can try again later."

"Kay."

After what seemed like an eternity of Ryan breathing, Kirsten rubbing, Sandy squeezing and Julie patting, Ryan was finally able to take a deep breathe and pick up his head. Another deep breathe and Ryan was able to open his eyes.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

"Want to try standing?"

"Think so."

Kirsten stopped rubbing his back, and grabbed Ryan's arm. "Wait. It'll be easier to put your robe on now before you stand."

Ryan looked from the robe that Kirsten had quickly slipped on his right arm to Kirsten back to the robe again as she pulled it over his left shoulder. He hated that robe, and even though he never told her, he was sure she knew it. He must have been making a face because he felt her pat him on the shoulder.

When he looked up at her again, she smiled. "I don't want to see you catch a cold."

"Yeah. Cause that be real bad!"

Her smile was even bigger at Ryan's devilish smirk. "Well, humor me anyway."

Julie pushed the walker directly in front of Ryan. "Okay, Ryan, I need you to listen carefully. I want you to grab hold of the walker with your right hand. We will help you up. Don't try to do anything with your left arm. Let yourfather help you on your left side. If you feel dizzy, say something. But don't worry about falling because we'll have you. Understand?"

Ryan looked to his left at Sandy who only nodded and smiled, and then he looked to his right. Kirsten also smiled as she held onto his arm. Finally he looked back at Julie. "Understand."

If Ryan had to explain what it was like standing up for the first time since the accident, he probably would have to laugh. It wasn't as if he did much by himself. As soon as he grabbed hold of the walker, Sandy pretty much picked him up and then held tight to keep Ryan from falling. Added to that was the fact that Kirsten had her arm around his waist so tight, it was almost painful. So technically, Ryan had his one casted foot and one non-casted foot on the ground, but he couldn't exactly say he was standing on his own two feet.

After a few minutes of being held tightly in place by both Cohens, Julie finally instructed them to let go of Ryan, but to stay close. As Ryan began to hobble towards the door, they definitely stayed close - hovered would be more precise, but at least Ryan was technically kind of walking on his own, with the help of the walker.

They got as far as the nurse's station outside Ryan's room and back, stopping in front of the bathroom. Ryan panicked for a second, worried that either Sandy or Kirsten or both would offer to accompany him into the bathroom. It was bad enough that Julie was obviously planning on being in there with him, but having the two of them in there as well wasn't too appealing in Ryan's mind.

Ryan was relieved when only he and Julie entered the bathroom, but when he noticed she really was going to stand there the whole time, he quickly began to rationalize. At least Julie was used to dealing with this kind of stuff. And once he got home, he'd never see her again. And she had already seen more of him than he cared to think about.

It was definitely an experience having her in there with him, but Ryan somehow managed to swallow what little dignity he felt he had left, do what he had to do and hobbled out of the bathroom. He made his way back to his bed as quickly as possible, as everyone continued to hover around.

Julie didn't pull the walker away until she was sure Ryan was sitting completely back on the bed. Ryan found sitting to be the easiest part of the whole experience, especially with Kirsten sitting down next to him and Sandy remaining on his left.

As Julie picked up Ryan's chart to make her notes, she smiled at them all together. "Not bad. It's a whole lot easier with your folks there. Huh, Ryan?"

Ryan could only look down at his feet and nod. "Yeah." It was almost a whisper, but Julie noted, he at least acknowledged that much.

As Kirsten began helping Ryan out of his dreaded robe, he looked at her sideways then back at his feet. Finally he looked up at her and simply said, "Sorry."

Kirsten folded the robe and placed it at the foot of Ryan's bed. "Me, too."

Ryan again could only nod and look back at his feet. "It's just…" But then he couldn't figure out what to say. It's just what? He didn't trust them to tell him the truth? He didn't trust that they wouldn't lie and cover for Seth's mistakes? It's just what? He wasn't exactly sure so he just stared at his feet, not finishing his thought.

He felt Kirsten's hand on his arm again. "I know." That was all she said. Ryan again looked up at her, and realized, for right now, it was all she had to say. Kirsten smiled and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Tired?"

Julie opened her mouth when Ryan only nodded, but he looked at her. "Yes. Tired."

Ryan managed to lie back in the bed, almost by himself and relaxed as Sandy took his sunglasses and Kirsten fixed his blankets. He tried listening in on the conversation. It wasn't eavesdropping this time, as they all did try to include him. But with the walking and the pain medication Ryan didn't see Julie injected into his IV and the not getting a whole lot of sleep the night before, Ryan was finding it harder and harder to stay awake.

He knew the talk was still to come, but Ryan hoped that what he heard Sandy tell Kirsten was true. They really would give him the time he needed to figure out how he felt about Seth and about the fact Seth just let him go.

As he finally drifted off to sleep he was sure he heard Julie say something about a good kid and everything working out. And he knew he heard Sandy and Kirsten thanking her for everything.

But he never heard Seth sneaking into the room. By the time Seth came in, Ryan was completely out.