Again, with the sorry for taking so long -- me and the hospital again. So, again - if something in the hospital seems off or not all that true - trust me - it's one of those been there, just done it - made it happen to Ryan.

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Kirsten hadn't realized the light had turned green until the car behind her beeped for her to move. She was too busy replaying the events from the previous day in her head. She found herself sighing loudly as she continued on towards the hospital, dreading the prospect of another hellish Hanukkah celebration. The highlight of Thursday night's celebration came early in the evening, when Sandy finally got fed up with Meanie Mandy's attempts to draw Ryan's blood. After her fourth unsuccessful stab, a loud annoyed grunt from Kirsten and a muffled moan from Ryan, Sandy got angry and threw her out. From there, it had actually gone further downhill.

Ryan was, as expected, very quiet during the so-called festivities, with his mumbled attempts at the prayers, his quiet thank yous at the presents and his "I'm too tired" excuse for a game of dreidel.

And yet, somehow Seth was even worse. He was even quieter than Ryan. Kirsten didn't think that could ever be possible, but he was. He nodded at his gifts, didn't bother to say the prayers and took off just as soon as Ryan said he was too tired to continue their forced celebration.

Yet despite it all, Seth didn't argue with Kirsten when she dropped him off at school and reminded him to be at the hospital that afternoon. Seth told her he knew; he understood and he would be there, no matter what.

Well, at least it was one down, Kirsten thought as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. At least one claimed he understood. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the easier of the two. But Kirsten figured Sandy had to have had a talk with Ryan after she left.

Ryan did let her kiss him goodnight, but as she turned to leave, Ryan asked Sandy to also go home. Ryan insisted he would be fine alone and kept insisting Sandy go, too. The more Sandy said he was staying, the more Ryan insisted on him leaving. Through gritted teeth and with a voice that garnered no room for arguing, Sandy finally told Ryan that he was staying for the night, and that was the end of the argument. Kirsten left an angry Ryan and a frustrated Sandy. She knew that combination had to mean a talk, and hopefully a good, long one. Being mad at Seth was one thing, but trying to push the entire family away wasn't going to happen. Kirsten just knew Sandy finally had enough and told Ryan so.

Sandy was standing outside of Ryan's room when Kirsten arrived. He smiled as soon as he saw her, and before she could ask, he simply said, "Julie."

"Oh. Okay. Good. I'm glad." Kirsten hesitated for a moment, waiting for Sandy to say something, but he didn't. "So how was your night? Did you talk?"

"A little, but not about Seth or anything about the accident. Just about general stuff until he fell asleep."

Kirsten couldn't help but again sigh loudly. That wasn't what she had hoped for. "Do you still want to give him time? He's trying to push us all away now."

"Why? Because he wanted to be alone last night? He's Ryan. That's what he does. That doesn't mean he's pushing us away. He's just trying to wrap his head around it all, and he likes to be alone. It'll be easier for him once he's home, which, according to Dr. Richards this morning will be Sunday."

"So soon?"

"Apparently so. Dr. Richards said as long as Ryan isn't running a fever or showing any other signs of infection, can walk with some aid, can eat and use the bathroom, there is no reason he can't be discharged. He does recommend a home health aide as a precaution, but said someone at the hospital would arrange that for us."

Kirsten smiled. It would be nice to have Ryan home and have both boys under the same roof to work out their differences, especially with it being the holidays. Then she thought about it just a little more. Yes, it would be better once he's home, but Kirsten quickly realized some problems. "Okay, so how to get him home and what to do with him once he's there?"

When Sandy only looked at her confused, Kirsten continued. "Think about it. He has a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder and a stubborn streak a mile long. How are the two of us going to get him home safely? Getting him in and out of the car alone would be a nightmare."

"So, we hire a private ambulance to take him home." Sandy only shrugged. If that was all that was bothering Kirsten, it was easy enough to fix.

"Tell Ryan that."

"Well, it's either that or he stays here. I think given the choice, he won't argue with us on the ambulance."

"Fine by me, but what do we do with him once the ambulance brings him home?"

"Do with him?"

"He can't sleep in the pool house. Too far for him to get to the house, plus he'd have to go up and down the stairs every time he needed to use the bathroom."

Sandy thought about that for a moment. Kirsten was right – the pool house would be a problem. "Guest room."

"Stairs. Once the attendants get him up there, how do we get him down?"

"Our room. Only three stairs to get him in and no stairs to the bathroom."

Kirsten snickered just thinking about Ryan's reaction. "Oh, he'll just love that idea."

"How about getting a hospital bed and putting it off the den."

"In the bar?"

"Sure, why not? No windows to bother his eyes, close to the hallway bathroom, the kitchen, the den, the living room, our room – any where we need or want him to be. Plus we'll always be close at hand if he needs us."

It was Kirsten's turn to think. It actually wasn't a bad idea. Ryan would hate it, she didn't doubt that for a minute, but given the other options, it was probably the best choice. "Are we going to tell him, or are we going to spring it on him once he's home?"

"I think we should just let it play out. I'm sure it'll come up in the discussion."

"Yes, because Ryan is such a talkative kid."

"Maybe not talkative, but definitely anxious to get out of here. When the doctor told us Ryan could be discharged Sunday, Ryan's first question was why Sunday? If he could, I think he'd leave tomorrow, or even today.

"Even though it means going home to where Seth is?"

"Yes, even though it means being in the same house as Seth." Sandy hesitated. "Although there is something I'd like to discuss with you about Seth."

"No. Seth is coming here tonight for Hanukkah. He knows that already."

"Sure. He'll come tonight, and he'll come tomorrow night. And we'll celebrate. But I was thinking that when Ryan comes home on Sunday, Seth goes over to the Haunted Mansion."

"You want to throw Seth out of his own house? How do you think that's going to make him feel?"

"Kirsten, it was his idea. He called me after you dropped him off. He said he understood why you want us all together for the holidays, and he promised to be here. But, and these are his own words, when Ryan returns to the scene of the crime, it might be better if the culprit wasn't there. I think he may have something there."

"I just don't think it's a good idea. Ryan needs to know that we're there for him – all of us. Letting Seth leave is…"

"Probably just what Ryan needs – for a few days anyway. We're not sending Seth to Japan or even the next town. He'll still be over for dinner, and gradually he'll increase the time he's there."

Sandy smiled at Kirsten as he again tried to get her to understand. "You can't force them to be friends right away. Ryan will still need time, and we need to give him that time. If you force it, it will backfire. If we continue to go slow and give Ryan the time he needs to come to terms with it on his own, I think things will work themselves out."

Still, Kirsten wasn't convinced, nor did she agree. "And if they don't?"

"They will. We have good kids. Seth knows he messed up, and he'll do anything to make it right with Ryan. And once Ryan gets over his initial hurt and anger, he'll see that Seth didn't intentionally try to hurt him, and that it really was an accident."

Kirsten just shook her head and let out a loud breath. She hoped Sandy was right.

Julie came out before they could continue the discussion, but unlike the day before, she seemed to have a genuine smile on her face, which Kirsten immediately returned. "Everything okay?"

Julie smiled just a little more since it was obvious that Kirsten's question wasn't really a question – more like a statement of fact. "A distinct improvement over yesterday."

"His speech?"

"His speech and his general attitude."

Sandy nodded. "The doctor said he could go home Sunday."

"I know. Ryan told me. Plus he said his headache had lessened to some degree, and he was able to change his sunglasses to ones not as dark, and his speech is improving tremendously with the practice." Julie continued, much to the delight of Kirsten and Sandy. "And, Mr. Cohen, I understand you let him go to the bathroom alone last night. So I let him as well, and I let him get washed and dressed on his own. I think that totally made his morning!"

"Ryan isn't exactly a kid who likes to ask for help, so I figured as long as I stayed close, why not?"

"Well, I definitely think you had the right idea. Now I think you should capitalize on his good mood and keep him talking. Remember - the more he talks…"

Julie again smiled when Kirsten and Sandy both said, "the better his speech." She watched as the two of them went into Ryan's room, reminding them to "call me if you need anything."

Kirsten initially panicked when she didn't see Ryan lying in bed, but was relieved when she noticed him sitting in the chair. When he smiled and said, "hey," she smiled, too.

"Look at you - in a chair!"

"Yeah. Julie said it's okay."

Kirsten couldn't resist leaning down to kiss Ryan. "Feeling better?"

"I get outta here Sunday"

"I heard. Sandy filled me in." Kirsten sat in the chair next to him, and gave his hand a slight squeeze. "I bet you're anxious to go home."

"Be good to sleep in my own bed."

When Sandy and Kirsten exchanged looks and then Sandy said, "You know that things aren't going to be easy just because you're home, you're still going to need a lot of help..."

Ryan knew. "No pool house," Ryan finished.

"It's only temporary until you get back on your feet. You need to stay close, in case you need any help or anything."

Kirsten again gave his hand a gentle squeeze as Ryan simply nodded. He already suspected he wouldn't be allowed to hide out in the pool house, so he really wasn't surprised.

"S'okay, I guess. For little while. But where?"

"Um," Kirsten started and then looked at Sandy. He sat on the edge of Ryan's bed. "Well, since there will be a problem with the stairs, Kirsten and I were talking. There's always our room…"

The look on Ryan's face was more than enough of an answer as to what he thought of that idea.

"Or, we were thinking of maybe getting a hospital bed and putting it in the room off the den."

Again Ryan just looked at them, but when neither one of them said anything further, Ryan finally asked, "So I'm getting out of hospital bed, to sleep in hospital bed? In the bar?"

Ryan waited for the punch line. He figured it had to be a joke of some sort, but when Kirsten gave his hand another squeeze, he knew they weren't kidding.

Sandy shifted on the bed before starting to explain. "There are no windows to bother your eyes, no stairs to get to the bathroom, close to all the rooms on the first floor. If you don't want to sleep in our room, that's the only other solution."

Kirsten and Sandy then waited for the argument to start. At least it would be a good way to keep Ryan talking, but Ryan just shook his head and laughed a little. "Yeah. Fine. 'Kay."

Sandy looked at Ryan and then at Kirsten. She looked just as confused as he felt. "Um, okay. So, I guess that's settled then. No, wait – why no arguing?"

"Am I gonna win?"

"No, but…"

"So why argue?"

When Sandy could only shrug his shoulders and look at Kirsten, and since that was not Ryan's expected answer, Kirsten could only stammer, "Um, hum, because?"

"Because why? I argue, I lose, I sleep in bar. I don't argue, I don't lose, I sleep in bar. Either way, I sleep in bar."

The little smile on Ryan's face made Sandy and Kirsten both laugh. It really was a pleasant relief to see Ryan in a better mood.

Sandy rubbed his hands together as he stood up. "So I guess now would be a good time to tell you about the ambulance that's going to take you home?"

Ryan opened his mouth, unsure of what to say except, "ambulance…um…"

"Because it's the safest, easiest way to get you home."

Ryan closed his eyes and laid his head back on the chair, resigned to just not argue. "Fine."

Sandy smiled at Kirsten as he nodded his head towards Ryan. That was easier then they both thought. He then gave Ryan's leg a pat. "Since Kirsten's here to stay with you, I think I'll just run home, shower and change my clothes."

"Good - you smell." Ryan didn't even bother to open his eyes, but he did smirk.

"Well, not everyone has the benefit of a pretty nurse to help them get all handsome. Some of us actually have to do it ourselves."

"Hey! I did myself this morning!"

"You mean you had a beautiful, young nurse in here willing to help you get washed and dressed, and you did it yourself? Ah, youth. Wasted on the young…"

"Sandy. Go. Get out. Ryan and I will be just fine without your cheesy jokes."

"My jokes are not cheesy. Are they, Ryan?"

Ryan just raised his eyebrows and looked at Kirsten, who also raised her eyebrows; then they both looked at Sandy, making him laugh. "Fine. I can take a hint. I'm going."

They both laughed as Sandy pretended to be insulted and left. But then the room got quiet. Kirsten wasn't exactly sure what to talk about, and Ryan just lay his head back and again closed his eyes.

"Tired?"

"Yeah, little."

"Do you want to move back to the bed?"

"Not yet. I'm good here for now. 'Kay?"

"That's fine. I just don't think you'll be very comfortable if you fall asleep in the chair."

"Mmm. 'Kay."

"You do know Sandy was just teasing you before, don't you?"

Ryan opened his eyes and looked at Kirsten. "Really? No ambulance? No bar?"

"Oh, no. I'm sorry. Not about that. We were serious about that. I meant that Sandy was just teasing you about Julie. She had already told us that you didn't want her help this morning."

Kirsten watched as Ryan sagged back into the chair and closed his eyes again. "Really, Ryan, taking you home by ambulance and helping you avoid the stairs truly is for the best. We'd all hate for anything to happen to you and have you end up right back here in the hospital."

When Ryan didn't say anything and only slightly nodded his head, Kirsten continued. "Look, it's no deep dark family secret that you prefer to do things for yourself, but sometimes you need to trust us that we actually may know what's for the best."

She laid her hand on top of his, and decided to do exactly what Julie said - continue to capitalize on his good mood. "It is okay to ask for help. Sometimes you need to let others be there for you when you need them."

"Mmm."

"I thought Julie said 'mmm' wasn't an acceptable answer?"

Ryan opened his eyes but stared up at the ceiling. "Fine. Sometimes you ask for help, and someone lets you down."

Kirsten hesitated for a second. She was surprised at what he said, but quickly figured, if Ryan brought it up, he must want to talk about it.

"But maybe if you ask that someone why, maybe you'd understand what happened."

"I understand what happened."

"But if you would just talk to him, then maybe you'd understand that it was an accident, and maybe you can figure out how to prevent it from happening again."

"How I can prevent it!"

"No, Ryan. That's not what I meant. I just meant…" Kirsten was startled when Ryan abruptly leaned on the walker and pulled himself up. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Bed. Tired."

Kirsten stood up and tried to put her arm around Ryan, only to have him pull away. "No. Don't worry. I got it."

"I told you – you have to ask for help when you need it."

"Don't need it. I. Got. It."

It was the way Ryan said, "I got it" the second time that bothered Kirsten. "Got what?"

Ryan's look was the only answer he gave as he climbed into the bed, so Kirsten raised her voice slightly. "I said got what?"

As Ryan took of his sunglasses and rolled onto his side, he mumbled, "Got that I can't be mad at your son."

"No. I… I didn't say that. Ryan? Ryan! Do not shut me out."

"Not shutting you out. You said if I tired, I should go to bed. I'm tired. I go to bed. Night."

"Ryan, I…" When Kirsten noticed Ryan bury himself just a little further until the covers all she could do was throw up her hands. "Fine. Good night."

Kirsten waited in the chair for a little while before deciding it would be best to wait outside for Sandy. She felt like such an idiot for not listening to him and rushing to try to make it right. Now she was left wondering how they were ever going to fix it.

Sandy found Kirsten pacing the floor; so deep in thought she jumped when he came up behind her. "Is Julie back already?"

"No. He's, um, sleeping."

It was the hesitation in Kristen's voice that Sandy immediately noticed. "Why? What happened?"

"I tried to capitalize on his good mood like Julie said, and I, ah…"

"You ah what?"

"I asked him to talk to Seth."

Sandy's blank stare was all it took for Kirsten to begin talking quickly. "And it didn't go well. He was already tired when I asked him, and I didn't exactly word it correctly, and I…"

"…really upset him?"

Kirsten sighed as she stared at the closed door. "No. Made him really mad. Now what?"

"Now what? Now nothing. I told you if we tried to force it, it would backfire."

"Oh, it backfired all right. I need to apologize to him when he wakes up."

Kirsten put her hand on the door to go back in and was surprised to feel Sandy's hand on hers, stopping her from pushing the door open. "No, don't. Just drop it for now."

"Why?"

"Because if you try to apologize now, you're only going to make it worse."

"How could I possibly make it any worse?"

"You want Ryan to understand that it was an accident, right? And to do that, you really want him to talk to Seth, right? Well, you can't apologize and tell him you didn't mean it since you did. So if you go in there and tell him that, he'll know you're lying, and that, my dear, will definitely make things worse."

"I hope you're right. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Sandy wrapped his arms around Kirsten and pulled her close. "Just, please, do nothing. Okay? Give him time and space. Let's just get him out of here and home safely"

Kirsten pulled away from Sandy as she looked at the door again. "You know – he never said he was going home."

"Sure he did."

"No, we did. He said he was getting out of here, but he never said he was going home."

"Kirsten, now you're getting yourself all worked up over nothing. You saw how easy he was about the ambulance and sleeping in the bar. He wants to go home. He knows it's home."

"He wasn't being easy. He was being agreeable to getting out of the hospital. That doesn't mean he knows he's going home."

Sandy could only wrap his arms around Kirsten again and hug her just a little tighter. "It's going to be okay. I promise you – everything is going to be okay."

"And if it's not? Then what?"

"Then we all end up living in the Haunted Mansion and letting Ryan have the entire house to himself."

"You're not funny."

"Sure I am."