There was a deafening silence in the waiting room.
Kirsten, Sandy and Seth sat on the sofas, waiting for news on Ryan's condition but so far they had heard nothing. Sandy had tried telling them that no news was good news but - for obvious reasons - his family weren't buying it. Seth, who was dosing on and off, hadn't said much ever since they reached the hospital and Kirsten guessed that it was because he was still shocked over how fast Ryan's health had deteriorated. She was just as worried as the rest of the family, she didn't know if she could keep up her calm posture for much longer.
The clock on the wall seemed to move in slow motion. Almost two hours had passed since Ryan went into surgery and they were all starting to become very concerned.
"What's taking them so long?" Kirsten asked, now pacing back and forth on the floor as if it would provide her with some comfort - at least it was something to do.
"They should've been out by now." This whole situation was really keeping her on the edge.
"Calm down honey," Sandy said, patting on the seat next to him. "Come here. Sit down. It won't do you any good if you keep pacing around like that."
Kirsten opened her mouth to reply when Seth cut her short. "Yeah Mom, listen to dad. He's right you know. It won't help Ryan at all if you start to panic. He'll need you when he wakes up."
She looked at her son in surprise. When had Seth become so mature? With a sigh she did as they wanted and sat down, only to stand up minutes later.
"No Sandy, I can't relax," she complained when he grabbed her arm. "Let me go."
"You want me to get you some coffee mom?" Seth asked when his fathers attempt to calm down her failed miserably.
"No." She shook her head and then sat down again, this time head in her hands. "It's just that they are taking way too long. Didn't they say that it would take around an hour and now it has almost passed two hours?"
She mumbled, "There is bound to be complications, otherwise he'd be out by now."
Sandy, still making small attempts to help his wife feel hopeful, said, "Honey, I'm sure that Ryan will be just fine and he..." Her husband didn't get to finish his sentence before she interrupted him.
"How can you be so sure? After all they told me that it was his appendix that burst and that is a serious not to say dangerous complication. He can die." She sobbed.
Sandy placed a hand over her wife's shaking shoulders. "Yes he can," he said slowly, "but I just know that he won't. This is a first class hospital and Ryan is getting the best care that there is. Besides the doctor said that we caught it in time, that's what you told us."
"Mom it's true. If Ryan was some dude living in the Wild West on the 19th century it would be a different story...yeah even if he lived somewhere out in Africa and got sick. But we're in Newport where they have the best medical help and the doctors probably fix burst appendixes hundreds of times."
Kirsten couldn't help but smile. Her son and husband were doing their best to make her feel less nervous, yet they were in the same situation as her. Just as worried.
Wiping the tears that had rolled down her cheeks with a tissue she said, "You're both right. I'm just being silly worrying like this when we don't even know if there have been any complications." Just as she ended her last sentence Doctor Reynolds came into the room, dressed in a pair of clean scrubs.
"You're waiting for information about Ryan Atwood I presume?" the bald man asked as he reached out a hand, "Doctor Donald Reynold. I'm the one that preformed the surgery on your foster son."
While Sandy greeted him formally Kirsten wasted no time in asking, "How is he? How's Ryan?" She sounded tense as if she were preparing for the worst."
"Your foster son is doing as well as can be expected in the circumstances."
"Circumstances? What circumstances?" This time it was Seth that was doing the talking and Kirsten would've hushed him down if she wasn't so worried about what the surgeon had to say.
"Like I said he is doing well. When he came into surgery we found that his appendix had burst just like we suspected. After opening him up we found that an infection had already set in and he was experiencing symptoms for peritonitis."
"That peri...peritron...," Seth started when he gave up, "Oh heck whatever it's called."
He could see his parents displeased eyes but ignored them, "Is that dangerous?"
"It can be." Doctor Reynolds ran his hand over his face in a tired gesture. Seeing the worried faces he quickly went on, "Luckily we think we caught it on time and Ryan has been given antibiotics to prevent any further infection."
Even though the news was not all that good Kirsten breathed out a sigh of relief. But when Doctor Reynolds went on about Ryan's condition she suddenly paled.
"There were a slight complication; Ryan vomited some blood which told us that he was bleeding inside his stomach."
"Throwing up blood?" Sandy paled.
"Yes. When we opened him up we found that there was a rip inside his stomach and that was the reason for the bleeding. We gave Ryan a blood transfusion since he lost quite a bit during surgery and as long as there won't be any further complications, which we don't expect, we expect Ryan to make full recovery." The doctor added that at full speed when he saw how devastated the parents looked.
"Oh that's good news." Kirsten was at once calmer than before. "Will we be able to go and see him now?"
The doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry but Ryan is still in recovery, but as soon as he is fit to be moved he'll get his own room and then you will be able to visit him. However I need to inform you that he is still weak, both from the surgery and infection and he won't be able to have long visits."
"But I'm his mother. I need to see him now. Ryan needs me I have to be with him." While Sandy did his best to calm her down it was causing the opposite reaction and she more or less yelled, "Take me to Ryan. I need to be with him now. He's my son."
"Kirsten calm down," Sandy barked harshly, he turned Kirsten around and placed his arm around her shoulders in a protective way.
"You have to forgive my wife," he apologized. "She's a bit shocked with everything that has happened tonight. You see we were at this charity event when our son." he nodded at Seth who blankly looked his way.
"Seth here called and informed us that Ryan was very ill and from then on everything happened so fast and next thing we knew he was in surgery.
"Yes," The doctor nodded. "Burst appendix can happen rather fast, but judging from the infection that had set in it looks like Ryan have been ill for a while. I would say that his appendix burst sometime this morning or later on in the day.
"This morning?" To Seth this was big news. "But Ryan wasn't all that sick. He just said that he had an upset stomach, that's all."
"Sometimes there aren't clear symptoms for appendicitis and a stomach ache with nausea is all that there can be. It can take a while for the symptoms to erupt."
The doctor paused for a moment, "Did Ryan complain that his side hurt? His right side."
Upon hearing these words Kirsten paled once more. "Oh my God." She put her hand over her mouth. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Think of what?" Sandy asked. When his wife didn't answer right away he pressed on, "Think of what Kirsten? What are you talking about?"
"When Ryan helped me carry in the Christmas tree I noticed that he was limping but when I asked about it he said that he had probably strained himself at practice. "
"Ryan didn't have practice today mom," Seth filled in.
"Oh God, why did I have him carry that Christmas tree. It probably made it worse." Kirsten felt so guilty that she didn't know what to do.
The doctor who seemed to think that he'd spent way too much time talking about his patient condition looked impatiently at his watch before saying, "Right square quadrant pain is one of the ruling symptoms in appendicitis and your foster son probably thought that he had stretched himself since the symptoms are rather similar in the beginning. However there is no reason for you to feel bad about it since the burst of the appendix can happen at any time, even when there are no physical activities."
At that moment a nurse appeared in the waiting room, she said something to the surgeon who apologized and told them that he had to leave. Kirsten didn't pay much attention but Sandy thanked for the information that they received and they were told that a nurse would come to get them when Ryan was settled in his room.
After the doctor left Kirsten seemed to relax a little, but still she had so much guilt over not noticing that Ryan was as sick as he was. If it had been Seth it would've been another story. She knew her own son like the back of her hand, if not better. Ryan however had rarely been ill and if he had he was never one to tell her about it. There had been a few occasions during the year that he'd been staying with them, but they were very few and when they occurred he'd spent his time pent up in the pool house.
No matter how much she tried she could never figure out Ryan's distance to comfort.
"If only he'd said something," she went on whimpering. "If he'd only said that he wasn't feeling well."
"Would it make any difference?"
Looking up she was met with her sons brown eyes.
"What do you mean by that?" Kirsten did her best to steady her voice and Sandy looked at Seth annoyed.
"Just like I said mom. I asked you if there would be any difference if you knew that he was ill."
"Of course it would." Sandy answered for his wife before giving out a reprimand. "That is no way to talk to your mother Seth. You should know better." "What I mean is that you both were just thinking of your job and then the charity. You all forgot that it's the day before Christmukka. The day when we're suppose to stay together as a family and it's the day when we're watching movies and eating popcorn..." He paused. "Together!"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sandy's eyes darkened.
"All I'm saying is that if you guys hadn't gone to that charity event then something like this wouldn't have happened."
Sandy frowned while Kirsten listened with a sad expression on her face. "So you're saying that Ryan's appendicitis wouldn't have happened if we just stayed at home?" His father was doing his best to remain calm.
"In a way...yes. Then you would've picked up his symptoms much earlier and then Ryan wouldn't have to pretend that he was feeling fine just to please you guys." The words hit hard and Seth could see his mother's eyes glistening with tears.
Sandy however was not impressed. "I'm surprised that you still manage to find a way of expressing how disappointed you are that we broke the tradition - you can see how upset it's making your mom."
Seth shrugged as he listened to his dad reprimand him. He had to admit that it was bad timing, but on the other hand he thought that part of the guilt both his parents experienced was out of the healthy nature. After all they were the ones that had put a charity event before both tradition and their children's health!
Surprisingly it was Kirsten who was the first one to snap out of the funk that they were all in.
"What has been done can't be undone and we need to live with it. But today is Christmas. A holiday when we're not suppose to arguing and instead be grateful for the family that we got."
She gave her son a hug. "I love you Seth and you know that." A kiss on his forehead. "It's been a long night we're all very tired and should go home to get a few hours of rest before it's time to go in an visit Ryan.
Seth was the first one to object, telling his parents that he wasn't tired at all and that he wanted to be there for Ryan when he woke up. The not tired part didn't persuade his parents, especially not since he was white as a sheet and looked about ready to pass out.
"Kirsten, you and Seth should go home," Sandy suggested. "Like you said; it's been a very long and tiresome night and I would feel better if you went to bed. I'll stay in case Ryan wakes up."
He waited for his wife to object to his suggestion, especially since she'd been very firm about wanting to see Ryan. To his surprise she did no such thing, it was clear that today's event had taken a toll both on their body and mind.