Down A Rabbit Hole We Go – Chapter 19
Disclaimer: I do not own the OC or any of its characters.
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Recap:
Sandy put his hands on the rambling girl's shoulders to get her attention. "Summer, take a breath, ok. It'll be ok. Let's just take a look here," he added as he started to pull Ryan's jacket away and his shirt up.
Kirsten gasped as she saw the huge purple bruise on Ryan's side, surrounded by obvious older bruising that was staring to turn yellow in some areas.
Ryan moaned, pushing at Sandy's hands as he started to come back to awareness.
"Kirsten, call an ambulance, honey." Sandy instructed, then turned his attention to keeping Ryan and Summer calm.
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Samantha Hart new she should not be surprised by the calls they got in the most affluent areas of Newport Beach after 10 years of working as a paramedic in the area, but she was still surprised by the battered state of the boy she and her partner, David, were evaluating. They had arrived a few minutes earlier to find a dark-haired girl and man with similar hair color and gigantic eyebrows trying to calm her now patient down. A blond-haired woman stood nearby wringing her hands while a boy with dark curly hair sat on a kitchen stool looking slightly green and swallowing convulsively every so often. The patient, Ryan was the name they'd given, was weakly trying to sit up, saying he was ok and that he didn't need an ambulance. His comment that ambulances meant cops and cops were never good, caused Sam and her partner to both raise an eyebrow.
The story they had been given was that the kid had been beaten up at a beach party earlier that night, but that he had prior injuries from an incident last weekend. And that he'd collapsed earlier prompting them to call 911. David had shooed the girl and Eyebrow Man away as Sam started to assess their patient who continued to say he was fine and struggled to sit up. Sam easily pushed him back down with a hand on his shoulder and told him in no uncertain terms that he was going to the hospital so he might as well lie back and cooperate. She was aghast as she pulled his shirt up to examine him and saw an array of old and fresh bruises mottling his torso. She and David both eyed the family suspiciously before getting to work making sure their patient was stable and getting him ready for transfer.
The kid had become complacent once he realized that he had no choice but to go with them. He winced and grunted when they moved him onto the stretcher but otherwise remained stoic and tight lipped, only answering direct questions. As they raised the stretcher up to wheel it outside, Sam looked at the group. Eyebrow man had an arm around the blond woman for comfort. She was clearly distressed. The dark-haired girl stood a few feet away, chewing on a nail. The curly haired boy was still on the stool but slumped slightly onto the kitchen island.
"Is he ok?" She asked, still unsure about the situation.
"What?" Eyebrow man asked, then seeing that she was talking about the other boy he said, "Oh yes. Seth is fine…. he's just…tired."
"Ok then," Sam wasn't really convinced with that explanation. "We're ready to load up and one person can ride with us. How about Mom?" she added, looking at the blond woman.
"What?" the blond looked shocked. "Oh…no…. I'm not his mom. I'm his sister…my father…. our father…." she trailed off.
"I'll ride with him," the dark-haired girl spoke up, taking a step toward them.
"Unfortunately, only adults can ride in the ambulance with a patient." Sam told her, looking back to the blond ..the sister not the mom…and Eyebrow Man.
"Kirsten, why don't you ride with Ryan, honey, and I'll make sure Summer gets home and call your dad. He can meet you at the hospital." Eyebrow man suggested.
The blond, Kirsten…the sister not the mom…looked slightly panicked at first, but then agreed. Strange…Sam thought as they wheeled the stretcher out.
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Kirsten sat uncomfortably in the back of the ambulance beside Ryan's stretcher with the paramedic who had gotten in after her sitting beside her. They had hooked Ryan up to a heart monitor, put an oxygen tube in his nose, and started an IV. He had his eyes closed and she couldn't tell if he was asleep or what.
The ambulance jolted as they hit one of the speedbumps in the neighborhood and Ryan cried out suddenly. His left hand came up and Kirsten grabbed it instinctively. "It's ok, honey," she soothed as Dave who was driving, and Samantha apologized at the same time. Ryan only grunted in pain and squeezed his eyes closed.
"Can't you give him something for the pain?" the mother in Kirsten asked as she smoothed Ryan's hair back from his face with her free hand.
His eyes opened in shock at the tender touch and concerned voice of his sister.
"We should really wait until the ER staff checks him out if we can," Samantha answered with an apologetic look. "Dave will be more careful the rest of the way," she said loud enough for her partner to hear.
Kirsten looked back at Ryan, still holding his hand in hers. "Are you ok, Ryan?"
Ryan nodded minutely and moved his lips like he was preparing to say something. When he didn't say anything, Kirsten prompted, "What's wrong, honey?"
"He always chose you," Ryan muttered.
"What?" Kirsten asked, not understanding what Ryan was talking about.
"Dad…. he always chose you." Ryan repeated. "No matter how many times I asked to come home with him. He always said that…that Kiki would never understand…that you'd…never forgive him for what he'd done. He always chose you. He loves you so much…. if you…if you can't accept me, I'll understand…but don't stay mad at Dad."
Kirsten gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand as tears filled her eyes. "Oh, Ryan. Sweetheart…Dad was wrong…he was wrong for putting himself and me first. He should have chosen you. You were a child…innocent," Kirsten added, smoothing Ryan's hair back once more. "But he doesn't have to chose anymore, ok…we'll work it out, honey."