Missing the Consequences – Chapter 2
Thanks to everyone for your reviews!
I was asked a number of times whether Ryan got into the car, and I apologize for being unclear in my story…but to answer the question, yes he is, because Sandy was watching both his sons try and unbuckle themselves when Kirsten took off, but I especially emphasized on Seth's door closing last because…well…I dunno, Seth just seems to me like he would be the one with the slowest reaction…hahaha…
"Mom, stop! Mom! RED LIGHT!"
Seth's screams filled the air as the BMW swerved unsteadily on the road. Ryan gripped the car door with all his might and sat tensely fingering the seatbelt around his body. This wasn't the first time he had been on a wide car ride with a drunken mother at the wheel. Dawn had a habit of drinking herself to crazy limits before attempting to drive them home. Once they had even hit a ditch, and young Ryan had broken a few ribs along with a major concussion forcing him into hospital for a month. Dawn had been charged for drink driving, but even that time hadn't stopped his mother from driving under intoxication yet again just a month later. Ryan knew at a time like this, the best you can do is sit tight, pull on the seatbelt and hold onto the side of the car as tightly as possible.
"MOM! Please, Mom, just stop by the side, the sidewalk is good, safe Mom, just stop please…Mom, you're scaring me!" Seth's hysterics continued, unbuckling his seatbelt to reach to Kirsten much to Ryan's horror.
"Seth, SIT!" he yelled, closing his eyes in anticipation for the crash, or maybe just to steady himself from the nausea building up from the car swerving side to side along with Kirsten's own shaking vision. Daring to let go of the car door, Ryan roughly pulled his adopted brother's shirt sharply until Seth was seated, eyes flaring wildly for guidance.
"SETH, put on your seatbelt!" was Ryan's command, and Seth dumbly followed. At last hearing the click, Ryan's hands went back to the door grip. The car drove on tensely for a few seconds of silence, the smoothness allowing a shut eyed Ryan to understand that they had hit the highway.
"Kirsten, maybe we should stop here," suggested Ryan in the calmest voice he could muster, ignoring the heavy panicked breathing was Seth.
"Yes Mom, listen to Ryan…just stop here, and we'll call Dad to pick us up and drive us home okay?" cried Seth, the fear evident in his voice.
Ryan hated the fact that Seth had to see his mother like this, Ryan knew all too well the pain of seeing a loved one under the influence of alcohol. Now to witness the Cohens falling apart like this hurt, it was as if watching his own family all over again, yet, he knew this was different. The Cohens, unlike his family, had hope. They could recover from this, and Ryan prayed with all his heart that this hope was different to the false hope he had convinced himself of year after year with his own family.
"No, I don't need your father…I don't need any help!" growled Kirsten, continuing to push the accelerator. Suddenly the car boomed with a high pitched form of Death Cab's new song, and Ryan knew that Seth's phone was going off. A few more seconds and Ryan opened half an eye to find Seth not responding to the new noise, only staring blindly at the steadily rising speedometer. Saying a quick prayer to God, whatever one or any that may listen, Ryan once again let go of the car and pulled Seth's phone from his pocket.
"Hello, Seth?" came the answer. It was Sandy, much to Ryan's relieve. Sandy would know what to do…Sandy HAD to know what to do.
"It's Ryan…you need to get her to stop," Ryan replied, his tone urgent, "How do we make her stop?"
"Are you guys okay, what's happening? Where are you now? Ryan? Where's Seth?"
"We're fine…for now, we're on the highway, Seth is fine, he's just...er…keeping an eye on things" was Ryan's reply. Keeping an eye on things was the best way Ryan could sum up what Seth was doing at the moment. The boy had now stopped staring at the speedometer and was now staring in wide eyed terror out the window.
"MOM! TRUCK!" Seth suddenly screamed, along with a "click" which made Ryan's blood run cold.
"SETH, SEATBELT!" Ryan screamed, before "Sandy, get her to stop, get her to STOP!"
For a good second, Ryan found himself in another world, white blinding lights, and only the sound of his own heart rapidly beating…then pain struck his entire body before everything went pitch black.
