A/N: I really can't believe how many people are reading and liking this story. You guys are so awesome and make me want to just pump out each chapter as quickly as I can. I'll do my best! Beachtree, you rock my world, buddy. I love your comments. And you couldn't be more right: we need to get Swenglish going on fics as well. Keep it coming, people. This story has such a loooong way to go. Enjoy!


FADING – Chapter Three

Monday Evening

Kirsten didn't know what to expect when she walked into Ryan's hospital room with Seth and Sandy in tow. She probably would have been prepared for bandages. She wouldn't have been surprised if Ryan looked miserable, and was more than a little pissed off about having to be stuck in a hospital for a few hours. But when she finally followed Dr. Collins into a mostly bare, stark white hospital room, she felt as though she had been slapped in the face.

Ryan, the boy she loved as much as her own son, lay prone in a hospital bed in the middle of the room, propped up on a few pillows. His face was ashen and as pale as the sheets that were tucked up to his chin. His bangs covered his slightly sweat-dampened forehead, spilling over onto his closed eyes. An IV hung on a metal hanger beside the bed with a saline drip connecting into the back of his hand, and another bag hung beside it, filled half-way with blood. Ryan looked small, and very young, nowhere near the tough, mature sixteen year old she knew and loved.

Kirsten hurried to his side and sat down in a chair that had been pulled up to the bed. "Ryan?" She said softly, kissing his forehead and sweeping his hair off his face. When he didn't respond, she looked to the doctor questioningly.

"He's been in and out, Mrs. Cohen. Right now rest is the best thing for him." The doctor smiled reassuringly. "I have to complete my rounds now. A nurse should be in soon to take Ryan's vitals, I'll have her update you on the test results as soon as we have news. You'll be able to take your son home in no time."

Sandy stood behind his wife and gently kneaded her shoulders before shaking Dr. Collins' hand. "Thank you, Doc." He said, then turning his attention to the boy in the bed. "Well, that's good news, right?" Sandy said positively, reaching down and giving Ryan's hand a gentle squeeze.

Ryan barely stirred.

Noticing Seth standing a few feet away from the bed with his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face, Kirsten smiled at her son. "Seth, honey, Ryan is going to be okay." She said gently. "You heard the doctor. I know he doesn't look his best right now, but he'll be feeling better in no time."

Before Seth had a chance to reply, Ryan mumbled softly and his eyelids fluttered for a few moments before they opened to reveal two tired blue eyes. He squinted up at Sandy and Kirsten for a few moments before smiling slightly. "Hey. What are you guys doing here?" He asked softly.

"Seth called us, sweetie. We got here as soon as we heard what happened." Kirsten replied, running her fingers through his hair.

"You didn't have to do that." Ryan said, guilt and embarrassment evident on his face. "I just cut my finger. It's no big deal."

Sandy had to laugh. "Ryan, you are King of the Understatement." He chuckled, giving his foster son a pat on the shoulder. "You do realize where you are right now, right?" He grinned, watching as Ryan lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry. You didn't have to leave work just to come here for this." Ryan said softly.

Sharing a look of disbelief and concern with his wife, Sandy shook his head vehemently. "Ryan, you just don't get it." He said gently. "When one of our kids is hurt, or sick, we're there. No buts about it." He told him seriously.

Looking more than a little bit surprised at the use of the term 'one of our kids', Ryan cleared his throat and ducked his head. "Thank you." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. When he dared to look up again, he noticed Seth standing a awkwardly to the side, looking more than a little uncomfortable and regarding Ryan thoughtfully, eyes full of worry and concern. "Hey, man. The girls couldn't stand the gore, I guess, right?" Ryan asked lightly.

After a brief hesitation some of Seth's walls came down and he moved closer to the bed. "Nah, they're just down the hall getting snacks." He explained, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting a hand on his foster brother's shoulder. "You sure had me going there, dude. I thought you were a goner for awhile."

"Me? Never." Ryan smiled at Seth, punching him playfully in the shoulder. "I was just looking for an excuse to bloody up your car."

Kirsten's face paled. "My car is bloody?" She asked fearfully.

While Ryan ducked his head, Seth's face broke out into a wide grin and he laughed as his mother's disgusted face. "Just a tad, mom. Don't worry, it makes it look tough." He reasoned.

Rolling her eyes, Kirsten shook her head. "Oh brother."

Just as the room had begun to regain some normality, a middle-aged nurse bustled in with graying hair and a firm expression. Ryan could tell that they were not going to be friends. She gave the Cohens a brittle smile and then began messing around with Ryan's finger bandages. "I'm Kathy. You're Ryan, I presume?" She asked quickly as she began unwrapping the gauze around his injured index finger and poked at his stitches.

"Gee, what tipped you off…Ow!" Ryan exclaimed as she hit a particularly tender spot. "That just got stitched up, you know, I'd like it to stay that way for a while." He griped, pulling his hand out of the nurse's grasp and giving her an annoyed look.

Sandy tried not to laugh. "Ryan…" He chastised half-heartedly.

"Oh, come on, tough guy." Kathy bemused, rewrapping his finger with fresh bandages before she checked his IV and began taking his pulse. "Surely you can handle a little bit of prodding if it means your freedom."

Seth's ears perked up. "So when does he get out of this joint?"

"Seth, don't say 'joint'." Kirsten warned.

With a roll of his eyes, Sandy looked at Kathy. "Does that mean that Ryan's test results are back? He can go home now?" Sandy asked hopefully.

Kathy finished taking Ryan's blood presser and put a thermometer in Ryan's mouth to take his temperature. "Doctor Collins is just reviewing them now. He'll be with you shortly." She said unenthusiastically as the thermometer beeped and she took it out of her patient's mouth, frowning slightly at the reading. "Well, you've got a slight fever but the wound shows no signs of infection. Have you been sick recently?" She asked, her focus on Ryan.

"No…" He began.

"Yes." Kirsten and Seth jumped in quickly, ignoring the look of betrayal Ryan shot at them. Kirsten took over as she looked at the nurse. "He's been very tired lately and yesterday he had a headache. I told him he had the flu, but he didn't listen to me. I've been meaning to take him to the doctor." She explained helpfully.

Writing on her clipboard, Kathy nodded. "Right. Well, that's all I need from you right now, Ryan. It's been a pleasure." She said sarcastically before shooting him one more enigmatic smile and leaving the room.

After she was gone, Seth bit back a snort of laughter. "Was she Mary Sunshine, or what?" He asked rhetorically.

A few moments later Marissa and Summer entered the room. Marissa made a beeline for Ryan in the bed and had her arms around him in an instant. "You're looking better. My God, I was so worried." She kissed him before sitting back to study his face. "How are you feeling?" She asked worriedly.

Ryan smiled. "Better." He told her, pushing her hair behind her ears. Then he looked at Summer. "You two find a vending machine?" He asked.

Summer shook her head. "This place is devoid of sustenance. We were just actually coming up here to tell you that we're going to find the cafeteria." She linked an arm around her boyfriend's waist. "Cohen, you wanna come?"

"Nah…" Seth replied.

Ryan chuckled. "Seth, go on. I'll be fine." He insisted. "We're just waiting for the doctor to come back, anyway. I'll survive a few minutes without you. Go."

With a fake hurt expression, Seth held a hand over his heart. "Ryan, you wound me! But fine, I'll go. I know when I'm not wanted." He gave Ryan a final pat on the shoulder before leading the girls out of the room with an arm around Summer's shoulders. As they neared the doorway, he turned and looked at his foster brother expectantly. "You want anything? Anyone?" He directed the last part to his parents.

Ryan shook his head but Sandy and Kirsten both said "coffee," and with that Seth was gone.

After a few minutes had passed Sandy and Kirsten had removed their coats and were seated in the chairs by Ryan's bed, talking about plans for the summer and trying to help make the time pass faster. Finally, at six o'clock the Dr. Collins returned literally scratching his head. He heaved a sigh as he entered the room. "Well, Ryan, it's good to see you awake." He tucked the chart he had been holding under his arm and focused on his patient. "Do you remember me? You were a little out of it when I first treated you."

Though he seemed to think a moment, recognition flickered in Ryan's eyes and he nodded grimly. "Yeah. You're the guy who kept flashing a light in my eyes." He said, voice tinged with annoyance.

Dr. Collins laughed. "Guilty as charged. You're looking a lot better, though." He said warmly. "How's the finger?"

"Fine." Ryan's eyes narrowed as he regarded his doctor carefully. He had always been good at reading people, especially adults, and could always tell when they were either lying, or uncomfortable. Dr. Collins seemed to be both. "But I get the feeling that's not the reason you're here right now." Ryan said slowly.

For a moment, Dr. Collins said nothing. When he did, his voice was less enthused. "You're too smart for me." He said, smiling in a way that made Ryan nervous.

Kirsten sat up straighter. "Did you get Ryan's test results back?" She asked.

"Yes, I did." Dr. Collins said slowly, as if working out in his head what he was planning on saying beforehand. "And frankly, I don't have the best news, Ryan. I'm afraid we're going to have to run some more tests." He said, his attention now completely on his patient in the bed.

Ryan's face fell. "You mean I'm going to have to stay here longer?" He asked gloomily.

The doctor nodded. "Looking at your tests I see that not only is your red blood cell count very low, but your white cell count is abnormally high. To say that you're anemic would be a vast understatement. And…that makes me very worried, to be honest. It means that you could possibly have any number of blood diseases." He stated bluntly.

In an instant, Ryan felt his stomach sink. He felt Kirsten move closer to the bed and put an arm around his shoulders and he shivered involuntarily, grateful for the warmth. When he looked at her face, she was listening to the doctor intently, her expression full of concern. Sandy looked different…he had gone pale and his eyes were wide with shock. He looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"But…I thought you said that his anemia could be related to an iron deficiency." Kirsten said softly, her voice very close to cracking. Her hand began to gently stroke Ryan's arm, and he hadn't realized that almost every muscle in his body had tensed.

Dr. Collins nodded vehemently. "Which is still a possibility, Mrs. Cohen. We just need to conduct more advanced tests to rule out any diseases. It's just that…Ryan is a really healthy, strong kid and shouldn't be exhibiting symptoms like this. Now, it could all just be one big coincidence and all he has is the flu and needs to start taking iron supplements, but if it's something else, we need to know what we're dealing with. Fast." He added as an afterthought. He turned his attention back to Ryan. "Now, Kathy told me that you still have a fever, and that you mentioned you've been suffering from fatigue, and headaches. Is there anything else that you can tell me?"

Ryan swallowed hard and forced himself to answer. "Uh…I haven't really had that much of an appetite lately, I guess." He said softly, not liking the weakness in his voice.

"Okay. I also can't help but notice the bruises on your arms. Is that from a particular incident that you can relate them to?" He asked, and watched Ryan shake his head silently. "Have you been having any muscle or joint aches or pains recently?" The nod Ryan gave added to the already growing knot he felt forming in his stomach.

Kirsten cleared her throat. "What's the next step, Dr. Collins?" She asked, giving Ryan's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

With a sigh, the doctor took off his glasses and faced Kirsten with a serious expression. "Well, we'll need a sample of Ryan's bone marrow to rule out any forms of cancer. If that comes up clean, we'll go from there." He turned back to Ryan. "I hope you're up for it tonight, Ryan. I'd really like to rule everything out as quickly as we can, if that's alright with you."

At the word 'cancer' Ryan had felt momentarily breathless. But then he reminded himself that nothing was for certain yet, and that all the doctors wanted to do was rule it out. He was going to be fine. Ryan nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sure." He said softly. "Let's get it over with."

"Alright. I'll have to make a few preparations to get you into an operating room tonight, but I'd like to aim for around eight o'clock. I'll drop by a bit later this evening to go over the procedure with you. Until then, I just want you to relax." Dr. Collins said, smiling warmly and patting Ryan's leg.

Kirsten stood up then and shook his hand as he prepared to leave. "Thank you." She said quietly before turning back to give Ryan a hug.

Before the doctor left he turned to Sandy, who had been silent ever since Dr. Collins had entered the room. The man's face was pale and slack with shock and obvious fear, and the doctor felt the need to put him more or less at ease. He put a gentle, friendly hand on Sandy's shoulder and said "It's not time to worry yet".

Sandy could only nod numbly.


When Seth, Marissa, and Summer returned to Ryan's hospital room several minutes later they couldn't believe the change they felt upon entering. Ryan was sitting silently in bed, his face the picture of misery. Kirsten sat on the side of the mattress beside her foster son, having pushed the railing down, and had an arm around Ryan and was stroking his hair gently, murmuring to him softly so that Seth couldn't hear her from the doorway. Sandy looked detached and bereft, sitting stonily in a chair beside Ryan's bed, his head bowed slightly and his eyes glued to the floor. There was something very frightening in his father's face that scared him to death.

"Wow. Who died?" Seth asked jokingly as he walked in holding two cups of coffee.

Kirsten looked up and glanced at Ryan before shooting her son a warning glare. "Seth, that's not funny." She snapped, giving Ryan's hand a squeeze before getting up to take one of the plastic cups from his hands.

Marissa sat beside Ryan and searched his face, worriedly. "What's wrong?" She asked gently. "Did something happen while we were downstairs?"

When it dawned on Seth, his eyes widened and darted from Ryan, to Kirsten, and then to Sandy. "What did the doctor say? Is everything okay? Ryan can come home tonight, right? Did something show up on the tests? How…"

"Seth, why don't you take the girls and head home for the night." Sandy interrupted, still not looking up from where his eyes were fixed on the floor. "Marissa, Summer, I'm sure your parents are wondering where you are by now." His voice left little desire to question him.

Seth looked confused. "But Dad, I'm not leaving until Ryan comes home." He insisted.

This time Sandy looked up, his eyes flashing angrily. "Ryan has to stay here for a little while longer. Now don't make me tell you again." He instructed briskly. "Take the Range Rover and drive the girls home. And get to bed at a decent hour. You have school in the morning."

Kirsten was looking at her husband in surprise. "Sandy…"

"Seth, please do as I said." Sandy put in. "We'll call you later."

Though Seth looked as though he wanted to protest, he turned away from his father and sighed. "Fine." He muttered, turning to Ryan and extending a fist to knock knuckles with him. "I guess I'll see you later, man." He said quietly.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah."

Marissa leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Call me when you're home, okay?" She said before reluctantly getting up from the bed and walking towards the door.

"Get well soon, Chino." Summer said as the three of them waved goodbye and cast one last longing look at their friend before heading quietly out the door.

Kirsten had been staring at her husband throughout the exchange, and now that they were gone she didn't know what to say. Turning to Ryan, she brushed back his bangs and kissed his forehead gently. "I'll be right back, sweetie. You need anything?" She asked.

"Yeah. To get out of here." Ryan mumbled back.

Kirsten smiled at him sadly before turning to her husband. "Sandy. A word outside." She said before turning and walking out the door to wait in the hall,

Scrubbing his face with his hands, Sandy stood up slowly. Without saying a word to his foster son he ruffled his hair fondly and followed his wife out of the room.

When the door closed, Ryan heaved a sigh and leaned back into his pillows. Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. He just hoped that this was as difficult as it would get. But for some reason, he knew that hope was wrong.


A/N: Wow, a long one. I hope it's not dragging. Next chapter, I swear, is where it all unravels. Bring on the drama! I've been so eager to write that future chapters sit on my hard drive because I don't want to seem too quick to upload…I need my readers to be left hungry for more…heehee, how evil of me. Cheers!

Vancouverite