No idea where I got this idea from. But all the medical stuff is googled and made up, pretty sure this isn't how brain tumours actually work lol.
Disclaimer – I don't own any characters
The sun was shining bright, bouncing from the swimming pool and leaking into the pool house. Ryan groaned as the sunlight reached his face, waking him up and triggering an instant headache. He pulled up his hand and covered his eyes. Suddenly his alarm was blaring in his ears but he didn't have the strength to reach over and opening his eyes meant his sleep was over and it couldn't be because he was still so tired.
'Wait? Where did the sound go?' He thought realising the silence 'maybe you have powers' he heard Seth saying to him 'Ugh Seth.' he realised. He slowly brought down his hand seeing the sun being blocked by a tall skinny figure standing in front of him "you should probably change your settings so it doesn't ring every day at 7"
"Seth leave me alone" Ryan groaned in response turning around and pulling the covers over himself.
"I wish I could Ryan. I wish I could. But it is the first day of summer and we have so many things to do. So get up!" he said grabbing the blanket. Ryan sat up slightly leaning on his elbows and glared at him. Seth instantly dropped the blanket backed away "okay…okay I'll let you remove your own blanket" he began walking out "we both know you're awake now. might as well come enjoy the beginning of an awesome summer. I can feel it. speaking of summer. I'm gonna go call her" he rambles shutting the door. "I'll be back Ryan" he shouted. Ryan fell back onto his pillows and closed his eyes. 'He was right my sleeps gone' he grumbled and got out of bed 'I'm gonna kill him.'
After going for a shower and getting ready Ryan realised his headache was still there. He walked into the kitchen "hey kid. You should have seen the waves today" Sandy beamed walking into the kitchen with his hair slicked back from the water. Ryan just nodded and smiled "Seth wake you up?" he asked getting some juice out the fridge.
Ryan grunted "do you know where the Tylenol is?"
"Yeah its erm its right here" Sandy said grabbing it from the cupboard and passing it to Ryan "you okay?"
Ryan took out two and washed them down with some water he looked up and saw Sandy still standing there with concern "Yeah. Just a small headache"
"You sure"
"Yeah it's no big deal"
Sandy nodded eyeing Ryan until Seth barged in rambling as usual about how Summer and Marissa were going to the beach and Ryan just had to go along.
"Ah what a nice way to end a night" Seth said kissing Summer. She leant back on his chest cuddling into him. After a long day of fun they started a fire on the beach. Ryan and Marissa cuddling on one side while Seth and Summer on the other, each wrapped in their blankets gazing at the stary night and listening the peaceful waves.
"hey, you're falling asleep" Ryan whispered in Marissa's ear seeing her eyes closing
"hmmm you're really comfy you know" she smiled.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead "how bout I take you home?" he offered
"how's your headache" she asked back
"Eh. Still there"
"Damn if it was gone I was thinking you take me to the pool house instead" she looked up at him to make clear what she meant
"Definitely gone." he smiled back.
She giggled, standing up "alright guys we're gonna go"
"what already?" Seth asked
"Cohen they probably wanna be alone"
"ohhhhh…eww" he said realising.
They all laughed as Ryan and Marissa folded up their blankets and left.
The next morning Ryan was woken up by a feeling a of severe nausea. Not wanting to throw up on Marissa beside him he ran straight to the bathroom. He just made it in time as his stomach emptied what felt like everything he's ever eaten.
"Ryan" he heard a light knock on the bathroom door "just a sec rissa" he said as loud as he could before his stomach heaved again. Marissa stood outside awkwardly she knew how private Ryan was but she was worried about him. Only the Atwood's luck would have Ryan sick at the beginning of the summer. She started doing the bed up in an attempt to distract herself from mothering Ryan. Just as she finished she heard the flush go and bathroom door open. Ryan leant on the door frame obviously weak.
Marissa ran up to him "you okay? What happened"
"Sorry I woke you. Guess something I ate didn't agree with me" he said letting her walk him to the bed. He groaned putting his head in his hands "can you do me a favour. There's some Tylenol in the kitchen. Do you mind?"
"No, I'll go get it. Why don't you lie down for a sec" she was glad to see Ryan being able to ask for help. 'That meant he trust me right. He's opening up to me' she thought happily.
"Oh, hi Marissa" Kirsten asked surprised to see her instead of Ryan walk in.
"Erm I hi Mrs Cohen" Marissa replied awkwardly "Ryan just wanted some Tylenol"
Kirsten reached over and got it from the cupboard "his headache still there?" she asked.
"yeah I think he's coming down with something. Not that he'd admit it"
Kirsten smiled knowing how stubborn Ryan was. "I'll come check on him later" Kirsten assured as Marissa walked out.
"Seth don't you dare" Sandy said turning around seeing his son at the doors tiptoeing
"But I was being so stealth" Sandy scoffed
"You call that stealth?"
"Hey, I know ninjas better than you. Trust me that was stealth" Seth defended
"Your mother said to let him rest"
"I did! All day!" Once Seth was told that Ryan was off limits the only thing on his mind was waking him up. Being the only guy with Summer and Marissa meant that he was stuck watching annoying chick flicks and picking colours for their nails. When Ryan was there he could at least pretend to be more cool.
"You can go wake him up when dinner's ready okay"
"Finnee" Seth whined going back to the den.
"Ryan!" Seth whispered loudly walking into the pool house. "you can stop pretending the girls have left" he joked but got no response. He walked closer and slowly tapped Ryan's shoulder "Ry" he called
"Trey?" Ryan groaned
"Erm not quite"
Ryan opened his eyes wider "Oh sorry. Am I late? What time is it?" Ryan said rolling over to check his clock
"It's erm night. And schools out. You okay buddy?" Seth was now more concerned about what was going on. Ryan still looked exhausted and the confusion on what's happening only worried him more.
"Yeah yeah." Ryan said brushing his hands over his face "guess I was just really tired"
"Yeah sleeping will do that to you" Ryan looked up and glared "kidding" he added quickly putting his hands up in surrender "dinner's ready" he said remembering why he was there.
"I erm I'm not feeling so hot. I think I'm gonna pass. Tell your parents sorry" Ryan said grabbing the Tylenol bottle
"Still got the headache"
"Yeah it just keeps getting worse somehow" Ryan said tiredly
"Do you want me to call me mum" Seth offered not knowing what to do
"nah I think I'll just sleep it off" he got comfortable again "did Marissa leave?"
"yeah she figured she'd let you sleep" Ryan nodded. He wished she was here. They were in a good place in their relationship. He felt he could finally trust her and she had stopped the normal drama and stuck to her therapy sessions; which were actually helping.
Seth switched off the lights and closed the door making it back to the kitchen to fill in his parents. It took all of 5 minutes before Kirsten walked into the pool house thermometer in hand "Ryan. Honey you awake" Ryan groaned in response "I just wanted to check if you have a temperature sweetie. And they you can go back to sleep okay" she said walking switching on the lights.
"No can you up keep it off. My head" he said covering his eyes
"That bad?"
"I think it's a migraine"
"Okay I'll use the lamp. It'll only be a second and you can keep your eyes closed okay" she reached over and switching it on and then placed the thermometer in his mouth.
30 seconds later the silence was filled with a beeping.
"oh my god"
Ryan looked up opening his a little "that bad?" he asked slightly worried
"No honey I think your nose is bleeding" she said getting up and grabbing some tissue.
Ryan placed a hand under his nose and felt the blood leaking "I didn't even feel it. Sorry" he said getting up. Suddenly the world spun and he dropped back on the bed
"Ryan?"
"I'm okay. Just got dizzy"
"Come on I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No. No I'm okay really. I just stood up to fast" he tried
"your nose is bleeding!"
"mum, dad won't let me eat till you're here. Hurry up" he stopped at the door "what's going on?" he asked switching on the lights Ryan groaned putting his head down
"Seth switch off the lights and grab a towel from the bathroom" Kirsten ordered.
Seth hurried keeping any comments he had to the side realising it was a serious situation. He brought the towel and gave it to his mother who pressed is on Ryan's nose "is he okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a normal nose bleed" Ryan said before Kirsten got the chance to worry Seth too.
"Hey what is this place Narnia?" Sandy said walking in "what's going on?" Sandy asked just like Seth did 5 minutes earlier
"Just a nose bleed" Ryan said again
"maybe we should get you checked out. The headache the nosebleed. It could be serious" Sandy said worried
"No really I'm okay. It'll pass" he promised. "I kinda got blood on the bed though. Sorry" he said looking at Kirsten
"That's fine. You're not sleeping here tonight anyways. I want you in the house in case." She said with a tone that left no room for questions or argument
"Jheez if you wanted attention Ryan. All you had to do was ask" Seth laughed
"I'll try that next time" Ryan smirked. Once his nosebleed stopped Ryan insisted on going for a shower while the Cohen's ate. With a lot of convincing Kirsten gave Ryan some space and said he can eat when he's ready.
Seth walked up to the pool house just as Ryan was leaving "you good?"
"Yeah" Seth waited until he was behind Ryan just in case
"Wanna watch a movie?"
"I erm I kinda just wanna sleep whatever this is off. But tomorrow. We'll do something for sure" Ryan promised feeling bad for ruining Seth's awesome summer
"That's okay. But I'm holding you to that. We'll go down to the comic store and then I'm thinking of forcing Summer on the Summer breeze so you and Marissa should come too"
"Yeah that sounds good" Ryan said. He wasn't really paying attention to what Seth was saying he was concentrating more on the dizziness. 'What's happening to me. every time I've got sick it's been straight forward fever, throwing up, the usual. This, this wasn't normal. Maybe I should get checked out.' He thought. Ryan took two more Tylenol got comfy in the spare bedroom near Seth's and tried his best to fall asleep with the throbbing headache.
"Cohen!" Summer giggled "where'd you learn how to do that" she laughed breaking from the kiss
"You really wanna know?"
"No its okay. Just keep doing it" just as Seth leaned back in to kiss her he heard a thud.
"What was that"
"What was what Cohen?"
"I think someone's in the house"
"If this is another one of your weird foreplay ideas-"
"shhh" Summer stepped back offended
"Did you just-" He walked out the room before she could finish "COHEN!" she whispered loudly running behind him.
Seth ran out the room to see Ryan on the floor face down "Ryan!" he said running up towards him "MUM! DAD!" he shouted.
The doors opened immediately "Seth what- Oh my god what happened?" Kirsten said immediately running to Ryan's side. "Ryan honey can you hear me?" Ryan's eyes fluttered open slightly
"Kid are you okay?" Sandy asked kneeling down near him
"I – I" he struggled; he couldn't get the words out.
"It's okay sweetie just relax. You passed out. We're going to call an ambulance okay" Kirsten reassured nodding at Seth. Seth ran to get the phone
"No. I'm okay" the words came out slurred and he gave up clearly his brain wasn't co-operating with him "where's trey" he thought to himself before passing out.
Sandy and Kirsten shared a look of concern at the mention of Trey. Sandy instantly laid Ryan's head on his lap while Kirsten pushed his hair back. "They're on their way. I'll go wait downstairs for them" Seth said feeling severely uneasy at Ryan's limp form. Summer followed behind him unsure of what to do or say.
Once Seth ushered the paramedics in Sandy and Kirsten were pushed out the way. They gave as much information as they could and let them do what they had do. Kirsten used her ways to get on the ambulance and Sandy promised to be right behind them.
Sandy, Seth and Summer ran into the hospital and instantly spotted Kirsten.
"And? Any news?"
She shook her head sadly, hugging Sandy "He woke up though" she added trying to be positive
"That's a good sign right?" Seth said never letting go of Summer's hand.
"Family of Ryan Atwood" Sandy let go of Kirsten in a second and turned to the voice. The tall doctor held a clipboard at his side and his glasses were leaning on the tip of his nose "Sandy Cohen. And this is my wife Kirsten" Sandy introduced pulling his hand out.
"Dr Foley" He smiled returning the handshake.
"How is he?" Seth asked not bothered with the introductions
"Well he doesn't have a concussion from the fall he took. But I spoke to Ryan and I pried out some of the symptoms he's been feeling over the last few days. The headache, confusion, dizziness and nosebleed; I want to do some extra tests. I have a theory but we're going to get an MRI to be 100% sure."
"What's your theory?" Sandy asked
"There's a benign tumour called meningioma, its rare for his age-"
"Wait! Tumour. Like cancer? Oh my god Ryan has cancer!" Seth said instantly freaking out
"Meningioma is non-cancerous. We'll know more once the MRI comes back. And based on that we can go forward."
"Can I see him" Kirsten whispered. The last time she heard news this devastating it was her dad calling to tell her about her mother's cancer. And now Ryan too.
"I'll have a nurse take you to his room before he goes up for the MRI" Sandy shook his hand once more and thanked him while Seth sat down from his weak knees.
"Hi honey" Kirsten whispered as she walked in to see Ryan staring at the ceiling. He had the blanket up to his chest and an IV attached to his arm.
"Hey"
"How you feeling kid?" Sandy asked putting his hand on his leg
"I'm fine. Sorry about all this" he said kind of embarrassed at the attention he had on him. He didn't want to bring up the fact that he had a tumour in him. They obviously knew he could see the pity in their eyes except Seth's
"Dude are you kidding you can so milk this. You can get us a car!" Seth said excited at the idea. Ryan laughed slightly. Seth was probably the only one he could rely on to be normal around him if this got really bad.
"Has anyone called Marissa?" he looked to Summer
"Erm no-"
"Okay don't tell her anything. I'll tell her once we know" The room fell into silence once more, even Seth was at a loss of what exactly to say. Fortunately it didn't last long as a nurse came to take Ryan to his MRI. Ryan tried to tell them to go home and sleep but Kirsten reassured him that there was no way in hell they were leaving him alone.
After an hour and three espresso's Seth had worn a hole into the hospital waiting floor from pacing.
"Cohen, please sit down. You're giving me whiplash" Summer whined
"I can't believe this is actually happening. Like the universe hasn't tortured him enough"
"He'll be okay Cohen"
"How? I mean even if his MRI comes clear then something else is obviously wrong with him I mean you don't just faint for no reason so there's gotta be something and it's just going to ruin the whole summer for him. I mean I told him this would be a great summer and then-"
"Cohen breathe! Everything's going to be okay. And if it isn't then Ryan will have you all help him through it okay. You just gotta hold it together" she said grabbing his hands to stop him moving.
"Seth, honey, Ryan's back in his room. But he's sleeping. Maybe you and Summer should go home and we'll call you with the news" Kirsten said walking in.
"Pfftt no way Mrs. C. We're here all night with him if we have to" Kirsten smiled
"Do your parents know what's going on?"
"I left a message for the step monster. My dad's away on business" Kirsten nodded
"You can stay at home if you want" she turned back around before walking out "in separate rooms!" she added walking out.
The Cohens and Summer had all fallen asleep in the uncomfortable plastic chairs while waiting for the results. At around 9:00 AM a nurse walked in letting the door close loudly behind her "shhh" Ryan whispered. The nurse looked around to see the four people sleeping and smiled "sorry" she whispered walking around the chairs, avoiding any limbs sticking out "just need to check your vitals" Ryan nodded waiting patiently for her to finish "The doctor should be here soon okay. Press the call button if you need anything okay" she said sweetly before walking out, letting the door bang shut again.
This time Sandy jolted awake by the noise "What happened?" he asked looking around. He focused on Ryan "Are you okay?" Ryan smiled and Sandy's panic and dishevelled hair
"Yeah. Just a nurse"
"How you feeling kid?"
"Like I have a tumour I guess" he replied
"Oh Ryan, you know everything'll be okay. You'll get through this"
Ryan just nodded "it's just my shitty luck. I got my hopes up for a normal summer." He looked down disappointed. Everything had been going so well he just didn't see this coming.
"Don't say shitty" Kirsten mumbled. Sandy smiled as her wife sat up and yawned "what time is it?"
"A little after 9. The nurse said the doctor should be here soon. You guys really didn't have to stay all night you know"
"Hey now, you underestimate how comfortable these chairs really are" Sandy laughed.
"Speak for yourself Mr C" Summer groaned clicking her neck and back "hey chino"
"Hey" he smiled. he didn't expect to see Summer here but they had grown closer during his and Marissa's most recent break up and probably played a part in their make up.
"Well I see the gang's all here" Dr. Foley said walking in.
Summer leaned down and whacked Seth trying to wake him up "just five more minutes mum" he grumbled.
"COHEN!" Summer said loudly Seth jumped up and Ryan laughed
"why don't you guys get some coffee" Sandy suggested
"Come on" Summer said dragging a sleepy Seth out of the room.
"So what's the verdict doc?" Sandy asked after the door shut.
"The MRI results show that you do have meningioma. It is benign and because it's slow growing it hasn't spread to your spine. We can perform a craniotomy later today and based on its size and position I'm confident we'd be able to get the whole tumour out. But of course with every surgery there are risks. More so with brain surgery" he pulled out a sheet from his clipboard "this is all the information of possible complications and risks. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask" Dr Foley finished handing Ryan the sheet. Ryan skimmed through the scariest ones looking up to see Dr Foley clearly waiting for the questions.
"So this can affect his memory or speech?" Kirsten asked taking the paper after Ryan put it down.
"All brain surgery has that risk. The right side of the brain controls the memory, the tumour is more toward the left hemisphere of the brain where the language skills are. But with the previous symptom of confusion it's a possibility."
"Can this surgery cause paralysis"
"It hasn't spread to his spinal cord. So it's highly unlikely"
"Ryan do you have any questions"
"I'm gonna have the surgery either way. What does it do any good knowing what could go wrong" he said carrying on his staring competition with the ceiling
"I'll schedule the surgery for 5 PM. Ryan why don't you get some rest in the meantime." Dr Foley said smiling sadly. Giving news like this was one of the downsides of his job.
"I'm gonna get some sleep" he said before any pep talks. Sandy and Kirsten shared a glance before leaving the room.
"And?" Seth asked walking up to his parents.
"The MRI showed that he had the tumour"
"Oh god" Seth said moving to go into the room Sandy held him back
"Ryan's not really in the mood right now son."
"So what's happening now?"
"They've scheduled him for a surgery this evening. Dr Foley is confident that he can get it all out and it hasn't spread."
"That's good then"
"Yeah but there's still a lot of risks with brain surgery I think it just freaked Ryan out a bit"
"Of course it did"
"Maybe we should go home freshen up and come back at lunch time. Give him a bit of space" Sandy suggested. Seth nodded reluctantly giving Ryan the space he needed even though he was scared shitless.
"Oh god Ryan why didn't you call me last night. I'd have come down here" Marissa said wiping a tear away
"I didn't want you getting in a fight with Julie for sneaking out again. Plus didn't wanna freak you until I was sure I was dying"
"Hey don't say that. You're gonna be fine"
"Yeah so everyone says" he moved up on the bed leaving enough up space for her to sleep on his chest. Listening to him breathing was the most reassuring thing for right now "it's just everything was going well. And now I have to have brain surgery. I mean if that doesn't prove how messed up Atwood luck is I don't know what does"
"I know this isn't exactly what we planned for summer. But Ryan we're gonna get through this. I promise. I will be here every step of the way okay"
"Even if I lose my memories or forget how to speak"
"I will get you to fall in love with my all over again and teach you how to speak myself!" He smiled and kissed her forehead "if I don't make it. I love you; you know that right"
"Ryan don't say things like that! You have to make it. I mean if you die your giving my mum what she wants. Are you really going to let Julie cooper win?"
"Of course not. I'm gonna make sure I come back and keep her daughter away from her" Marissa laughed.
When the Cohens came back at 1 they walked in to see Ryan and Marissa sleeping together on the bed "come on let's go get some lunch and come back"
It was now 4 PM and Marissa sat near Ryan holding his hand as the nurse explained the surgery in detail from the beginning where they'd roll him out to him coming to get his stitches out and then having regular check ups.
"Will they have to shave my hair off?" Ryan asked. It probably wasn't the biggest priority right now but on top brain surgery he definitely didn't want to wake up bald. Seth laughed that that was his only question.
"No they'll just shave off a small patch and it'll grow back normally." she assured. "okay I'll be back in 10 minutes to prep you okay" Ryan nodded
"We'll be right here waiting for you okay kid. You'll be fine. I promise" Sandy said.
Kirsten kissed his forehead "we love you sweetie. You'll make it through this"
"See you in a bit dude" Seth said fist bumping Ryan
"Sorry I ruined your awesome summer"
"Bro have you seen the nurses here. I owe you"
"Cohen I'm right here" Summer screeched
"Don't mind her it's just gas"
"owowowow" he screamed as Summer stomped on his leg
"I'll see you soon Chino" She smiled
"Come back to me okay" Marissa whispered passionately kissing Ryan
"well if that didn't cure him-" Seth was cut off by another Summer related injury causing Ryan to laugh.
The nurses walked in and ushered everyone outside. They stood right at the door waiting.
After five minutes Ryan was being wheeled out but before getting too far he turned and said "stop. Wait" the nurses stopped instantly confused.
Kirsten and Sandy ran forward "What? What happened? Are you okay?" Kirsten rambled
"I love you guys too" Ryan said remembering he hadn't said it back to them. He fell back in the pillows and Kirsten laughed through her sob as he was wheeled away.
Finally after 3 hours Dr Foley came out in his dark blue scrubs "the surgery went well. We got all the tumour out" he smiled
"So he's okay?"
"We'll know more once he wakes up. But right now I'm confident he'll make a full recovery" Kirsten cried in Sandy's shoulder in happiness "THANK YOUU!" Seth shouted as Dr Foley walked away causing everyone in the waiting room to look at him.
Kirsten and Sandy stayed the night and forced the kids to go home. Marissa, regardless of Julie's wrath, refused to leave his side and held onto his hand as she slept. Kirsten couldn't get sleep and instead just stared at Ryan. He looked so small sleeping in this bed with the bandage around his head. After Dawn abandoned him she knew it was her responsibility to take care of him. And her and Sandy tried, he was doing so well; he wasn't fighting anymore and opening up. But how could she protect him from this. Ever since her mother losing family to something like this would keep her up some nights. She couldn't imagine her life without her boys. Before she knew it she heard birds chirping outside. She turned around to see the sunrise on its way. She sighed 'guess I'll sleep when my baby's okay' she thought getting up to get a cup of coffee.
When Kirsten returned Sandy was awake staring at Ryan the same way she was "hey I got you some coffee"
"Oh honey you're an angel" he said taking a sip "think he'll be okay?"
"Of course he will. Anything that happens we'll be here to get him through it"
"Mum?" they turned to see Ryan's face scrunched up
"Honey you awake?"
"-sten" he called hearing the familiar voice
"Yeah honey it's me." she looked over to Sandy "call a nurse"
"Did it work?" he rasped.
Kirsten laughed "yeah sweetie you're okay. You're going to be just fine" she promised kissing his forehead.