Author: cheekymice.
Rating: This chapter is PG13.
Beta: mel39. Hugs and snogs Melly, as always
Disclaimer: I don't own The OC, Ryan or Benjamin McKenzie.
Story: As requested Hero! In peril Ryan! Yeay!!! All in the title really. Set post finale.
Notes: Ryan and Taylor will be getting it on in the next chapter so fear not all you smut bunnies.
Heist 14
"Cohen, you'd better have a damn good excuse for standing me up at the mall this morning. My arms are killing me." Summer dropped her bags in the hall and punched Seth on the arm.
"Ryan's back in hospital…" he said flatly.
"What? When? How?" Summer immediately enveloped her boyfriend in a hug.
"Last night, just after you left ,Taylor called us…. he…um…he had two bad seizures. We spent most of the night at the hospital watching him sleep. He was really out of it."
"He's going to be okay though?" Summer looked into Seth's eyes seeing the deep worry there. He sat down on the step.
"He's having loads of tests done today. They think it's epilepsy."
"Oh crap!" Summer exclaimed without thinking. She checked herself. "It's not so bad, right?"
Seth gave her a look that said 'just how bad do you want it to get?'.
"What I mean is it could have been a brain haemorrhage or something."
"I'm not sure Ryan's going to see it like that. I don't know if you've noticed but Ryan doesn't exactly like not being in complete control. When I left the hospital he was already pissed at being back in an ass freezer as he calls them. He's not going to be happy and we all know what that means. We had months of worry that he was going off his head after Marissa. Now this…this sucks."
"Well it's up to us to make sure that doesn't happen again, isn't it."
Summer got up and held her hand out to Seth.
Seth gave her a sad smile.
"Operation saving Private Ryan part deux…. got it."
The news was what they'd expected.
The EEG and MRI had sadly confirmed what they'd all suspected.
Sandy's heart sank as he saw the look of closed devastation on Ryan's face as the neurologist talked over his options, as he talked in detail about the drug therapy he wanted to start Ryan on. The doctor was speaking using the cold hard facts and even though Ryan was eighteen now and an adult, it didn't stop Sandy wishing that the doctor wasn't being so blunt.
Apparently getting the right combination of anti-seizure meds to suit each individual was still a case of trial and error. Kirsten squeezed Ryan's arm in a typically maternal gesture, her face full of concern, as the doctor explained that Ryan would probably feel some nasty side effects whilst they found out the right balance for him. Vomiting, confusion, disorientation, blurred vision, migraine, dizziness, insomnia, and tiredness…were just a few on a seemingly endless list. Sandy wasn't even sure that Ryan was listening to the doctor, he seemed shut off in his own private hell. The neurologist paused as if to let them absorb the information he'd just given but it hit Sandy that he was just waiting to drop the bomb onto Ryan's world completely.
"Mr Atwood, I'm afraid you'll have to turn over your driving licence."
Ryan's head shot up from the spot he'd been staring at on the wall.
"What?" Ryan's voice sounded incredulous.
"It should be temporary… until you're seizure free for at least six months. Then we'll review the situation again."
Sandy couldn't believe that he…they hadn't thought of it before. Of course it wouldn't be prudent for Ryan to drive whilst the threat of having another seizure loomed over his head. He thought that Ryan had looked bleak before but now he looked positively deflated. If his dignity had been hanging by a thread after his attack on the beach then that thread had been severed completely with the loss of his independence.
Sandy locked his eyes with his wife as the doctor shook hands with Ryan and left on his rounds.
They were all in for another rough ride with Ryan…yet again.
Seth, Summer and Taylor stood by the open door of the kitchen. Seth and Summer had stood there on and off for the best part of the week but Taylor was a new addition to the kitchen crisis talk-think tank. She'd been a regular phone caller to the house and she'd ranged from concerned, pissed and now she was just upset that Ryan hadn't returned any of her calls.
Ryan was so far stubbornly resisting their attempts to drag him back into the real world.
"Even mom and dad are having no luck. He comes in to eat and if we do manage to drag him indoors sans food he just sits mute in front of the TV before retreating back to his fortress of despair. He flipped when the 'rents bought him a new bike. Put a chair through the glass. I did warn them that it might have been a bit soon to remind him that would be his only mode of transport for the near future but they knew best."
They all stared at the closed blinds and the newly glazed panel.
"Do you think he's put an invisible force field around the pool house that repels everything within a five meter radius?" Seth added absently.
"We can't let him wallow in his own private pity party." Taylor crossed her arms and managed to look fierce. "What does he do in there all day?"
"He just lies on his bed staring at the ceiling. I tried to talk with him last night because 'someone' was scared." Summer looked at Seth pointedly. "And all I got for my pains were several grunts and then he rushed into the bathroom to throw up." Summer winced.
"The drugs are seriously messing with his mojo at the moment and he's passing that forward by kicking everyone's ass that ventures into his inner sanctum. And I have good reason to avoid him. He actually threw a shoe at me and it hurt." Seth rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, well, he won't return my calls. He won't see me. I think that trumps a Doc Martin in the back of the head."
"It really hurt, Taylor…I'm telling you Ryan could have a career with the Mets with that arm he's got on him."
Taylor looked sadly at the pool house. "I'll not let him do this to me…be another notch on his… bedpost"
"What?" Seth and Summer exclaimed at the same time, both staring at her with their mouths open.
"Did you and Ryan? You and…Ryan…when…. where…again did I say when?" Seth looked like a dog with a bone.
"And you're only telling me this now?" Summer looked from the closed door of the pool house to Taylor and back several times. "You had sex with Ryan!"
"Don't act so surprised. I'm not that hideous am I?" Summer noticed that despite her protestations, Taylor's expression said that she was still as shocked as they were. "Anyway…I think he's made it perfectly obvious that he regrets it."
Summer felt sorry for the girl in front of her. It was clear that she'd fallen head over heels for Ryan. She was also ready to tear Ryan's head off. No matter how bad he was feeling at the moment it didn't give him the right to play fast and loose with her friend's feelings, and Taylor had surprisingly become a very good friend since Marissa's death. Summer puffed her chest out and grabbed at Taylor's hand. She dragged the now nervous looking Taylor towards the pool house.
"Summer, it's okay…I mean…me and Ryan…it's not like it meant anything…I was just there…" she babbled.
Summer ignored her and rapped hard on the door.
"Atwood…open the door before I start breaking glass. You do not want to ignore me right now."
"Summer…" Taylor pleaded.
Summer stood firm. Just as she was about to thump the door again it opened.
Ryan stood there with a scowl on his face but what struck Summer was how bad he looked. Ryan usually looked in the peek of physical health (not that she dwelt on his looks, she had a boyfriend thank you very much) but his face today had the greasy pallor of the terminally sick. He'd looked peaky when she'd tried to speak to him last night but today he quite frankly looked like ten pounds of crap in a five-pound sack. His face had a green tinge and a thin sheen of sweat pricked at his brow. She felt guilty now for disturbing him as he stood rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"What now?" he asked. Summer saw he was annoyed at being woken but the look changed to guilt as he saw Taylor.
"You two talk." Summer seized the moment and pushed Taylor through the door so she collided with Ryan. He immediately caught her as she stumbled. Summer gave an internal smile as Ryan's face softened as his arms circled Taylor's waist. Her mission here was done. She shut the door behind her and triumphantly returned to where Seth was hiding in the kitchen, probably scared that another boot was going to come his way.
"Come on you wuss…I think we need to let them be." She took his hand and led him through the kitchen and up the stairs. "And I think I need to have a talk with Captain Oats about your cowardice."
Okay so this was awkward. Being literally forced into Ryan's arms wasn't exactly how she'd pictured her next meeting with Ryan and she'd spent a lot of time thinking about it. Alot. She tried to pull away from Ryan but his arms stayed circled around her waist for longer than strictly necessary before he released her.
She pulled her hand back and pushed him further away from her.
"You…you… bastard." What was it with Ryan that he seemed to make her resort to swearing? "I didn't expect it from you…from most of the trust fund Harbor meat heads but not you. I mean, Seth told me that in Chino you had as much sexual subtly as Errol Flynn but to not bother to return my calls…" Taylor knew she was rambling like a mad woman but she was angry now he was in front of her. "I thought I was a friend. You couldn't even be bothered to give me the 'I think we should just stay friends' speech…"
Ryan stepped forward but didn't touch her.
"I'm sorry. I just…I didn't think you'd want to know me …after what happened. Look, I g…guess I don't want it to be an o…obligation thing. You are a friend, Taylor, and that's why I don't want you to be lumbered with me …oh s…shit, I don't know what I'm saying…everything is screwed up."
Taylor had heard enough lame break-up lines in her life to know that Ryan was actually being honest.
"Are you crazy? You think I'd only see you again as some sort of pity thing? You think I'd have sex with you again only out of some friend obligation?"
Taylor laughed at the thought. He looked so forlorn like he really thought that he was some sort of burden now.
"I had the best sex of my life with you. You gave me my very own From Here To Eternity moment. Do you think I'd walk away from that? Epilepsy be damned Ryan…I don't give a hell about that. You're Ryan Atwood, the guy most girls want to take a bounce on and I've snagged you."
"Snagged me?" Ryan raised his eyebrows.
Taylor suddenly felt stupid. That was until Ryan stepped forward again totally and deliciously invading her space. He picked up both her hands.
"Things are c...complicated…"
Oh, here it came. Now was time for the 'friends' speech. Taylor felt her heart sink.
"You don't have to do this, Ryan. I get it, okay."
He ignored her words. Typical man.
"As I was saying…things are c…complicated but I've been thinking a lot the past few days about you…us. Taylor, being with you…for the first time since Marissa died I felt alive. I felt good, you made me feel good. I'm not sure I'm r..r..ready for…hell I'm not sure about anything right now but I do know that I liked spending time with you and maybe if you want we could take things slow and see what happens."
Ryan was looking questioningly at her. She had a feeling that he was not used to making such grand speeches. Uncertainty was etched in his eyes.
Taylor didn't need any convincing to take whatever Ryan had to offer right now. She leant forward to kiss him but he turned away. Again her heart sank. Maybe she'd somehow misheard and misunderstood his words.
Ryan ran his finger down her cheek.
"The m...meds I'm taking make me nauseous. Umm…I've spent most of the evening b…bringing up bile. I wouldn't recommend kissing me now."
He brought his lips up against her forehead and kissed.
"I'm so happy I couldn't care less right now."
Ryan grimaced.
"I could." He tapped her nose. "We're in n...no hurry."
Taylor kept her breathing shallow, not wanting to disturb Ryan. Oh God, she was spooning with him, on his bed and Ryan was the little spoon hugging her hands to his chest as he slept.
They had spent the evening lying on the bed holding hands and talking. Ryan wasn't as open as the night on the beach but Taylor put that down to the fact that he was sick. It was clear that Ryan was feeling washed out by the anti-seizure medication and it was as much as he could do to stay awake. He had shared with her that he felt angry that this had happened to him. He was even angrier that he'd lost his licence. He felt displaced…more so now that his future was so uncertain. He hadn't wanted to talk about Berkeley, it was too depressing he said. He'd spent most of his childhood thinking that college was a pipe dream and then that had all changed. Now he was right back where he started and he was beginning to think it was karma.
Taylor had noticed that the meds were making him appear stoned. His stuttering was worse, she had admitted to Ryan that she found it endearing and kind of cute. He'd looked at her like she was mad but she'd seen that he was relieved that she wasn't getting annoyed by his lapses and stuttering.
She also noticed that he swayed when he went to the mini fridge for sodas and he seemed vague…more so than he had that night on the beach. It had crossed her mind that he might have another seizure and she wondered if she would be more prepared for it now. She'd spent the best part of three days –when she hadn't been obsessing about why he wasn't returning her calls – reading everything she could on the internet about epilepsy. So many popular misconceptions had been swept away, all the things she'd thought she'd known were just old-fashioned myths. She'd learnt that you never put anything into a person's mouth, be it a wooden spoon for them to bite on or your fingers to check if they were swallowing the tongue. Taylor thought that the best thing to do would be to hold someone whilst they were having a seizure…not apparently. What had surprised her was the knowledge that there was no need for medical assistance for a seizure, unless the person had hurt himself or herself or if the seizure was longer than five minutes in duration. Taylor had read blogs from sufferers who were pissed and embarrassed by well-meaning strangers calling ambulances. Sleep was the best restorative.
She kept it to herself that she'd been doing research. Ryan didn't want to talk about his epilepsy unless it was in the vaguest terms.
Ryan had eventually fallen asleep and for the past hour she'd had her nose buried in his back breathing in the smell of warm man.
Mrs. Cohen had ducked her head around the door at some point. Taylor had felt embarrassed at being caught entwined with Ryan on his bed but she'd smiled and said that Ryan hadn't been sleeping well and it was nice to see him so dead to the world. Taylor felt a sense of pride that he had fallen asleep in her arms now.
As Kirsten had retreated Taylor had asked her to turn the lights off. It was the only way she could think of asking if it was okay if she stayed the night. Kirsten had smiled again and quietly said goodnight.
The room was plunged into darkness, only the light from the house illuminating and reflecting of the pool.
Taylor woke with a start, her heart beating fast as she tried to figure out where the hell she was and what had disturbed her.
It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark. It came to her…the pool house, spooning with Ryan.
The bed was making weird juddering movements and she figured that that was what had woken her.
She saw Ryan sat on the edge of the bed shaking violently but he wasn't having a seizure. He was shaking and rocking back and forth with his hands wrapped around his mid-section.
She reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned to her.
"P….p..put the l…light o..o..on…please."
It hit her…the problems he'd had sleeping, why he was so strung out. It was easy for them to forget the robbery against all the recent drama but obviously Ryan was having problems forgetting being locked in an airless, dark prison for hours.
He looked terrified and so lost.
TBC
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