CHAPTER 2
Kirsten sat in the waiting room and bounced her foot as she kept diligent watch for anyone who could tell her how her son was doing. She was relieved when they got his heart beating again on the ambulance. It had taken shocking him, but he was alive when they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
"Kirsten?"
Kirsten looked up to see a frazzled Sandy running towards her. For the first time, she allowed herself to cry. Sobs shook her small frame as she buried her face in her husband's chest. She was so grateful when he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
"How is he?" Sandy croaked; a sure sign that he was also releasing some pent-up emotions.
Kirsten sniffled and pulled away, wiping at her eyes. "They got him back on the way here, but I haven't heard anything else yet. His heart stopped Sandy. He stopped breathing right after that. I've never been so terrified in my life. He's seventeen! He's an athlete! He runs everyday! How could this happen?" She demanded in frustration.
"I don't know Baby. Let's make sure he's OK then we'll worry about what's causing this." Sandy stated calmly.
Kirsten took a deep breath and nodded.
Just as they were about to sit down, Seth came hurrying into the waiting room with Caleb and Lindsey trailing behind him. "How is he?" Seth demanded, slightly out of breath.
"We don't know yet." Sandy told him as he greeted his son with a hug.
"Did they get his heart to start beating?" Seth asked, half-afraid of the answer.
"Yes. They had to shock him, but he was breathing and his heart was beating when we got here. We just have to be patient and wait until the doctor comes out." Kirsten told him gently.
"I'll bet he's on drugs. Why else would a kid have a heart attack?" Caleb asked.
Seth went to stand toe-to-toe with his grandfather. "Shut up! You don't know anything about him! You've had it in for Ryan since he got here and he's never done anything to you! Why don't you get out of here! We don't need you!" Seth shouted.
"Seth! Calm down Sweetheart." Kirsten coaxed, taking his arm and pulling him behind her. "Dad you don't know Ryan, because if you did you would know that I can't even get him to take an aspirin unless his head is coming off his shoulders. He hates any kind of drugs. He won't even take cold medicine. You've judged him unfairly since day one and I've let you. But no more. You will respect BOTH of my sons or you won't have anything to do with either of them. Don't you ever talk to Ryan the way that you were shouting at him tonight again!" Kirsten declared forcefully. "Now I think it would be best if you went home. Thank you for bringing Seth, but we can take it from here."
Caleb huffed and turned towards his youngest daughter who had watched the entire scene with wide eyes. "Come on Lindsey, I'll take you to your mother's."
Lindsey shook her head. "No thank you. I'd like to wait with them to hear about Ryan. I'll call my mother to pick me up later."
"You need to find another young man to date. You can see that he's nothing but trouble." Caleb grumbled.
Lindsey's eyes narrowed. "Ryan is a wonderful person."
"He's a criminal!" Caleb scoffed.
"So are you." Lindsey reminded him. "It seems you both have the same lawyer." She zinged before turning her back on him and sitting in a chair next to Seth.
Caleb stood rooted to the spot for a moment as his daughter's words washed over him. Upset, he turned on his heal and left the hospital.
Lindsey and the Cohen's had no sooner sat down when a doctor came out to the waiting room. "Family of Ryan Atwood?"
Kirsten was the first one out of her seat as they hurried over to the woman. "How's my son?" Kirsten demanded.
The doctor smiled at the distraught mother. "My name is Dr. Lee. I treated Ryan in the ER. Ryan is stable for the moment. I have turned his case over to our cardiovascular surgeon. He is currently running tests to discover the problem. We did run a tox-screen that came up negative. He definitely wasn't on anything."
"We already knew that." Seth grumbled. "Dude won't even take aspirin!"
"Seth!" Kirsten scolded.
Dr. Lee smiled at the teen. "It's standard procedure when someone as young as Ryan comes in suffering from cardiac arrest." She turned her attention back to Kirsten. "Good job, by the way, the paramedics told me that you saved his life with CPR."
"When can we see him?" Kirsten asked, ignoring the compliment.
"Not until the tests are complete. You have a long wait on your hands I'm afraid." Dr. Lee informed them.
"As long as Ryan is alright." Sandy declared.
"He's in good hands. His cardiovascular surgeon is one of the best in the country. Dr. Taylor will speak to you when Ryan is finished." Dr. Lee reassured them before leaving the room.
"Kirsten?"
Kirsten turned to see her sister looking at her.
"I'm going to call Mom to come get me. I'm glad that Ryan's going to be OK."
"Thank you Honey." Kirsten hugged her sister. "We'll call you when we know something."
Lindsey nodded and gave them a sad smile before stepping outside to make her phone call.
Once she was gone, Sandy led his wife over to the chairs and sat down with her before pulling her into his arms. "Thank you. Thank you for saving him."
Kirsten looked up at her husband. "He's our son now, Sandy. I know that I didn't give birth to him…"
"But you did give him life Honey. You're right, he's ours now. Maybe we should look into making it even more permanent." Sandy continued, understanding where she was going with this. "I'll make some calls and we'll talk to Ryan when he's better.
"Thank you." Kirsten snuggled against him, feeling as if they were a team again for the first time since the trouble started with her father.
Sandy sighed, enjoying holding his wife again. He didn't know what he had been thinking, taking a chance on ruining his marriage with this amazing woman; but he would recommend another lawyer to take over Rebecca's case. Besides, his son needed him.
Caleb sat in his study nursing a glass of scotch. He barely took notice of the amber liquid as he brooded about the truth in his youngest daughter's statement.
In all of his legal troubles he had never considered that he was – in fact – a criminal. But instead of being the tag-along to his brother who was intent on being a thief; he, Caleb Nichol was the mastermind. No one had demanded his loyalty to force him into his crime. Oh yes, Caleb knew all about what truly happened that night the Atwood brothers were arrested. The moment the boy had shown up at his daughter's house, Caleb had pulled some strings and gotten the delinquent's police record.
The report was straight forward and short. This was Ryan Atwood's first offense, and it wasn't even something that should have been treated as more than a boy's antics. But because he was with his brother at the time, the same brother who this particular judge had seen before, the judge had been much stricter. It was only Sanford's knowledge of the law that had kept the teen out of prison.
Caleb took a sip of his drink and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Caleb might have been wrong about his daughter's foster son. No, Kirsten had called him her son. That would mean the he now had two grandsons.
Caleb chuckled ruefully. How ironic that all these years he had berated Seth for his lack of interest in athletics and the Newport Group. Then this kid comes along that has all the interests he wished for in Seth, and Caleb does everything he can to get rid of him – including causing him to have a heart attack.
Caleb jerked up in his chair. Ryan had a heart attack tonight! He could have died and he was sitting here drinking instead of making sure the boy – no, his GRANDSON – had the best care possible.
Caleb grabbed his keys and started towards the door.
"Caleb? Where are you going?"
Caleb turned and saw his wife, Julie, coming down the stairs.
"Ryan had a heart attack. I've got to get to the hospital." Caleb explained quickly.
"I'll drive." Julie declared, taking the keys from her husband's fingers and led the way out the door.
They were in the car on their way to HOAG when Caleb finally spoke up. "I'm surprised that you wanted to come."
Julie grinned. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it. Did you tell the cops to wait until you got there to arrest him?"
Caleb stared at the red head in confusion. "Why would Ryan be arrested?"
Startled, Julie glanced at Caleb. "He's been doing drugs right? I mean that's why he had the heart attack – drugs. So we can finally be rid of the punk. I can't wait to see him in handcuffs." She actually giggled.
Caleb felt sick. Was this how his daughters and grandson saw him? He knew that he wasn't a kind man, but was he this cruel and twisted? Caleb had the sinking feeling that he was. He had finally put a mirror up in front of himself, and Caleb was horrified by what he was seeing.
Caleb took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Julie. "Julie, I know that I have often spoken against Ryan and been miserable towards him, but I can't do that anymore. He almost died tonight Julie. He may still have. He's seventeen years old and he had a heart attack. No kid should be dying at seventeen. I've been wrong Julie. I've been so very wrong."
Julie gasped and barely regained control of the car in her shock. "What are you talking about? He's a criminal."
Caleb sighed. "So am I, so is Jimmy. We've all made mistakes Julie, but Ryan has cleaned up and worked hard to change. He's one of Harbor's top students, he doesn't party and he doesn't do drugs. Kirsten said that she can barely get him to take aspirin when he has a headache."
"I'm just trying to protect my daughter." Julie argued.
"From what? Ryan saved her life in Tijuana. Then he saved her from that Oliver boy. She didn't drink as much and she stayed away from the drugs and parties when she was dating him. If I was Kirsten and Sanford I would keep her away from Ryan. First she got him beat up because she was flirting with him despite dating the Ward boy at the time. Then she forced him to save her in Mexico. As if that wasn't enough, Marissa decides to flirt with a psychopath she met at therapy. Where in all of that did Marissa need protection from Ryan?" Caleb ranted.
Julie pulled into a parking space and stared at her husband in shock. "You like him! You actually like that…"
"Careful Julie, that's my grandson you're talking about." Caleb interrupted her sternly, getting out of the car.
Julie sat frozen in the car as she watched Caleb close the door and start towards the emergency room doors. Swearing, she jerked the keys out of the ignition and rushed after him as fast as her heals would carry her. As much as she despised her husband at times, he was still her current source of income and it wouldn't do to alienate him. Who knew when he might cut her off? She swore again when she realized that she no longer had her strongest ally against that Chino trash.
Kirsten leaned against her husband and sighed. "How much longer? Can't they just come tell us something – ANYTHING?"
Sandy kissed her forehead. "It always takes a long time to run tests sweetheart." He pointed out.
Kirsten dug her forehead into his shoulder. "I know I just want to see him."
Seth raised his head from his hands when he heard the sound of high heels on the linoleum. He groaned when he saw his grandfather and the dragon lady come into the waiting room.
"Dad what are you doing back here?" Kirsten asked her father wearily.
Caleb sighed and took the empty chair next to her. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. Mostly about what Lindsey said before I left. I've decided that I've been a hypocrite. I've been giving Ryan a hard time when I've committed much more heinous crimes for far longer, and I married a woman from a place no better than Chino. Ryan is my grandson, and instead of enjoying spending time with him, I've been doing everything in my power to get rid of him. I was wrong – so very wrong – and I'm so sorry. I want to be there for both of my grandsons."
The Cohen's stared at the older man in shock. Caleb Nichol never apologized – ever.
Seth leaned over in his chair and felt the floor with his hand. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. Seth shrugged. "I was just making sure the floor wasn't cold. I figured Hell has just frozen over."
Sandy chuckled and ruffled Seth's hair. Kirsten smiled and shook her head at her son's antics. She turned her attention back to Caleb. "Thank you Dad. I hope you'll tell Ryan when you can. I think he would really appreciate hearing it I know that I did." She told him, standing up and giving him a hug.
The door opened and a doctor came out. "Family of Ryan Atwood?"
Kirsten turned from her father and grabbed her husband's hand as he came to stand next to her. "Yes?"
The doctor walked over to him. "I need to just speak to family." He clarified.
"We're all family doctor." Sandy informed him.
The doctor nodded. "My name is Dr. Taylor. I'm the cardiac surgeon who was on call when Ryan arrived at the hospital. His case was immediately turned over to me when he was stabilized. Ryan has suffered a massive heart attack. We've been running several tests and we know what caused the attack. Ryan has HCM or Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It's a heart condition that is often genetic. Do either of you have this condition?" He asked.
"We're Ryan's legal guardians, but I've seen his file and there are no mentions of the condition in the family medical history." Sandy replied.
The doctor nodded. "That's not unusual it's not always diagnosed. If you can find the parents and any siblings, you may want to alert them to the possibility of the condition. It's rare, but it is possible that this wasn't hereditary. Fortunately we caught it. Many young people don't realize they have a problem, and there are those that have died without explanation until tests were run to discover the condition. Unfortunately, because Ryan has suffered cardiac arrest, his case is pretty advanced. With his attack his heart is fighting arrhythmia, which is a fancy word for an irregular heart beat."
"What do you suggest?" Sandy asked, trying not to panic at the thought that Ryan could have died suddenly and he would have never seen him again.
"Normally I would suggest surgery, but Ryan's attack and arrhythmia changes things. There is too much of a chance for another episode. There is another treatment. It is called ICD or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. Basically it's just like it sounds. It's a defibrillator that we actually implant into the heart. It constantly monitors his heart and if it becomes irregular a small electric shock will be released to fix the rhythm." The doctor explained.
Kirsten gasped. "Will it hurt him?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears.
The doctor sighed. "Patients with the ICD say that if the heart is slow and the pace-maker feature is used they don't usually feel it. However, if the heart races and the defibrillator feature engages they say that it feels like a kick in the chest or electrocution. If that occurs he needs to lie down and someone will need to stay with him. If he looses consciousness or if this occurs twice in a day, you'll need to call his doctor."
"How do you put this thing in his heart?" Seth asked.
"There are two directions that we can go. We can either go in from the collarbone or from the abdomen. I prefer on men to go through the collarbone. It will look like a small bump under his skin. We feed the probe through a vein into the chamber of the heart. He will need to remain in the hospital for three days afterwards to make sure there are no mishaps. The wound usually heals in a few months but he can take a shower after five days. For six weeks Ryan can't lift anything more than ten pounds. After that he should be able to live relatively normally." The doctor explained.
"What about exercise? Ryan loves to exercise." Seth demanded.
"Seth we'll worry about that later." Sandy scolded.
The doctor grinned. "We'll see how he reacts to the ICD first. If everything goes according to plan, I don't see any reason he can't continue aerobic exercise at his discretion. I can tell you that he's not going to feel up to it for a while. The cardiac arrest has sapped most of his strength. He'll sleep most of the time for a few weeks."
"When are you going to do this procedure?" Sandy asked.
"Not for at least twelve hours. We need to make sure that he doesn't have anything on his stomach before we proceed. I'll need you to sign consent forms for the administration." The doctor told him. "I've got some more patients to check on. You can see Ryan now as he should be back in his room. Either you or your wife can stay with him for the night, but everyone else will have to adhere to visiting hours – which have already ended. I will allow you a short visit before you leave, but try to keep it to ten minutes. Ryan needs his rest. Ryan is in intensive care so that we can monitor him very closely until the procedure is done. Then he will be in a cardio surgical unit. You can just go to ICU and the nurse there will direct you to him."
"Thank you Dr. Taylor." Sandy replied, shaking the man's hand and leading his family towards the ICU and the young man that had become a part of their family.
Caleb hesitated. He didn't think it was right to invade in this time with his daughter's family. Ryan wouldn't appreciate his presence while he himself was so weak.
Caleb pulled Sandy's arm to get his attention. When his son-in-law looked at him, Caleb whispered softly. "I think I'll take Julie home. Ryan won't appreciate us seeing him like this."
Sandy glanced over at Julie's cold demeanor. He narrowed his eyes. "No, I think that ALL of Ryan's family needs to be here." He disagreed. Leaning closer to Caleb he whispered. "Julie needs to realize that Ryan is just a kid, not some hardened criminal. Maybe seeing him like this will remind her of that fact."
"Or she'll find some way to use this to attack him." Caleb pointed out.
Sandy smiled. "How? What kind of sick puppy criticizes a kid with a heart condition in ICU."
Caleb's smiled. "This is the kind of thing that makes you such a good lawyer Sanford." He complimented.
Sandy's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "Thank you Caleb." He replied solemnly, wondering if Seth was right and the devil was making Sno Cones.
Sandy's comical thoughts came to a screeching halt as he laid eyes on his blond son. Ryan was so pale that he disappeared into the white sheets. He had wires running from his chest to the machines around him. A blanket was pulled up to his bare chest and Kirsten was already at his side, brushing his tousled hair away from his face.
The motion caused Ryan to slowly open his eyes. He smiled weakly at Kirsten.
"Hey." Ryan whispered.
"Hello Sweetie, how are you feeling?" Kirsten asked him, continuing to brush at his hair.
"Better." Ryan replied, still barely able to be heard. "What happened? What's wrong with me?"
"Honey, you had a heart attack. You have a heart condition called HCM." Kirsten told him gently.
Ryan stared at her for a moment in shock. "A heart attack?" He croaked. The machines beeped out an alarm for a second before settling back down.
"Shhh… You're going to be fine Baby." Kirsten comforted him. She placed her hand tenderly on his cheek and met his frightened gaze with her own reassuring one. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Will you trust me?"
Fighting back tears, Ryan nodded. Kirsten smiled at him and then leaned forward and brushed her lips across his forehead. "Good boy." She said softly.
Sandy glanced over at Julie and Caleb during this exchange. Caleb had tears in his eyes as he watched his daughter and grandson, but it was Julie's reaction that shocked Sandy the most. Those were not crocodile tears flowing down the Dragon Lady's cheeks. Julie looked truly upset!
Sandy's realization was cut short as Seth stepped up to Ryan's side. He reached out and gently bumped knuckles with Ryan's lax fist. "Hey Bro, you went all drama on me."
"Sorry." Ryan whispered.
Seth looked at him seriously. "I'm glad you're going to be OK."
Reading the meaning behind the words, Ryan nodded.
Sandy came to stand next to the bed. He took Ryan's hand in his.
"I could have done worse." Ryan whispered with a tired grin.
Remembering his own words when they first met, Sandy chuckled. "You sure could have. You're gonna be fine kid. Just remember that we love you."
"Love you too." Ryan replied. Unable to fight his exhaustion, Ryan closed his eyes and a moment later he was sound asleep.
Kirsten smiled down at him for a moment before she sniffled and looked around the room. She was startled to see her father and Julie standing near the door. She was especially startled to see the tears. Her dad hadn't cried since her mother died.
Kirsten didn't know what to think about Julie, so she didn't bother. Turning her thoughts back to the matter at hand, Kirsten looked over at her husband. "Sandy, you and Seth go home and get some rest. I'll stay with Ryan tonight."
Sandy nodded, knowing that it would take an act of God to pry Kirsten away from the teen right now. He pulled Kirsten against him and kissed her tenderly. "Take good care of him. We'll see you in the morning. I love you."
"I love you too." Kirsten replied before turning her attention to her abnormally quiet son. She hugged him tightly. "I love you Honey. You and your father get some rest. I'll see you bright and early." She told him, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"Love you too Mom." Seth returned the hug whole-heartedly.
Kirsten turned to say something to her dad, but he and Julie were already gone.
Part 3
Caleb and Julie were silent as they walked into the house. Julie hurried up the stairs with the intense need to check on her daughter. Once she had reassured herself that Marissa was safe in her bed, the couple meandered into Caleb's study and Caleb poured them both a drink. Julie downed hers in one gulp and then slouched into her chair.
"Poor Kirsten." Julie stated.
Caleb nodded. "Do you see why I can't treat Ryan like before?"
Julie stared into her husband's eyes. "Yes." She whispered brokenly. "I can't believe I've treated him like I did. Damn, he's just a kid and he has to get a pacemaker. I couldn't bear it if it was Marissa."
"It's not the pacemaker part that concerns me. Roger Harwood has one of those ICD things. We were in a meeting and he got upset about something. Next thing we knew, he was curled up in the floor fighting tears. He said it felt like someone hit him with a baseball bat. He had broken out into a sweat and was shaking. I remember praying that I would always stay healthy. I changed my diet and made an appointment with the doctor." Caleb reminisced, taking a sip of his scotch.
Julie paled and stood up. "I need another drink."
Sandy and Seth walked into the quiet house. Neither said anything as they made their way up to their respective rooms. As soon as he got dressed for bed, Seth picked up his phone and called Summer.
"Cohen someone had better be dying or you will be." Summer growled.
Seth choked down a sob at the words.
"Oh God Cohen, what happened? Are you alright? Answer me Cohen!" Summer shouted, terrified when her babbling boyfriend was silent.
"Ryan's in the hospital." Seth croaked.
"I thought you were all having dinner with Mr. Nichol." Summer replied, puzzled.
"Dad had a meeting so he couldn't come. Grandpa was yelling at Ryan about getting Theresa pregnant when Ryan grabbed his chest and collapsed. His heart wasn't beating and he stopped breathing. Mom did CPR – I didn't even know that she had learned it. I called an ambulance and they got him back." Seth explained.
"How in the world did Chino have a freaking heart attack? He's seventeen!" Summer demanded.
"He has a hereditary heart disease called HCM." Seth informed her morosely.
"But he's going to be fine, right? Why didn't you call me sooner? I would have been at the hospital with you."
Seth sighed. "Grandpa kept insulting Ryan in the waiting room. Then Lindsey accused him of being a criminal himself."
"Go Lindsey." Summer cheered.
"Yeah. He left for a while and then came back with Julie – I'm not sure why she was there. Anyway he apologized and said he wanted to try being a better grandfather to us. It was surreal."
"I'll bet." Summer chuckled.
"Seth?"
Seth looked up to see his pajama-clad father standing in the doorway. "Sorry Sum, Dad's here. I'll let you go."
"I'll see you tomorrow Cohen. Chino's going to be OK." Summer told his softly.
"I know. I love you." Seth replied, ending the call.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your call, but tomorrow is going to be a long day and we need to get some sleep." Sandy reminded him.
"I know." Seth agreed solemnly. "Is Ryan really going to be OK?"
Sandy sighed and came to sit on the side of his son's bed. "I know that what happened tonight was pretty terrifying."
"He was lying on the ground and he couldn't breathe. Mom had to breathe for him and pump his heart for him. I thought that was it. He was going to die." Seth whispered brokenly.
Sandy hugged Seth close to him and his normally anti-affection son didn't protest. "I can't imagine how hard that was on you. But you kept your head enough to call for help. I'm so proud of you. As for Ryan, well he has a long road ahead of him. He's going to need all of us to support him and help him."
"He's my brother. Of course I'll be there for him. I promised him I would never let him down again after Oliver. I'm not going to break my promise." Seth declared.
"I know you won't." Sandy smiled. "Now get some sleep. We'll need to be up early to get to the hospital before they do the ICD procedure." Sandy instructed, standing back up and walking over to the door.
Seth nodded and made himself more comfortable on the bed.
"I love you son." Sandy whispered before he walked out of the room.
"Love you too Dad." Seth's soft voice floated behind him.
Sandy smiled.
Ryan forced his eyes open. His chest felt like a weight was sitting on it. Even though he could breathe, he felt like he was forcing air in and out of his lungs. His mouth was a desert. He couldn't even swallow. Glancing around, hoping for help, he noticed a nurse sitting next to him. That was when he remembered where he was and what happened to him. More importantly, he remembered what happened earlier that day.
He had woken up that morning to see Kirsten standing over him smiling.
"Hey sleepy head. How are you feeling?" She asked him tenderly.
"Fine." Ryan replied.
"Uh huh, right. I'm sure that's true." Kirsten retorted sarcastically. "Try again Sweetheart."
"I'm tired. That's all – honest." Ryan urged.
Kirsten kissed his cheek. "Thank you. Ryan you are going to have to be very honest with us from now on about your health. It would be too easy for something to happen to you if you don't tell us right away if something is wrong. I don't ever want to experience last night again. I was terrified that we lost you."
"I'm sorry." Ryan whispered.
"Oh Honey, it's not your fault. No one could have known about this. Do you ever remember anything happening with your parents like this? Do you know if they have a heart condition?" Kirsten asked.
Ryan shook his head. "I don't know about Frank, but Dawn definitely doesn't have a heart condition. She's OD'd a couple of times. They would have found it then because they did tests on her heart afterwards."
"Thank you for telling me. Sandy will make sure that Frank knows to get tested." Kirsten replied hiding her horror of the idea Ryan had seen his mother overdose on drugs not once, but twice. She wasn't allowing Dawn to interfere in Ryan's life ever again. She hoped Sandy would come through.
Ryan yawned. "Sorry." He apologized, embarrassed.
Kirsten chuckled. "Don't be. You already told me you were tired." She assured him, brushing his hair back from his face.
Ryan blushed. "I know. I need another hair cut."
Kirsten grinned and winked. "I think we can wait until you get out of here. I doubt anyone of Maurice's talent works at the hospital. Or I could just get him to come here." Kirsten couldn't help but chuckle at Ryan's reaction to the Cohen family hairdresser.
"Oh God please no." Ryan shuddered at the thought of the prissy man coming to the hospital to give him a hair cut. Maurice never made a secret that he thought Ryan was ripped and Ryan in turn made sure he always wore his shirt buttoned up around him. He dreaded the thought of Maurice seeing him shirtless.
Kirsten laughed. "Oh Ryan your face! Honey don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you. Besides, it's a mom's prerogative to play with her son's hair."
Ryan smiled when Kirsten referred to herself as his mom. He had caught himself several times in the last year almost calling her that. He didn't know how she would feel about it, and he knew that it would break Dawn's heart. A little voice asked if it really mattered if Dawn's feelings got hurt. She had abandoned him – twice – after all.
Sighing, Ryan relaxed back into the pillows. He was too tired for these heavy thoughts right then. He did have to admit, though, that it felt really great when Kirsten mothered him, and he wasn't going to protest that at all.
The door opened and Dr. Taylor came into the room followed by Sandy and Seth.
"Look who we found wandering the halls." Seth announced as he made his way over to Ryan. "How ya feelin' man?" He asked, bumping fists with his brother.
"Better." Ryan declared with an amused smile. Seth was obviously in a good mood this morning.
"Good to hear. Just FYI, Summer knows about you being here and she said she would see you later today." Seth informed him.
"Actually, she won't be seeing him until tonight if she's here." Dr. Taylor interrupted. "We plan to start the procedure as soon as possible this morning. You've been having a lot of fluctuations in your heart rate, and we need to get you regulated as soon as possible. The nurse and anesthesiologist will be in soon to prep you."
"Will he be asleep?" Sandy asked, placing his hand on Ryan's shoulder.
"No, we give him something to numb the area, but it's too dangerous to knock him out. You'll be very sleepy, but not unconscious. Most patients fall asleep in recovery. We are going to do a biventricular ICD which means we will be attaching the leads to the right atrium, right ventrical and the left ventrical to make sure that your heart beats in a more balanced way. It is the ICD specifically used for patients who have experienced heart failure. If there are no other questions, I'll go prepare for the procedure." Dr. Taylor explained.
"Not right now. Thank you Doctor." Sandy replied.
After the doctor left, Seth turned to a worried-looking Ryan. "Hey dude, you're about to get a new super power. It's really not fair that you should have fists of fury and electricity."
"Seth!" Kirsten scolded, but then she noticed the amused smirk on Ryan's face. She smiled at her son to let him know he wasn't in trouble. He was so good at cheering his brother up.
"Thanks man." Ryan said softly.
"I've got your back Bro. I keep my promises." Seth assured him.
Ryan nodded. He didn't get a chance to reply because the door opened and the nurse and anesthesiologist came into the room.
Kirsten leaned over and kissed Ryan's cheek tenderly. She placed her hand on his other cheek and stared down into his eyes. "I'll be waiting for you. Everything is going to be OK."
"I know. Thank you – you know for being here." Ryan replied.
"I'm always going to be here Ryan. I may not have given birth to you, but you are my son Ryan. I love you." Kirsten told him.
"I love you too – M-Mom." Ryan whispered so that only she could hear him.
Kirsten smiled and a tear ran down her cheek. "Thank you, you are amazing." She told him, quickly kissing his forehead and stepping away before she embarrassed herself.
Sandy stepped forward and ruffled Ryan's hair. "You take care, we'll be right here. You've got this in the bag Kid. Just remember that we love you."
"I love you guys too." Ryan declared.
Seth tapped fists with him again. "I'll see ya later Bro. Love ya man – you know, in a totally non-sexual way."
Ryan chuckled. "You too Seth."
The Cohen's stood and watched as their fourth member was wheeled out of the room.
Back to the present…
The nurse finally noticed that her patient was awake.
"Hi Ryan, how are you feeling?" She asked him with a smile.
"Thirsty." He croaked.
"You can have some ice chips, but nothing else until we're sure that the anesthesia has worn off." She informed him, "but first I need you to answer a couple of questions so I know you're brain is functioning normally. What's your full name?"
"Ryan Atwood."
"Who is the president?"
"Bush."
"Great, two for two. Last one – what is your mother's name?"
Without thinking about it he answered "Kirsten."
The nurse smiled. She knew that Kirsten Cohen was listed as his foster mother, but if the kid considered her as his mother she wasn't going to argue. "Great Ryan." She told him before spooning a piece of the frozen water into his mouth. "How's your chest feel? Are you in any pain?"
Ryan shook his head. "It just feels really heavy like something is sitting on it." He said with a clearer voice.
"That's normal. Let me know if there is any actual pain or if you have any trouble breathing."
"Where's my family?" Ryan asked.
"They're in the surgical waiting room. Now that you're awake and talking we can move you into a private room and they can be with you there." The nurse informed him.
"Great." Ryan sighed in relief as he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
TBC…