PART 7
Summer opened her father's office door and stuck her head into the room. Dr. Neil Roberts was on the phone, but he smiled and waved his daughter into the room.
"Thursday sounds great Bill. I'll see you then." Neil finished his call and placed the receiver in the cradle. "Hello sweetheart, what brings you here?"
"I'm visiting Cohen's brother." Summer informed him as she plopped down in a chair across from her father's desk.
"That foster kid?" Neil asked, trying to remember the kid his daughter was talking about.
"Not for long, the Cohen's are adopting him." Summer grinned.
"I take it that you're happy about this?" Neil was curious.
Summer shrugged. "Chino's a good guy who's had a tough life. He deserves a family."
Neil was constantly amazed with the changes in his daughter since she started dating Seth Cohen. Summer had been so absorbed with her own life that a foster kid being adopted would have never even registered for her. He didn't care very much for the insecure young man that his daughter insisted on calling her boyfriend, but there was no denying the boy's influence.
"I'm proud of you Sweetheart." Neil declared.
Summer looked surprised at the random statement. "Thanks Daddy, what brought that on?"
"You care about others. I can tell that you're excited about this foster kid getting adopted." Neil explained.
"Ryan's mom abandoned him last year and the Cohen's took him in. He's someone that you can really count on when you need him. There aren't many guys like that anymore." Summer informed him.
"So why is he in the hospital?" Neil asked.
"He had a heart attack." Summer stated. "It was pretty scary from what Cohen said. Kirsten had to do CPR and everything."
"What caused the heart attack?" Neil wanted to make sure that Summer wasn't associating with a dope head.
"He has some sort of heart defect. They used initials that started with an 'H', 'HMS' or 'HMC', something like that." Summer shrugged.
"HCM?" Neil verified.
"Yeah! That's the one!" Summer nodded. "HCM. Anyway they had to put some kind of machine in his heart to make sure it keeps beating."
"An ICD?" Neil guessed.
"I think so, I didn't really understand much about it. Seth was pretty upset though because Ryan won't be able to workout like he usually does, and there's always the chance for another heart attack. Seth really cares about his brother." Summer shrugged sadly.
"He has every right to be upset about that. HCM is nothing to play with." Neil stated. He would need to find out what room the boy was in so that he could speak to Sandy and Kirsten. It was a habit to take an interest in any patients who were in his daughter's circle of friends. He had done the same for Marissa over a year ago.
"I have a break right now, why don't we go get something to eat?" Neil suggested standing and walking around his desk.
Summer nodded and took his offered hand before settling her arm in the crook of his elbow. "Sound's great, but the café – not that gross cafeteria – ewe."
Neil chuckled at the cute picture his daughter made with her scrunched up nose and led her out of the office and towards the café.
"That's it Ryan, you're doing great."
Ryan tried to ignore Sienna's encouraging voice as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other. They had only gone about ten feet and he was already forced to push past his exhaustion in order to continue farther. Sandy stood on his other side ready to catch him if he stumbled while Sienna guarded the other side. Kirsten and Seth were waiting in the room for them to return.
They had just reached the elevator when the doors swooshed open and revealed Marissa standing there with Alex.
"Ryan! Oh my God!" Marissa exclaimed before hurrying over to her ex-boyfriend and hurling herself into his arms.
"Marissa no!"
"Umph!" Ryan grunted as his chest exploded in pain and he went tumbling backwards.
Sandy and Sienna tried to catch him, and Sandy managed to get behind his son so that he absorbed the impact with the floor instead. He heard a "crack" as his head connected with the tile and he saw stars. It took Sandy a moment to realize that Ryan was groaning in pain above him. Alarmed, Sandy pulled himself out from under the teen and knelt next to him on the floor.
While Sandy was becoming up close and personal with the floor, Sienna was busy jerking the instigator off her patient. After giving the teen girl a look that would freeze lava, the physical therapist turned her attention to Ryan. She was alarmed to see a spot of blood begin to spread on the bandage covering his incision.
"Damn!" She exclaimed before turning her attention to a nurse hurrying towards them to help. "Page Dr. Taylor. He's bleeding from the site." Sienna ordered. "Also, get me a gurney. I don't want him to move until the doctor can check him out!"
"Ryan? Can you hear me son?" Sandy asked softly.
Ryan kept his eyes closed as he fought to control the pain radiating through his chest, but he whispered "Yeah."
"Okay handsome, I want you to be as still as possible while we get you back to your room. Can you do that for me?" Sienna asked gently.
"Hurts to think about moving." Ryan spoke so softly that they had to lean in to hear him.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know he'd be so weak!" Marissa wailed from Alex's arms as she stared down at Ryan.
Just then, the elevator door s opened again and this time Summer stepped out with her father. Realizing immediately that there was a problem, Neil hurried over to them.
"What happened?" Neil asked briskly as he began to look Ryan over.
"Marissa decided to practice her tackling skills on Ryan while he's trying to recover from ICD surgery." Sandy grumbled.
Neil shook his head in exasperation. "I wonder about that girl." He muttered before looking up to see a gurney coming their way. "Excellent. Let's try not to jostle this kid any more than necessary." He instructed the orderlies.
In just seconds they had him on the gurney and wheeled back into his room with everyone following. Kirsten and Seth shot up from their chairs at the sight of the group.
"What happened?" Kirsten demanded as Sandy moved to her side to allow the nurses and Neil to examine their son.
"Marissa threw herself at Ryan when she saw him. She could be a starting linebacker for any college in the country." Sandy grumbled. "Don't let her size fool you."
Both Kirsten and Seth swore. The door opened and Dr. Taylor came hurrying into the room. His eyes opened in surprise when he saw Neil.
"Dr. Roberts, branching out?" Dr. Taylor joked as he rushed to his patient and began to look over the incision.
"Not hardly, Ryan's a friend of my daughter's and I was coming to visit with his parents when we saw him laid out in the floor. It seems that he was accosted while walking in the hallway. I'm more than happy to watch you do all the work!" Neil smiled grimly.
Dr. Taylor's jaw clenched when he saw the wound. "I'm going to need a scan to see if the device is still intact." He ordered the nurse beside him.
"Right away Doctor." The woman exclaimed before running out the door so that she could schedule it immediately.
"Let's get him a light sedative and pain killer to take the edge off until I figure out if the ICD is salvageable." The Doctor instructed the nurse who had taken her colleague's place.
Ten minutes later, Ryan was being wheeled down for tests leaving the Cohen's, Robert's, Marissa and Alex standing in the room. Summer wasted no time before she stalked over to her best friend and slapped her on the arm – hard.
"What the hell? Summer?" Marissa exclaimed, grabbing her injured appendage.
"What the hell do you think you were doing? What part of Ryan had a heart attack don't you understand? Are you trying to kill him?" Summer lambasted the skinny blond.
"I'm sorry! I didn't realize that Ryan was so weak!" Marissa wailed, tears streaming prettily down her face.
"No, you weren't thinking about Ryan at all. What the hell are you even doing here? You haven't given Ryan the time of day since he caught you cheating on him with the gardener!" Summer demanded.
"Caleb and Mom told me that Ryan had a heart attack. I know that you don't think so, but I will always love Ryan." Marissa explained, not noticing the sharp look that her girlfriend shot her.
Seth didn't miss the look on Alex's face and he couldn't help but internally roll his eyes and grumble about Marissa's stupidity.
Summer crossed her arms in front of her and glared at her best friend. "When did Caleb and Julie tell you about all this?"
Marissa lowered her eyes to the floor. "This morning," She confessed.
"Lovely, so you just now took time out of your busy schedule to come check on him?" Summer sneered. The brunette sighed and shook her head. "I think you've done enough. We'll let you know when Ryan's ready to see you again."
"Hey! You're not Ryan's monitor! You can tell me when to come see my boyfriend!" Marissa protested.
"First of all, Ryan isn't your boyfriend. You're exploring the other team – remember? Second, Ryan is my friend and he'd do the same for me if need be. Third, you really hurt him Marissa! He's supposed to go home tomorrow and now he might not. You know how much he hates hospitals! So leave and I'll be in touch!" Summer declared.
Shooting everyone a hurt look, Marissa turned and left the room with an angry Alex right behind her.
Summer turned and looked at everyone else. She shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry if I overstepped – rage black-out and all." She muttered.
"You are so my hero!" Seth exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close.
Kirsten and Sandy were also smiling. "It's fine Summer, I'm sure that Ryan appreciates you looking out for him." Kirsten assured the teenage girl. "He needs good friends."
Neil chuckled at them and then cleared his throat. "I was actually coming to visit and see how you were all holding up."
Sandy crossed the room and shook the doctor's hand. "Thanks so much for your help Neil."
Neil shrugged. "There wasn't much I could do since I didn't know Ryan's case. Summer tells me that he has HCM?"
"We had no idea until he collapsed at dinner the other night." Kirsten stated with a shiver.
Neil patted her arm. "Summer told me that you saved his life."
"It was the scariest thing I've ever done." Kirsten confessed. "I thought I lost him when he stopped breathing."
Sandy wrapped and arm around his wife's shoulders. He looked up at Neil. "We've actually decided to adopt Ryan."
Neil nodded. "He's a very lucky young man. Summer said that you wanted to make him an official member of your family. You have my admiration."
"Thanks. We've hit a bit of a snag though, and since you've lived in Newport all your life maybe you can help us." Sandy began.
Intrigued, Neil motioned for the lawyer to continue.
"I got Ryan's mother's signature, but when I mentioned his father, Frank, Dawn informed me that Frank wasn't his father. It turns out that she slept with a rather drunk man from Newport who was ranting about how his wife was leaving him after their baby was born. Not only do we need his signature to complete the adoption, but the man may or may not know that he has HCM." Sandy explained.
Neil felt his blood run cold as he heard the story. It wasn't possible, there was no way… Neil coughed a bit and then looked back up at Sandy. "I'm not sure who it could be. I'll have to get back to you."
Sandy smiled. "Thanks Neil, we really appreciate your help."
"No problem. I'm sure that Ryan's tests will take a bit longer, and I need to get some work done if I'm going to be able to get home at a decent hour. I'll come back another time to visit." Neil did his best to keep from stuttering as his mind raced.
"Then we'll look forward to seeing you later." Sandy shook the other man's hand one more time and watched as he left the room.
A/N: I realize that Summer's mother didn't leave until later in her life, but hey, this is fanfiction. I'm changing it to suit my needs. ;)
TBC…