CHAPTER 9- ONE STEP FORWARD AND TWO STEPS BACK
When Kristin finally arrived it was nearly lunch time. She smiled to walk in and see her boys playing an intense game of slap jack.
"Yes! I win." Sandy suddenly declared as he slapped the last of Ryan's hand away.
"No fair man. Didn't anyone ever tell you you're supposed to be nice to the invalids?" Ryan declared in mock anger.
"Sorry Kid my grandma taught me to play. She's the sweetest lady in the world until you play cards with her and then she's downright brutal."
"He's right", Kristen chipped in letting the boys in on her presence, "we played a game called spoons once and I almost lost an arm to her."
"Hey, that's right. We'll have to teach Ryan spoons later. There's a bunch of tongue depressors around we could use those instead." Sandy said with a grin that looked slightly evil.
"Um I think I am suddenly feeling a bit weak and will not be up for any more games." Ryan mumbled not sure he was willing to learn a new game from his devious foster father.
"We'll see." Sandy replied with a chuckle.
"So Kristen what is that wonderful smelling thing you have snuck in this room. Ryan and I are starving his breakfast looked like mystery meat from high school- literally it looked twenty years old."
"Hey I'm the only starving one here you snuck off to Starbucks when I fell asleep. Don't think I didn't notice the coffee cake crumbs." Ryan interjected glaring at Sandy all the while.
"Sandy, how could you? Well Ryan no fear I brought this for you not your poor mannered dad. It's from your favorite deli." Kristen spoke up.
"Thanks. Is it minestrone?"
"Of course. I know my boys' favorites. There's even some of their fresh bread."
"Great." Ryan said with pleasure. The next few minutes were filled with the happy sound of Ryan eating his soup and Kristen and Sandy chatting about the day.
After lunch Ryan decided to rest for a while and Sandy went home to shower and change- promising to be back later with Seth who had been sleeping still when Kristen left.
It was around two when the next set of visitors came in. Kristen had stepped out to make a few work calls. A knock on the door before it slid open signaled their arrival.
"Hey man- look who I found hanging around." Luke cheerily remarked. Behind him stood Summer and Marissa. Summer, being her typical self, pushed Luke out of the way to make her entrance.
"Chino what were you thinking?" She remarked marching up to him and giving him a light slap on his head. "Don't you know I don't like being scared? You have to get permission from me to get sick. Do this again and all go all rage black-out on you and you'll wish you were still in a coma and can't tell."
Ryan smiled shyly at the dark haired girl's odd way of showing sentiment. "Yes your highness."
"That's better. So what's the news?" She said flopping down into a chair by his bed.
"Nothing much. The Cohen's doctor stopped by to show me the meds he's going to start me on. Hopefully I can go home tomorrow but I'll probably still miss another week of school."
"Hey can I get in on that- the school part not the meds." Luke added humorously.
Ryan simply rolled his eyes in response. He looked over to Marissa who had sat on his other side and was lightly stroking his hand. He was surprised she was so quiet. She wasn't normally quiet sure she wasn't the same level of noise as Summer and Seth, but she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
"You okay?" He asked gently looking at her.
"Yeah. Sorry you just had me worried." She said without adding any more. Ryan wasn't sure he believed her. In fact taking a closer look at her she seemed a bit pale and her voice had sounded a little raspier than normal.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"What," She said looking up suddenly almost as if she was afraid her secret would get out. "No. I'm fine." The sudden sneeze that followed the statement and caught her of guard seemed to prove otherwise."
"Oh gross, Marissa, you got that all over us." Summer stated clearly annoyed at her friend.
"Sorry, I didn't feel it coming."
"Whatever. Look if you're sick you shouldn't have come with us the last thing we need to do is get Ryan sick." Summer replied glaring at Marissa.
"Oh my gosh," the blonde girl muttered in distress, "I didn't think. I mean I'd never want that."
"Of course you didn't think." Luke muttered angry at the girl. For the life of him he wasn't sure why he and Ryan fell for her. She made a mess of just about everything.
"It's okay. I'm sure its fine. I know you were just worried and wanted to see me." Ryan spoke up trying to restore peace. Despite the bad wrap the boy had due to his past he was really the most caring teenager Luke had ever met.
"Whatever man, but I think she should leave now. We don't want to take any chances." Luke said.
"He's right. I followed them in my car anyway so I'll go. Get better soon Ryan. I'll stop by another time when I'm sure I'm healthy."
"Thanks Marissa. Feel better." Ryan said as she left.
Not five minutes later the Cohen gang dropped in.
"He was that Marissa I just saw leaving?" Seth asked.
"Yes." Luke said through clenched teeth.
"Wow man what's up with the hostility?" Seth questioned.
"Nothing. Let's just drop it guys. No need to make a mountain out of a molehill." Ryan spoke up quickly not wanting to cause his family any undo worry over possible germs. He shot a glare Luke's direction and prayed he picked up on the cue.
"Yeah. Nothing." Luke said with a sigh catching Ryan's glance. After all it was too late to change anything now.
"So Luke how did the game go?" Sandy asked as he sat on the couch.
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." Ryan replied.
"Good man. Good. Not as good as if Ryan our star striker had been there, but I held my own. We won 2 to 1."
"Yeah and Mr. Modest here scored both goals." Summer added.
"That's great man." Ryan replied.
"Yeah. Nice going" Seth added.
"Well it looks like we have a good group here. How about we teach Ryan spoons." Kristen remarked with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Oh no," Ryan said in mock fear hiding his head in his pillow, "I don't want to lose an arm."
"What are you talking about bro?" Seth asked in confusion.
Sandy was chuckling from the couch. "Your mom mentioned the first time she played with my grandma when we first started dating that Grandma almost took her arm off."
"Oh, yeah I can see that she was competitive." Seth replied with a knowing smile.
"Sounds like my kind of game. Perhaps an avenue to help me avoid rage-black outs." This comment from Summer caused everyone to pause and shiver slightly at their crazy friend.
"Well I'm game if you are." Luke said looking to Ryan.
"Why not there is nothing else to do in here and I shouldn't have another breathing treatment till 5. Just let me get up and move to the chair then we can play at the table."
"Are you allowed to move around?" Kristen asked with worry.
"Yeah when you went to take the calls during my last treatment I asked the nurse. She said since they have disconnected me from the heart monitor I can move around more freely I just need to take my friend the IV pole with me."
"Alright let me help." Sandy said as he guided his son through the process of untangling sheets and tubes in order to move to the nearby chair.
"Now that that is settled let me explain the game…"
The next two hours were spent together with much laughter and the occasional flying tongue depressor as the group tried to make four of a kind with their cards and be the first to grab a stick. Ryan held his own for a while but soon lost to the madness of the rest of his family and just enjoyed watching. In the end Summer came out victorious just barely over a disappointed Sandy. By then it was around 4 and Ryan was starting to feel tired if the drooping of his eye lids were any indication.
"Well that was certainly educational, but I think I should take this crazy chic and hit the road." Luke said pointing a finger at Summer.
"Yeah my dad wants me home for dinner and any way Chino looks about ready to drop." Summer replied not one to mince words.
"Sorry, I am a bit tired. I am glad you came, though, it's been fun."
"No problem man. You're in a hospital. You have a right to be tired take it easy."
As his friends left Sandy helped Ryan back into bed and Kristen spoke up.
"I think I'll take Seth home and let you sleep. I love you kid." She said as she gently kissed his forehead.
"Yeah- see ya bro. I'll be here tomorrow and hopefully we can take you home."
A tired thumbs up was Ryan's reply and by the time the two were at his door his eyes were already closed. His nap was fairly short lived when a gentle shaking of his shoulder woke him at 5 for his next breathing treatment. Ryan struggled to sit up feeling incredibly weary for some reason. His head ached a bit too and he wondered if he had pushed it a bit too much this afternoon. After adjusting his position with the help of the nurse he took the nebulizer tube from her and put it in his mouth and tried to take deep breaths. By the time he was finished twenty minutes later he felt even more tired and his chest was sore from the coughing the treatment had induced as it worked to open his lungs. His eyes fell closed almost immediately after the nurse took the tube back from him. Ryan didn't even wake when the food cart came in and Sandy just let him rest figuring he needed it and that the food wasn't all that great anyway. Kristen had left a few deli sandwiches in a cooler for later anyway.
It was nearly 7 the next time a nurse came in to check on Ryan. Again the boy seemed to struggle to become alert.
"Hi there Ryan. I am Anna your night nurse. I just need to get some vitals. Sorry for waking you but I need to take your temperature and blood pressure."
The boy flopped his left arm over sleepily and opened his mouth not wanting to say much in hopes of being able to fall right back to sleep in a minute. Sandy watched the numbers on the machine as the vitals registered. He noted the boy's blood pressure was 110 over 75. Pretty normal for him as he tended to run on the lower side an indicator of his active lifestyle. His temperature was what concerned Sandy some. It was 100.5. Ryan had been running between 97 and 98 since coming in- no fever. Sandy didn't like the possibilities that this might mean.
"Ryan, your temperature is up a bit which happens sometimes at night but can you tell me how your feeling."
"Tired." The boy mumbled.
"Yes I can see that I was hoping for a bit more detail. Does anything hurt? How's your breathing?" The nurse asked even as she clipped a pulse ox meter back on his finger it seemed the old one had fallen off earlier and they had let him be because his numbers had been good all afternoon. A blinking 93 appeared soon. Lower than the 96's they'd been seeing earlier. Nothing horrible but not ideal either.
"Head hurts. Chest little tight." Ryan added sleepily.
"On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is your head. 10 being the worse."
"Umm 3." He said after a moment's thought
"If Ryan says 3 you should probably think 6. He tends to minimize his pain levels." Sandy added.
"Is that true Ryan?" Anna questioned.
"Umm maybe."
"Well let me get you some Tylenol and we'll see if that helps. I'll also put the nasal cannula back on for now. I'm going to update your doctor on your vitals and see if he wants to do anything more. I'll be right back."
"K" Ryan muttered as he drifted back into a dose feeling the reassuring puff of oxygen in his nose. Despite the irritating itch it caused his face, the oxygen felt good and he felt a little more relaxed with it on.
Sandy watched the pulse ox reading for a minute since the nurse had left it on. The numbers climbed to 95 with the oxygen. The nurse was true to her word and was back within ten minutes with the medication.
"Okay Ryan here is the Tylenol. Your doctor also wants to draw some blood. I'll try to be quick."
Ryan sat up with Sandy's help and took the pills. He didn't even flinch when the nurse stuck him. Sandy wasn't sure if that was an indication of her skill or Ryan's pain tolerance, but either way it was over quickly. Soon Ryan was back asleep.
About an hour after the blood draw the nurse came back in with a bag to attach to Ryan's IV drip.
"You don't have to wake him." She told Sandy. "The doctor ordered a broad spectrum antibiotic as a precaution."
Sandy nodded and watched her hook up the medicine. The nurse stayed for a few minutes watching the drip.
"Let me know if you notice any problems. I'll be checking in frequently." She said as she left.
Sandy prayed the meds would help and wondered to himself how things could take a turn again so quickly. Just when everything seemed to be going good poor Ryan had to have another set back. It seemed to be the way of life for the kid- one step forward and two steps back. With all his heart Sandy wanted to stop that crazy dance and just help his son move forward. For now, though, all he could do was wait and pray.