A/N: It's been a few days but just wanted to get this up. Again thanks for the reviews and comments and just keep them coming I appreciate it.
Family above all else
Ryan knew that he had to talk to Marissa he just wasn't sure when he should. Meanwhile Marissa was at home thinking the same thing.
Ryan walked into the Cohen house to find Sandy home from work which for Sandy was a little unusual. "Hey, so no work today?" Ryan said walking in to meet him in the kitchen.
"No I just thought since there wasn't a heavy case load that I'd work from home today" Sandy said. Ryan didn't buy it he had a sneaking feeling that He was lying but for now he wasn't going to harp on him.
"Sounds like a good idea you're always working to get kids out of juvie anyhow" he said reminding him of when he met sandy. "Well I'm trying to meet my quota" He said kidding.
"Still working out of Chino?" Ryan said. "Chino and other areas although I haven't brought anyone home recently because lets face it Kirsten would kill me" He said. "Yeah she wasn't too happy when I first got here" Ryan said.
"And she got to know you the few days you spent here and then she eventually agreed to be your legal guardian" He said. Ryan smiled remembering.
"That was probably the second day anyone as ever cared enough about me to show it" He admitted. "Well look at you now" Sandy said smiling. "But hey if you don't mind me asking what was the first time?" Sandy said.
"When I was in Juvie" He said leaving Sandy to figure out that he was talking about when Sandy first met Ryan.
"Right well I'm going to get back to the office" He said getting up to stand.
He felt dizzy and Ryan noticed and went over to him. It wasn't Sandy Cohen behavior after all and Ryan was starting to feel concerned.
"Whoa Sandy you alright?" Ryan asked him.
"Yeah I just got a little dizzy" He said turning pale but trying to keep Ryan from being suspicious but at this point it wasn't really working. Ryan was proving he was too smart for that.
"Are you sure?" He said not believing it. "I mean maybe I should bring you to the doctor maybe it's the flu or something" Ryan said thinking of random things off the top of his head.
"No it's not necessary kid. In fact maybe I'm just coming down with something I should just probably sleep it off" Sandy told him. Ryan stared at him. "You sure that's all this is?" Ryan said.
"Yeah I'm fine Ry... and with that he collapsed but Ryan grabbed onto him before he hit the ground gently resting him on the floor.
"Sandy? Come on wake up" He said he grabbed his cell and called for help. He spouted off their address as fast as he could and went back putting his attention back on Sandy just until the paramedics showed.
"Sandy can you here me?" Ryan said repeatedley over and over and not getting any response. "Come on don't do this not now" Ryan said suddenly frieghtened at the idea of losing him.
Sandy had been the kind of father Ryan had never known and he wasn't just going to let him lie there and not try to help him anyway that he could. Ryan immediately checked his pulse for the second time.
He sighed a breath of relief when he noticed he still had one. So he was just knocked out. Ryan was trying to figure out what could possiably cause this to happen when he saw the parmedics rushing in to help Sandy.
Ryan stepped back. " Your Ryan right? How long has he been down" One paremedics shouted out. " Yeah. It couldn't be more then ten minutes or so" Ryan responded.
"Okay we need to get him to the hospital you want to ride with us?" The guy asked. "Sure" Ryan asked following them out and getting into the back of the amublance.
The one thing that kept running through his mind all the way to the hospital was how does he tell Kirsten about this?
"He has a good pulse" The emt reassured Ryan noticing the worried look on his face. He nodded thanking him silent.
Sandy was rushed to the hospital which couldn't be worse because it was still chrismukkah. The emt's rushed Sandy into the emergency room Ryan was no more then two steps away. They wheeled him off to an area but held Ryan back.
"Sir what happened?" A nearby doctor said. "I don't know I just was talking to him. He started acting weird and the next thing I knew he was passed out on the floor" Ryan said. "And you are?" The doctor asked. Ryan didn't have to think twice about this question.
"His son. He's my father" Ryan said slowly and almost desperately looking into the doctors eyes. "Is there any medical history I should know about? Does Mr. Cohen have any heart problems that might be the cause?" he asked Ryan.
"No at least none that I know of" Ryan told him. "Okay thank you we're going to do our best to treat him. And I'll be back when there's more news" he said. "Thank you" he said as the doctor walked away.
Ryan stood frozen in his spot not feeling desperate and not knowing what else to do. His thoughts went back to Kirsten and he imediately grabbed his cell from his pocket calling her at the office.
"New port Group" He heard Kirsten's assistant say.
"Yeah Lila look this is Ryan is Kirsten around" He asked. "She's in talking to some people the meeting should be over in like ten minutes or so. Do you want to leave a message" She said.
Ryan ran his hands over his face. "No I need you to get her to the phone it's emergency" He said. "Is everything okay Mr. Atwood?" she said concerned.
"It's Sandy and I'm at the hospital" He replied. "Let me just go get her for you" She said putting him on hold.
Kirsten was on the phone no more then twenty seconds later. "Ryan" He heard her desperate cry. "Yeah Kirsten" he said. "What happened is he okay?" She asked nervous.
"Listen to me alright I'm at New Port memorial. Sandy collapsed in the kitchen. He's not concious but he had a pulse all the way here. I don't know anything else. But you need to be calm okay everything's going to be okay" He said trying to reassure her when he wasn't even sure of that himself.
"Okay I'm coming" Kirsten said. "I don't want you driving so get a company car and have someone drive you here" Ryan said. Lila got back on the phone as kirsten left immediately.
"It's already taken care of Ryan don't worry there's a car waiting for Mrs. Cohen outside and she should be there in fifteen minutes" She said assuring him. "Thanks Lila" he said
"Let us know when everything's okay" She said. "Will do Thanks" he said hanging up.
Ryan waited in the waiting room it was literally a matter of minutes and yet to him it felt like hours. Now he just waited to see how Sandy was. The doctors hadn't come out yet and Kirsten and Seth were on their way or at least Kirsten was that much he knew for sure.
Ryan couldn't get a hold of Seth's cell and he tried Summer same thing. He knew she was the only answer since he had to be here for Kirsten she would getting here in soon.
He stepped outside to make a call. Dialing her number. "Hello" She said. "Marissa" he said.
She knew from his tone something wasn't right. "Ryan what's wrong? What happened?" She said.
"Look I'm at the hospital Sandy collapsed in the kitchen this morning and Kirsten's on her way but I can't get a hold of Seth" He said.
"Oh my god. Okay well I'll find him and I'll let you know when I got in touch with him. Not to worry" Marissa said.
"Thank you" He said hanging up. Marissa rushed out of her house grabbing her keys not even needing to think she just knew she had to find Seth..
Meanwhile Ryan went back to the waiting room area. "Ryan" She said. He looked up and stood up to meet a frantic Kirsten. "How is he?" She said.
"I don't know nobody's come out yet" He said. "Thank god you were home when you were" She said nervously.
He knew something was wrong and off about this whole thing but he needed to find out what was going on. Another doctor came out "Kirsten Cohen" He said. "Yes" she said getting up.
"Your husband's awake and well however I would like to talk to you further. If you'd like you could have your son go sit with him" He said. She turned and looked at Ryan. "Sure" Ryan said walking towards Sandy's room.
Marissa had checked a few places and just thought he was at Summer's shop but it turns out they had left earlier which is what she got from Summer's manager Chloe.
She searched the pier tried his cell again no answer. She looked up and saw them coming towards her she hurried over to them. They had smiles clearly visible but one look at Marissa's face and they knew something was up. "Coop? Where's Ryan?" Summer said.
"He's at the hospital I was trying to find you guys" She said. "I left my cell at the store" Summer said. "Yeah and mine just died. What's wrong? Is it Ryan?" he said.
"Ryan's fine its Sandy I don't know the whole story but he collapsed and Ryan was with him he was just rushed to the emergency room" she said. "Does my mom know?" He said
"Yeah She's on her way" Marissa said. Seth looked shocked.
"Well come on" Summer said pulling his hand in to hers and they all rushed to the hospital.
Ryan walked into his room. Sandy was awake as the doctor said but it was important for Ryan to see it himself. "Hey" He said. "Sorry if I scared ya kid" Sandy said. He sat down in the empty chair. "It's fine as long as you're alright" He said looking at Sandy.
"Yeah I'm alright" Sandy said. "Are you really?" Ryan said questioning him. Sandy was silent. "Sandy look I've always been straight with you" He said. Sandy looked at him.
He shook his head remebering just how well Sandy really knew him. "Okay so at least when it's important. Just tell me what's going on?" Ryan said pleading with him.
"I didn't want to do this. Lay this out for you and Seth with holidays going on no less" He said. Ryan stared at him. "I know something's wrong Sandy" Ryan said. Sandy nodded knowing this time there was no way out of this.
"I was home today because of the treatment apparently and it got a little more than I could handle. And then I guess that's when I hit the floor" He told. " Wait a minute What treatment?" Ryan said dreading hearing the answer.
"First treatment of radiation doctor's orders after my results came back he ordered me to undergo radiation he paused I have lukemia" He said. Ryan felt like the wind was knocked out of him.
" What stage?" Ryan asked. "Not as early as they would have liked I'm afraid. So it's going to be a bumpy road to say the least" Sandy said.
"Why didn't you just tell us?" He said sadly looking at this man who's been more of a father to him then his own for so many years. "Because I knew if I told you you'd run back here leave your job" Sandy explained.
"Well it's what's going to happen" Ryan said determined. "No Ryan you are not staying here because of me you have a life in Boston, a career, and you are not giving that up for me" He said coming off upset.
"Sandy you've always been there for us. You've done more for me than anyone else as ever done in my entire life. How could you not expect me to want to be there for you now?" Ryan said in a low tone. Sandy looked at him and took in Ryan's sad state.
He stayed quiet. "You know before this all happened I was actually going to talk to you about the job offer from Kirsten and see what you thought of me taking it" Ryan said looking at him. "Work for Caleb?" Sandy said.
"Technically my boss will be Kirsten and you know it gets me closer to Seth. Summer and Marissa still live here, You and Kirsten, and you know I kind of miss Newport" he said looking at him helping him understand that this just the topped the cake and made Ryan's decision that more final.
"I just don't want you staying for me" Sandy said. "Sandy I'm not going to lie to you this has to do with you. But it has a lot to do with myself too because I need to be here with my family especially now more then ever. My place is here" He said not backing done hoping that Sandy would finally understand what he was saying.
Sandy nodded understanding. "Honey" Kirsten came in" She said giving him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm alright Kirsten" He said. "I'm going to see if Seth got here yet" Ryan said leaving them alone.
He walked out front and tried to take in what he just heard. "Ryan" He heard Seth say. He turned to see him coming towards him along with Summer holding his hand and Marissa behind. "Seth" Ryan said.
"How's dad?" He said. "He collapsed this morning but he's alright now" Ryan said. "Did you see him?" Seth said.
"Yeah your mom's in there now so you can go in" He said. "Alright" He said rushing in with Summer by his side.
Marissa noticed the look in Ryan's eyes they told a different story from what he was actually saying.
"You okay?" She said.
"Yeah I'm going to go see if everything's alright at the house. Sandy was working and he probably got a bunch of messages so I'm gonna go take care of that. So Kirsten doesn't have to. I'm going to take the company car back" He said leaving Marissa standing there.
She knew it was bad when he tried to close himself off so instead of going into the hospital she made her way to her car and followed him.
When he got there Ryan went towards the pool house. Anger over took him and he had to keep himself from breaking. He went over to his bag and started shoving some stuff into it. "What are you doing?" She said. "Packing I got to catch a flight to Boston" he said.
"Ryan you can't just leave like this they need you" She explained. He snapped. "You think I don't know that? It's why I'm going to Boston in the first plac.e I'm resigning and moving back here" He said with anger written all over his face. "Ryan what happened?" She said feeling something was utterly wrong.
His anger got the best of him when he tried to close the zipper and it got caught so he took the bag and flung it across the room knocking over a lamp and breaking it. "Ryan" She said trying to plead with him. He backed away.
She saw him when he was angry but never to this extent where he actually let emotions take over. He ran his fingers over his mouth. She saw tears forming slightly in his eyes which made here feel more helpless then she already did.
"Ryan talk to me" She said low coming near him. He tried to calm himself by letting a few breaths out before talking. "It turns out that the fall wasn't just a fall. Sandy has leukemia and it was a side effect from his treatment of radiation" He explained.
Marissa realized why Ryan was taking it like he did after hearing what he had to say. "I didn't know" She said sadly. "Well that makes two of us" He said laughing more upset then happy.
"Does Seth...he interrupted shaking his head "He had no idea but now that Sandy told me it's only a matter of time before he does" He said not looking at her. She nodded.
"So they knew about it for awhile then?" She asked. "Yeah and you know they figured with the holidays they would hold off on telling us I guess" He said still trying to make sense of this whole thing. "I'm sorry" Marissa said. He nodded.
"So I should try to get a flight out tonight so I could get back soon" He said. "Ryan what about Seth?" She reminded him.
He didn't know what he was doing anymore here he was about to jump on a plane and he never even thought about what this was doing to Seth.
"Marissa I don't know how to deal with this" Ryan said failing to hide his emotions in his voice. "Neither does he. Look you both need each other right now Boston can wait" she said looking at him. "I can't be anyone's friend right now" Ryan said.
"He's not going to want his friend he's going to want his brother Ryan" she said sadly hoping he would understand and somehow knowing he would.
"Your right I should go find him. Marissa I'm sorry about the yelling and I didn't mean to snap at you before I just he couldn't finish... Marissa went over and hugged him.
"Its okay" She said he grabbed on to her tightly like he was a lost child.
"Come on Seth needs you" She said taking him to Seth. He followed her out.
By the time they had got back they were met with an upset Summer. "Where's Seth?" He said knowing as soong as he saw her face.
"He left like ten minutes ago he wouldn't let me go with him" She said sadly.
He looked at Marissa and she handed him the keys. "I'll find him" He said going to get his brother.
Summer and Marissa stayed at the hospital in case Kirsten needed anything.
Ryan pulled into the parking lot by the pier and got out of the car. As he was walking up the pier he saw Seth standing there. He slowly approached him. "Summer's worried about you" Ryan confessed.
"I know I just couldn't... he paused "I know" Ryan said understanding him. "Merry freaking Chrismukkah ha?" he said sarcastically.
"We'll get through it together" Ryan said. "Yeah except he didn't even want to tell us" He said.
"He didn't want to because he didn't want to ruin the holidays. He was trying to protect us you know that" He said. "You seem pretty calm" Seth said surprised. "Well that's because I was already in this stage there's even broken lamp at home to prove it" Ryan said trying to prove his point.
Seth laughed sadly. "I'm sure there is if I know Kid Chino" Seth said. "We're gonna be okay Seth" He said trying to reassure him. "Yeah but what about dad?" Seth asked.
"I don't know but the one thing I do know is we just have to do this as a family" Ryan stated. Seth looked at him. He nodded.
"I guess that's all that's left for us to do. That and make sure that mom's okay through this whole thing" Seth said. "Well it looks like I'm moving back to New port" Seth said sadly.
"That makes two of us" Ryan said letting him know they were in this together. Seth didn't seem surprised it was the way Ryan always was.
"Right what about work? You know at least I have dad's practice to fall back on" Seth said. "Your mom wants me to work for the New port group that's what she wanted to talk to me about the other day" He said filling him in.
"So that's it then I guess the Cohen family will be restored" Seth said.
"Yeah" He said hearing Marissa's words "Be his brother" in his head. Ryan hugged Seth.
"Come on they need us" Ryan said leading Seth towards the hospital.