Hi, thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. They were all so lovely to receive. I'm still astounded by how many reviews I've been getting for this story. I found this chapter pretty hard to write and so that is why it took a little longer than the other chapters. I hope you guys like it.
Chapter 6
Sandy put his hand against the window. The glass barrier, the only thing between him and his son.
After the phone call with Mike, there had been a mad frenzy to the hospital.
In that time, Sandy hadn't really thought, in detail, about what he'd see when he'd finally lay eyes on Ryan.
He hadn't been able to prepare himself for what he was going to see.
He'd been expecting bruises, possibly many bruises or maybe a few cuts.
But this? This was so much worse.
The doctors had told them that Ryan hadn't been given enough food or drink. He was severely dehydrated and painfully thin. His face was pale and accentuated with his cheek bones. Black circles stood out under his eyes, the tell tale sign that he hadn't been able to sleep in a long time.
His pale arms were bruised and scratched.
Sandy shook his head, not wanting to see any more. He took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from shaking.
He took another step closer to the door, trying to slow his beating heart.
His hand shook as he used it to turn the handle of the door.
He had to do this, he had to be there for Ryan. He wished that Seth hadn't run off and Kirsten hadn't gone after him. They'd all been shocked by Ryan's appearance and to be honest, Sandy had felt like running away himself. But he couldn't. He had to be there for his son.
God, he didn't want to have to do this alone.
He pushed open the door and then there was nothing between him and his son. The son who, for almost months now, they had been longing for news on.
Once the glass barrier had gone, he found a new urge take over him. Suddenly, he couldn't get to Ryan quick enough.
He hurried over to the bed and looked down at the sleeping form.
"Oh God, Ryan." He whispered.
He picked up Ryan's hand in his and looked at the limp fingers. His nails were jagged and it looked like he'd been scratching on something. He needed to talk with the police again. He hadn't really been listening the first time, his mind had been too busy on the fact that he'd finally be able to see Ryan again.
His heart leapt as he thought of the possibilities of what Ryan could have been forced to go through while he had been imprisoned.
All Sandy had worked out, from the bits and pieces of information from the police that he had actually listened too, was that Ryan had been found on the side of a road, not far from Newport. He'd been found conscious by a passerby but had been in such a state when the paramedics arrived that they had sedated him.
He ran his other hand down Ryan's face, tracing the outline of his cheek bone.
He was shocked by his appearance. He'd never seen anyone look so thin or fragile. He'd have never thought, all those weeks ago when life was perfect and the only worries had been work and whether Ryan was fitting in at Harbor, that he'd ever put Ryan and fragile in the same sentence. He had always been so strong and pretty much the complete opposite to what he was now.
"Ryan?" he whispered.
He had to keep hold of him; he didn't want Ryan to suddenly disappear as he had in so many of Sandy's dreams.
He sat down in a chair positioned by the bed, keeping his hand in Ryan's. He knew he would not allow himself to be moved from that place until Ryan woke up.
He longed to hear the sound of Ryan's voice.
It was like he was looking at a shell, the shell of someone who had only just begun not flinching whenever Sandy patted his arm or brushed him by accident.
He didn't want to think how much this whole situation could have affected Ryan. He stroked back a piece of hair that had fallen onto Ryan's forehead.
A sound from the doorway made him turn around and Kirsten appeared, leading Seth in with her.
Her blue eyes were watching Ryan intently and Sandy watched as she approached the bed, almost hesitantly.
Sandy kept his hand over Ryan's and turned back to watch him, waiting for any sign of him waking up.
Ryan's face remained impassive and Sandy remembered the doctor's words that Ryan wouldn't be waking up for awhile. The doctor had tried to get them to go home saying that the hospital would call them if there were any changes in Ryan's condition, but Sandy's glare had shut him up. The man had obviously not been faced with a missing child. Sandy briefly wondered if the man even had kids. He couldn't imagine anyone leaving their child, so ill or in pain, in hospital by themselves.
All they could so was wait for the sedative to wear off and for Ryan to be ready to open his eyes.
Sandy wasn't about to leave the kid alone. Ryan had been alone for so long already and he didn't deserve to wake up to find nurses sitting with him instead of the people who were supposed to be there for him no matter what.
xxx
Sandy watched the sunset outside of the window, distractedly. His hand was still in Ryan's small bruised one, although now it was warm and sticky after hours of the same contact.
Kirsten and Seth were sitting quietly to the side. Kirsten's eyes were still watching Ryan, waiting for any sign of movement. Seth was doing some French homework although when Sandy looked at his page, all Seth had managed to do was a few lines. Like his parents he couldn't seem to stop watching Ryan.
As the sun sunk lower and lower down the sky, Sandy felt a slight twitch in his hand.
He spun around to face Ryan and saw a faint frown on the kid's face.
"Ryan?" he called quietly, trying to keep his voice calm.
A small sound escaped Ryan's lips and Sandy leant in closer.
"You're okay, Ryan. We're here. You're safe here." he couldn't be sure as to how much Ryan could hear but he wanted Ryan to know he was safe. He needed Ryan to know that he was safe.
The steady beeping of the heart monitor began to pick up speed as Ryan's body began to curl up on itself.
"Hey Ryan. Listen to me kid, you're safe. I'm here and so are Kirsten and Seth. We're here. I promise that you're safe."
Two blue eyes cracked open and Sandy felt like his heart was going to burst from his chest at what he saw.
Ryan's eyes were misted over, a mixture of confusion and fear filled the blue of his eyes.
Sandy could only rub Ryan's arm gently and whisper reassurances to him as Ryan flinched away from him.
He looked over at Kirsten and Seth who were both standing, looking terrified.
A whimpering sound startled Sandy and he looked down at Ryan's now writhing form.
As the nurses swarmed in, in reaction to the now rapidly beeping heart monitor, Sandy could only watch in sadness and fear as the shell of his son, too weak to fight the nurses, tried in vain to defend himself.
tbc…
Thanks for reading.