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Chapter 16
The air in the car on the way to the hospital was thick with tension. Kirsten felt full of guilt with the thought that she may have caused this somehow. After she'd found out that the kidnapping had been due to Caleb's actions, she had been furious. She was still furious but she'd never wanted anything like this to happen. What if he had died and the last thing she had said to him was that she never wanted to see him again?
She knew that Seth was in the same boat, she could see it in the crease in his brow and the way he kept tugging at his collar. He'd always done that when he was younger when he was upset about something. Although back then, all he could be upset about was losing Captain Oats.
She didn't know how her father would respond to her visiting. She had been so rude to him. She just hoped that he'd allow her to see him.
Everything just kept getting worse. She'd thought that with Ryan coming home, everything would magically begin getting better but it definitely wasn't working out that way.
She looked over her shoulder at Ryan and noticed how anxious he looked. His eyes were focussed out of the window and he was shaking ever so slightly.
She looked away and began nervously checking her appearance in the mirror and smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt.
By the time she recognised the signs for the hospital, she could feel her hands beginning to shake.
Sandy drove up by the entrance and she scrambled out of the car, giving a hurried "good bye" and "see you in a sec", before entering the automatic doors. It wasn't until she reached the front desk that she realised that Seth was behind her.
She gave him a tight smile before trying to attract the attention of the extremely flustered looking receptionist.
"I'm looking for a Caleb Nichol. He was admitted here this morning…"
xxx
Ryan sighed and leant his head against the head rest as Sandy drove around the car park, looking for a parking space. It felt like five minutes since he had finally been able to leave the hospital's doors and now he was back again.
He really didn't want to be forced to come face to face with Caleb. Even if the man was hurt, he couldn't get over the fact that the man hated him so much that he arranged for him to be kidnapped and for him to receive a daily beating.
Kirsten seemed to be blaming herself which didn't make much sense. If anything it was his fault for causing so much hatred to grow inside Caleb. He still didn't understand what he had done to make Caleb hate him so much.
He watched as the hospital grew further and further away and Sandy whispered more and more annoyances under his breath. The parking at this hospital really sucked.
Finally the car was parked and Sandy led the way to the automated doors.
As the doors were opened, Ryan was blasted by the same old hospital smell that had become so familiar to him during the past few weeks. He shuddered slightly at the memories of all the therapist sessions and the prying questions. He looked down at his wrists, covered up by his shirt. The man in here had caused this.
He felt Sandy's warm arm encircle around his shoulders and he leant into it.
"It's okay Ryan, we'll just wait outside. He won't want to see me either," he heard Sandy whisper.
He found himself being led over to the receptionist. In a blur, the room number had been given and Ryan could feel Sandy gently pushing him down the grey corridor.
He tried to shake off his worry as they worked their way down the corridor.
The first thing Ryan saw of Caleb was a little, frail old man sitting up in bed. His arm was in a cast and his face was badly bruised.
He looked over at Sandy and saw the surprise he was feeling mirrored in the man's face.
For a moment he felt nothing but concern for the man that had wanted him to be removed from his family.
He returned his gaze back at Caleb and was surprised to see his steely, grey eyes now focussed on him. He stepped back slightly when the old man's face turned to a frown and the annoyance was clear.
Ryan moved away quickly from the door and sat down on a deserted chair. He felt Sandy come around and do the same in the chair next to him.
They could both hear the sound of Caleb's raised voice. Ryan's name was easily heard.
They were quiet together for a few minutes just listening in a shocked silence to the anger in Caleb's voice.
"Why does he hate me so much?" Ryan whispered quietly.
From next to him, Sandy sighed and shook his head.
"Caleb's just like that. He hates me as well. I remember the first time I met him… he criticised my hair and the clothes I wore. He asked me where I grew up and laughed when I told him that it was the Bronx... He didn't even come to our wedding, claiming whilst on a business trip that there was a monsoon." he gave a disgusted laugh.
"I think with you, he was angry because we didn't ask for his permission before we took you in." he shook his head. I think he felt threatened because he realised that Kirsten had done something without telling him." he paused.
"He's not even nice to Seth and Seth's his grandson. Before Rose died, he used to at least try but now…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Nothing pleases him anymore, not even Kirsten."
Ryan listened as Caleb's stern voice still argued with Kirsten.
xxx
Kirsten could not believe the things that her father was coming out with.
She looked over at Seth and saw him stood to the side, his mouth open and his wide eyes staring at his grandfather.
She had felt so guilty on the way over here and now she only felt pure rage.
Her father probably brought on the fight himself by insulting the inmates.
Now he was shouting about how she never listened to him and how Ryan was going to end up robbing them of all their "hard earned" money.
She shook her head in disbelief.
"Why do you hate him so much? What did he ever do to you? Do you really hate him so much that you would rather him dead?" She burst out and her father paused, a shocked expression on his face.
"There is no reason for you to hate him so much. He's brought my family closer together and I love him like a son." She gave him one last glare and turned away, ready to go.
"Come on, Seth. Let's go," she didn't spare her father another look before marching out of the door.
"Bye grandpa," she heard Seth mutter quietly.
She felt herself shaking with adrenalin, she had never stood up to her dad before.
xxx
Sandy stood up as the door opened and pulled Kirsten into a hug.
"Are you alright?" he asked her and she nodded jerkily.
"Let's just go." she nodded briefly at Ryan before taking the lead down the corridor.
The three of them obediently followed and when Sandy peered through the glass at Caleb one last time, he was surprised by the pure look of sadness on his father in law's face.
As he had done on the way in, he placed his arm around comfortingly around Ryan and felt him lean in against him.
He knew they could make it past this, past all of this.
Ignoring all the bad, he could tell that the whole ordeal had made them stronger as a family. They knew that they could depend on each other. Ryan had needed a little more encouraging but he was getting better and hearing Kirsten scream out at Caleb to tell him that she thought of Ryan as her son had helped. Sandy had seen the look on the kid's face when she had said that.
He saw Seth following a little behind them and he hung back a little with Ryan to let him catch up.
"Are you okay?" he asked, slipping his other arm around his other son.
"I suppose." Seth muttered.
Sandy nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. An idea came to his mind to help cheer Seth up.
"Why don't you call Summer in a bit to see whether she wants to come over for dinner?" he asked.
He saw Seth perk up at that.
"Summer does like the takeout, I mean she tries to pretend she doesn't and it's bad for us and all that but it never stops her from eating it. You'll never guess what she…"
Sandy smiled and he noticed that Ryan was doing the same.
The three walked down the corridor, Seth babbling on about something Summer had said in the previous week. Sandy and Ryan continued their usual game of pretending they understood what Seth was going on about.
Yep, everything was returning to how it should be.
The cheesy End (except for the epilogue.)
Thanks for reading.