Summary: After the Oliver incident. Child services finds out about Ryan's trouble at school and takes him away. Sandy and Kirsten do everything they can to get him back with an unlikely source to help them.

AN: Thank you to tcsportsmed7 for keeping on me to write this story. Hope you all like this chapter. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chapter 9: Appointments

Kirsten awoke on Monday morning and went to check to see how Ryan was feeling. She peered into his room and saw the bed empty. She ventured downstairs and found him in the kitchen. He was sitting at the counter slowly eating a bowl of cereal as he read out of a book.

"You're awake already." She smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." He looked up at her. "I think you were right. It was just a 24-hour thing."

"You can always stay home today just in case."

"I've missed enough school as it is. I'm just now catching up with the work."

"Well, if you start to feel sick again, call me and I'll come pick you up."

"I'll keep that in mind." He closed his book. "So where's Sandy?"

"He had to go into the office early. He's going to be home late. So I'll take you to your doctor's appointment today."

"All right." He took his bowl to the sink. "I better get ready for school."

"See if you can get Seth out of bed." Kirsten called after him.

"Yeah right." He mumbled as he started upstairs.

Ryan was able to get Seth out of bed and they both made it downstairs at the same time. Kirsten and Seth had quick breakfasts and the three of them rushed around trying to get out the door on time. Summer arrived and Ryan climbed into the back alone as usual as Seth climbed into the front passenger seat.

"I can walk to school faster than this." Ryan said loudly as Seth and Summer had a mini-make out session.

They eventually pulled apart and Summer pulled out of the Cohen's driveway and drove them all to school. As soon as Summer's car came to a stop in the school parking lot, Ryan jumped out of the car and rushed to the front steps of the school where someone was waiting for him.

"He sure does spend a lot of time with Taylor Townsend." Summer said.

"He says they're just friends." Seth told her. "That she's helping him with everything."

"I don't know. The way they're looking at each other, I wouldn't be surprised if we catch them-"

"I don't need that visual." Seth said as they walked into the school.


Ryan followed Taylor into the school as they went to their lockers. She rambled on about what she did the rest of the weekend.

"So you weren't sick at all yesterday?" Ryan asked her.

"My stomach was a little upset, and I was a little nauseous. But other than that, I was fine."

"Then why was I so sick? I could barely keep anything down."

"Well, you did have a lot more to eat than me."

"My appetite is finally coming back now that I don't have to take so many pain killers."

"You're getting your stitches out this afternoon, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He told her as he grabbed the books he needed from his locker.

"So does that mean that you'll try out for baseball then?"

"I hope so." Luke came up to them, overhearing their conversation. "We need some new players on the team."

"You don't even know if I'm good." Ryan told him. "I haven't played since I was a kid."

"It has to be better than we were last year." Luke told him as the warning bell rang.

"I'd better get to class." Taylor told them. "I'll see you at lunch Ryan?"

"Sure." He watched her walk away towards her class and he followed Luke to their own class.

At lunch, Seth and summer decided to join Ryan and Luke at their table instead of listening to Marissa's pity party. They were surprised to see Taylor Townsend sitting across from Ryan as the three of them joked around.

"Hey. Mind if we join you guys?" Summer asked them.

"Not at all." Ryan told them and they sat down with them.

"So what are you talking about?" Seth asked.

"I'm trying to convince Chino to come to the batting cages tonight so he can practice a little."

"I'm not even sure if the doctor will give me the ok." Ryan told him.

"If he does, do you think you can get away?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to ask Kirsten."

"She'll probably say yes." Seth told him. "They want you to try to get out of the house."

"I'll ask her." Ryan told them as he finished his lunch and walked with Taylor to Chemistry.


After school let out, Ryan gathered the books he would need for his homework that night and walked out of the school. He spotted Kirsten already there waiting for him and went and climbed into the front of the range rover.

"Ready to get those stitches out?" she asked him as they pulled away.

"Definitely." He sighed.

"So anything interesting happen in school?"

"Not really. But Luke wants me to meet him at the batting cages later if the doctor gives me the ok."

"I think that'll be all right." She smiled at him as they pulled into the hospital parking lot and found the outpatient parking.

Kirsten and Ryan slowly made their way into the hospital and found where the Cohen's family doctor's office was. Ryan sat in one of the chairs near the back as Kirsten went to check in with the receptionist and came back with a clipboard of paperwork to fill out.

"Ok. Name…address…phone number…birth date…any allergies?" Kirsten looked over at Ryan as she read off each question.

"None that I can recall." He mumbled.

"Ok. Insurance information." She took a card out of her purse and copied down the information.

"I'm on your insurance?" Ryan looked at her astonished.

"Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?"

"I'm not-"

"You are our family." Kirsten told him firmly, knowing what he was about to say. "In all the ways that count. Got it?"

"Got it." He repeated as the door to the back rooms opened and a nurse called his name.

They both stood up and made their way to the door and slowly followed a nurse to an exam room. Ryan sat on the exam table as Kirsten sat in a nearby chair while they waited for the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Jackson. Sorry about the wait." The door opened and a man a little older than Sandy came in and smiled at them. "Kirsten, good to see you."

"Dr. Jackson." She smiled at him.

"And you must be Ryan." He turned to him. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Hi." He said softly.

"I see you've had a rough couple of weeks." He looked through the chart in his hands. "I'm sure you're ready to get those stitches out."

"Yes." He sighed as he held up his wrist. "And to get this thing off."

"One thing at a time, young man." He smiled at him.

"He's a little anxious because baseball tryouts are soon. One of his friends wants him to tryout." Kirsten told him.

"I'll see what I can do." Dr. Jackson went around behind Ryan to examine his head where the stitches were put in. "It looks like it's healed nicely."

"Would you like me to leave for this?" Kirsten looked at Ryan.

"No. Please stay." He told her.

It only took a few minutes for the doctor to remove the stitches from Ryan's head. Kirsten tried not to notice how relaxed Ryan seemed to be about the whole thing. She knew he'd ended up in the emergency room a number of times when he still lived with Dawn, but she didn't know how bad it really was. Now she thought she was starting to understand.

Dr. Jackson removed the ace bandage from his wrist an examined it before he had Ryan hold his arm straight out in front of him and rotate his wrist each way. Ryan was happy not to feel any more pain.

"Everything looks good." He wrote in his chart. "Now is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No." Ryan started off the exam table.

"Yes." Kirsten stopped him. "Yesterday, Ryan was sick all day."

"I'm fine." Ryan insisted. "I just ate too much."

"Just humor me."

"I have lots of experience dealing with Kirsten through the years." Dr. Jackson told him. "Take it from me, kid. It's better to just do what she says."

"Fine." Ryan sighed as the doctor started to examine him again.


Ryan gripped the bat tightly as he took his stance inside the metal cage. Luke was standing behind the fence as he leaned on a bench and observed. Ryan pressed the button again and prepared for the first ball to come flying out of the machine. The first ball flew out towards him, and with a crack of the bat Ryan sent it sailing against the back fence.

"Damn, Chino." Luke commented. "You haven't missed one yet. How did you get so good?"

"It's called visualization therapy." Ryan slammed another ball. "I just picture someone I really hate."

"Who do you visualize as the ball?"

"It used to be my parents and brother." He took another swing.

"And now?"

"Now I visualize the guards at that facility." He swung with all his might. "Or the so-called therapists they made me talk to."

"Dude, your phone is ringing."

"One more." Ryan took one last final swing before he turned off the ball machine and walked out of the cage to his phone. "It's Seth."

"Time to go home?" Luke asked.

"Seth?" Ryan clicked on his phone.

"Ryan, can you pick me up at Summer's? I called mom and she said she let you take the rover to the batting cages."

"Why can't Summer drop you off like she usually does?"

"She has to meet her dad for dinner at the club."

"All right. I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and turned to Luke.

"You have to go?"

"I need to pick up Seth from Summer's. Besides, Kirsten told me to be home soon anyway."

"Maybe we can do this again later on this week."

"I'll check with Sandy and Kirsten."


Sandy arrived home with some take out and found Kirsten in the kitchen getting some plates out of the cupboard.

"Hey." He greeted her. "Where are the boys?"

"Seth is at Summer's as usual. And I let Ryan have the car so he could meet Luke at the batting cages."

"So his check up went well then?"

"He's perfectly fine." She assured him. "They should be getting home soon, though."

Just then, they heard the door open and arguing coming from down the hall as the door closed. They smiled as Seth and Ryan came into them and grabbed some food and went to the table.

"So how were the batting cages?" Kirsten asked Ryan.

"Fine." He mumbled as he slowly ate. "Luke wants to meet up again sometime this week for some more practice time."

"I think that will be ok." Kirsten told him.

"There's something you should know, Ryan." Sandy looked at him across the table. "Dr. Freedman called me today."

"Why?" Ryan's head shot up and looked at both Kirsten and Sandy.

"He suggested that we do a family therapy session once a month."

"You mean-tomorrow?"

"No. Not until next week."

"Why do we have to have a group therapy session?"

"He wants us to work out all our issues as a family."

"What issues do I have?" Seth spoke up for the first time since they arrived home.

"We all have communication issues." Kirsten told him. "And we will all do this as a family."

"So now you all of a sudden feel like airing our dirty laundry to a complete stranger?" Ryan demanded.

"Ok, whoa." Sandy tried to calm Ryan down from his sudden angry outburst. "Where'd all the anger come from?"

"Maybe I don't want you to know what's going on with me. Am I not allowed to have any privacy now?"

"Of course you can." Kirsten told him. "But I think we all have some things to work on. Dr. Freedman thinks it's a good idea."

"Since when is he an expert on me? We've only had one session."

"He just wants to see how we talk to each other. How we listen-"

"I can already answer that." Ryan interrupted. "We don't. Not well anyway."

"And we hope to fix that."

"Like it's so easy." Ryan mumbled as he pushed his plate away and got up from the table. "I'm not hungry and I have homework."

The three of them sat quietly at the table as they listened to Ryan storm up the stairs and slam his door behind him. Seth glanced at his parents and they shrugged.

"He obviously has a lot more issues to deal with than we thought." Sandy sighed.

"Or maybe he's afraid that the doctor will reveal to you guys what he tells him in his private sessions." Seth said, surprising them.

"I think he might be right." Kirsten said.

"You really think that's what it is?" Sandy looked at them both.

"It's so obvious to those of us that pay attention." Seth told him.


Ryan stormed into his room and slammed the door behind him, knowing full well that they would hear it all the way downstairs. He shoved his desk chair under the door knob in case one of them tried to come into his room, and then started pacing furiously around the room. After he was able to calm himself down a little, he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Taylor? It's Ryan."

"Ryan? What's the matter?"

"I really need someone to talk to; other than the Cohen's, I mean."

"I'm free." She assured him. "My mom's at some meeting and she won't be back for a few hours at least."

"I'm on my way." He quickly put on his jacket and opened the window and shimmied his way down the side of the house and disappeared into the night.

AN: So what'd you all think? The next chapter will deal with long talks from Sandy and Kirsten, and the therapist. And maybe Caleb too. I'm not sure yet, though. Please R&R!