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: I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted, but things were really hectic with the holidays. Hope everyone had a good Christmas for those who celebrate it. Anyway, please review!
To tcsportsmed7: I explained a little bit about why Ryan's appetite in this chapter. It's not what you thought it would be, but hopefully you're happy with this. And thank you for being such a loyal follower and reviewer of this story.
Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.
Chapter 11: A Little Reveal
Tuesday morning was a late start for everyone. Sandy and Kirsten both slept through their alarms and had to force both boys out of bed. Seth made it down to the kitchen and saw Kirsten pouring another cup of coffee for herself. She offered him some and he took the mug and sat at the counter.
"Is Ryan still sleeping?" he looked at her.
"He was up earlier." She told him. "Rosa said he had his breakfast earlier."
"So he's avoiding us." He sighed.
"I don't think he got much sleep last night."
"You know, I really want to be there for him." He told her.
"I know. We all do." She sat down beside him.
"But I really have no idea what to say to him."
"You just need to be there for him. We keep telling him we're here for him, but don't push him too hard. Eventually he'll want to open up to us."
"Ryan? Open up?"
"It'll take time, of course. A lot of time probably. But we need to let him know that we'll all be here for him."
Sandy cautiously opened Ryan's door as he heard him talking in a low voice. He stepped into the room and saw him on his cell phone. Ryan saw him standing there and quickly told the person on the other end good-bye.
"Sorry." He looked back at him. "I was asking Taylor if she wouldn't mind taking me to school. If it's ok with you guys, I mean."
"That's fine." Sandy assured him. "Why don't you want to continue to get rides from Summer?"
"I don't like being the third wheel. And those two have to make out for at least five minutes before we even leave the driveway."
"I can understand that." He sat down beside him on the bed. "So how are you doing today?"
"I'm fine. Really." He told him. "And I don't feel like talking with you about it anymore. I already have to talk about it after school with Dr. Freedman."
"Ok. No more talking." He assured him. "But just know that if you ever need to talk, we're all here for you ok?"
"I know. Thank you."
"Not a problem." Sandy glanced down at his watch. "I need to get going. I'll pick you up at 3:30."
"Got it." Ryan watched him leave his room and gathered all his books for school and made his way back downstairs.
Ryan waved to Summer as he walked past her car to Taylor's car who had just pulled up the driveway as well. Ryan got into the passenger seat as Seth came out of the house and got into Summer's car.
"And they're off…" Ryan mumbled as he saw Seth and Summer start to make out as Taylor pulled out of the driveway. "That's one of the reasons why I called you to pick me up. Thank you, by the way."
"Not a problem." She smiled at him. "So how are you today?"
"We talked once I walked through the door." He told her. "I don't think I got much sleep last night. And I have more talking to do this afternoon."
"It'll be good for you in the long run." She told him.
"I know you're probably right." He sighed as they pulled up to the school and they made their way inside.
The school day seemed to go by in a blur for Ryan, and sooner than he wanted to he was waiting outside for Sandy to pick him up for his therapist session. The BMW pulled into the school parking lot and Ryan got into the front passenger seat without saying a word.
"How was school?" Sandy asked him.
"Fine." He mumbled.
"You can't offer up anything else?"
"Nope."
"Ok." The rest of the car ride was silent with Ryan in full on brooding mood and Sandy drumming his fingers on the steering wheel until they pulled up to the doctor's office.
Ryan silently walked into the therapist's office and sat in the same chair as last time. Dr. Freedman came in and smiled at him.
"Good afternoon, Ryan." He sat across from him.
"The Cohen's called you about last night, didn't they?" Ryan stared at him.
"Sandy called this afternoon and informed me what all went on last night."
"Is this where you lecture me?"
"No. I figured that you talked about it much longer than you wanted to last night."
"You got that right." Ryan mumbled.
"So I decided we can talk about it at a later date. I actually wanted you to talk about the Cohen's today."
"We already did that my last session."
"I want to go more in depth about your relationship with each of them." He explained to him. "Why don't we start with Sandy?"
So Ryan spent the entire session talking about his relationship with Sandy; how they met, what he felt for him then and now, and any issues he may have with him. Ryan eventually walked out of the therapist's office and Sandy followed him out to the parking lot after receiving an encouraging nod from Dr. Freedman.
"So how'd it go?" Sandy asked him.
"Exhausting." Ryan mumbled. "I want to go home and sleep."
"I don't think you'll be able to do that right away."
"Why?"
"Kirsten didn't want me to tell you this until after your session in case you tried to plan your escape."
"What's going on, Sandy?"
"Caleb's at the house right now for the first of your weekly dinners with him." He told him.
"This day just keeps getting worse and worse." Ryan mumbled.
"We'll suffer through it together." They reached the house and noticed Caleb's shiny car parked right beside the range rover. "Let's get this over and done with."
Ryan climbed out of the car and slowly followed Sandy into the house. He heard Sandy and Kirsten greet each other in the kitchen and Caleb's gruff reply. He heard video games from the den and knew that Seth must be home already. He started into the kitchen, but stopped in his tracks when he smelt the aroma that was making his stomach churn.
"Hey, Ryan." Kirsten smiled at him. "How was your day?"
"It was tolerable up until a few moments ago." He mumbled as he spotted the take-out containers. "Is that fish?"
"Yeah."
"Ryan," Caleb came from setting the table.
"Mr. Nichol," he went to go around him. "I'm going to talk to Seth."
"And he couldn't even last five minutes in the same room with me." Caleb looked at Kirsten and Sandy. "You really think we can last through an entire meal at the same table?"
"Baby steps, dad." Kirsten told him as she set everything out on the table.
"Come and get it, guys." Sandy called and he heard the TV turn off and a few moments later, Seth and Ryan came in and sat at the table.
"Help yourself, Ryan." Kirsten told him as she noticed that all he took was a salad. "We have plenty."
"I don't like fish." He told her softly.
"Since when?"
"Since for awhile now. I guess I never told you." He mumbled as he started to eat. "I'll take seconds of salad."
"So how's school going, Ryan?" Caleb asked after a stern look from Kirsten.
"Fine." He mumbled.
"And your therapy sessions?"
"Fine."
"And you're still trying out for baseball?"
"Yep."
"So who was that girl I saw you with at the Valentine's Day Dance?"
"Taylor Townsend. She's my chemistry lab partner."
"Anything going on with you two?"
"No." he sighed. "Can I be excused yet?"
"Me, too?" Seth looked at his parents, thinking he could get Ryan to talk to him without the parental units around.
"You didn't even eat half of what's on your plate." Kirsten told them both.
"We're all staying here at the table until everyone is done." Sandy told them. "Now offer up some kind of way to contribute to the conversation, both of you."
"Like what?" Ryan mumbled.
"Think of something."
"Ryan, you're not eating." Kirsten observed.
"I lost my appetite." He said.
"You need to eat some more. You said you would eat seconds."
"I don't want to be here." He mumbled as he took a big mouthful of salad.
"None of us do really." Sandy told him.
"Sandy," Kirsten shot him a look.
"Be honest, honey. This is a forced dinner."
"This one maybe. But Ryan and my father need to get to know each other."
"Neither one of them is comfortable here."
"Where is Ryan?" Caleb asked suddenly, and they noticed his chair empty.
"I think he's in the bathroom." Seth told them. "He was looking a little green while you were all arguing."
"Do you think he's sick again?" Sandy asked.
"That's probably why he only wanted a salad." Kirsten sighed. "I'll go check on him."
Kirsten ascended the stairs and started to go into Ryan's room. The room looked to be unoccupied, but she heard a noise coming from the bathroom that sounded like someone gagging. She knocked briefly before slowly opening the door and saw Ryan bent over the toilet as green bile escaped from his stomach.
"Ryan," she knelt beside him as he slowly sat up and looked over at her.
"Sorry." He told her softly.
"Don't apologize for getting sick."
"I don't think I'm sick. Not really." He attempted to stand up.
"Here. Let me help you." She helped him stand up and waited until his legs stabilized before she walked him out of the bathroom and helped him to sit on his bed. "Better?"
"Yeah."
"So if you're not sick, what happened?"
"It was the fish. I really don't like fish."
"When did you start not liking fish?" Kirsten had a feeling she knew what the answer was, but wanted to hear it from Ryan.
"Since I was in that place." He said softly and Kirsten knew he was referring to the facility.
"Would you like to elaborate for me?"
"The entire place reeked of rotten fish. I felt sick to my stomach the moment I stepped inside."
"But we've had fish a few times since you got out of that place. What was so different this time?"
"Mr. Nichol-he smelled like cigars."
"Yes, he smokes them occasionally."
"One of the guards-he smelled like cigars all the time-he was the one that was in charge of 'disciplining' everyone. Tonight kind of brought a few things back for me."
"Ok. You just rest." She got off the bed and he slowly lay back. "I'll go find something to help settle your stomach."
"Ok." He said softly as he watched her leave the room.
Sandy looked up as he heard someone descend the stairs. Seth and Caleb looked back as well when Kirsten rushed into the room.
"I need to borrow someone's laptop." She stated. "Is there one down here?"
"Mine is in my office." Sandy told her and she rushed out again and returned with it.
"What's going on?" Caleb asked as they all got up from the table.
"I need to look something up." She told them as she set the laptop on the counter and opened up the search engine.
"What are you looking up?" Sandy asked her.
"I need to know what the symptoms are for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."
"Why do you need to look that up?"
"I think Ryan might have it."
"You think Ryan has PTSD?" Seth asked.
"Why would you think that?" Sandy asked.
"He told me he doesn't like fish because the facility smelled like rotten fish the whole time he was there. And he could smell the cigars on you, dad. He said one of the guards smelled like that; the guard that was in charge of discipline."
"Oh." They all looked at each other as Kirsten typed on the computer.
"Here it is. Causes of PTSD include assault, abuse, prison stay…"
"Ok. There is a chance that he could have it." Sandy said.
"Symptoms to look for; reliving the event that disrupts day-to-day activity, flashback events, repeated memories, repeated nightmares, avoidance, feeling detached, lack of interest in normal activities, avoiding other people or places, difficulty concentrating, irritability, trouble sleeping…"
"Ok. It's definitely something we should look into." Sandy said. "I'll call Dr. Freedman tomorrow."
"Where is he now?" Caleb asked.
"He's up in his room." Kirsten closed the laptop. "I told him I'd bring him something for his stomach."
"Do you think this was why he was sick last weekend?" Seth asked.
"Maybe. We'll look into it." Kirsten found what she was looking for and started back upstairs.
Kirsten slowly walked into Ryan's room and saw that he was lying with his back facing the door. She went around to the other side of the bed so that she was facing him and saw his eyes half-closed.
"Ryan?" she knelt down in front of him. "Are you still awake?"
"Yeah." He said softly as he looked at her. "Tired."
"I brought you some ginger ale and Dramamine for your stomach."
"I'm feeling better." He told her.
"Take some anyway. Just in case."
"Ok." He sat up a little and took the Dramamine and sipped some of the ginger ale before lying back down and drifting off to sleep.
Kirsten stayed with him for a few minutes after he fell asleep. She took his hand as she brushed his unruly bangs out of his eyes. She noticed Sandy standing in the door motioning for her to join him in the hall. She nodded and stood up as she draped a blanket over Ryan's sleeping form and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"What's going on?" she asked Sandy once she had closed Ryan's door behind her.
"I called Dr. Jackson and told him what we thought. He wants us to bring him in tomorrow afternoon." He told her. "I also called Dr. Freedman. He'll meet us at Dr. Jackson's tomorrow."
"Both of them at the same time?" she asked. "He hates doctors as it is. He's going to feel overwhelmed."
"But if it'll help him-"
"We have to do it. I know." She sighed. "He's already been through so much in his life. How much more will he have to endure?"
"I don't know." He held her as they both walked to their bedroom to discuss it further.
AN: So what'd you all think? I'm not really sure about it myself. But I wanted to post a new chapter for you guys. Anyway, please review!
