AN Thanks for the reviews, big thank you to the anonymous reviewer for your feedback- it's so much appreciated. I'm glad what I try to get across in the story works–makes it very satisfying and me very happy to get those nice words and encouragement

Ryan had carefully watched and listened to the man in the room. Something about him made him think maybe he wasn't a threat, hope that maybe he was good. Ryan quickly threw those thoughts away – he knew no one could be trusted. But as the man walked away he'd got a strange feeling of urgency and from his lips slipped his name "…Ryan" He quickly berated himself and turned away from the door hoping the man – Sandy – hadn't heard him or would just ignore him. Instead he heard a gentle "Thanks Ryan" which made something in his chest catch, a feeling he didn't really understand.

When Sandy left the room he headed to the nurse's station. The nurse he'd spoken to earlier was there and seeing him, she asked "How did it go? Did he speak to you?"

Sandy replied "Not really, he seemed very nervous, maybe he's still confused from the head injuries. He whispered his name though– Ryan."

The nurse wrote this down presumably on the boy's file. "Thank you sir." She said.

"Look, what happens if you can't get a hold of his family? If he doesn't tell you anything?" Sandy asked.

"With his injuries we'll need to keep him here and monitor him for at least 48 hours. During that time we will continue to try and find a contact. I'm sure something will come up but as a last resort state services will be contacted and he will be put in their care if no one can be found or until his family is located."

Sandy thought about this for a moment before asking "Am I able to be notified of any news concerning him?"

The nurse hesitated, giving Sandy a strange look; she wasn't sure why this man was so interested in the boy. "Sorry sir, we can't provide details to non family members. You are able to visit but only with a nurse present."

"I understand." Sandy said "I'm just concerned for him, he could've been killed."

The nurse nodded understandingly. She knew there were dangerous people in the Chino area and felt sorry for the boy, he looked like an alright kid and no kid deserved to be treated like he obviously had been. Of course there was suspicion of abuse from the family, it wasn't uncommon to see in the hospital but this was an extreme case if it was. More likely this was gang related, she thought, or a deal gone wrong. Kid shouldn't have gotten involved in whatever he had but there wasn't much anyone could do for him now. When he recovered he'd either be back in the same circle or someone might finish off what they started with him today. It was sad but you got used to these ideas living here.

Sandy had to return to Chino again tomorrow to finish up with the client he'd talked to today. If they were keeping the boy in hospital for a couple of days he'd drop in to check on him tomorrow. He told the nurse this before finally leaving and making the long trip home.

He arrived back in Newport at 9pm. Kirsten didn't seem too annoyed at him which he took as a good sign. He talked to Seth briefly about his day before grabbing some cold dinner in the kitchen. Kirsten sipped at her coffee while he ate.

"So how did it go with the boy?" She asked. "You never said what happened to him." Kirsten had guessed, knowing the area her husband had been in to today, but wanted to know details.

Sandy finished his mouthful before speaking, his eyebrows pulling together "Poor kid, I saw him on the curb, out cold as I was heading home. There was no one around but he was beat up real bad." Sandy stopped and took a deep breath. Kirsten moved and rubbed her small hand up and down his back, her face a reflection of his concern and sadness. "I called an ambulance and followed them to the hospital, it took a couple hours for them to do the x-rays. When I could finally see him he was dosed up on painkillers and other medication, kinda out of it. When he saw me though he snapped to - seemed real jumpy. I tried to ask him a couple things, figure out what had happened but he wasn't talking, he tried to hide it but I could see how scared he was Kirsten."

Hearing the recount Kirsten couldn't help feeling sorry for the boy. She thought of Seth and was horrified imagining anything similar happening to him. They still didn't know how or why this had happened though. Kirsten reminded herself that it wasn't a good area up there and that this kid could be a criminal, could be involved in some really bad stuff. Sandy was likely to take pity on anyone who seemed in trouble but Kirsten had to keep a hold on reality. Still, she knew that anyone could become involved in a bad situation if put in awful circumstances. A child should be protected from that and given safety and a loving environment to grow up in.

"What's going to happen now?" She asked, arm around her husband's waist and leaning into him.

"Well the hospital can't find his family and he isn't talking. They're keeping him for observation, he had some broken ribs, some internal bleeding and a concussion." Kirsten winced at the list of injuries. "They seemed confident they'd find some sort of contact but if not they mentioned involving state services." He finished grimly.

Kirsten nodded. There was silence for a minute as Sandy took another bite of dinner.

"I have to head back up that way again tomorrow, I'm going to check in on him then." Sandy said quietly.

Kirsten hesitated for a moment, worried for her husband "Are you sure that's a good idea honey? There isn't much you can do for him. You might just end up disappointed if nothing can be resolved."

"I have to do something Kirsten. It would kill me just to ignore what's happened. What if he's in real trouble, what if he really needs help? If I just let it go and something happened…I couldn't do it honey. He seemed so scared, I know he's a good kid, he's just stuck in a bad situation, and I'm gonna help if I can." The words spilled from Sandy's mouth, voicing all he'd been feeling since he saw the kid, saying it only made him believe more strongly in it.

That night Ryan got another visitor. "Hey is my brother here? Where's Ryan?" Trey almost shouted as he approached a nurse who was walking through the waiting room.

"Sir you need to calm down, you can check at reception for your brother." The nurse pointed at the counter and Trey barged past her towards it.

"Ryan. Ryan Atwood. Is he here?" Trey snapped at the lady behind the desk. She could faintly smell alcohol on his breath and noted the glassy look in his eyes.

"Let me check for you." She said calmly, knowing it was best not to anger a potentially volatile person. "How old is he?" She asked

Trey hesitated, thinking for a second "18, he's 18" he said confidently.

"We've got a boy in who we presume is named Ryan, he isn't speaking and has no ID. We believe he's closer to 16 though." The woman said. "You can step in and see if it's him if you like."

"Yea let's go." Trey replied loudly and impatiently.

Another lady walked an edgy Trey to the boy's room and let him in.

"Ry!" Trey almost shouted as he approached the bed, the woman tried to quiet him but he wasn't paying attention to her.

Ryan startled awake, jumping up in the bed and cringing when it jarred his ribs painfully. His eyes locked onto his brother's. "Trey…?" he said weakly

"Yea man, come on let's get out of here, we got stuff to do, this aint no holiday," Trey was getting his stuff together then went to pull a dazed Ryan's IV drip out. The lady behind him shouted "You can't do that, stop!" and grabbed his arm. Trey flung his arm up to get out of her grasp and in doing so slapped her in the face. She fell to the ground as security personnel rushed in, having been called when the woman saw that Trey intended to take Ryan. The men grabbed Trey who started to put up a fight but in his somewhat drunk state they quickly got him in a secure hold and forced him from the room. Someone had come to help the lady on the ground. Ryan collapsed back on the bed, unsure of what exactly had just happened. As he tried to figure it out, his medicine cocktail was pushing him back to a deep sleep. What did Trey mean 'stuff to do' he wondered. Then it struck him - what Trey had been talking about for weeks. Ryan had refused but Trey insisted when the time came he'd be involved. I can't escape this shit, even in here. Ryan thought as he was lost again to medicated sleep.