Heyyy guys! Sorry for not updating, I'm kinda notorious for it =S But I got a lovely new review (thankyou Katherine!) which inspired me to write more-they really do work!
Previously: "Sandy…" She breathed out, perturbed. "Well what are we going to do now?" She challenged him.
Good question Sandy thought to himself. He knew the standard procedure in a case such as this. He would take Ryan to Social Services Monday and they would take over from there; asses his situation and with his history and current injuries he could likely end up a making his way into the foster system. Alternatively (and perhaps worse, Sandy wasn't sure) they would allow him to return home to his mother and the life that had caused his current terrible state.
Sandy really wasn't keen on either of those options but had yet to come up with an alternative plan. He guessed they'd just see how the weekend went, perhaps he'd think of a miracle solution.
To Kirsten he said "I need to get in touch with Social Services Monday and we'll go from there. Until then we've got him."
Kirsten sighed, worried and unsure. "Well how did you set him up last night?" She asked.
Sandy gave a slightly blank look.
"Well did you give him towels, toothbrush, a change of clothes?" She elaborated.
"It wasn't exactly a normal situation Kirsten, I was kind of preoccupied with just making sure he got some rest and didn't do anything to hurt himself more. He's a little skittish." Sandy said. Understatement of the century he thought.
Kirsten wanted to see this boy for herself, to know who was staying in her house, who had gotten so far under her husband's skin. "Ok well I'll get Rosie and we'll all take some things in." She made to leave to find the maid.
Sandy had to think fast "Uh Kirsten, I'd wait a bit. The kid really needs his rest and I don't think he'll be getting up and about to shower or change for a while yet, how about in a couple hours?" Sandy could only imagine Ryan's reaction if strange people barged in while he was sleeping offering him things and making introductions. Plus there was the state he was in, Sandy didn't think he was up to any of it with his pain and fatigue and he was sure he wouldn't be venturing out of bed in search of a shower or anything for as long as he could help it.
Kirsten gave him a suspicious look but conceded. "Ok, two hours." And she went to fix herself some breakfast.
Poor kid Sandy thought, he wanted him to have some real peace and quiet for longer. He imagined Kirsten's introduction wouldn't exactly be calming for him. Sandy knew his wife probably wouldn't be able to help but judge him at first and he knew Ryan wouldn't react well. He'd try and prepare him before they met; he had to wake him in another two hours anyway to check his concussion.
Two hours later at 8am, Seth was of course still asleep and Sandy was heading out to the pool house before The Kirsten to give Ryan some more paracetamol and check how he was doing.
Ryan had slept fitfully through his pain for about an hour before giving up and lying wide awake in the bed. He tried to breathe through his pounding headache with no relief for the next hour. The pain from his head mostly dulled the other aches and it was all he could think of, the icepack had worked a little but was now just warm liquid. Occasionally he remembered that at least he wasn't in Chino with AJ's wrath and he knew he was dam lucky so he tried to endure the pain without bitterness but it never lasted long, it overwhelmed him and he fell back into a thought cycle that mainly revolved around fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, it hurts so fucking much! I fucking hate this, fuuuuckkk!
After what felt like an eternity, the sound of the door opening set his nerves on edge and distracted slightly from the cycle of agony. He saw Sandy enter quietly and struggled to sit up, discovering the other pains were still very much alive and kicking as he did so. He tried not to grimace.
"Hey Ryan" Sandy said, pleased not to find the boy in a similar horrible state as earlier that morning but worried that he hadn't got any rest. "You get any sleep?"
"A bit." Ryan mumbled.
Sandy doubted him. "I've got some more paracetamol." He said moving slowly to the bed where Ryan watched him like a hawk. He offered the pills and the glass of water he'd brought which Ryan took readily, hoping for some relief, his fast movement though causing a jolt through his ribs he hoped he concealed.
Once Ryan had taken the pills and Sandy had retrieved the glass, he stepped back and sat down in a chair.
Ryan was instantly more uneasy, why was he sitting down? What was he gonna say? Do? Was his time up?
Sandy saw the change in Ryan and quickly tried to put him at ease. "Everything's fine Ryan I just want to tell you what's gonna happen today."
It didn't put Ryan at ease. Sandy was again saddened to see him so afraid of what might happen, he shouldn't have to carry that constant weight.
"My wife Kirsten would like to meet you and our maid Rosie is going to bring in some fresh supplies for you- towels and stuff."
Ryan interjected quietly "I'm fine, I don't need anything, really."
Sandy had expected that "Kid you couldn't stop them if you tried and it's really no problem."
Ryan still looked very uneasy. "Is that ok Ryan?"
He hesitated a long second "You've already done too much for me…" he said, embarrassed.
"It's what anyone should do Ryan, try to believe me, I'm glad I can help." Sandy replied.
"I feel like I should give you a bit of a heads up about my wife." Sandy started.
Ryan kept a steady stare on Sandy, bracing himself.
"She can come across a bit… severe" Sandy waited for a reaction; he shouldn't have been surprised he didn't get one.
"But really she's ok, I Promise." Sandy continued "You can rest here as much as you want. Tomorrow night is the soonest you can have stronger meds I'm sorry." Ryan's heart fell, how was he gonna make it till then? Then he picked up on something – did that mean he was allowed to stay here until tomorrow night? He really didn't remember much from last night what with the haze of coming down from the drug. What was the deal here?
He didn't get long to think before Sandy dropped another bomb on him. "We also have a son, Seth, he's your age and curious as hell so it might not be too long before you meet him. He can be a little intense, you know, talks a lot." Sandy told him. He didn't know if Seth would want to meet this boy or not, he knew he didn't do too well with kids his own age at school but he felt he should warn Ryan just in case.
Ryan took all the information in without giving anything away. Another kid? His age? He immediately perceived more danger here than before. Guys back in Chino were mostly all competition, everyone out for themselves and if you didn't show you were strong they'd rip you to shreds. He obviously wasn't exactly looking strong right now and he cursed his injuries.
Sandy gave him a moment to process and when it was clear there would be no response, he asked "Is it alright if Kirsten and Rosie come in now?"
What could Ryan say – it was this guy's house, he could do what he wanted. He opted for a nod and small shrug of his shoulders.
"I'll just go get them then." He said with a reassuring smile.
When he left, Ryan's head started to spin. From the pounding but also from this whole situation; it was all so freaking surreal! He really didn't know what the deal was - how long would he stay? Then the obvious prospect of Child Services hit him – shit! That was one of the reasons he hadn't wanted to go with this guy – how had he forgotten about that? Ryan guessed the drug stupor hadn't helped. All these problems started dawning on him. Sure it was great to be in a big comfortable bed in a mansion (well a house attached to a mansion) but what the fuck was he gonna do now? This Sandy guy must've agreed to take him to the department or something so he could get out of the hospital with him, he still wasn't sure how all that had worked. He couldn't go into foster care, no way, there was no freaking way!
He was so far out of his comfort zone here. As amazing as this place was, he shouldn't be here. It didn't feel right, like he was doing something so wrong just by being here and he was gonna have to pay for it sooner or later. But Sandy… he seemed… ok. He'd helped him, hadn't done anything to hurt him… No, no, no, no! He couldn't let himself trust this guy. He hadn't done anything to hurt him – yet. They always did. He'd have to get out of here. Soon.
He saw Sandy returning with what he presumed was Kirsten and the maid – of course they have a freaking maid, everything was so different here! He'd have to work out his plan of escape after this. He pulled himself up to standing; he wouldn't be sitting - weak - for more strangers. He fought through the pain and leaned heavily against the bed head – he wasn't real sure how he'd just done that but he pushed the driving pain away to school his features as the three adults entered.
Kirsten tried to disguise her look of shock when she saw Ryan but it was too late, he'd seen her eyes widen and her step falter as if she were literally repelled by him.
Ryan showed no sign of noticing but felt anger curling inside him – a gut reaction to adults who acted negatively towards him. He was getting out of there as soon as he could.
Sandy had picked up on the body language of both his wife and Ryan and inwardly groaned that Kirsten couldn't control her reaction. He knew the kid was in bad shape, bruises colored most of his face and where they didn't he was pale as a sheet and a light film of sweat covered his face, presumably from the pain he struggled with. But he'd warned her and asked her not to make a deal out of it.
Kirsten was honestly just shocked at the state of the boy. How was he standing with the way he looked? As wary as she was of him and his background and intentions, she wanted him rest - to sit down before he fell down.
She tried to brush over her initial reaction "Hello Ryan, I'm Kirsten, Sandy's wife."
Ryan forced himself to look her in the eye and not lower his gaze like he desperately wanted to. He gave a small nod.
"I'm glad Sandy was able to help you, I hope you'll start feeling better soon. Rosie here has some fresh towels and we found some old clothes of our son Seth for you to change into." She didn't realize she'd practically said he should change until the words were already out.
Ryan couldn't help his eyes dropping for a second. He was suddenly so much more self conscious of the way he must appear.
Kirsten didn't know what to do so tried to continue "There's some other bits and pieces: toothbrush, soap, you know…" She trailed off.
The room was incredibly awkward for a long moment.
Finally Ryan mumbled "Thanks." And Kirsten and Rosie excused themselves.
The moment they'd gone from view, Ryan slipped down onto the edge of the bed, trying to conceal heavy breathes.
Sandy wanted to see how the kid was doing, but judging by the amount of times he himself had inwardly cringed while Kirsten was in the room; it hadn't been great for Ryan.
"Soo…" Sandy tested.
It wasn't like Ryan was gonna say anything- he knew how lucky he was here. The fact that this guy's wife thought he was scum sucked but that was her right, compared to around here, he was. He just hoped she didn't convince her husband to get rid of him right now, he was so friggen tired and sore...
So he didn't say anything to Sandy, the trademark Atwood silence all the way - don't do anything to fuck this up more.
Sandy sighed sadly "She's not that bad really, she's just new to this sort of thing..." He tried to explain.
"Messed up street kids crashing her house?" Ryan muttered before he could stop himself. Shit.
Sandy was surprised to hear anything let alone the longest sentence he thought the boy had said to him yet. But he recovered quickly.
"That's not what you are Ryan. You're a good kid who's been put in bad situation – none of this is your fault."
Ryan looked more uncomfortable than ever.
"We're honestly just glad to help a little."
Ryan wished he could disappear. He didn't deserve the help they were offering and he wasn't a good person – he was Chino trash, had been all his life. The people back home knew that. He felt guilty that this guy thought he was something more, like he was lying to him by not setting him straight. It made him real uneasy, this guy saying this stuff. But he needed this break he'd caught, just a day or so to get back on top; he couldn't face AJ or Trey or Chino so weak. Of course being with strangers wasn't exactly ideal but compared to the alternative...
Just a day... then he'd ditch and get back where he belonged...
Sandy saw how awkward he'd made Ryan and his face fell. He'd make this kid believe what he'd said. Somehow he'd do it.
I never get very far in these chapters.. I have a whole day in mind for the story but only get through a couple hours =S lol
Hope you liked it anyway!