Disclaimer: The OC belongs to someone with much more money than me.

Author's note: See? I updated. I think we should all focus on that fact, not the small matter of the week it took me to complete said update.

The reviews for the last two chapters were amazing. I was so uptight about them, and your kind words reminded me that I started this story for fun. Support is a beautiful thing.

Thanks Liz for a quick beta. I changed a few things, mistakes I readily own up to.

Thanks everyone for reading.

Love it or hate it, here is the next chapter.

------------------------------------------

Thursday Afternoon

Chapter Sixteen

------------------------------------------

Ryan stands in the hospital hallway, sullen, head down.

Kirsten, still observing from the sidelines, is not altogether sure what occurred between the teenager and her husband in Seth's hospital room, but obviously something of significance has. She watches as Sandy navigates the remainder of the corridor to where Ryan remains motionless. He reaches up and places an arm around the boy's right shoulder, pats him on the back, and indicates with a shift of his head that the two of them should walk into the waiting room area. The lawyer barely whispers, "Come on." Ryan accepts Sandy's closeness, doesn't repeal the gesture of affection, walks with Sandy into the lounge and gloomily sits down.

"Were going to get something to drink and then go back to Seth's room alright Ryan?" Sandy tells the teenager. Ryan nods.

Sandy buys three bottles of water, hands one to Kirsten, locks eyes with her and places a second bottle of water in his wife's hands.

Kirsten smiles at her husband and makes her way over to the chair Ryan is sitting in. She holds out the extra bottle to her foster son. "Let's go wait for Seth," she suggests gently.

Ryan grasps the bottle but doesn't take it from her right away. Instead he looks up, maintains eye contact for a moment, and then says timidly, "Thank you."

The three of them walk together to Seth's room.

It's funny, Kirsten thinks to herself, just how many things can be said without actually being said at all.

-----------------------------------------

Seth's hospital room is small with only one chair. Sandy settles for the edge of Seth's bed, Ryan the floor in a corner. Kirsten accepts the lone chair after a small protest.

Sandy clears his throat, takes a swig from his water bottle and then asks Ryan, "I'd like to discuss Ed Carden a little bit more, Ryan. Are you comfortable with that?"

Ryan mutters, "Yes." He looks entirely exhausted, beaten down. This isn't what Sandy wants. He doesn't want a submissive, defeated Ryan. Sandy just wants the boy to listen and come to terms with what has happened today and how it might affect his future. He wants Ryan to talk to them, not run away or cope by brooding. If Ryan is to become a permanent member of the Cohen family, he has to learn that Sandy's family supports each other, cares for each other, takes the time to listen and hear what the other is saying.

"Ryan, I'm asking you how you want to handle this? You're smart enough to know that this...situation... isn't going to go away. We have to talk about it. What I'm asking is, are there any parameters, boundaries you want to establish? Anything off-limits that you don't want to discuss?"

Ryan raises his eyebrows and looks at Sandy skeptically, drops his head. Sandy gets the message. Ryan really doesn't want to hear or talk about any of this.

Not to be deterred, Sandy tries a prompt. "For example, in our conversation a few minutes ago, you seemed particularly motivated not to hear about your father's drug use."

Ryan's head pops up. "That," he rushes out, then slows, "I don't want to hear anything about that."

Sandy nods in acknowledgement, "Ok, well, that's not completely necessary to the story, so I suppose we could skip the whole substance abuse thing, fast forward to Ed's relationship with your mother."

"Or that," Ryan jumps in, adds anxiously, "I don't want to hear about that...either."

"Okay," Sandy says slowly, throws a helpless glance in Kirsten's direction. How the hell is he supposed to discuss Ryan's possible parentage without discussing the affair that led up to it?

Kirsten senses her husband's discomfort and takes over. "Ryan, do you just want to know if it is possible that Ed Carden could be your father?"

His head still aimed at the floor, Ryan nods and says softly, "Yes."

Kirsten takes a deep breath and continues. "According to the information that Mr. Carden has provided to Sandy, it's a possibility he may be your biological father. There's only a probability Ryan, absolutely nothing has been proven yet. It's important to keep that in mind. There's no factual proof, just a few things that your mother shared with Mr. Carden today and that he in turn has passed on to Sandy."

Ryan nods an understanding to Kirsten's words but looks up at Sandy, asks with apprehension, "Do you think he is?"

Sandy takes another sip of water. "I think Kirsten's right Ryan; we have to take this whole thing slow, there are several tests we should conduct before we even begin to..."

Ryan interrupts him. "I understand all that. Do you think he could be...?" Ryan falters, searching for the right words, and then finishes with, "Do you think he is?"

Sandy squirms on the side of the hospital bed, shifts his position. "Ryan, give me a break here, I only met the guy for a few minutes this afternoon."

The hospital room is silent, Sandy stares at his water bottle, Ryan at the floor.

"Sandy," Kirsten breaks the silence, "I think what Ryan is asking..."

"I know what he's asking Kirsten," Sandy interjects. "All I'm saying is, it's not an easy question. I don't feel qualified to answer it."

Sandy fixes his eyes on his wife, sees her disapproving look. Of course he has an opinion, he already shared it with her. Yes, he thinks Ed is Ryan's father. He's just not sure how to tell Ryan. He's not even sure if it's his place to do so.

"Sandy," Kirsten urges him, points her head towards Ryan, mouths silently, 'Tell him.'

Ryan seems to sense the unspoken conversation between his guardians. He raises his head, looks expectantly at Sandy. Waits.

Sandy gets off the bed, walks over to Ryan's corner, sits down on the floor next to the boy and sighs.

"Honest opinion? Yeah, I think there's a likelihood he could be your biological father. There are some physical similarities between the two of you. But uh, Carden showed me a picture of one of his kids Ryan, a little boy. I've got to tell you, the resemblance is amazing."

Ryan listens to Sandy's words, absorbs their meaning. "Okay," the teen says quietly, lowers his head, "Thank you."

"Do you have anything else you'd like to discuss Ryan?" Kirsten asks. She's so excited that the teenager is actually communicating with them that it's hard for her not to sound enthusiastic.

Ryan hesitates, and then adds one more question, "You only found out this afternoon right, and you would have told me tonight?"

"Yes," Sandy answers immediately, "Absolutely, I promise. Never, would Kirsten or I have kept something like this from you Ryan, never."

The teen nods, more to himself than anyone else. "Okay."

"So what do we do now?" Kirsten inquires, hoping to bring some normalcy to the situation. Having a plan always helps. Well, at least it helps her.

The three of them sit motionless, considering Kirsten's question as if the fate of the world depends on the answer.

A minute passes before Sandy casually suggests, "We could eat."

Kirsten drops her shoulders and throws a disapproving stare at her husband. He knows damn well that was not what she was asking. It's important that they resolve the next step. Decide how to handle the latest drama foisted on Ryan.

"I could eat," Ryan nods in agreement, his voice still reserved but closer to normal than anything he has said in the last couple of hours.

"Honey," Sandy attempts to beg for forgiveness, "The child is hungry. We already have one hospitalized. Let's not kill this one from lack of nourishment."

Kirsten gives up trying to refocus the conversation. Ryan is talking and conveying an actual need. She'll temporarily settle for food in lieu of meaningful dialogue.

As they exit the hospital room, Ryan pulls away from them and stops in the doorway. He looks uncertainly between the two Cohens.

"Um," he begins, "Seth could come back." Ryan points into the empty room. "I should uh..."

"Ryan," Kirsten intercedes, "Do you want us to bring you back something?"

"Yes, please," he answers, relief evident in his voice. "Anything's fine." He graces them with a quick flash of a smile, "I'll just...go wait for Seth."

He disappears back into Seth's hospital room.

---------------------------------------------

Sandy and Kirsten make their way down the corridor in search of the hospital cafeteria.

"That may have been perhaps the most uncomfortable conversation I have ever been a party to," Sandy tells Kirsten.

"Really?" Kirsten teases him. "More uncomfortable than when we told my parents that we getting married?"

"Well," Sandy shrugs.

"More uncomfortable than when Hailey called from a payphone in San Pedro asking you if turning herself over to the cops was better than waiting for a warrant to be issued?"

Sandy starts to devise an answer but pauses, stumped.

"More uncomfortable," Kirsten raises her voice a little, "Than the time that Julie Cooper came over at midnight asking if we had any Vaseline?"

"Oh God," Sandy halts, holds a hand up and recoils from the memory. "Stop... right there. I surrender, you win, I admit it, I've had more uncomfortable conversations."

Kirsten smiles in triumph, swats her husband on the backside, feels a little better for the first time all night.

"I think you handled it magnificently honey," she assures him.

--------------------------------------

Seth is rolled back into his room and finds Ryan waiting alone, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

After getting settled into his original hospital bed, he greets Ryan with, "Hi. I'm back. Did you miss me? Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

Ryan stares at Seth, mouth slightly agape.

"What?" Seth urges, "Did something good happen? What'd I miss?"

Ryan shakes his head in an effort to clear the irony of Seth's inquiry out of his brain.

He answers "No, nothing, you missed nothing. Aren't you supposed to be asleep or sedated or something?"

Seth looks at Ryan with guilt. "I threw up all the water you gave me. No pills tonight for me my friend. My new nurse, whom I am referring to as Not- As-Nice-As- Nurse-Kelly, ran off to see if she could hook me up with an intravenous sedative. Evidently she just can't pick one randomly, which, you know, I have to confess I'm a little happy about." Seth leans over and whispers to Ryan, "I don't think she likes me."

"You're paranoid," Ryan whispers back.

"I know you are but what am I?" Seth mocks in return.

Ryan puts his head down and laughs. "God you are so lucky we are in a hospital."

"Oh, scared," Seth retorts.

"And you're surprised the nurse doesn't like you?" Ryan deadpans.

Seth dismisses the dig with a shrug and a "Humph."

The room door opens and Not-Kelly enters. She takes Seth's temperature, informing him that he is continuing to make a slow descent back into the acceptable range. Another few minutes and after more updated vitals, she injects something into Seth's IV and then turns to Ryan, "He's going to be asleep in a few minutes. Are you staying the night? I could bring you a more comfortable chair, one that pulls out, maybe a blanket and a pillow?"

"Yes," Seth jumps in. "He's staying all night, right Ryan?"

"Yeah," Ryan nods in agreement.

The nurse dims the overhead light, informs Ryan she'll be back in a while with more accommodating bedding.

"She likes me." Ryan taunts his friend as the nurse exits the room.

Seth doesn't acknowledge Ryan's comment. He is slowly but surely yielding to the effects of the sedative. Curling up in as tight a ball as his IV will allow, he faces Ryan and asks, "Hey, you promised to tell me what's going on with your family, I mean your Chino family, whatever." He clumsily adds, "Well, you know what I mean."

Ryan fidgets with the remote control attached to Seth's bed. "It's nothing. My mom called Sandy drunk today. Same old shit. I'll tell you more tomorrow."

Seth moves around miserably in the bed, trying to find a comfortable position.

"You okay?" Ryan asks, "What happened with that test they did?"

"I don't know," Seth answers, "Nobody tells me anything until they tell mom and dad." He wriggles around a little more before complaining, "My stomach hurts. I can't get comfortable."

Ryan doesn't know how to help. "Do you want me to go get somebody?"

"Nah," Seth declines, "Whatever Witchy Pooh Nurse gave me, it's good, taking the edge off. A few more minutes and I'll be just fine."

Seth is slowing down, his temporary burst of energy giving way to the effects of the mono. But sick or not, he's still Seth and Ryan as always is his captive listening audience.

"Hey Ryan, have I ever told you that I am one hell of a yodeler? Have you ever heard me yodel?"

"Uh...no, and hey Seth? I'm not going to tonight either."

Seth yawns, scratches his nose. "You're supposed to humor the infirmed, not threaten them."

Ryan doesn't respond, continues to toy with the remote. Seth yawns again, settles for lying on his back, and places his forearm over his eyes.

"Seth?" Ryan asks quietly, "Has Sandy ever lied to you?"

Seth peeks out from under his arm. "Lie like how?"

Ryan doesn't answer.

"Well," Seth offers, "Lie as in, 'Honestly Seth all those people in the malls wearing Santa suits are just the elves that are too big to make toys so Santa employs them to work undercover and compile wish lists.' That kind of lie?"

Ryan shakes his head. Seth's layers of weirdness run deep. "Never mind," he tells the sick teen. "Forget I asked."

Seth takes his arm off his face, turns his head towards Ryan, "I don't understand what you're asking me Ryan."

"Forget it," Ryan repeats, "You looked zonked, go to sleep."

"Zonked?" Seth clarifies. "Is that some kind of Chino ghetto slang?"

"Yeah, it means shut up and go to sleep," Ryan tells him.

Seth yawns in succession. His eyelids feel like little bitty barbells. He is powerless to their sliding shut.

"Ryan, no man, my dad never lied to me. He stretches the truth and he clams up to avoid saying something he may regret, but the man does not lie."

Ryan nods.

Seth fades away.

-------------------------------------------

Kirsten finishes a piece of chocolate cake. It's not as good as a mimosa, but surprisingly that wasn't an option on the cafeteria's ala cart menu. Sandy is up at the cash register, buying Ryan a cheeseburger. When Ryan first came to live with them, he automatically accepted whatever he was handed. It took Kirsten a month to figure out he didn't like ketchup. When Sandy returns to the table she confirms, "Mustard only, right?"

"Yep," Sandy answers. Sitting down next to his wife he asks, "Do you want anything else to eat?"

She shakes her head no. A cup of coffee is tempting to stay awake, but with Seth apparently getting better, Kirsten's considering getting a decent night's sleep. "God, what time is it?" she asks, "It feels like it should be tomorrow."

"Almost," Sandy glances at his watch. "Eleven fifty."

"This day needs to end," Kirsten states dully.

"Hell yes," Sandy confirms. "We should go check on Seth. He's probably back by now."

Kirsten stands up immediately. She lost track of time. She wanted to be in the room when Seth arrived back from the CAT-scan. She glances over at her husband. His dark, unruly hair reminds her of Seth's.

"Vacation's over," she tells Sandy. "You feed Ryan; I'll mother Seth into various stages of embarrassment."

"I love it when you delegate," Sandy teases, "It's so powerful."

On the way out of the cafeteria, Kirsten sends Sandy back to grab an orange juice.

She doubts that Ryan has had any fruit today.

------------------------------------------

Seth is out cold, his sore throat causing a light snore.

Ryan flips on the television but quickly gives up. It's a little hard to adjust to basic cable after living with the Cohens.

He reaches for the bag he brought to the hospital and digs around for a comic book of Seth's he remembers packing. For the most part, he can distract himself from the day's events. Think of Dawn...fuck that, play with the remote instead. Carden pops into his head? No problem, reach for Seth's blanket; cover him up a little more.

But as the minutes of silence add up, Ryan can feel the tension mounting. He stands up, paces, goes back to the bag, and digs a little more. Frustrated that he can't find the comic book, Ryan dumps the contents of the bag onto the hospital room floor. Objects scatter, causing Ryan to instantly regret his impulsive decision. He gets on his knees to gather the items, chastising himself for his stupidity. He spots the comic book, picks it up, and then notices a small envelope on the ground. It has his name on the cover, Ryan, penned in unfamiliar handwriting. He picks the envelope up, turns it around, studies it, and eases himself to a sitting position on the floor.

Ryan's mind flashes back to the bizarre ride over to the hospital, arriving at the emergency entrance. Seeing Sandy outside waiting for him, distracting him, causing him to momentarily forget the bag inside the car. When he reached for it, Carden was staring at him.

Staring at him almost as if he wanted to tell him something.

Ryan fiddles with envelope a little more, starts to open it, and stops. He stands up, goes over to a garbage can, crumples up the envelope, and throws it away.

Returning to the floor, he collects the remainder of Seth's belongings and ties the bag.

Ryan settles in his chair, flips through the comic book, and looks over at the garbage can. He chews the inside of his cheek.

Fuck it; it's only words written on paper. Words don't mean shit. He'll read the damn note. Carden is a freaking psycho, this will only make him hate the guy more.

Ryan stands up, walks over to the garbage can and pulls the envelope out. He opens it up, begins reading, and is surprised to only see a few sentences and a signature.

I'm an old friend of your mom's. We should talk. Here are the numbers I can be reached at. Ed Carden

Ryan folds up the note, shoves it into his pants pocket, and looks over at the sleeping Seth.

His foster brother looks defenseless. Younger. Dependent.

Trey taught Ryan how to smoke pot and get caught stealing cars. Seth is teaching him that friendship is unconditional and binding.

The continued silence of the hospital room has won the battle of wills; Ryan can't stop the thoughts from flooding in one after another.

His dad robbed a store with a gun, for money that Ryan never asked for or wanted.

Dawn abandoned him with strangers, choosing martyrdom and alcohol over parenthood.

Kirsten left him at home, forgot to call, and wandered through a dark parking lot looking for him when no one else knew what to do.

Sandy waited to tell him, apologized, forgave tonight's violence, kept him company on a curb at Juvie, handed him a business card that resulted in a future.

Ed Carden sought him out, backed off when challenged, left him a note, and once upon a time in Fresno, slept with his mom.

Ryan hears the clock above Seth's bed tick. He glances at it.

The worst Thursday of his life is over.

Now the real fun begins.

12:00 a.m.

It's Friday.

---------------------------------------------

This concludes Thursday Afternoon.