Empty Spaces - Chapter Fifteen
May. 25th, 2007 12:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: Empty Spaces - Chapter Fifteen
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warning: AU, some Violence and Language. Sex in later chapters (Not much worse than on the show)
Summary: Kirsten Nichols and her son Ryan have always been fine on their own, so have Sandy Cohen and his son Seth. But now everything's starting to change for both families, some of it for the better, some of it for the worse.
Empty Spaces - Chapter Fifteen
Malcolm demanded to ride in the ambulance with Ryan, saying that in absence of family, he was the bodyguard and he wasn't letting Ryan out of his sight, not when they'd had to bag him, and were still forcing the air into his lungs. If they couldn't get Ryan's heart started again, if they couldn't get him breathing again, Malcolm didn't want him to die alone, with only strangers and unfamiliar sounds to say goodbye to hime.
When they got to the hospital, he couldn't go into the Trauma room with Ryan, but he watched from outside, waiting for Kirsten to arrive. It was a relief to see that among the doctors was Dr. Sarah Julian, his ex-wife, and among the nurses was Emily Cutter, the daughter of Malcolm's former CO. He trusted them to take good care of Ryan, and when he heard Kirsten demanding information at the front desk, he turned to meet her, catching her before she could see into the Trauma room.
"He's not breathing, Kirsten," Malcolm said gently as he held her back. "But they're doing everything they can."
"No..." Kirsten said, turning into Sandy's arms as he came up behind her, followed by Seth, Summer, and Alex.
"Daddy?" Summer called, spotting her father as he rushed towards the room.
Neil shot a look towards them, catching Kirsten's eye for a moment, then turned away and ran into the Trauma room, already barking out orders. It was almost a half hour before the room started slowly emptying of doctors and nurses, and finally Sarah and Neil came out, looking more than a little worse for wear.
"Neil?" Kirsten asked, standing up.
"We got his heart started again," Neil began. "But he's not breathing on his own so we had to intubate. We sent of a tox screen to find out what he was given, and started a saline drip to try to flush out his system, but... he was down for a long time, Kirsten."
"What he's saying," Sarah began, looking around the group and finally meeting Malcolm gaze before looking back at Kirsten. "Is that his brain wasn't getting oxygen for an unknown period of time. There may be brain damage, but we won't know how severe until he wakes up."
"If he wakes up," Summer finished for her, trying to hold back a sob as she turned into Seth's embrace.
~~~
Only family was allowed into the ICU room that they moved Ryan to, and Kirsten had asked that Malcolm be allowed to stand guard outside the room, then asked him to keep Caleb away from Ryan. So Kirsten kept a lonely vigil by Ryan's bedside, stroking his hair and watching the heart monitor, as well as listening to the soft 'woosh' of the machine that as breathing for him.
"You need to open your eyes, baby," she whispered. "We need you to open you eyes. Everyone's camped out in the waiting room, hoping for good news. Alex... she loves you, Ryan. She ran out because she heard Dad and Jimmy talking about her not being appropriate, and how she was just a rebellion, but the second she heard you were missing, she came back, and she stayed at Dad's the past 5 days, waiting with all of us."
She paused, taking a deep breath. "Summer stayed, too, of course. Now that you're... you're not missing, I'll bet that when she leaves the hospital, she's going to go to our house and stay in your room, just to be closer to you. And Sandy and Seth have been staying, too. Sandy took care of me, made sure I ate and slept... He's a good guy."
She looked at Ryan's face as she grasped one of his hands. "Come on, baby, just open your eyes and tell me you're okay."
~~~
"Where's my son?"
Sandy looked up from where he was sitting between the napping Seth and Alex, Summer on sleeping on Seth's other side, and frowned when he saw Jimmy talking to the ICU nurse. He got up out of his chair to intercept the man. "I don't think Kirsten wants you anywhere near her son," he told Jimmy.
"Who the hell are you?" Jimmy countered.
"Her boyfriend," Sandy said. "The man who's been there for her over the past five days while she wondered if she'd ever see her son alive again. The man who's camping out in the waiting room in case she needs me."
"Yeah? Well I'm Ryan's father and I'm seeing him," Jimmy said, shoving past Sandy and heading down the hall, only to run head long into Malcolm, who blocked his path effectively, stepping sideways as Jimmy did and staring at him coldly. "Move," Jimmy said.
"Uh... no," Malcolm replied, his voice somehow even colder than his gaze. "Leave."
"He's my son!"
"Since when?" Malcolm countered. "Were you there any of the times Ryan needed you to be there? No, you weren't. You abandoned them before the kid ever took a breath. So you sure as hell don't belong here now that he can't take a breath."
"Malcolm?" Kirsten said, coming to the door. She stopped when she saw Jimmy, her jaw tightening. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"He's my son, Kirsten," Jimmy replied.
"Name once that you've acted like it," Kirsten replied. "Did you hold my hand while I was in labor? Did you change his diapers or feed him even once? Did you teach him to read, or how to ride a bike, or anything else that father's are suppose to do? Because I remember being all alone with that, Jimmy. What I do remember, is being all alone when he was born, and trying to call you to tell you that you had a son, but you couldn't care less because you and Julie were having a party. What I remember, is spending all night holding him and singing lullabies to him when he was 7 months old because he was sick and wouldn't stop crying. And I remember when he was little and used to cry because he didn't understand why everyone else had a daddy who loved him, but he wasn't good enough for you." She glared at her ex-boyfriend coldly. "You may be his father, but you will never be his dad and he will never be your anything because that ship has sailed, James Cooper."
"Damn it, Kirsten!" Jimmy yelled. Before he could say anything else, though, a rapid beeping sounded in Ryan's room.
Kirsten ran back to Ryan's side while Malcolm ran to get a doctor, and the first thing she saw was that his eyes were open, wide and panicked as he convulsively gripped the bed rail. "It's okay, baby," she said, smoothing his hair as he stared up at her, the heart monitor going more and more rapidly all the time. "It's okay, you're safe, and you're in the hospital. They gave you some kind of drug, and it made you stop breathing. But you're safe now, you're okay, everything's going to be okay."
"Kirsten, you need to give us some room," Neil said as he came in, gently moving her aside. "Ryan, can you hear me?"
Ryan nodded sluggishly, his eyes still wide and scared.
"Okay, that's good," Neil replied, smiling reassuringly. He gently uncurled Ryan's left hand from the railing and lifted it up. "Can you hold up 3 fingers for me?"
Ryan didn't move at first, then slowly his thumb and pinkie finger came together slightly, leaving three fingers mostly upright.
"Good," Neil said, nodding. "I know the tube's uncomfortable, but right now you need to keep it in a little longer, it's helping you breathe, okay?"
Ryan hesitated, then nodded slightly, his eyes darting past Neil to Kirsten.
"You're mom will be right back here by you in just a couple minutes, Ryan," Neil said, looking up as Sarah entered. "This is a collegue of mine, Dr. Sarah Julian..."
"We've met before," Sarah said, giving Ryan a reassuring smile. "Do you remember me Ryan?"
Ryan nodded again, then shifted his left hand to tap the tube.
"I'm sure Neil already explained that you need to keep it in a little longer," Sarah said. "But now that you're awake, we'll probably be taking it out pretty soon. Just be patient."
Ryan looked upset, then held his hand up and pantomined writing.
"I think we can arrange that," Sarah agreed, nodding. "You need to try to calm down first, though, okay? We need to make sure that you're breathing okay before we cna even consider taking out the tube, and you need to be calm for that."
Ryan nodded again, looking back towards Kirsten again.
"Okay, okay," Neil agreed, nodding and moving to give Kirsten room.
Kirsten was back immediately, stroking Ryan's hair and smiling down at him. "I love you, baby," she whispered. "A lot of people do. Summer, Alex, Seth, Sandy, and Hailey have been campe out in the waiting room, and Malcolm's been standing guard right outside the room, making sure no one came near you unless we okayed it."
~~~
"Hailey!" Sandy called as she stepped off the elevator, carrying a stack of take out boxes filled with breakfast. "He woke up."
"What?" Hailey said, almost dropping the food in relief.
"He woke up a couple minutes ago, and from what Dr. Julian said, he seems okay."
Hailey did drop the food then as she couldn't hold back the sob of relief and she raised her hands to her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "Thank god," she whispered as Sandy pulled her into his arms, trying to reassure her.
To Be Continued...
Told you that you wouldn't have to wait long! And isn't this a nicer ending than the last one? lol
3 of my 4 favorite originals of mine appeared in this chapter! Malcolm Overman (who also appeared in Heavily Broken as the cop talking to Ryan after he got jumped by the four idiots), Dr. Sarah Julian (HB as Ryan's shrink), and Nurse Emily Cutter (Another Day as a Psychiatric nurse, Heavy Things as an Oncology nurse, and With A Whimper as an ER nurse)...
If anyone's wondering, the 4th of my favorite original characters is Isabella, Ryan's wife in 'We All Fall Down'... I still need to write a fic where she actually has a real role and role dialogue... lol...
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warning: AU, some Violence and Language. Sex in later chapters (Not much worse than on the show)
Summary: Kirsten Nichols and her son Ryan have always been fine on their own, so have Sandy Cohen and his son Seth. But now everything's starting to change for both families, some of it for the better, some of it for the worse.
Empty Spaces - Chapter Fifteen
Malcolm demanded to ride in the ambulance with Ryan, saying that in absence of family, he was the bodyguard and he wasn't letting Ryan out of his sight, not when they'd had to bag him, and were still forcing the air into his lungs. If they couldn't get Ryan's heart started again, if they couldn't get him breathing again, Malcolm didn't want him to die alone, with only strangers and unfamiliar sounds to say goodbye to hime.
When they got to the hospital, he couldn't go into the Trauma room with Ryan, but he watched from outside, waiting for Kirsten to arrive. It was a relief to see that among the doctors was Dr. Sarah Julian, his ex-wife, and among the nurses was Emily Cutter, the daughter of Malcolm's former CO. He trusted them to take good care of Ryan, and when he heard Kirsten demanding information at the front desk, he turned to meet her, catching her before she could see into the Trauma room.
"He's not breathing, Kirsten," Malcolm said gently as he held her back. "But they're doing everything they can."
"No..." Kirsten said, turning into Sandy's arms as he came up behind her, followed by Seth, Summer, and Alex.
"Daddy?" Summer called, spotting her father as he rushed towards the room.
Neil shot a look towards them, catching Kirsten's eye for a moment, then turned away and ran into the Trauma room, already barking out orders. It was almost a half hour before the room started slowly emptying of doctors and nurses, and finally Sarah and Neil came out, looking more than a little worse for wear.
"Neil?" Kirsten asked, standing up.
"We got his heart started again," Neil began. "But he's not breathing on his own so we had to intubate. We sent of a tox screen to find out what he was given, and started a saline drip to try to flush out his system, but... he was down for a long time, Kirsten."
"What he's saying," Sarah began, looking around the group and finally meeting Malcolm gaze before looking back at Kirsten. "Is that his brain wasn't getting oxygen for an unknown period of time. There may be brain damage, but we won't know how severe until he wakes up."
"If he wakes up," Summer finished for her, trying to hold back a sob as she turned into Seth's embrace.
~~~
Only family was allowed into the ICU room that they moved Ryan to, and Kirsten had asked that Malcolm be allowed to stand guard outside the room, then asked him to keep Caleb away from Ryan. So Kirsten kept a lonely vigil by Ryan's bedside, stroking his hair and watching the heart monitor, as well as listening to the soft 'woosh' of the machine that as breathing for him.
"You need to open your eyes, baby," she whispered. "We need you to open you eyes. Everyone's camped out in the waiting room, hoping for good news. Alex... she loves you, Ryan. She ran out because she heard Dad and Jimmy talking about her not being appropriate, and how she was just a rebellion, but the second she heard you were missing, she came back, and she stayed at Dad's the past 5 days, waiting with all of us."
She paused, taking a deep breath. "Summer stayed, too, of course. Now that you're... you're not missing, I'll bet that when she leaves the hospital, she's going to go to our house and stay in your room, just to be closer to you. And Sandy and Seth have been staying, too. Sandy took care of me, made sure I ate and slept... He's a good guy."
She looked at Ryan's face as she grasped one of his hands. "Come on, baby, just open your eyes and tell me you're okay."
~~~
"Where's my son?"
Sandy looked up from where he was sitting between the napping Seth and Alex, Summer on sleeping on Seth's other side, and frowned when he saw Jimmy talking to the ICU nurse. He got up out of his chair to intercept the man. "I don't think Kirsten wants you anywhere near her son," he told Jimmy.
"Who the hell are you?" Jimmy countered.
"Her boyfriend," Sandy said. "The man who's been there for her over the past five days while she wondered if she'd ever see her son alive again. The man who's camping out in the waiting room in case she needs me."
"Yeah? Well I'm Ryan's father and I'm seeing him," Jimmy said, shoving past Sandy and heading down the hall, only to run head long into Malcolm, who blocked his path effectively, stepping sideways as Jimmy did and staring at him coldly. "Move," Jimmy said.
"Uh... no," Malcolm replied, his voice somehow even colder than his gaze. "Leave."
"He's my son!"
"Since when?" Malcolm countered. "Were you there any of the times Ryan needed you to be there? No, you weren't. You abandoned them before the kid ever took a breath. So you sure as hell don't belong here now that he can't take a breath."
"Malcolm?" Kirsten said, coming to the door. She stopped when she saw Jimmy, her jaw tightening. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"He's my son, Kirsten," Jimmy replied.
"Name once that you've acted like it," Kirsten replied. "Did you hold my hand while I was in labor? Did you change his diapers or feed him even once? Did you teach him to read, or how to ride a bike, or anything else that father's are suppose to do? Because I remember being all alone with that, Jimmy. What I do remember, is being all alone when he was born, and trying to call you to tell you that you had a son, but you couldn't care less because you and Julie were having a party. What I remember, is spending all night holding him and singing lullabies to him when he was 7 months old because he was sick and wouldn't stop crying. And I remember when he was little and used to cry because he didn't understand why everyone else had a daddy who loved him, but he wasn't good enough for you." She glared at her ex-boyfriend coldly. "You may be his father, but you will never be his dad and he will never be your anything because that ship has sailed, James Cooper."
"Damn it, Kirsten!" Jimmy yelled. Before he could say anything else, though, a rapid beeping sounded in Ryan's room.
Kirsten ran back to Ryan's side while Malcolm ran to get a doctor, and the first thing she saw was that his eyes were open, wide and panicked as he convulsively gripped the bed rail. "It's okay, baby," she said, smoothing his hair as he stared up at her, the heart monitor going more and more rapidly all the time. "It's okay, you're safe, and you're in the hospital. They gave you some kind of drug, and it made you stop breathing. But you're safe now, you're okay, everything's going to be okay."
"Kirsten, you need to give us some room," Neil said as he came in, gently moving her aside. "Ryan, can you hear me?"
Ryan nodded sluggishly, his eyes still wide and scared.
"Okay, that's good," Neil replied, smiling reassuringly. He gently uncurled Ryan's left hand from the railing and lifted it up. "Can you hold up 3 fingers for me?"
Ryan didn't move at first, then slowly his thumb and pinkie finger came together slightly, leaving three fingers mostly upright.
"Good," Neil said, nodding. "I know the tube's uncomfortable, but right now you need to keep it in a little longer, it's helping you breathe, okay?"
Ryan hesitated, then nodded slightly, his eyes darting past Neil to Kirsten.
"You're mom will be right back here by you in just a couple minutes, Ryan," Neil said, looking up as Sarah entered. "This is a collegue of mine, Dr. Sarah Julian..."
"We've met before," Sarah said, giving Ryan a reassuring smile. "Do you remember me Ryan?"
Ryan nodded again, then shifted his left hand to tap the tube.
"I'm sure Neil already explained that you need to keep it in a little longer," Sarah said. "But now that you're awake, we'll probably be taking it out pretty soon. Just be patient."
Ryan looked upset, then held his hand up and pantomined writing.
"I think we can arrange that," Sarah agreed, nodding. "You need to try to calm down first, though, okay? We need to make sure that you're breathing okay before we cna even consider taking out the tube, and you need to be calm for that."
Ryan nodded again, looking back towards Kirsten again.
"Okay, okay," Neil agreed, nodding and moving to give Kirsten room.
Kirsten was back immediately, stroking Ryan's hair and smiling down at him. "I love you, baby," she whispered. "A lot of people do. Summer, Alex, Seth, Sandy, and Hailey have been campe out in the waiting room, and Malcolm's been standing guard right outside the room, making sure no one came near you unless we okayed it."
~~~
"Hailey!" Sandy called as she stepped off the elevator, carrying a stack of take out boxes filled with breakfast. "He woke up."
"What?" Hailey said, almost dropping the food in relief.
"He woke up a couple minutes ago, and from what Dr. Julian said, he seems okay."
Hailey did drop the food then as she couldn't hold back the sob of relief and she raised her hands to her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "Thank god," she whispered as Sandy pulled her into his arms, trying to reassure her.
To Be Continued...
Told you that you wouldn't have to wait long! And isn't this a nicer ending than the last one? lol
3 of my 4 favorite originals of mine appeared in this chapter! Malcolm Overman (who also appeared in Heavily Broken as the cop talking to Ryan after he got jumped by the four idiots), Dr. Sarah Julian (HB as Ryan's shrink), and Nurse Emily Cutter (Another Day as a Psychiatric nurse, Heavy Things as an Oncology nurse, and With A Whimper as an ER nurse)...
If anyone's wondering, the 4th of my favorite original characters is Isabella, Ryan's wife in 'We All Fall Down'... I still need to write a fic where she actually has a real role and role dialogue... lol...
