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missmara13Title: Heavy Things
Fandom: The OC
Characters: Ryan Atwood, The Cohens
Prompt: 088 - Treatment
Word Count: 819
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's not just the chemo that heals...
Author's Notes: Slightly different from the rest, this is from the POV of an original charatcer, evne though it's ABOUT Ryan... lol... readers of my non-100Situations fics will recognize the character of 'Emily'.
Heavy Things
Emily knew, the moment she walked into the hospital room carrying the chemotherapy drugs and locked gazes with him, that this one would make it. Maybe it was how he offered her a smile, slightly shaky but still a smile. Or maybe it was how he clearly understood what was happening and asked questions. Or it could have been how he was flanked by his parents, a blonde woman in designer casual clothes and a bushy eye-browed man in jeans and a sweatshirt, and his brother, a curly haired kid who kept babbling, was seated cross legged on the bed, making light of every little thing.
Whatever it was, Emily knew that this one, a 17 year-old boy named Ryan, would beat the cancer that was attacking his body.
~~~~
When he was alone, Emily discovered, Ryan was quiet and reserved, even if he did always try to smile at the nurses, and anyone could see that he was scared. But when his family or his friends were there to sit with him during his chemo, telling him stories about what he had missed that day, he was more outgoing and seemed to draw on every bit of his strength to keep them from seeing his fear.
~~~~
Ryan had a sense of humor better than the most seasoned of the nurses, even if his brother did always react in shock when he cracked a joke. The first time he compared hospital food to cardboard, then asked for cardboard instead, it became a favorite joke around the hospital, and even his brother loved it, though Ryan clearly didn't want the other boy to know it was his own joke.
~~~~
When he was wheeled into the hospital one day, too weak from the chemo to walk, he was suddenly bald and Emily had teased him that it was a good look on him. Ryan had smiled shyly and murmured that his girlfriend liked it because it gave her more skin to kiss, a statement proved when Emily spotted the lipstick kiss on the back of his head.
That got Ryan the nickname of Casanova among the nurses and orderlies.
~~~~
His girlfriend didn't come to sit with him during chemo as often as his family, but when she did she always tried her best to keep him feeling upbeat and hopefully, talking about what they would do when he was well again. Every so often she'd excuse herself for a moment and go down the hall, just to double over and cry silently for a moment, then straighten, wipe her face, touch up her makeup, and paste on a smile before turning back and returning to Ryan's side to continue her happy chatter.
One day, though, Ryan confessed to Emily that he knew his girlfriend left to cry, and that she did it so she wouldn't upset him even though she couldn't hold it in. Then he asked her not to tell his girlfriend that he knew, he didn't want to upset her.
~~~~
No one suspected that his parents weren't his biological parents, they only assumed the two were progressive and allowed their children to call them by name if they wanted. Then Ryan's biological mother turned up one day and picked a fight with his adoptive mother, the well dressed woman who always held his hand. Bleach blonde and with an air about her that told the staff she had been hung over that morning, they hated the woman immediately.
They saw Ryan cry for the first time as the woman screamed in anguish about her baby dying and they were trying to keep her from him, and Emily called security herself to get rid of the woman. No one needed her negativity, especially the boy who was fighting for his life.
~~~~
The time came when the remaining cancerous cells had all but disappeared and Ryan had a final Chemo session, all smiles and upbeat as he talked about going to college in the fall with his girlfriend. And for the first time, when there were a few brief moments without his family around, Ryan was just as happy and upbeat. Emily had been right this time, he had beat the cancer and not let it destroy his future.
It had never before felt so good to be right.
~~~~
Years later, a new oncology building was donated to the hospital, custom designed by an architect, and the entire staff was invited to attend the groundbreaking. Emily almost didn't go, but something made her change her mind, and she was glad it did. When the ceremony ended, the architect himself approached her and she almost didn't recognize him.
His hair had grown back, the bags under his eyes had disappeared, and he was no longer so painfully thin, but when she looked in his eyes she knew immediately, and the pretty woman on his arm smiling in old gratitude just confirmed it.
"Ryan?"
THE END
Does this at least partially make up for killing Ryan in 'We All Fall Down'? lol... I know who I intended Ryan's girlfriend to be, but readers can put their own person in... Summer, Theresa, Lindsay, Sadie, even ::shudder:: Marissa... lol
Fandom: The OC
Characters: Ryan Atwood, The Cohens
Prompt: 088 - Treatment
Word Count: 819
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's not just the chemo that heals...
Author's Notes: Slightly different from the rest, this is from the POV of an original charatcer, evne though it's ABOUT Ryan... lol... readers of my non-100Situations fics will recognize the character of 'Emily'.
Heavy Things
Emily knew, the moment she walked into the hospital room carrying the chemotherapy drugs and locked gazes with him, that this one would make it. Maybe it was how he offered her a smile, slightly shaky but still a smile. Or maybe it was how he clearly understood what was happening and asked questions. Or it could have been how he was flanked by his parents, a blonde woman in designer casual clothes and a bushy eye-browed man in jeans and a sweatshirt, and his brother, a curly haired kid who kept babbling, was seated cross legged on the bed, making light of every little thing.
Whatever it was, Emily knew that this one, a 17 year-old boy named Ryan, would beat the cancer that was attacking his body.
~~~~
When he was alone, Emily discovered, Ryan was quiet and reserved, even if he did always try to smile at the nurses, and anyone could see that he was scared. But when his family or his friends were there to sit with him during his chemo, telling him stories about what he had missed that day, he was more outgoing and seemed to draw on every bit of his strength to keep them from seeing his fear.
~~~~
Ryan had a sense of humor better than the most seasoned of the nurses, even if his brother did always react in shock when he cracked a joke. The first time he compared hospital food to cardboard, then asked for cardboard instead, it became a favorite joke around the hospital, and even his brother loved it, though Ryan clearly didn't want the other boy to know it was his own joke.
~~~~
When he was wheeled into the hospital one day, too weak from the chemo to walk, he was suddenly bald and Emily had teased him that it was a good look on him. Ryan had smiled shyly and murmured that his girlfriend liked it because it gave her more skin to kiss, a statement proved when Emily spotted the lipstick kiss on the back of his head.
That got Ryan the nickname of Casanova among the nurses and orderlies.
~~~~
His girlfriend didn't come to sit with him during chemo as often as his family, but when she did she always tried her best to keep him feeling upbeat and hopefully, talking about what they would do when he was well again. Every so often she'd excuse herself for a moment and go down the hall, just to double over and cry silently for a moment, then straighten, wipe her face, touch up her makeup, and paste on a smile before turning back and returning to Ryan's side to continue her happy chatter.
One day, though, Ryan confessed to Emily that he knew his girlfriend left to cry, and that she did it so she wouldn't upset him even though she couldn't hold it in. Then he asked her not to tell his girlfriend that he knew, he didn't want to upset her.
~~~~
No one suspected that his parents weren't his biological parents, they only assumed the two were progressive and allowed their children to call them by name if they wanted. Then Ryan's biological mother turned up one day and picked a fight with his adoptive mother, the well dressed woman who always held his hand. Bleach blonde and with an air about her that told the staff she had been hung over that morning, they hated the woman immediately.
They saw Ryan cry for the first time as the woman screamed in anguish about her baby dying and they were trying to keep her from him, and Emily called security herself to get rid of the woman. No one needed her negativity, especially the boy who was fighting for his life.
~~~~
The time came when the remaining cancerous cells had all but disappeared and Ryan had a final Chemo session, all smiles and upbeat as he talked about going to college in the fall with his girlfriend. And for the first time, when there were a few brief moments without his family around, Ryan was just as happy and upbeat. Emily had been right this time, he had beat the cancer and not let it destroy his future.
It had never before felt so good to be right.
~~~~
Years later, a new oncology building was donated to the hospital, custom designed by an architect, and the entire staff was invited to attend the groundbreaking. Emily almost didn't go, but something made her change her mind, and she was glad it did. When the ceremony ended, the architect himself approached her and she almost didn't recognize him.
His hair had grown back, the bags under his eyes had disappeared, and he was no longer so painfully thin, but when she looked in his eyes she knew immediately, and the pretty woman on his arm smiling in old gratitude just confirmed it.
"Ryan?"
THE END
Does this at least partially make up for killing Ryan in 'We All Fall Down'? lol... I know who I intended Ryan's girlfriend to be, but readers can put their own person in... Summer, Theresa, Lindsay, Sadie, even ::shudder:: Marissa... lol
