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Title: Heavily Broken (Chapter One)
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warnings: Sex, mentions of rape, violence.
Summary: Ryan didn't call Sandy after Dawn kicked him out, but he still finds his way to the Cohen family.
Notes: The original version of this was slightly different, but I like this rewrite better so it's what I'm posting... lol...
Chapter One
Sandy was still sitting there hours later when Ryan opened his left eye, the one that wasn't swollen closed, and groaned before closing it again. "Hey, kid," he greeted as he moved closer, smiling when Ryan opened his eye again. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit," Ryan replied, his words slurred by his swollen jaw. "What are you doing here?"
"Seems they found my card in your pocket, and thought you could use someone to be your voice, make sure you were taken care of," Sandy explained. "You wanna tell me what happened?"
"Fight," Ryan replied.
"Keep in mind, they told me what you've been doing for money," Sandy said. "And they think you may have been... been sexually assaulted."
Ryan snorted. "You mean they think the hooker got raped?" he said. "Doubt it, they don't give a shit."
"That's not true, Dr. Mitchum seems very..."
"She's only been here a few months, she'll stop being all 'everyone deserves to be treated equal' soon enough."
"Ryan..."
"It was a john. He said no condom, I said yes. He kept pressing, I told him I have HIV, he said it didn't matter, so did he, and he... he got what he wanted then 'forgot' to pay," Ryan said bluntly.
"We did a test when you came in," Dr. Mitchum said as she walked into the room with a harried looking man holding a file. "You're...:"
"Negative, I know," Ryan said. "It usually gets them to use a condom, though."
"Dr. Mitchum, who is this man?" the newcomer, Frank Devons, asked. "I was told the boy had no family..."
"I was Ryan's public defender last summer when his brother and he stole a car," Sandy explained. "Sandy Cohen."
"And you're here now why exactly?" Devons asked.
"We found Mr. Cohens card in Ryan's pocket," Dr. Mitchum explained.
"Child Services should have been called first," Devons said.
"You were," Dr. Mitchum said firmly. "It's not my fault Mr. Cohen was able to drive from Newport and get here hours before you did."
"The boy doesn't need some strange man here," Devons said. "We'll have him in a new group home by the time he's released, and..."
"Great, another group home," Ryan said. "Where I'm sure it's gonna be more of the same, with the wonderful father figure beating the shit out of me, or maybe him randomly pulling one of the boys out of bed in the middle of the night for a 'talk that involves us on our knees."
"That's enough," Devons said. "Those allegations couldn't be proved..."
"Because you wouldn't fucking listen to any of us!" Ryan snapped back, sitting up despite the pain he must be in. "You had 5 boys all telling you that asshole was making us suck him off, and it wasn't enough?"
"Hey, it's okay," Sandy said, a gentle hand on Ryan's back. "It's okay."
"No it isn't!" Ryan said. "He left us all there! And now he's either gonna send me back to that asshole, or maybe to some new asshole who'll pull the same bullshit!"
"If you keep this up, there's facilities that might be better suited for you!" Devons replied, and Ryan visibly paled.
"Hall, now," Sandy said, grabbing the man and pulling him out into the hall. "What the hell is wqrong with you?"
"You don't know what kind of person you're dealing with, or how the system..."
"My mother's been a social worker since before I was born," Sandy said. "I grew up knowing all about how the system works. And I have a son his age, so I know when a kid, a child, is on the verge of a panic attack like he was when you mentioned facilities!"
"And what do you suggest?"
"I'll take him," Sandy said impulsively. "He needs someone who gives a damn and won't lay a finger on him. My wife and I can easily take care of him." When Devons started to scoff and go back into the room, Sandy grabbed his arm. "You've got a choice, agree, now, or I call your superiors and tell them exactly what i think of you. Then I request the names of the other kids who made accusations, and I file a lawsuit on their behalf. Against botht he man who hurt them, and against you."
Devons ground his teeth, but nodded. "Fine. Take him. But when he robs you blind and makes false accusations, don't expect me to help you out." With that he turned and stormed away.
"Do you have any idea what you just got yourself into?" Dr. Mitchum asked.
"Not really," Sandy replied.
~~~~
"Just meet him," Sandy said as he led a reluctant Kirsten down the halls of Chino Medical to Ryan's room. "He's a smart kid, just been dealt a really bad hand in life."
"I seem to remember you saying that last summer when you told me about this boy," Kirsten replied. "But it doesn't mean we should bring him into our home..."
"He can stay in the poolhouse if that'll make you feel better," Sandy said. "And you can't say he'll be a bad influence on Seth, because Seth isn't coming back until summer break. If you still don't want Ryan with us when it gets close to then, we'll figure something out for him." They stopped outside a door and Sandy gestured inside, directing his wife's attention through the small window to Ryan, was was sitting up with his shirt off while a nurse changed the gauze over a wound on his stomach.
Kirsten raised her hand to her mouth when she saw the bruises covering Ryan's chest and stomach, including the fingerprint sized ones just barely visible over the waistband of the loos pajama pants he was wearing. "Dear God," she whispered in horror.
"We can help him," Sandy said. "He just needs someone to give him a chance."
"I'm not saying yes until I talk to him," she insisted.
"Then let's go in," Sandy said with a smile, sure that Kirsten would agree once she spoke to Ryan for a few minutes. He opened the door and stepped inside, followed closely by Kirsten. "Hey, kid. Everything okay?"
"Minor inflammation on the stomach wound," the nurse said. "But we've already got him on antibiotics so it should be okay." She patted Ryan's shoulder than hurriedly left the room.
"Thanks for helping," Ryan mumbled as he grabbed the folded hospital gown off the rolling table and tried to get it back on.
Kirsten walked over and took it from his good hand. "Here," she said, first helping him get his broken arm through the sleeve, then just holding the cloth while he slid his good arm through.
"Thanks," Ryan asked, glancing first at her, then at Sandy.
"Ryan, this is my wife, Kirsten," Sandy explained. "She wanted to meet you, since last summer I kept talking about how much potential you had and how much I hoped you'd call."
"Hi," Ryan said, sitting back against the single pillow.
"You should have more pillows than that," Kirsten said. She glanced over at the obviously unoccupied other side of the room, and grabbed the pillow from that bed, urging Ryan up again to put it behind him. "That should be a little better."
"Thanks," Ryan repeated with a half smile.
"So, how do you feel? Besides your stomach?"
"Like someone beat me up and left me in an alley," Ryan replied. "Ask me something that doesn't have an obvious answer."
"He has a point," Kirsten said, smoothing the sheet over Ryan's legs. "So, Ryan, what do you like to do?"
"I don't know..." Ryan replied, giving her a confused look.
"Well, do you like the beach? Or swimming at all?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ryan said. "I haven't done either in years though."
"Well, since you're coming to stay with Sandy and I once you're released, you'll have plenty of chances," Kirsten said, ignoring the grin on Sandy's face. "We live right up from the beach, and we have a pool..."
"Wait, stay with you?" Ryan asked.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up," Sandy said. "But I convinced your social worker to let you come stay with us. You'll have the poolhouse to yourself, so you'll still have your independence, but you... you can be a kid. You won't have to worry about where you're going to sleep, how you're going to afford food..."
"But... why?"
"Because it's what's best," Kirsten said in a tone that left no room for arguement.
Ryan looked between them for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay..." he said.
"Good, now that that's settled," Kirsten began. "What sort of food do you like? We can make sure we have some..."
"I'm fine with anything," Ryan said.
"He's a 15 year-old boy, honey, he'll probably eat anything we put in front of him," Sandy joked, lightly patting Ryan's ankle and pretending he didn't notice the flinch even as he moved his hand away again. "It'll be okay, kid. You're gonna be okay," he said.
To Be Continued...
Author: Mara
Rating: R
Warnings: Sex, mentions of rape, violence.
Summary: Ryan didn't call Sandy after Dawn kicked him out, but he still finds his way to the Cohen family.
Notes: The original version of this was slightly different, but I like this rewrite better so it's what I'm posting... lol...
Chapter One
Sandy was still sitting there hours later when Ryan opened his left eye, the one that wasn't swollen closed, and groaned before closing it again. "Hey, kid," he greeted as he moved closer, smiling when Ryan opened his eye again. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit," Ryan replied, his words slurred by his swollen jaw. "What are you doing here?"
"Seems they found my card in your pocket, and thought you could use someone to be your voice, make sure you were taken care of," Sandy explained. "You wanna tell me what happened?"
"Fight," Ryan replied.
"Keep in mind, they told me what you've been doing for money," Sandy said. "And they think you may have been... been sexually assaulted."
Ryan snorted. "You mean they think the hooker got raped?" he said. "Doubt it, they don't give a shit."
"That's not true, Dr. Mitchum seems very..."
"She's only been here a few months, she'll stop being all 'everyone deserves to be treated equal' soon enough."
"Ryan..."
"It was a john. He said no condom, I said yes. He kept pressing, I told him I have HIV, he said it didn't matter, so did he, and he... he got what he wanted then 'forgot' to pay," Ryan said bluntly.
"We did a test when you came in," Dr. Mitchum said as she walked into the room with a harried looking man holding a file. "You're...:"
"Negative, I know," Ryan said. "It usually gets them to use a condom, though."
"Dr. Mitchum, who is this man?" the newcomer, Frank Devons, asked. "I was told the boy had no family..."
"I was Ryan's public defender last summer when his brother and he stole a car," Sandy explained. "Sandy Cohen."
"And you're here now why exactly?" Devons asked.
"We found Mr. Cohens card in Ryan's pocket," Dr. Mitchum explained.
"Child Services should have been called first," Devons said.
"You were," Dr. Mitchum said firmly. "It's not my fault Mr. Cohen was able to drive from Newport and get here hours before you did."
"The boy doesn't need some strange man here," Devons said. "We'll have him in a new group home by the time he's released, and..."
"Great, another group home," Ryan said. "Where I'm sure it's gonna be more of the same, with the wonderful father figure beating the shit out of me, or maybe him randomly pulling one of the boys out of bed in the middle of the night for a 'talk that involves us on our knees."
"That's enough," Devons said. "Those allegations couldn't be proved..."
"Because you wouldn't fucking listen to any of us!" Ryan snapped back, sitting up despite the pain he must be in. "You had 5 boys all telling you that asshole was making us suck him off, and it wasn't enough?"
"Hey, it's okay," Sandy said, a gentle hand on Ryan's back. "It's okay."
"No it isn't!" Ryan said. "He left us all there! And now he's either gonna send me back to that asshole, or maybe to some new asshole who'll pull the same bullshit!"
"If you keep this up, there's facilities that might be better suited for you!" Devons replied, and Ryan visibly paled.
"Hall, now," Sandy said, grabbing the man and pulling him out into the hall. "What the hell is wqrong with you?"
"You don't know what kind of person you're dealing with, or how the system..."
"My mother's been a social worker since before I was born," Sandy said. "I grew up knowing all about how the system works. And I have a son his age, so I know when a kid, a child, is on the verge of a panic attack like he was when you mentioned facilities!"
"And what do you suggest?"
"I'll take him," Sandy said impulsively. "He needs someone who gives a damn and won't lay a finger on him. My wife and I can easily take care of him." When Devons started to scoff and go back into the room, Sandy grabbed his arm. "You've got a choice, agree, now, or I call your superiors and tell them exactly what i think of you. Then I request the names of the other kids who made accusations, and I file a lawsuit on their behalf. Against botht he man who hurt them, and against you."
Devons ground his teeth, but nodded. "Fine. Take him. But when he robs you blind and makes false accusations, don't expect me to help you out." With that he turned and stormed away.
"Do you have any idea what you just got yourself into?" Dr. Mitchum asked.
"Not really," Sandy replied.
~~~~
"Just meet him," Sandy said as he led a reluctant Kirsten down the halls of Chino Medical to Ryan's room. "He's a smart kid, just been dealt a really bad hand in life."
"I seem to remember you saying that last summer when you told me about this boy," Kirsten replied. "But it doesn't mean we should bring him into our home..."
"He can stay in the poolhouse if that'll make you feel better," Sandy said. "And you can't say he'll be a bad influence on Seth, because Seth isn't coming back until summer break. If you still don't want Ryan with us when it gets close to then, we'll figure something out for him." They stopped outside a door and Sandy gestured inside, directing his wife's attention through the small window to Ryan, was was sitting up with his shirt off while a nurse changed the gauze over a wound on his stomach.
Kirsten raised her hand to her mouth when she saw the bruises covering Ryan's chest and stomach, including the fingerprint sized ones just barely visible over the waistband of the loos pajama pants he was wearing. "Dear God," she whispered in horror.
"We can help him," Sandy said. "He just needs someone to give him a chance."
"I'm not saying yes until I talk to him," she insisted.
"Then let's go in," Sandy said with a smile, sure that Kirsten would agree once she spoke to Ryan for a few minutes. He opened the door and stepped inside, followed closely by Kirsten. "Hey, kid. Everything okay?"
"Minor inflammation on the stomach wound," the nurse said. "But we've already got him on antibiotics so it should be okay." She patted Ryan's shoulder than hurriedly left the room.
"Thanks for helping," Ryan mumbled as he grabbed the folded hospital gown off the rolling table and tried to get it back on.
Kirsten walked over and took it from his good hand. "Here," she said, first helping him get his broken arm through the sleeve, then just holding the cloth while he slid his good arm through.
"Thanks," Ryan asked, glancing first at her, then at Sandy.
"Ryan, this is my wife, Kirsten," Sandy explained. "She wanted to meet you, since last summer I kept talking about how much potential you had and how much I hoped you'd call."
"Hi," Ryan said, sitting back against the single pillow.
"You should have more pillows than that," Kirsten said. She glanced over at the obviously unoccupied other side of the room, and grabbed the pillow from that bed, urging Ryan up again to put it behind him. "That should be a little better."
"Thanks," Ryan repeated with a half smile.
"So, how do you feel? Besides your stomach?"
"Like someone beat me up and left me in an alley," Ryan replied. "Ask me something that doesn't have an obvious answer."
"He has a point," Kirsten said, smoothing the sheet over Ryan's legs. "So, Ryan, what do you like to do?"
"I don't know..." Ryan replied, giving her a confused look.
"Well, do you like the beach? Or swimming at all?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ryan said. "I haven't done either in years though."
"Well, since you're coming to stay with Sandy and I once you're released, you'll have plenty of chances," Kirsten said, ignoring the grin on Sandy's face. "We live right up from the beach, and we have a pool..."
"Wait, stay with you?" Ryan asked.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up," Sandy said. "But I convinced your social worker to let you come stay with us. You'll have the poolhouse to yourself, so you'll still have your independence, but you... you can be a kid. You won't have to worry about where you're going to sleep, how you're going to afford food..."
"But... why?"
"Because it's what's best," Kirsten said in a tone that left no room for arguement.
Ryan looked between them for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay..." he said.
"Good, now that that's settled," Kirsten began. "What sort of food do you like? We can make sure we have some..."
"I'm fine with anything," Ryan said.
"He's a 15 year-old boy, honey, he'll probably eat anything we put in front of him," Sandy joked, lightly patting Ryan's ankle and pretending he didn't notice the flinch even as he moved his hand away again. "It'll be okay, kid. You're gonna be okay," he said.
To Be Continued...
