I'm Not Sick I The O.C.

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. Everything belongs to FOX and Josh Schwartz.

Sandy's POV

"Is he okay?" I turned to see Kirsten and Seth standing right out in the hallway as I came out of the guest room, carefully closing the door. It didn't take long for Ryan to fall asleep and I didn't want to wake up. He could use all the sleep he could get.

"He'll be okay." I assured. He would be, as long as he got some rest.

"I knew he wouldn't last through dinner—damn, I should made a bet." Seth said.

"You knew he was sick and didn't say a word?" I crossed my arms, looking at Seth as did Kirsten.

"Sorry. He asked me not to say anything. I wanted to but I wasn't going to because I wouldn't have his trust and that would probably come back to haunt me in the future. And I—" Seth rambled in response before I stopped him.

"Okay, I get it." I stopped him there. I could get the picture without much more explanation. I got his intentions; there really wasn't a win-win scenario given with what Seth had to work with.

"I didn't see the point in keeping it to himself, but I had to respect his wishes." Seth added.

"Well Seth, let's just say you were more fortunate than Ryan was." I told him.

I knew it wasn't completely Seth's fault thinking it was odd for Ryan to want to keep it to himself. Whenever he got sick, Kirsten and I would be at his beck and call. And since he's gotten older, I think Kirsten gets a little kick out of taking care of him. Seth's been used to that most of his life. And he likes to forget what Ryan went through before he came to us. None of us like to think about the abuse Ryan went through. I could get an idea without having to ask. If Dawn had been drinking, if either of her kids were sick, it would have been a burden. I knew Ryan probably wouldn't want us to worry. Though that was our job.

"Will he be okay?" Seth asked.

"He will. Don't worry Seth, we'll take care of him. You just worry about getting your homework done."

I walked with Kirsten back to the kitchen after Seth went upstairs to his room. "Are you sure Ryan going to want to be taken care of?" Kirsten brought up and I shrugged, not sure how to answer that. I doubted it but I didn't think that mattered; we would do it anyways.

"Well I'm not just going to let him be." We always took care of Seth when he was sick. Ryan deserved the same. He was our son now and I doubt he's ever been taken care of before.

"I didn't mean it like that Sandy."

"I know." I nodded. I was mostly bugged by the fact that Ryan would want to keep this to himself. I knew why he would do it. But it worried me. This seems like a cold but that could only be the case this time. It worried me in the case it was something more serious. If Ryan tried to keep something like that from us, that could cause a lot of harm to him.

"Do you want me to go out to the store and get some stuff for him?" Kirsten asked.

I nodded; it'd probably be better to be prepared now if Ryan doesn't get any better tomorrow. And I was sure he'd be just the same or worse in the morning. "The usual stuff you get for Seth. Cough Medicine, Soup, Popsicles, crackers, some ginger ale, Advil…stuff like that." I tell her. Kirsten nods and grabs her keys before leaving the house.