fic - instinct
fandom: the oc
title: instinct
disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related.
rating: NC17
warnings: violence, sex and total crack. CRACK.
author's note: I think this chapter has a little bit of all my favorite things.
- part one -
- part two - part three -
- part four - part five - part six -
"Danny?" Ryan called, his tongue thick in his mouth.
"Yeah? You still okay?" the young doctor asked.
"I still can't feel that side. And I don't want to complain, but…this table is really hard and it's making my head hurt," Ryan said.
His head had been steadily aching more with every slight movement.
"Shit, I'm sorry, kid, I'm usually much better with the whole bedside manner thing," the doc said, grabbing a pillow and raising his head slightly to slide it under.
"Do you think…Anna's okay now? I need to find out what happened, what she saw," Ryan said. The pillow didn't help his headache.
"I'll get Che to come do something about your head and send someone for her. You seem to care about her a lot."
"I do," Ryan said, closing his eyes. "And she's not scared of anything so if she's freaked out, then, something had to scare her."
"Well, seeing her boyfriend take 4 bullets, hell, that would scare any girl."
"It wasn't that. Was it?" Ryan asked.
"She seems to care about you a lot, too."
"How long is this going to keep me down?" Ryan asked. He knew it was going to hurt like a bitch when the drugs wore off but he knew he couldn't just lie around a do nothing.
"You're going to need to ride the bench for a couple of months…"
"Months? It can't be that bad," Ryan said.
"Don't worry about that now. Your BP's still a little shaky and we really need you to stay calm and not worry about your school."
"I'd be calmer if I know who was shooting at us," Ryan said.
His father was locked up and he couldn't think of anyone else that would care enough to shoot at him.
Thinking about that was easier than wondering why no one was coming to sit with him. He liked Danny well enough but he missed Taylor and Che at the least sitting with him. And he hadn't seen Anna or the Cohens at all.
He was used to recovering on his own but he was too worried about them all to deny that he wanted to see them.
"You still okay?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. I'm just going to keep my eyes closed until my head stops hurting. Thanks for the pillow."
"Are you sure you're…"
Ryan sighed. "Am I supposed to be okay? I mean, you tell me I'm going to be down for a couple of months, I'm stuck on this cold table while you take your sweet time putting in stitches and I have no idea who was trying to kill me or if my friends are all right. Am I dead? No. But I'm as okay as I can be right now."
"Well, you're definitely getting some of your spunk back. Let me step out and get some reinforcements now that you're more lucid."
"When was I not lucid?" he asked.
"You were…trying to get out of bed and 'walk it off'. Taylor and Che got a little rattled and some of the things you were saying…might not have been things you wanted everyone to know. So…I asked them to leave us alone until I got your meds fixed."
"Oh," Ryan said. "Thanks." Maybe he was a little out of it.
"You've been through enough today. You don't need to answer any more questions than you already have on your pop quiz," Danny said. "Hang tight, I'll get you some company. And a blanket for when I'm done with the stitches, only about twenty or so more to go."
"Great," Ryan muttered. He didn't realize Danny had touched the IV until the rush of relief flooded through his side, bringing the numbness back to an ethereal level.
But when Danny was gone, he felt more alone than he had in a long time.
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"He's stopped asking for you," Taylor said, walking into Anna's room.
"What?" Anna felt like the feeling was just now returning to her extremities.
"Ryan. He was asking about you, like, where you were and what was wrong and all that and now, he's not. I just wanted to see if you were ready to see him yet. Because even though Danny says he's going to be fine, his spirits are, like, really low and the Cohens are out hunting for who did this and there's only so much me and Che can do without him getting suspicious," Taylor said.
"Shit…how long's he been awake?"
Taylor looked at her. "A couple of hours. We told you…you totally know that."
Anna didn't remember. "I think…I was a little out of it. Like…he got shot…he pushed me down and he was…"
Taylor took her by the arms. "Anna. He's going to be okay. You have got to stop thinking about him falling, you have to think about him getting up. He's hurt and he hasn't seen you and he's really worried and I really think you should come with me."
Anna was okay now, well, she was at least out of that black frozen place she'd gone when Ryan had fallen. "Yes, now, take me."
Taylor gave her a hug she didn't expect and Anna returned it. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you, too, but everything's all crazy and I'm really glad you're back. Come on."
Anna didn't follow Taylor out, she took the lead.
She was so fucked up - all this time she'd left Ryan by himself when he'd gotten hurt protecting her…
She got stuck at the door and had to wait for Taylor to swipe her card to get in. But she didn't let the bloodstains stop her from seeing her boyfriend.
"Better?" Che was asking when they stepped into the med room.
"Mm," Ryan said with his eyes closed.
He was pale and the pile of bloody bandages overflowing from the trash can was bright in her peripheral vision, but she could see his chest rising and falling underneath the light blue blanket.
"How is he?" Taylor asked from behind her and she saw Danny looking at a computer screen.
"He'll be okay."
Anna forced herself to move over to the bed.
Che smiled at her, moving so she could stand beside him.
Ryan didn't open his eyes but he sensed her immediately and she felt a rush of relief when he smiled. "Hey."
"Hey. I'm sorry I wasn't…"
"Are you okay?" he asked, blinking at her with a dull glaze over his blue eyes.
"I am now that I see you are," she said. "I have never been that scared…"
"I didn't even hear the shots…" Ryan said.
"Me, either. But you saved me, you pushed me down and when I saw you were bleeding, I just…lost it," she whispered.
Seth hurried into the room with a few leaves stuck in his hair and a folder in his hand.
"Hey, where have you been?" Che asked.
"With Grandpa, Ryan, are you all right?" Seth asked, walking over and squeezing beside Anna.
"Stoned. Yeah," Ryan said vaguely. "What's up?"
"Well, we followed the trajectory of the shots and found the origin point and then, well, it's complicated, but we got the video from the CCTV on the closest roads and Carter thinks that these pictures might have the sniper in them," Seth said. "But we don't recognize any of them and the facial recognition program isn't getting any hits."
Ryan took the pictures and Danny appeared, moving the bed up slightly so he was more upright.
He flipped through the photos quickly, but Anna saw a flash of fear in his eyes.
She'd never seen that before. Even when he was covering her from the gunfire.
"Who is it?" Anna asked.
"Its…is Carter here? I should talk to Carter," Ryan said.
"He's waiting for me to call him and tell him who to go after and why," Seth said.
"Call him. And let me talk to him. I don't want to have to say it more than once," Ryan said, his eyelids drooping.
She was relieved that he wasn't mad, but still petrified because he seemed so…calm. Yet, she could see he was really upset through the painkiller glaze in his eyes.
He wasn't okay, that was clear.
"All right," Seth said after she gave him a warning glance. He seemed to 'get' Ryan, too. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a couple of keys before speaking into it softly.
Ryan raised his hand and Seth put the phone and made sure he had a good grip before letting go.
"Carter? Hey. Yeah, I'm not dead yet, Danny seems to know his stuff…I know who you're looking for. His name's Alan Jenkins. Goes by A.J. He's my uncle, my dad's brother, or something. He didn't come around much until Dad got locked up but he's been fucking my mom for years. He's got a family out in Chino, 421 Hoskins Street."
Anna glanced at Seth again and saw that he was just as surprised.
"He would do anything for Dad. He wouldn't have bothered by himself, and he wouldn't know where this place is, right?" Ryan asked.
She brushed his hair back and tried to soothe him and herself with the repetitive movement.
"Okay. Hang on," Ryan said, holding the phone out again.
Seth gave her another look and patted Ryan on the shoulder before walking out with the phone.
"Ryan, are you…" Anna started.
"My dad apparently has more issues with Caleb than I thought if he'd kill me just for being here. But it would have to be some serious hate for him to send AJ after me," Ryan said.
Anna glanced back at Danny who was watching them closely. She turned back to Ryan and took his hand. "You need to rest. Will you try and rest? I'll keep lookout."
"You don't have to stay."
"Yeah, I do. I'm not out of my head anymore and I'm not going anywhere until you make me. And you're in no shape to make me," Anna said.
Ryan sighed softly. "I can't rest in here, there's too much going on."
"I think since he's so sensitive to sound and light that it's harder for him to turn it off when he's overloaded with the bullet wounds and drugs," Che said to Danny.
"Yeah, something like that," Ryan agreed.
"You need to rest. Che? Come work your magic so he can sleep," Anna said.
Ryan closed his eyes and didn't argue.
Che waited for Danny's nod before walking over and hitting the pressure points that finally slowed Ryan's breathing to a natural pace.
"This is really bad. Taylor, can you bring me one of those Blackberries from the control room? I need to find out what I can do to help Carter and the Cohens nail this guy," Anna said.
"What you need to do is look after your boy. They've got in under control and he's the part of the team that needs the most help right now," Danny said.
She glanced at him and realized that he knew lots more than they did.
"I'll get you a chair and a soda," Taylor said.
"He's been doing really well, like, with the pain and all. He's been a little grumpy, but that's almost normal for him," Che said.
"I should've been here," Anna said.
"You're here now. That's what matters. And Caleb will take care of the sniper. He just needs us to take care of Ryan until he gets back," Danny said.
"All right. I'm not leaving him again," Anna said. "I just feel like I failed the test of being part of the team."
"Part of being a team is caring about each other. I would do the same thing if something happened to Summer," Che said.
She smiled at Che gratefully and hoped everyone else would understand like he did.
------------------
"He's in there, Seth's hacked into the satellites and says he's sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich," Summer said, moving to the window of Carter's surveillance van to scan the house.
She wasn't as good as Ryan and Anna, not even close, but she could pinpoint the asshole that shot her friend through the slits in the miniblinds.
"Do you have enough to get him locked up forever?" Summer asked.
Carter glanced at her. "With the right lawyers, yes, definitely."
"Then I'll hold him until you go get him," Summer said, pushing up her sleeves.
"Summer, what are you…" Sandy started.
"Ryan and Anna aren't the only ones that can practice," Summer said, holding out her hand and making a choking motion.
"He's choking," Caleb said, looking at a computer monitor.
"I won't kill him, but you can go get him now, I moved the guns out of his reach," she said.
She could feel his pulse speeding up but she didn't release the pressure of her telekinetic hold.
"Where'd you learn that?" Sandy asked.
"Practice. I haven't really used it from this distance but…he hurt my friends," Summer said.
She saw Carter and his SWAT-like team rush into the house and throw the asshole to the floor.
She lowered her hand and sat down on the bench again.
Caleb put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "Good girl."
"Make sure he doesn't get out. Make sure he pays," Summer said.
"If we get our way, we'll make him and Ryan's father pay," Sandy said.
"Let's get back so we can check on Ryan," Caleb said.
------------------
Kirsten let out a breath in relief when she saw Anna, Taylor, Seth and Che sitting around Ryan's bed in an awkward circle. It was only when she approached that she saw the board game on the tray table.
"Hi, guys," Kirsten said.
"Hey. How'd everything go?" Seth asked.
"It went," she replied, meeting Ryan's gaze. "How are you?"
"Danny's giving me the good drugs," Ryan replied.
"Dad pulled the old distraction technique on me," she admitted. "Whenever someone gets upset, he makes them stay busy and channel that emotion. You scared us so much…"
"Danny's a good doctor. At least when I'm hooked up to the morphine," Ryan said.
"Why don't you guys take a time out on the game and go get some dinner, there's food upstairs. That way Danny can check over him again and I can get him some food, too," Kirsten said.
"But…" Seth started.
"You can come back down afterwards, but your stomach's been growling for a while," Ryan said.
The kids filed out apart from Anna who didn't move or break her tether with Ryan's hand.
He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "Go. Get cleaned up and come back. I don't want you fainting on me."
"I'll be back," Anna said.
Ryan sighed as she took Anna's vacated seat.
"They've arrested your uncle. They have enough proof and he's got enough priors that he'll never get out," she said. "What do you need?"
Ryan's jaw was grinding but didn't answer right away.
"You're our family now. Trust me," she said.
"Can you get me some sweatpants?" he asked, blushing slightly. "I feel, kind of, weird hanging out with everybody with just a blanket over me."
"Of course," she said. "What else? What would you like me to get you to eat?"
"Something…light? Toast or something," he said.
"All right. How about Danny helps you sit up and go to the bathroom while I go get your things?"
"He says I can't sit up," Ryan frowned.
"We can try a short walk, but we have to take it really slow," Danny said.
"I'll be back in a flash," Kirsten said.
She hadn't needed to go with her father and husband on the hunt for the monster. This was her job.
But Ryan was still letting her do it, so she couldn't worry about her mistakes right now.
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title: instinct
disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related.
rating: NC17
warnings: violence, sex and total crack. CRACK.
author's note: I think this chapter has a little bit of all my favorite things.
- part one -
- part two - part three -
- part four - part five - part six -
"Danny?" Ryan called, his tongue thick in his mouth.
"Yeah? You still okay?" the young doctor asked.
"I still can't feel that side. And I don't want to complain, but…this table is really hard and it's making my head hurt," Ryan said.
His head had been steadily aching more with every slight movement.
"Shit, I'm sorry, kid, I'm usually much better with the whole bedside manner thing," the doc said, grabbing a pillow and raising his head slightly to slide it under.
"Do you think…Anna's okay now? I need to find out what happened, what she saw," Ryan said. The pillow didn't help his headache.
"I'll get Che to come do something about your head and send someone for her. You seem to care about her a lot."
"I do," Ryan said, closing his eyes. "And she's not scared of anything so if she's freaked out, then, something had to scare her."
"Well, seeing her boyfriend take 4 bullets, hell, that would scare any girl."
"It wasn't that. Was it?" Ryan asked.
"She seems to care about you a lot, too."
"How long is this going to keep me down?" Ryan asked. He knew it was going to hurt like a bitch when the drugs wore off but he knew he couldn't just lie around a do nothing.
"You're going to need to ride the bench for a couple of months…"
"Months? It can't be that bad," Ryan said.
"Don't worry about that now. Your BP's still a little shaky and we really need you to stay calm and not worry about your school."
"I'd be calmer if I know who was shooting at us," Ryan said.
His father was locked up and he couldn't think of anyone else that would care enough to shoot at him.
Thinking about that was easier than wondering why no one was coming to sit with him. He liked Danny well enough but he missed Taylor and Che at the least sitting with him. And he hadn't seen Anna or the Cohens at all.
He was used to recovering on his own but he was too worried about them all to deny that he wanted to see them.
"You still okay?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. I'm just going to keep my eyes closed until my head stops hurting. Thanks for the pillow."
"Are you sure you're…"
Ryan sighed. "Am I supposed to be okay? I mean, you tell me I'm going to be down for a couple of months, I'm stuck on this cold table while you take your sweet time putting in stitches and I have no idea who was trying to kill me or if my friends are all right. Am I dead? No. But I'm as okay as I can be right now."
"Well, you're definitely getting some of your spunk back. Let me step out and get some reinforcements now that you're more lucid."
"When was I not lucid?" he asked.
"You were…trying to get out of bed and 'walk it off'. Taylor and Che got a little rattled and some of the things you were saying…might not have been things you wanted everyone to know. So…I asked them to leave us alone until I got your meds fixed."
"Oh," Ryan said. "Thanks." Maybe he was a little out of it.
"You've been through enough today. You don't need to answer any more questions than you already have on your pop quiz," Danny said. "Hang tight, I'll get you some company. And a blanket for when I'm done with the stitches, only about twenty or so more to go."
"Great," Ryan muttered. He didn't realize Danny had touched the IV until the rush of relief flooded through his side, bringing the numbness back to an ethereal level.
But when Danny was gone, he felt more alone than he had in a long time.
------------------
"He's stopped asking for you," Taylor said, walking into Anna's room.
"What?" Anna felt like the feeling was just now returning to her extremities.
"Ryan. He was asking about you, like, where you were and what was wrong and all that and now, he's not. I just wanted to see if you were ready to see him yet. Because even though Danny says he's going to be fine, his spirits are, like, really low and the Cohens are out hunting for who did this and there's only so much me and Che can do without him getting suspicious," Taylor said.
"Shit…how long's he been awake?"
Taylor looked at her. "A couple of hours. We told you…you totally know that."
Anna didn't remember. "I think…I was a little out of it. Like…he got shot…he pushed me down and he was…"
Taylor took her by the arms. "Anna. He's going to be okay. You have got to stop thinking about him falling, you have to think about him getting up. He's hurt and he hasn't seen you and he's really worried and I really think you should come with me."
Anna was okay now, well, she was at least out of that black frozen place she'd gone when Ryan had fallen. "Yes, now, take me."
Taylor gave her a hug she didn't expect and Anna returned it. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you, too, but everything's all crazy and I'm really glad you're back. Come on."
Anna didn't follow Taylor out, she took the lead.
She was so fucked up - all this time she'd left Ryan by himself when he'd gotten hurt protecting her…
She got stuck at the door and had to wait for Taylor to swipe her card to get in. But she didn't let the bloodstains stop her from seeing her boyfriend.
"Better?" Che was asking when they stepped into the med room.
"Mm," Ryan said with his eyes closed.
He was pale and the pile of bloody bandages overflowing from the trash can was bright in her peripheral vision, but she could see his chest rising and falling underneath the light blue blanket.
"How is he?" Taylor asked from behind her and she saw Danny looking at a computer screen.
"He'll be okay."
Anna forced herself to move over to the bed.
Che smiled at her, moving so she could stand beside him.
Ryan didn't open his eyes but he sensed her immediately and she felt a rush of relief when he smiled. "Hey."
"Hey. I'm sorry I wasn't…"
"Are you okay?" he asked, blinking at her with a dull glaze over his blue eyes.
"I am now that I see you are," she said. "I have never been that scared…"
"I didn't even hear the shots…" Ryan said.
"Me, either. But you saved me, you pushed me down and when I saw you were bleeding, I just…lost it," she whispered.
Seth hurried into the room with a few leaves stuck in his hair and a folder in his hand.
"Hey, where have you been?" Che asked.
"With Grandpa, Ryan, are you all right?" Seth asked, walking over and squeezing beside Anna.
"Stoned. Yeah," Ryan said vaguely. "What's up?"
"Well, we followed the trajectory of the shots and found the origin point and then, well, it's complicated, but we got the video from the CCTV on the closest roads and Carter thinks that these pictures might have the sniper in them," Seth said. "But we don't recognize any of them and the facial recognition program isn't getting any hits."
Ryan took the pictures and Danny appeared, moving the bed up slightly so he was more upright.
He flipped through the photos quickly, but Anna saw a flash of fear in his eyes.
She'd never seen that before. Even when he was covering her from the gunfire.
"Who is it?" Anna asked.
"Its…is Carter here? I should talk to Carter," Ryan said.
"He's waiting for me to call him and tell him who to go after and why," Seth said.
"Call him. And let me talk to him. I don't want to have to say it more than once," Ryan said, his eyelids drooping.
She was relieved that he wasn't mad, but still petrified because he seemed so…calm. Yet, she could see he was really upset through the painkiller glaze in his eyes.
He wasn't okay, that was clear.
"All right," Seth said after she gave him a warning glance. He seemed to 'get' Ryan, too. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a couple of keys before speaking into it softly.
Ryan raised his hand and Seth put the phone and made sure he had a good grip before letting go.
"Carter? Hey. Yeah, I'm not dead yet, Danny seems to know his stuff…I know who you're looking for. His name's Alan Jenkins. Goes by A.J. He's my uncle, my dad's brother, or something. He didn't come around much until Dad got locked up but he's been fucking my mom for years. He's got a family out in Chino, 421 Hoskins Street."
Anna glanced at Seth again and saw that he was just as surprised.
"He would do anything for Dad. He wouldn't have bothered by himself, and he wouldn't know where this place is, right?" Ryan asked.
She brushed his hair back and tried to soothe him and herself with the repetitive movement.
"Okay. Hang on," Ryan said, holding the phone out again.
Seth gave her another look and patted Ryan on the shoulder before walking out with the phone.
"Ryan, are you…" Anna started.
"My dad apparently has more issues with Caleb than I thought if he'd kill me just for being here. But it would have to be some serious hate for him to send AJ after me," Ryan said.
Anna glanced back at Danny who was watching them closely. She turned back to Ryan and took his hand. "You need to rest. Will you try and rest? I'll keep lookout."
"You don't have to stay."
"Yeah, I do. I'm not out of my head anymore and I'm not going anywhere until you make me. And you're in no shape to make me," Anna said.
Ryan sighed softly. "I can't rest in here, there's too much going on."
"I think since he's so sensitive to sound and light that it's harder for him to turn it off when he's overloaded with the bullet wounds and drugs," Che said to Danny.
"Yeah, something like that," Ryan agreed.
"You need to rest. Che? Come work your magic so he can sleep," Anna said.
Ryan closed his eyes and didn't argue.
Che waited for Danny's nod before walking over and hitting the pressure points that finally slowed Ryan's breathing to a natural pace.
"This is really bad. Taylor, can you bring me one of those Blackberries from the control room? I need to find out what I can do to help Carter and the Cohens nail this guy," Anna said.
"What you need to do is look after your boy. They've got in under control and he's the part of the team that needs the most help right now," Danny said.
She glanced at him and realized that he knew lots more than they did.
"I'll get you a chair and a soda," Taylor said.
"He's been doing really well, like, with the pain and all. He's been a little grumpy, but that's almost normal for him," Che said.
"I should've been here," Anna said.
"You're here now. That's what matters. And Caleb will take care of the sniper. He just needs us to take care of Ryan until he gets back," Danny said.
"All right. I'm not leaving him again," Anna said. "I just feel like I failed the test of being part of the team."
"Part of being a team is caring about each other. I would do the same thing if something happened to Summer," Che said.
She smiled at Che gratefully and hoped everyone else would understand like he did.
------------------
"He's in there, Seth's hacked into the satellites and says he's sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich," Summer said, moving to the window of Carter's surveillance van to scan the house.
She wasn't as good as Ryan and Anna, not even close, but she could pinpoint the asshole that shot her friend through the slits in the miniblinds.
"Do you have enough to get him locked up forever?" Summer asked.
Carter glanced at her. "With the right lawyers, yes, definitely."
"Then I'll hold him until you go get him," Summer said, pushing up her sleeves.
"Summer, what are you…" Sandy started.
"Ryan and Anna aren't the only ones that can practice," Summer said, holding out her hand and making a choking motion.
"He's choking," Caleb said, looking at a computer monitor.
"I won't kill him, but you can go get him now, I moved the guns out of his reach," she said.
She could feel his pulse speeding up but she didn't release the pressure of her telekinetic hold.
"Where'd you learn that?" Sandy asked.
"Practice. I haven't really used it from this distance but…he hurt my friends," Summer said.
She saw Carter and his SWAT-like team rush into the house and throw the asshole to the floor.
She lowered her hand and sat down on the bench again.
Caleb put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "Good girl."
"Make sure he doesn't get out. Make sure he pays," Summer said.
"If we get our way, we'll make him and Ryan's father pay," Sandy said.
"Let's get back so we can check on Ryan," Caleb said.
------------------
Kirsten let out a breath in relief when she saw Anna, Taylor, Seth and Che sitting around Ryan's bed in an awkward circle. It was only when she approached that she saw the board game on the tray table.
"Hi, guys," Kirsten said.
"Hey. How'd everything go?" Seth asked.
"It went," she replied, meeting Ryan's gaze. "How are you?"
"Danny's giving me the good drugs," Ryan replied.
"Dad pulled the old distraction technique on me," she admitted. "Whenever someone gets upset, he makes them stay busy and channel that emotion. You scared us so much…"
"Danny's a good doctor. At least when I'm hooked up to the morphine," Ryan said.
"Why don't you guys take a time out on the game and go get some dinner, there's food upstairs. That way Danny can check over him again and I can get him some food, too," Kirsten said.
"But…" Seth started.
"You can come back down afterwards, but your stomach's been growling for a while," Ryan said.
The kids filed out apart from Anna who didn't move or break her tether with Ryan's hand.
He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "Go. Get cleaned up and come back. I don't want you fainting on me."
"I'll be back," Anna said.
Ryan sighed as she took Anna's vacated seat.
"They've arrested your uncle. They have enough proof and he's got enough priors that he'll never get out," she said. "What do you need?"
Ryan's jaw was grinding but didn't answer right away.
"You're our family now. Trust me," she said.
"Can you get me some sweatpants?" he asked, blushing slightly. "I feel, kind of, weird hanging out with everybody with just a blanket over me."
"Of course," she said. "What else? What would you like me to get you to eat?"
"Something…light? Toast or something," he said.
"All right. How about Danny helps you sit up and go to the bathroom while I go get your things?"
"He says I can't sit up," Ryan frowned.
"We can try a short walk, but we have to take it really slow," Danny said.
"I'll be back in a flash," Kirsten said.
She hadn't needed to go with her father and husband on the hunt for the monster. This was her job.
But Ryan was still letting her do it, so she couldn't worry about her mistakes right now.
------------------