*Yet* another fic : Playing The Hero (1/5)
No, I haven't forgotten the SOL fic.
Yes, I'm working on it.
No, it won't be much longer.
Promise.
But in the meantime, I keep ending up crying everytime I try working on this one, and it's growing tiresome, so...
Title : Playing The Hero (aka The One Where Ryan Dies)
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG
Summary : Ryan helps a damsel in distress one last time.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warning : Character death.
A/N : A plot-less, angsty, drabbly five-shots. I'm blaming this one on a comment made by mel39. Clearly, this is all her fault… Also, katwoman76, I'm terribly sorry about this; I swear, I won't do it again.
And thanks to the awsome joey51 for beta'ing this.
Part I
Ryan can hear the words, and even understand them, but they don't make sense once they're strung together as sentences.
"Stay calm, kid."
Ryan's puzzled, because why wouldn't he be calm?
"Don't worry."
But he's not worried.
He feels fine, if a little tired.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Ryan," he says, thinking, Of course, I can.
What kind of stupid question is that?
"Back with us?" another voice asks.
Then, he hears hurried orders and he can't understand the words anymore. It's too hard to keep his eyes open, so Ryan allows himself to drift off.
***
When he awakes again, there's a woman leaning over him, smiling gently, saying that he's fine, that his family has been called, that they're coming.
How is that possible? he wonders.
The Cohens are in California and Ryan lives in New York now. He's a freshman in college, and every time he calls home, Sandy asks him how he likes New York, and if he has seen the Nana this week, and if she's nice to him.
He tries to speak, but he doesn't think the woman can hear him.
"Your grandmother is on the way," the woman tells him.
Ryan doesn't have a grandmother, but he sinks back into unconsciousness before he can tell the woman as much.
***
The third time he wakes up, he remembers everything-he was going back to his dorm and he heard a scream and when he turned the corner of the building there was a girl fighting off someone and he tried to help her.
He must have lost the fight.
He always loses when he fights, and he sometimes wonders why he even keeps trying.
He must be in the hospital then.
He wishes he could look around to check, but he can't move.
"Is somebody here?" Ryan asks, and he's surprised when he hears his own voice-low, scratchy, as if he hasn't used it in a while.
He hears a soft, "Don't try to move," and the Nana enters his line of sight, looking like she has been crying.
That, Ryan thinks, that isn't a good sign.
Even in his weakened, confused state, he knows that the Nana doesn't cry.
Ever.
And why shouldn't he try to move anyway?
"The girl?" he asks, because he remembers that the girl was screaming at some point.
"She's fine," the Nana says. "Be quiet and rest."
Rest sounds like a good idea, but Ryan needs to ask first, because he knows that the Nana won't lie to him no matter what.
He doesn't know her that well, but he knows enough to be sure that the Nana doesn't cry, and doesn't lie.
"What's wrong with me?"
The Nana smiles. "Nothing." Then, she adds, "Sandy and Kirsten are on the way. Seth, too."
But why are the Cohens on the way if nothing is wrong with me? Ryan wonders.
***
The fourth time Ryan opens his eyes, he's in a brightly lit room, and there's a woman wearing surgical scrubs on his left, and a man on his right. Since no one is telling him what the hell's going on, Ryan chooses to assume that they're doctors.
"You need to relax," the woman says.
"I'm relaxed," Ryan replies, and feels like laughing for a while, because he knows what Seth would say to that.
"Dude, you don't do relaxed."
That's what Seth would say.
No one has told him why he's here, and Ryan would like to know, so he asks again, and he catches the look that the two doctors exchange over him.
"You're going to be fine," the woman says.
Ryan has always been able to spot liars, and he feels his heart sink slightly.
"Am I going to die?" he asks, and it's such a melodramatic question that he wishes he could take it back, if only so the woman wouldn't look at him so compassionately.
"No, of course not," she says.
Then another woman speaks up from behind him, tells him that she's giving him something that'll make him sleepy, and could he please start counting backwards from ten, and Ryan wants to ask them to stop, to give him another chance to talk to his family before they put him under, but everything fades to black before he can even try to speak again.
Part Two
Yes, I'm working on it.
No, it won't be much longer.
Promise.
But in the meantime, I keep ending up crying everytime I try working on this one, and it's growing tiresome, so...
Title : Playing The Hero (aka The One Where Ryan Dies)
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG
Summary : Ryan helps a damsel in distress one last time.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warning : Character death.
A/N : A plot-less, angsty, drabbly five-shots. I'm blaming this one on a comment made by mel39. Clearly, this is all her fault… Also, katwoman76, I'm terribly sorry about this; I swear, I won't do it again.
And thanks to the awsome joey51 for beta'ing this.
Part I
Ryan can hear the words, and even understand them, but they don't make sense once they're strung together as sentences.
"Stay calm, kid."
Ryan's puzzled, because why wouldn't he be calm?
"Don't worry."
But he's not worried.
He feels fine, if a little tired.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Ryan," he says, thinking, Of course, I can.
What kind of stupid question is that?
"Back with us?" another voice asks.
Then, he hears hurried orders and he can't understand the words anymore. It's too hard to keep his eyes open, so Ryan allows himself to drift off.
***
When he awakes again, there's a woman leaning over him, smiling gently, saying that he's fine, that his family has been called, that they're coming.
How is that possible? he wonders.
The Cohens are in California and Ryan lives in New York now. He's a freshman in college, and every time he calls home, Sandy asks him how he likes New York, and if he has seen the Nana this week, and if she's nice to him.
He tries to speak, but he doesn't think the woman can hear him.
"Your grandmother is on the way," the woman tells him.
Ryan doesn't have a grandmother, but he sinks back into unconsciousness before he can tell the woman as much.
***
The third time he wakes up, he remembers everything-he was going back to his dorm and he heard a scream and when he turned the corner of the building there was a girl fighting off someone and he tried to help her.
He must have lost the fight.
He always loses when he fights, and he sometimes wonders why he even keeps trying.
He must be in the hospital then.
He wishes he could look around to check, but he can't move.
"Is somebody here?" Ryan asks, and he's surprised when he hears his own voice-low, scratchy, as if he hasn't used it in a while.
He hears a soft, "Don't try to move," and the Nana enters his line of sight, looking like she has been crying.
That, Ryan thinks, that isn't a good sign.
Even in his weakened, confused state, he knows that the Nana doesn't cry.
Ever.
And why shouldn't he try to move anyway?
"The girl?" he asks, because he remembers that the girl was screaming at some point.
"She's fine," the Nana says. "Be quiet and rest."
Rest sounds like a good idea, but Ryan needs to ask first, because he knows that the Nana won't lie to him no matter what.
He doesn't know her that well, but he knows enough to be sure that the Nana doesn't cry, and doesn't lie.
"What's wrong with me?"
The Nana smiles. "Nothing." Then, she adds, "Sandy and Kirsten are on the way. Seth, too."
But why are the Cohens on the way if nothing is wrong with me? Ryan wonders.
***
The fourth time Ryan opens his eyes, he's in a brightly lit room, and there's a woman wearing surgical scrubs on his left, and a man on his right. Since no one is telling him what the hell's going on, Ryan chooses to assume that they're doctors.
"You need to relax," the woman says.
"I'm relaxed," Ryan replies, and feels like laughing for a while, because he knows what Seth would say to that.
"Dude, you don't do relaxed."
That's what Seth would say.
No one has told him why he's here, and Ryan would like to know, so he asks again, and he catches the look that the two doctors exchange over him.
"You're going to be fine," the woman says.
Ryan has always been able to spot liars, and he feels his heart sink slightly.
"Am I going to die?" he asks, and it's such a melodramatic question that he wishes he could take it back, if only so the woman wouldn't look at him so compassionately.
"No, of course not," she says.
Then another woman speaks up from behind him, tells him that she's giving him something that'll make him sleepy, and could he please start counting backwards from ten, and Ryan wants to ask them to stop, to give him another chance to talk to his family before they put him under, but everything fades to black before he can even try to speak again.
Part Two