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Ryan was waiting for us when we pulled up. He was holding his eight-year-old stepsister, Katie, in

his arms, her long black hair covering her face. Dad ran over to him and reached out to touch Katie's

head.

"Sweetie," he told her, "its going to be okay." He handed me his keys. "Penny Lane, open up the

office, get the lights on in my exam room, turn everything on, and get a clean set of instruments."

Ryan looked at me, noticing that I was with my father, and I saw that his eyes were filled with panic.

I nervously reached for the keys and sprinted into the office. I flipped on the overhead lights and then

ran in the back to my dad's main exam room. Like an automatic reflex, I turned on all of the equipment,

grabbed a fresh set of instruments, and placed them down on the counter.

Katie's sobs were getting louder as my dad and Ryan approached the room.

"I was upstairs getting dinner ready and then I heard a crash. I guess she was jumping around and..

fell!" Ryan was explaining to my dad.

He set Katie in the chair and Dad gently removed the towel that was covering her face. All I could

see was blood.

"Oh, no!" Ryan exclaimed, and he put his hands over his head and started to pace.

"Everything's going to be fine!" Dad said. I couldn't tell if he was talking to Katie or Ryan.

I ran into my dad's office, grabbed Abbey the Walrus, and ran back. Dad was examining Katie, who

was now crying even harder.

"Here, sweetie." I went over and gave her the stuffed animal that I used to play with when I was

about her age. Katie hesitantly took the walrus and then held on to it for dear life.

"All right, some of the teeth are a little loose, but everything is going to be fine. I'm just going to

clean up the wound and then see about stabilizing the teeth," Dad looked over at Ryan, who seemed like

he was about to faint.

"Penny Lane, why don't you take Ryan to the lobby," Dad went on, even as Ryan began to protest.

"Ryan, I think it's best for you to wait there. You've done all you can."

I walked out the door and Ryan followed me. Before I could even think about it, I placed my hand on

his shoulder.

He plunked down on the couch in the reception area and put his hands over his face. "My mother's

going to kill me."

I sat down next to him and put my arm around him. "Ryan, you didn't do anything wrong."

"There's so much blood," he protested.

"But that's just because the blood is mixed with the saliva, so it just looks worse than it actually is," I

assured him.

He jerked his head up. "Why are you even here?"

I couldn't tell if he was angry or embarrassed.

"My dad, he, um, thought he might need help. And that you might need a friend." I reached for his

hand and gave it a squeeze.

Ryan's cell phone rang and he jumped. "Hey, Mom... No, I got a hold of Dr. Bloom… Yes… okay…

okay… I will. Bye."

"You have to know this isn't your fault," I said after he'd hung up.

He just stared straight ahead, "Um, when I was two, Lucy was supposed to be watching me. She was

only ten at the time, so that was probably pretty irresponsible of my parents, but she left me on the top

bunk bed in her room and, well, the next thing you know, I fell off the bunk bed and onto the floor. And

you know, I turned out semi-normal." I bumped my knee against his. "Or maybe not... "

He smiled. "I know she'll be okay, but my mom sounded like I really let her down, and Cole is so

overprotective of Katie. It's just… do you have any idea how frickin' exhausting it is to be me

sometimes?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Ryan," I said, "nobody expects you to be perfect"

"Right, tell that to the coaches and my parents."

I'd never really thought about that. I'd just always assumed that Ryan was perfect.

"It's my own fault," he continued, "I kill myself to live up to peoples expectations. Just once I'd like

to skip class, drink at a party, not always say the right thing, I can already hear my parents, 'You should

have been watching her, Ryan,' What were you thinking, Ryan! 'How irresponsible, Ryan! 'We are so

disappointed, Ryan!' That's the worst, when they tell me that they're disappointed in me, like I'm not

allowed to mess up once in a while. I'm just thankful my dad doesn't need to know about this!"

It was the first time Ryan had mentioned his father since he hadn't shown up at the game earlier in the

year. "If I have to hear from him one more time that an A-minus is the same as a B-minus and that no

decent college is going to let me in unless I get nothing but straight As. Like I want to follow his path to

being a self-absorbed prick."

My mouth dropped open.

He looked horrified, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have… I didn't mean, "

"It's okay" I rubbed his arm. "You're just really stressed about Katie, that's all. There's just… a lot

going on right now."

He turned to me, looking so tired. "I know you think I'm overreacting, but I spend so much time doing

things to not disappoint people... What about what I want?"

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Does it even matter?" he replied as he leaned his head against the wall.

"Yes, it does, if it's important to you."

"Well, I can't have it, so what's the point?"

This was such a different side to Ryan — he was so vulnerable. It made me like him even more. I

reached out and held his hand again. "Ryan, you're an amazing person and you do deserve whatever you

want."

He looked down at my hand in his. "I'm not stupid, so I'm willing to settle."

I was confused; I had no idea what he was talking about. He reached out his free hand and cupped

my chin. "I know things have been weird, but can we please have things go back to normal between us?"

I didn't know if that was even possible. What was normal anymore?

I nodded. "I'm really sorry for everything. Rosanna was just..."

"I know," he said as he put his hand back down and took his other hand away from mine. I had the

urge to grab it again, but resisted.

"Well." I hit him on the knee. "Leave it to you. You come in here with your sister and you end up

making me feel better."

"Yeah, well, leave it to Mr. Perfect…"

I laughed. "Hardly. Don't forget I overheard you singing at the concert and you, mister, have a little

problem with pitch. I say you're far from perfect."

He shook his head and we sat in silence. I started to hum along to the Muzak playing in the

background.

"Oh my God," I said.

Ryan looked up. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Nothing, it's just…" I went over to the front desk and turned up the volume,

"Seems to be appropriate, don't you think?" I started to sing along to the music playing.

Won't you please, please help me.

"You have no idea." He breathed what appeared to be a sigh of relief.

Dad came out a few minutes later, holding Katie's hand. Her mouth looked a lot better, besides the

gauze that Dad affixed to help slow the bleeding. Ryan jumped out of his chair and was on his knees

hugging her.

"Dr. Bloom, thank you so much. I'm so sorry for having to call you at home — I just didn't know what

to do."

My dad shook Ryan's hand. "No worries — you did the right thing."

Katie came over to me and extended Abbey in her small arms, I bent down. "You know, I think you

might need Abbey more than me."

Her face lit up and she ran over to Ryan and grabbed his leg.

"Well," he said, "I guess we should go. Thanks again, Dr. Bloom."

He walked over to me, saying "Thanks, Penny" as he gave me a hug. Then he leaned down and kissed

me on the cheek.

I saw the surprised look on my dad's face. As we let them out the front door, he looked at me. "So..

that Ryan. Great guy, huh?"

You have no idea, I thought.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-27