| Chapter 62 Cameron walked into Brian's room, a syringe in his hand. He had stayed, wanting to see his patient through. Marie and Kevin were talking, and both looked up when he entered. "Morning," Kevin said. Cameron nodded, "Morning. How was he last night?" Marie sighed, "The same. His fever is at a constant 102 and nothing I've tried has brought it down." Cameron injected the blue liquid into Brian's IV then made a note on his chart. "How long will he get that before he's winged off it?" Kevin asked. "Well, I discussed that with the other doctors here, and we felt it better to keep him on a constant dose until his body has healed and he's no longer in danger. Then we can start taking him off it gradually," Cameron answered. Kevin sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's better this way Kevin," Marie said, "He couldn't deal with the withdrawal right now. It'd kill him for sure." Kevin nodded, "I understand. I just hate it that we have to keep feeding his addiction." "It's only temporary," Cameron said. "Hey, we missed you guys at breakfast," Howie said, as he, A.J., Ana, and Anthony came in the door. Kevin looked up, "We stayed here." "How is he today?" Ana asked. "The same," Marie said sadly. Ana walked over to her friend and hugged her, "He'll get better, I know he will." Marie smiled, nodding her head. "Hey man, we never got to thank you last night for what you did," A.J. said, slapping Cameron on the back. "Well, I made a promise to him. I had to keep it," he replied. Anthony listened to the small talk, not really paying attention. Something had caught his eye in the hall, and he stepped back to get a better look. Mason was talking to one of the doctors, holding a bandage to a still bleeding cheek. The doctor motioned for Mason to follow him, and they disappeared into an exam room. Anthony quietly slipped out of the room and headed to the door he saw them enter. Mason looked up when he came through the door, then turned back to the doctor, who was preparing to stitch his cheek. "What happened?" Anthony asked. Mason sighed, not wanting to deal with questions right now, "Nothing, it was an accident." Anthony came closer, inspecting the deep cut across his fathers cheek, "What kind of accident? That looks really bad." Mason jumped as the doctor inserted the needle for the first stitch, and glared at the man. "I'm sorry my lord," the doctor apologized. "Father, what happened?" Anthony asked again, more frustrated that his father wouldn't answer him than concerned. Mason closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, "Your cousin and I had a disagreement." Anthony's mouth dropped open, "Nick did this?!" Mason nodded. "What did you do to him?" the young man asked bravely. Mason waved the doctor off and glared at his son, "I did nothing to him. He's perfectly healthy. Why do you think that this is my fault?" "Because it usually is," Anthony shot back. "That is no way to speak to your father," Mason said through clenched teeth. This brought on laughter from the young man. "My father.." he laughed, "Since when have you ever considered yourself my father!" he yelled, his anger dripping from every word. Mason sat there stunned, not believing the boys attitude. Anthony saw he had his attention for the first time in his life, so he decided now was as good a time as any to get things off his chest. He glared at Mason, pointing his finger at him, "You never cared about me at all. Never even acknowledged I existed unless it benefitted you in some way. What did I do to make you hate me so much? Huh? Just tell me that! What could I have done to make you want nothing to do with me?! All I ever wanted was for you to love me. Why is that so hard?!" he screamed, tears running down his face. He furiously wiped them away, waiting for Mason to say something. "Anthony, I never hated you," he said so softly the boy almost didn't hear it. "Then why? Why do you treat me like a servant, and not your son?" he asked. Mason looked down, he had no answer for that. If he told him the real reason why, it would turn his world upside-down. Anthony saw he wasn't going to get an answer. His anger rose, expecting as much from the man, "Fine! You know what, I'm done! I'm finished caring what you think about me. I have no father...... the only father I ever knew is dead! You can just sit back and relax, cause I don't need you! You .... You asshole!" he screamed, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Mason sat stunned for several moments. He deserved this too, wondering why it took the boy so long to do it. He shook his head and sighed, defeated, then motioned for the doctor to resume his work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stared at his mother in shock, "What do you mean Anthony is Fredericks?" LaDonna bit her lip, thinking of the best way to explain this. "After Mason and I were found out, Mason left for a time. He went to Mardica and stayed in the palace there. While he was there he met a young girl. She was of the high class, and very beautiful. Supposedly they started seeing one another. Frederick found out about it and paid them a visit," she said, taking a deep breath. "This wasn't long after everything happened, and he was still so hurt and angry. He barely looked at me then, only speaking to me in a public setting. It took him a long time to forgive me, and I'm not sure he ever forgave Mason. Anyway, he cornered the girl and seduced her." she said, looking back down at her dress. Nick felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. He couldn't believe she had kept this a secret for all these years and not broke under the pressure of it all. "H-how could he do that?" he whispered. The queen took his hand and gently rubbed the back of it with her thumb, "He was the king. You don't tell the king no. So she slept with him, and ended up pregnant. Out of duty, Mason married her, knowing full well the child wasn't his." "How did he know? It could've been," Nick mused. LaDonna shook her head, "They were just friends. They never ......" Nick nodded his head, "I see. So all this time, you knew too?" "Yes, Frederick made a point of telling me what he'd done," she said. Nick bit his lip, "I never thought he could be so cruel. All the way here everyone kept telling me what a loving, caring, wonderful king he was." "He was Nickolas. It just took him some time to deal with everything, and in that time, he made several mistakes that he regretted until the day he died. This was one of them," she said. Nick leaned back on the couch and rubbed his head, he was getting a mother of a headache, "How could you bring him here and raise him, knowing what happened?" LaDonna sighed, "I needed to. Losing you was still so fresh in my heart, even though it had been several years since you'd been taken. I still longed for a child, I missed you terribly. So when his mother died, I asked Frederick to bring him here. I knew that Mason wasn't capable of taking care of him. He'd changed from the man I knew, grown bitter and hard hearted. I think he did it so the grief of what happened wouldn't take over, like a defense mechanism. He was going to get you before you got him. Not wanting to ever feel that vulnerable, or get hurt like that again. So he closed himself off to everyone, even me. Just recently have I seen the man I loved so much back then. He's opening up now, trying to set things right." Nick leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, "Anthony doesn't know does he?" "No, and we can never tell him," she replied. Nick looked up at her, "Why not, he deserves to know the truth?" "I know, and I hate keeping this from him, but it cannot be. No one can know about what I've just told you. If it got out it would ruin everything," she said. He shook his head, "I don't understand." "If the public found out that they'd been lied to by the king and the royal family for all these years, it would cause chaos. The people would distrust us, and soon, stop following the laws we set for them. Our world relies on one principle, and that is, your king doesn't lie to you. If they find out that's not true, it could lead to all out mutiny. Plots would be formed to overthrow you, different factions would form, and our world would be torn apart. That is why the three of us kept this a secret all these years Nickolas," she explained. He sighed, "I understand that, but why can't we just tell Anthony? He wouldn't leak it out, I know that for a fact." "I'm sure he wouldn't, but you are king Nick. If he found out he was Frederick's son, and not Mason's, how long would it be before he decided that he was the rightful heir to the throne and not you," she said. Nick half smiled, "Who's to say he wouldn't be right?" LaDonna sighed. "Listen, I understand that, but you know Anthony's heart. He wouldn't do that," he said. She shook her head, "We can't risk it. You are the rightful heir to the throne in the public's eye. If he did challenge you, everything I just told you would come out. I can't let that happen Nick. I can't go through the humiliation and the scrutiny again. It was bad enough coming from one man, I don't want to see what it would be like coming from the entire planet." Nick rubbed his temples again, letting her words sink in. As much as he loved Anthony, and wanted him to know the truth, he couldn't risk putting his mother through that again, "Alright, I won't say anything." The queen pulled him into a hug, "Thank you." He smiled at her, then winced as a sharp pain ran through his head. "You have another headache?" she asked. He nodded. "Come, we'll go down to medical and get you something for it," she said, standing up and offering him her hand. He took it, standing up and walking to the door with her, "I love you mom," he said. LaDonna looked up at her son and smiled, "I love you too, always." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mason stood in the hall, peering through the window to Brian's room. The entire group was there, minus Nick and Anthony. All talking, trying to keep each other's spirits up. He sighed, his heart in his throat looking at Brian. The young man looked near death, and his wife didn't look much better. Her face was stricken with worry, and she looked as if she would collapse from exhaustion at any second. He bit his lip, knowing their pain was because of him. He closed his eyes and sighed, feeling so much regret for what he'd done. It'd been years since he felt this hurt, this emotionally open. Slowly he was letting his guard down, and facing the pain. Gradually coming back to the man he was before the scar. He had to admit, he didn't know if he could be that man again. It'd been so long since he let himself feel anything, he wasn't sure he still could. Looking at Brian's ashen face, he knew the answer. So much regret and guilt. It flooded through him like a raging river. Quickly he turned from the sight, not wanting anyone to see him. He wasn't ready to tell them what he'd done. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. LaDonna and Nick approached him, Nick holding his head. LaDonna saw him and smiled, "You are alright?" "Yes," he replied, as Nick looked up at him, "But you are not. Another headache?" Nick nodded, not sure what to say to the man now. Before he was so angry, now his emotions were all over the place. He felt sorry for him, hating what he went through just because of love. Then there was the burning question in the back of his mind.... was he really his father? But above all else there was disappointment. Disappointment in the way he handled everything, and what he let himself become because of it. Nick stared at the newly stitched wound on his face, realizing he had cut him exactly where his old scar had been. "I'm sorry," he said. Mason nodded, "It's alright. Let's get you to a room before you get ill." Nick didn't know what to think as Mason took his other hand and the two lead him to a room. Soon a doctor was in, giving him a shot of the medicine that helped so much the last time. He watched as his mother leaned close to Mason, "I told him," she whispered, not thinking Nick was paying attention. A wash of emotion flashed through Mason's eyes, "Everything?" She nodded. Mason looked over to see Nick staring at them. Nick could have sworn the man blushed. Suddenly Mason didn't know what to say, gazing down at the floor. The drug was starting to take affect, and Nick leaned back on the small bed. "Nickolas, do you want to go back to your chambers?" his mother asked. He shook his head, barely awake, "Stay here," he mumbled. Mason watched as LaDonna sat down on the edge of the bed, taking Nick's hand as he fought to stay awake. He sighed, walking over and sitting on the other side of the bed. Nick glanced over at him, fighting to keep his eyes open. Mason smiled meekly at him, reaching out and taking his other hand, "Go to sleep." Nick blinked a few times, swearing that he saw love in the mans eyes as he looked at him. Finally it became to much, and he closed his eyes, drifting to sleep under the watchful care of the two. Chapter 63 |