| Chapter 63 LaDonna looked over at Mason. He was still holding Nick's hand, staring at the young man. She reached over Nick and touched his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. "What is bothering you?" she asked. He looked back down and smiled as much as the new stitches in his cheek would allow, "You always could tell when something was wrong." "Yes, so what is it?" she asked. He sighed, still staring at Nick as he slept, "Anthony. He came in while I was getting stitched up, wanted to know what happened. Then he wanted to know what I did to cause it. We got into an argument, he told me he was done with me. He asked me what he did to cause me to hate him so much." "Oh Mason," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, pain and regret in his eyes, "I can't tell him Donna. I can't even make up something that would be believable. How can I tell him that every time I see him, I see what Frederick did to us. The lengths he went to to cause us pain. He would never understand without knowing the whole story, and we can't tell him that." LaDonna bit her lip, staring at him. She could see how much Anthony's words hurt him. Even though Mason never showed it, he did care for the boy. He was the child of the woman he married, the woman he was friends with. Mason did care for Anthony, but the memories of what happened got in the way. He could never call the child his own, and never thought of him that way. Still, that didn't mean he held no feelings at all for him. LaDonna had kept him informed of the goings on in Anthony's life. He knew of his girlfriends, and friends. He knew the boys hobbies, and passions in life. Still, it didn't make up for the one thing that Anthony wanted ... his love. The boy never knew he had it, because he couldn't see it. All he ever saw was Mason looking down on him, no matter what he did. Mason looked up at her, "Now I know where Nickolas gets that from." She looked at him questionally, as he pointed to her lip. She smiled, "He does do that a lot, doesn't he?" He nodded, looking back down at Nick, "I messed so many things up Donna. You, Nick, Anthony ... how can I ever set them straight?" She sighed, pulling his hand from Nicks, and squeezing it tightly, "You are. It took a lot to admit what you'd done. And it'll take even more to face the others." Mason nodded, "Speaking of, I should go and find Anthony. See if maybe I can smooth things over." "What are you gonna tell him?" she asked. He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, but I can't let him think that I don't care. I know that's all he's ever seen from me, but I can't let him think its his fault." "Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, as he stood up. "No, stay with Nickolas. I'll come find you when we're done," he said, heading to the door. "Good luck," she called. He turned back to her and smiled, "Thanks, I'm gonna need it." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin sat next to Brian's bed, holding his hand and talking to him. The guys had agreed it would be best to take turns, wanting Brian to know that someone was with him all the time. Cameron had agreed it might help, since Brian didn't seem to be responding to anything. He knew in cases like this, the patient often could hear what was going on around them, just not able to move or wake up. The thing that concerned him the most was that Brian's mark had started to dim. Marie had pointed it out to him quietly, not wanting to alarm the others. She knew all to well what that meant. A persons mark was also connected to their health, and when they started to dim, it only meant one thing. That person was dying. Kevin sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Ya know cuz, I never did like hospitals that much. I guess I've seen my share of them though, with dad, and now you. You gotta come out of this Bri, Marie is waiting on you to wake up. You know she hasn't left since you got here? Ana just convinced her a few minutes ago to go up and get a shower and change clothes. She's gonna try and get her to sleep a bit before she comes back down, but I really doubt that's gonna happen," he laughed. "I never thought I'd see it, but she's as stubborn as you ever thought about being. She's truly a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure," he said. Then a memory came to mind and he laughed, "I'll never forget watching her scream at A.J. when we first got here. Making him float above the bed and yelling at him for hurting you. You know, since you've been gone, they've become really good friends. J wouldn't let her mope around. He just kept buggin her until she gave in. You know how J is, the kid can be damn annoying sometimes." "Hey! I resemble that," A.J. said, walking into the room. Kevin laughed, turning to look at him, "Ana convince Marie to sleep?" A.J. shook his head, "Naw, you knew there wasn't a chance in hell that was happening. She'll be back down in a few minutes." "I'm worried about her," Kevin admitted, "She's so tired." A.J. nodded, "I know, but we can't make her leave Kev. I think this is her way of dealing with ... everything." Kevin nodded, standing up so A.J. could sit down, "I'm gonna go see if I can find Nick." "You don't have to go far. He's a couple rooms down the hall, out cold," A.J. said, "Another headache." Kevin shook his head and sighed, "He's under a lot of pressure." "No shit Sherlock," A.J. grinned, "I know I wouldn't wanna be him. I couldn't do what he's done." "Neither could I, J," Kevin said, "Neither could I." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mason stood outside Anthony's room, trying to get up enough nerve to go in. Finally he passed his mark across the sensor and walked in. Anthony was laying on the bed, face down. He'd long since stopped sobbing, but he still had wet streaks down his cheeks. The boy glanced up, then returned his head to the pillows, "If you came to yell at me for embarrassing you in front of the doctor, just save it." Mason sat down on the foot of the bed, his back to Anthony, "I didn't. I came to talk." Anthony sat up and wiped his face. This was the first time ever that Mason had come on his own to speak with him. "K, talk," he said, still angry, but curious at the same time. Mason sighed, "I'm sorry Anthony. I know I've not treated you well, and you didn't deserve that. You never did anything to make me hate you, and I don't hate you. I never have." "Then why?" Anthony asked, wishing Mason would turn around and look at him. "I can't explain it. Some very bad things happened before you were born, and when I look at you ... that's all I see. It's not your fault, it's mine. I just ... I couldn't deal with the memories, even now it's difficult," he admitted. Anthony sat in silence for a long time, wondering just what happened, and wishing his father had told him this sooner. He moved off the bed and walked around to stand in front of him, shocked when he saw tears in his fathers eyes. "What happened?" he asked. Mason shook his head, and quickly wiped the tears away, "I don't think I can ever tell you. It's to painful, and just thinking about it is to much right now. I just didn't want you to think you'd done something to cause me to act this way. You never did anything, it's been me the whole time." Anthony put his hand on the older man's shoulder, "I wish you'd told me this sooner." "I know, I'm sorry," Mason said. Anthony stared at him for a long time, until Mason couldn't take it anymore and turned away, standing up. Anthony grabbed his arm, keeping him from leaving, "Dad, about what I said ...." Mason waved his hand, "It's alright. I deserved it for not realizing what I was doing to you. I really am sorry Anthony." The boy smiled, pulling his father into a hug. Mason stood there in shock for a moment, then wrapped his arms around the boy and returned the gesture. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ana walked into Nick's room, and smiled as the queen looked up at her. "Have you been here all day?" she asked. LaDonna nodded, looking back at Nick as he stirred in his sleep. "How is Brian doing?" she asked, as Ana sat down. "Not good. He's not responding to anything ..... and his mark his dimming," she answered. Sadness filled the queens face, "How long?" "Marie noticed it this morning. We've been watching it all day," she said. "Do his friends know?" LaDonna asked. Ana shook her head, "We didn't want to upset them, and there's still a slight chance he could pull through." "And Marie, how is she?" the queen asked. Ana sighed, "She's remarkably strong. Keeping it together for the guys, I think. I went with her to her room this morning, I could hear her crying in the shower." LaDonna shook her head, "This should have never happened." Ana watched the queen for a moment, "I can stay with Nick if you want to go see them." The older woman looked up at her, then at Nick, "Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes." Ana nodded, as she got up and left the room. Nick stirred again, moaning. Ana moved to the side of the bed and took his hand, "Nick? Are you awake?" Slowly he opened his eyes, letting them focus on her. A smile creased his face, "Hi." "Hi, how are you feeling?" she asked. He took a deep breath and sat up, "Better, where's mom and Mason?" "I don't know where your uncle is, but your mother went to see Brian," she answered. Nick ran his hand through his hair, "How's he doing?" Silence. He looked over to see Ana staring at the floor. "Ana?" he asked. She looked up at him, "He's dying Nick." "What?!" he asked, in horror. "Shhh, the others don't know. His mark has been dimming all day, he's not responding to any of the medications," she told him. Nick closed his eyes, a few tears trailing down his face, "This can't happen. He can't die, not if I have anything to do about it." "Nick?" Ana said, as he quickly got out of bed and left the room. Chapter 64 |