"Knock, knock," D said softly as she knocked on Dawn’s door.
She didn’t know if she was sleeping and didn’t want to wake her if she was. Dawn stopped crying and turned towards her friend’s voice.
"Hey there! How are you?"
"Well, I managed to wheel myself down here, so I guess that’s a good sign. What about you?"
She noticed that Dawn looked like she had been crying, but she wasn’t sure if she should ask about it. She put the card she had gotten from Nick that she wanted to show Dawn on the sink.
"I’m okay. A lot going on right now."
"J told us! Congratulations!"
"Thanks," she gave her a weak smile.
"What’s wrong? Where’s J anyway?"
"He’s gone," Dawn looked down at her hands.
"Oh, okay. When’s he coming back?"
"He’s not, D."
"What do you mean, ‘he’s not’?"
"I mean, I asked him to leave."
"Why did you do that? What’s going on?"
Tear started to fall down her cheeks once again.
"He cheated on me, D," she choked out.
D was floored. She had never heard anything so ridiculous in her life. She knew AJ had always been a ladies man in the past and seldom was with one woman very long, but he had changed since he had been with Dawn. He loved her more than anything and would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship. She just couldn’t imagine that he would cheat on her.
"Why would you think that?"
"I got a letter. From a girl in Louisiana that he slept with. He admitted it."
She didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t believe AJ would do something like that.
"Oh my God. I’m so sorry," she said sadly. "When did this happen?"
"The first time, a couple years ago right after we split up. Then again on the last tour…" her voice trailed off.
D didn’t know what to say, this just didn’t make any sense to her. She still couldn’t believe AJ would do something like this. His family meant everything to him.
"What are you going to do? I mean, you’re pregnant. You guys have wanted this so bad for so long."
"I know," she sighed. "And it couldn’t have possibly happened at a worse time."
"I think you should talk to him…try to work things out."
"I have nothing to say to him. I’ve said everything I needed to say."
"At least hear him out…"
"I did! He admitted to it!! Why are you taking his side??! He cheated on me, D! After all this time and after everything we’ve been through! I trusted him, he betrayed me! I’m not interested in anything he has to say!!"
"I’m sorry, hon. I’m not taking his side. I just…..you two belong together. I don’t know what was going through his head, but I know he loves you and I think you two can work this out".
"No," she shook her head. "He broke my trust. It’s over."
She looked at Dawn sadly. She understood that she was hurt. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story than this. This just wasn’t AJ. He would never cheat on Dawn. It was one thing to sleep with someone else when they were broken up, technically, that wasn’t cheating, but he would never do it when they were together.
Just then, Noah walked in the door. D looked at him and a feeling of hatred washed over her body.
"Hey there. How are you doing?" He asked her.
"I’ve been better."
"And how is my beautiful girl today?"
He walked over to Dawn and kissed her on the cheek.
"Don’t ask," she replied.
D didn’t know why, but when she saw Noah kiss Dawn, a weird feeling came over her. Something about it bothered her, she had to find out why.
‘Maybe something happened the day of the accident that I don’t remember?’ she thought to herself.
"I’m getting sleepy. I’m gonna go lay down, I’ll be back later," she said to Dawn.
"Okay, maybe I’ll come visit you in a little bit. Let me know when you’re up."
"Okay, see ya."
"Bye!" Noah said to her as she wheeled herself out of the room.
His voice gave her the creeps. She had to find out why. She had to make herself remember.
She got halfway down the hall and remembered that she left her card from Nick in Dawn’s room. She turned and headed back to Dawn’s room. Just as she opened the door, she saw Noah and Dawn hugging. Suddenly, it all started coming back to her. It was very foggy, but she remembered seeing Dawn and Noah kissing.
‘That must be what was bothering me!’ She thought to herself.
She was in such a state of shock, she couldn’t say a word. She turned around and headed back out the door, leaving her card from Nick still in Dawn’s room.
On the way back to her room her head was spinning. She just didn’t understand what
was happening. AJ cheated on Dawn with some whore and Dawn kissed Noah. Was that all she
did with Noah? She couldn’t remember if that’s all she had seen. She hoped that
all they did was kiss…that was bad enough.
When she got to her room she noticed someone was waiting for her. He had his head resting on his arms, leaning on the bed. He appeared to be asleep and she knew exactly who it was.
"AJ," D said quietly, not wanting to scare him.
He popped his head up at the sound of her voice. His eyes were all red and puffy like he’d been crying. She could see the tear stains on his cheeks. His hair was a mess. He looked like hell.
"Hey. I’ve been waiting for you to get back," his voice sounded raspier than usual.
"I was visiting Dawn," she said, wheeling herself to the bed.
AJ carefully helped her get into ned. She watched him as he sat down in the chair. He looked miserable.
‘Good’, she thought.
"Did you come here for sympathy because you’re not going to get it from me," D told him coldly.
He looked up at her with sad eyes.
"She told you?"
"Of course she told me. Now I want you to tell me what the hell happened between you and that whore," she demanded, crossing her arms.
AJ closed his eyes and ran his hands over his face. He looked at D who was watching him intently, waiting for him to start. He looked down and started playing with the blanket nervously.
"I met her on tour. It was right after Dawn got pregnant with Arianna. She went to stay with her mother because she needed time to think. It was a really hard time for me, D. I was completely lost. I went to bars and clubs after the shows and got drunk. That’s where I met Stephanie. She was working at one of the clubs. I ended up sleeping with her. It meant nothing to me but it happened."
"Is that the only time it happened?"
"Yes. That’s the only time we slept together. I haven’t seen her since that night. I don’t know why she said I slept with her on our last tour. I never saw her. Why did she do this?" He sobbed.
She pulled him to her and held him as he cried. She couldn’t help but feel bad for him, even though he did it himself. He loved Dawn more than anything. She loved him too.
‘Or does she? What about Noah?’ D thought.
AJ pulled away from her and wiped his eyes.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For listening to my side. You believe me don’t you?"
D looked into his eyes. She saw the misery and the hurt in them. She could also see the sincerity.
"Yes, J. I believe that you only slept with her once. But that doesn’t make it right."
"I know it doesn’t. But we weren’t together at the time."
"Don’t you even use that as an excuse. Just because you weren’t together doesn’t make it okay. You were supposed to be in love with her. How could you do that if you loved her so much?"
"I wasn’t thinking…"
"Oh yeah…you were thinking…with your dick!"
"I know!! I’m sorry!! I made a mistake!! And now I’ve lost the love of my life and my children."
"You were wrong for doing what you did. You betrayed her, even though the two of you were apart. And this Stephanie chick lied about the second time you slept together so she’s out to destroy you and Dawn. Looks like she succeeded."
"D, please. You have to talk to her. Tell her that you listened to my side and believe that I didn’t sleep with her the second time. PLEASE!" He begged, grabbing her hand.
"It’s not going to do any good, J."
"Just talk to her. She’ll listen to you. Just tell her to talk to me and I’ll take it from there…please??" He asked, giving her his puppy dog eyes.
She looked at him and closed her eyes.
"I hate it when you look at me like that."
"That’s because you know it gets to you," he laughed.
"I remember all those times you used it on me."
"And you forgave me every time."
"Yes I did. Stupid me," she smiled.
"So you’ll talk to her?"
"Alright, I will. Not only because of your damn eyes but because the two of you love each other and there’s a baby to think about."
"Yes there is a baby to think about. It’s a miracle that Dawn is pregnant. This happened for a reason. We belong together and she has to realize that. Thank you, D. I owe you," he said, kissing her cheek.
"You owe me a lot, McLean. This isn’t the first time I did you a favor. And this time you really don’t deserve it."
"I know. I promise to make it up to you."
"Yeah, yeah. Now get the hell out of my room, I’m tired."
He smiled and kissed her forehead as she yawned. He left her alone as she drifted off to sleep.