Alexander let out a small sigh as he put his cell phone back into his pocket. He had made the call. Without anyone's knowledge, he made the call that would change everything. Now, the only thing anyone could do was wait. The guys were going to be very mad at him, especially Kevin.
Nothing had changed. It had been another three days and Dustin was still in a coma. His vitals had improved steadily. Now all they were waiting for was for him to wake up. If he didn't wake up soon, the doctors would have to put a tube down him for food.
The door opened and Alex stepped inside. The nurse was busy checking his vitals. "Has there been any change?" Alex asked as he stepped beside Dustin's bed.
The busy nurse looked up at the younger man. "No, I'm sorry," she spoke as she finished writing on his chart. The nurse excused herself and left Alex alone with Dustin.
"Well, I know you can't hear me...but I'm gonna say this anyway." Alex sighed. He was definitely glad Dustin wasn't awake to hear what he was about to say. "Dustin, today is the day you were supposed to leave. I called David. He knows what's happened," Alex said. "He's coming here. To be with you." Alex let out another sigh. "I told him not to. That it would just complicate things, but he didn't listen."
Alex grabbed Dustin's lifeless hand and squeezed, hard. "Dustin, please wake up," Alex begged.
"I hoped this would be something that would never happen, but its not working out like that." Alex looked to the door and waited a minute before speaking again. "I'm gonna go get some food but I'll be back later," Alex said as he excused himself from the room.
Brian paced up and down the hallway in front of Dustin's room. He wanted to go in and check on his friend but wasn't sure if he should. I don't want to cause any more problems' his mind screamed at him. But I care so much about him. I just want to make sure he's all right.' His heart fought against his brain.
Brian stopped pacing and stood erect in the hallway as his heart gave a final argument over the battle waging inside him. He stepped closer to the door and gently pushed it open. Light from the hallway poured into the darkened room and Brian quickly slid in and shut the door.
His feet scuffled along the cold tile of the hospital floor as he made his way over to the bed occupied by the person who had stolen his heart. He leaned in closer and inhaled Dustin's scent. As his brain processed the sensory information he was receiving, it triggered memories of when he and Dustin were lying together in his bed, the time they shared their first kiss, and to times they spent in each other's arms.
A small tear slid down Brian's cheek and hit Dustin's hand. "Dustin, baby, please wake up. You have to," Brian whimpered.
"I need you. Kevin, he needs you, too. We all need you," Brian pleaded with his unconscious friend. "Wake up, please," Brian begged. He was met with no response, only the constant beeping of the monitors attached to his friend. "Dustin, I love you."
Alex was waiting at the airport. He still can't believe David was coming here, especially after he told him not too. `Everyone is to damn stubborn nowadays,' his mind stated as he watched people exiting the gate where David's plane had just arrived. He saw a tall, familiar man walk away from the gate looking around. Alex let out a deep breath and walked over to him.
"David, hey. It's me—Alex," said holding his hand out to the taller man.
"Alex, is he all right? Has there been any change?" David asked quickly ignoring the hand that was offered to him.
Alex retracted his hand and quickly shook his head no to answer David's questions. "Lets go get your luggage, and then I'll take you to the hospital," Alex said quietly. "We've already got a room for you at the hotel we're staying at," Alex continued.
"Ok, sounds good. Lets just get there quickly," David said as they started off for the baggage claim area.
"David, he's still unconscious, but he's gotten a lot better since they brought him in," Alex said as they approached the door to Dustin's room.
"I understand," David answered. "I won't stay with him for too long. I just want to see him," he whispered.
"Take all the time you need," Alex responded. "All of us will be in the waiting room if you need us," Alex informed him as he pointed to the waiting room. "If anything changes..."
"I'll get you guys immediately," David finished for him.
With that, Alex walked off. David took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he opened the door to his friend's hospital room.
The room was too quiet for David to be comfortable as he shut the door. As he looked over to his friend's bed, he became even more uncomfortable. He watched Dustin's chest rise ever so slowly with each breath. He watched as the machines recorded his heart rate, pulse, and breathing. The only noise that filled the room was the consistent beeping from the heart monitor.
David couldn't help it as tears escaped his eyes seeing his friend lying there so frail and helpless. "Dustin..." David whimpered as he took his hand into his own and squeezed it tightly.
The lack of response to his whimper caused him even more pain, thus releasing more tears. He watched as a tear fell from his cheek only to land on Dustin's cheek and continue to run down his friend's pale face. "Dustin, you've got to find your way back to us," David requested softly.
"If you don't, I'm gonna come in there and kick your ass." Even in the worst situation possible, David was still trying to make Dustin smile.
"Dustin I didn't want to make you more uncomfortable as we grew closer so I kept my mouth shut. And the only reason I'm telling you this is probably because you can't answer me, but I'm going to tell you anyway," David said.
I felt a hand brush my cheek. The hand was large and smooth. It was definitely a man's hand. My first instinct was that it belonged to Kevin, but the hand was too big. Then I thought of Brian, or Alex, but Brian's hands weren't as smooth, and Alex had smaller hands. I knew they didn't belong to my dad. I wasn't that close with Howie, so that ruled him out. Nick isn't very affectionate around me, so it's not him.
My eyes were so heavy, but I continued to try and open them. My auditory senses were finally picking up what was heard and being said near me.
"...I'm going to tell you anyway."
There was a brief pause as I tried to figure out whom the voice belonged to, but I just couldn't place it.
"I love you."
My eyes continued to flutter and somehow I managed to open them completely. My vision was very blurry, and I was having a hard time making out who was sitting next to me.
Gradually, my eyesight cleared and I was able to make out the face of who it was.
"David?" I questioned.
"Dustin, you're awake," David exclaimed in shock. "Stay right there. Don't do a thing," he said excitedly as he rushed for the door. "I'm going to get a doctor!"
David threw open the door and ran down the hall to the nurse's station. "I need a doctor, now!" David yelled.
"Calm down, sir. What's wrong?" the attending nurse asked. "It's my friend, Dustin Richards," David began.
"Dustin? David, what's wrong with him?" Andrea asked in a panic. She, James, and the guys all rushed from the waiting room as they heard David screaming down the hall for a doctor.
"He's awake," David said before bolting off for Dustin's room. Andrea quickly pushed past the Backstreet Boys and hastily followed David to her son's room.
All of the boys started for Dustin's room when James appeared before them. "Andrea and I would appreciate it if all of you would wait to see our son until after the doctor has finished," James ordered sternly. "For some of you it may be longer," he said casting glances in the direction of Kevin and Brian before turning and heading for his son's room.
I was still continuing to wake up when David burst back into the room and ran over to give me a huge hug. His arms were wrapped tightly around my smaller frame and I heard him sniffle and whimper. "Oh God, Dustin. I thought the worst when Alex called me. Don't ever scare me again," He begged through his tears of happiness.
I continued to return the hug. "Listen, David. About what you said. About you being in..." I was interrupted by the door swinging open.
"Dustin, oh sweet Jesus," my mom said running to my side and gathering me in her arms. "I was so worried about my baby," she whimpered as tears also fell down her already tear soaked face.
After a moment my dad walked in with who I assumed to be the doctor. "Hello, Dustin. I'm Doctor Brown. I've been overseeing your care since you arrived," she said introducing herself.
The first thing she did was check all of my vitals and then called a nurse in. "Dustin, since you've had head trauma before and they were within a year of each other, I'm going to schedule you for a CT scan," she said as he wrote down things on my chart for the nurse.
"Do you think something is wrong, doctor?" my mom asked with slight panic in her voice.
"No. I just want to be sure there are no problems," she replied.
"Well, if you'll excuse me. I'll be back to check on you in an a little while. If your hungry, the nurse can bring you some food," Doctor Brown said before stepping out of the room.
"David, could we speak to our son alone?" Andrea asked politely.
"Sure," he replied.
He grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. "I'll be right outside," He whispered.
As David stepped out of Dustin's hospital room, he was met with five sets of eyes. "How is he?" Kevin asked for the group.
"He's awake," David replied coldly. "Other than that I don't know how he is right now, Kev." David said spitefully.
"Did he say anything to you?" Brian asked him.
"No, he didn't. Andrea wants to spend some time with him," David spoke while heading for the lounge. "It may be a while before you get to see him."
"Oh, Dustin," Andrea whispered while wiping a tear from her face. "Why didn't you tell me you'd been having problems?"
"I didn't want to bug you, mom," I replied.
Andrea gathered her son in her arms and hugged him against her. "Dustin, you'd never bug me with a problem," She spoke. "If you ever need help, with anything, both your father and I are here for you."
"Thanks, mom."
Two days passed since I woke up in the hospital. Two days since I learned that someone else in this world was in love with me, that one of my friends was in love with me. Today was my discharge date from the hospital. The CT scan came out fine. Well, as fine as can be expected after two rounds of head trauma this year. At least that's what the technician said.
I hadn't seen much of David around since I woke up. I don't know if that is because he was nervous to be around me, or he was just busy with other things.
At least one of my parents was always around now that I was awake. My mom insisted on being in the room whenever one of the guys wanted to visit me.
I was just watching TV when the door opened and Kerri walked in. She has been my nurse since I've been awake in the days. At night, the nurse is a little mean so I really like seeing Kerri.
"Hey Kerri, how are you today?" I asked in a chipper mood.
"I'm exhausted Dustin," She groaned but with a smile.
"Why are you so tired?" I asked her.
She moved to the other side of the bed and was checking my IV and heart monitor. She let out a heavy sigh. "There was an accident. A little girl was hit by a car," Kerri said writing down information in my chart.
"Is the girl okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, the doctors were able to save her. Just shook me up a little, that's all," Kerri replied.
"Well, I've got some other patients to check on," she said moving toward the door. "Oh, there's a very handsome tall man outside wanting to come in. Is that all right?" she asked before opening the door.
I nodded my head in the affirmative. She opened the door. "I'll be back to check on you later, Dustin," Kerri said. She motioned for the man to enter the room and shut the door behind him before going back to work.
I looked up at who entered. "I was hoping you would stop by," I said as I stared at him.
"You were?" He asked in a hopeful voice.
"Yeah, we didn't get much of a chance to talk the other day," I said.
He tensed up when I finished speaking and remained standing there perfectly erect. "David, relax," I said in a soothing voice. "Come. Sit," I said motioning to the chair next to my bed.
David walked over to the chair and sat down. I sat up all the way in bed and turned off the television. I turned to look at him to give him my undivided attention. "David, listen," I began.
"Dustin, I shouldn't have said that. I was out of line and..."
"David, don't apologize," I said interrupting him. "You don't have to be ashamed of your feelings for me," I said taking his hand in mine.
"I'm very flattered, and honored that you think of me that way," I spoke.
A smile crept back onto his face and he wrapped his arms around my smaller frame. "I'm so glad you aren't mad at me," David said relieved.
"Do you really think I could get mad at you because of that?" I asked shocked. "You have been getting those e-mails I sent you about Brian, right?" I asked in a joking tone knowing all too well he had received them.
"I just want to make sure it won't be a problem between us," David said in concern.
I squeezed his hand tight before bringing it up to my lips. I gently kissed the back of hand before lowering it back down to the bed. "I promise you, there's no problem," I whispered.
David and I continued talking about nothing important when the door opened and Kevin stepped into the room. Kevin saw our hands locked together and exploded. "What the hell are you doing?" Kevin shouted as he started marching right towards David.
"What the hell are you talking about?" David asked getting defensive.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about," Kevin yelled. "Why the hell were the two of you holding hands?"
David remained silent, not giving Kevin an answer. "Answer the question!" Kevin screamed. "You owe me an explanation."
"I don't owe you anything," David said calmly.
"Hey, we're not finished," Kevin said grabbing David's shoulder as he began to turn back around to face me.
David grabbed Kevin's hand, quickly twisted his arm around his back and shoved Kevin into the wall. "Oh yes, we ARE finished," David said with authority dripping from his mouth. He tightened his grip on Kevin's arm and twisted it a little higher. "Don't EVER touch me like that again!" David released Kevin as Doctor Brown, Kerri, and my parents all filed into the room.
"What's going on in here?" Doctor Brown demanded as she took in the scene. I was sitting up straight in bed staring at David who in turn was staring harshly at Kevin who was massaging a sore wrist. "I asked what was going on?" She repeated her question.
No one moved or said anything. "All right, everyone except my patient out," She ordered.
Both my parents started to protest, "NOW!" Doctor Brown ordered.
One by one, everyone left my room and Doctor Brown shut the door before coming over to my bed. She checked my monitors. "You're heart level and pulse are up. Must have been some excitement happening," she spoke.
"Maybe a little," I said sinking further into the uncomfortable hospital bed.
Doctor Brown stopped checking the monitors and sat down next to me. "Would you like to talk about it?" She offered.
"I don't think I should," I said reluctantly. "Besides, it would involve telling you stuff you shouldn't know, so I'll pass. But thanks anyway."
"Listen, I know what you're going though and I'm..."
"You have no idea what I'm going through," I said raising my voice. "You have absolutely no clue what my life has been like. What I've been though!"
"Ok, you're right. I don't know what you've gone though. All I know is that you have eight very special people in this hospital who care about you. Four of them care about you more than their own life. I'll bet that the one who'll be massaging a sore hand is your boyfriend, the tall handsome one is a good friend, as is Alex, and then the country boy is someone else you've become attracted to. How am I doing so far?"
"How do you know all this?" I asked shocked.
"I'm a very perceptive person," she said. "That, and some of your friends don't have the quietest conversations in the waiting area," she said with a smile appearing all over her face.
"What do you think I should do?" I assumed she would understand what I was asking.
"You've got to do what your heart tells you," She said. She stood up and headed for the door. She opened it and stepped through and then turned around. "I'll be back to check on you within the hour before we discharge you," she smiled before walking down the hallway.
This time it was Kevin who walked into my room. He was still rubbing his wrist from where David had twisted his arm. "May I come in?" he asked.
"It's a pretty moot point now since you're already in the room," I said sarcastically.
"How are you holding up?" Kevin asked sitting down on the bed.
"I'm good. Doctor Brown said they would be discharging me within the hour so I'll be able to get out of here," I said letting out a small sigh.
"Good, I'm glad you'll be getting out of here. I've missed not seeing you," Kevin whispered.
"Oh, really?" I asked shocked. "You mean that almost a week has passed and you haven't seen me?" I was angry now even though I already knew that Kevin had not once spent anytime in my room alone while I was in the hospital until now.
"Dustin, don't play these games. You know what I meant," Kevin said letting out a heavy sigh.
"I'm not playing any games. Alex told me you didn't visit me at all while I was in this room. Not even when I was unconscious," I said revealing that I knew.
"You told me you needed time and space, so I was giving it to you," Kevin said trying to argue his reasons.
"How dare you try and blame this on me!" I yelled. "I was in a fucking coma! All I dreamt about was that you were by my side telling me everything would be all right and that you had forgiven me," I said starting to raise my voice again.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself down before speaking again. "Do you know what I saw when I woke up?"
Kevin nodded his head yes. "I'll tell you what I saw. I saw my friend, David. When I woke up he's what I saw," I said. "Do you know what I didn't see when I woke up?" A tear had started to run down my face. "I didn't see the man I loved. The man I was engaged to. The man I was preparing to spend the rest of my life with...I didn't see him when I woke up."
"Do you have any idea what that did to me?" I asked him.
"Dustin...please," Kevin begged.
I grabbed Kevin's hand and squeezed it tight. "Kev, are you still in love with me?"
Kevin's eyes widened. He had not expected the question. "Answer me," I demanded. "Are you still in love with me?"
Kevin took a huge breath, "I...I don't know," he answered.
My hand and heart fell. "Get out," I ordered.
"Dustin, please..."
"GET OUT!" I shouted. "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!"