"Am I in love with your son?" Alex asked repeating her question. "No, I'm not in love with him, but I do love him," Alex said looking at the solemn, older woman. Time had not been pleasant for her on her trip across the planet. The dark circles around her eyes were evidence enough of that.
"Then, why were you holding my son's hand?" Andrea asked letting out a held breath.
"Dustin and I have grown very close the past couple of months," Alex replied.
"And why is that?" Andrea questioned.
"If I told you, then it would mean betraying your son's confidence, and I can't do that," Alex explained.
"Alex, I have no idea what has been going on in my son's life the past few months. All I know is that there are problems between him, Kevin, and Brian. I know you want to keep your word to my son, but I'm his mother," She spoke. A single tear slipped down the side of her face. "I have to know what's going on."
"Andrea," Alex spoke softly letting out a sigh. "I can't betray Dustin's confidence. I'm sorry," He said turning away and walking out of the room.
Andrea turned to face her son and took his hand in hers. Her other hand drifted aimlessly to her son's face and she slowly stroked his check. Dustin remained still and motionless. Tears were now falling freely from her eyes as Andrea buried her head into her son while letting out the tears that had built up since her arrival.
"AJ, where'd you disappear to?" Nick asked as the older man walked into the waiting room.
"I went to check on Dustin," Alex replied taking a seat next to his younger friend.
"Is there any change?" Nick questioned with sad eyes.
"No," Alex replied solemnly. "He's still out of it."
"Do you think he'll wake up soon?" Nick questioned.
"I hope so, Nickie. I really hope so," Alex answered as he gave Nick a comforting pat on the back. "Have you seen Kevin or Brian anywhere?"
"Last time I saw them they were heading down to the cafeteria with Dustin's mom," Nick replied.
Nick stood up from the hard couch and began moving towards the door. "I'm gonna go see Dustin," Nick spoke as he opened the door and walked out of the waiting room.
"Andrea," a voice spoke from the doorway to her son's room.
Andrea moved her eyes up to the door and her head followed. Nick was standing in the entrance looking exhausted. He entered the room and approached Dustin's bed. "I was wondering if I could stay with him for awhile," Nick spoke.
"Were you in love with my son too?" Andrea questioned.
"Huh? Where did that come from?" Nick asked.
Andrea sighed and stood. "I'm sorry Nick, I'm just under a lot of stress," She said.
"I'm going to go find James," Andrea said as she walked past Nick. "Come find me...if he wakes up," Andrea requested.
"Of course," Nick replied.
Nick's eyes followed Andrea as she left her son's room. Nick turned to look at his friend lying in the bed. His picked up his feet and shuffled along the floor to sit in the same seat Andrea had just left. He sat and leaned close to Dustin, while resting his arm on the side of the bed.
"Dustin, they always say that talking is the best thing for people who are sick," Nick spoke. "So, I'm going to sit here and talk to you. And then I'll wait for you to say something," Nick whispered. "And if you don't say anything, I'll start talking again. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Nick said with a small laugh.
"Ok, so. Do you remember the time when..."