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Denise walked in through the sliding doors of the hospital, stopping to take everything in. She still couldn’t believe that her son, her five sons she has grown to love were here, in the hospital. The whole situation seemed surreal to her, she was used to seeing them on stage, live and energetic, but now, she would be seeing them bedridden, weak and listless.

She approached the front desk of the office; five bunches of bouquets in hand. The elderly receptionist stopped typing on the computer and had looked up. “Can I help you ma’am?”

Denise smiled, “Yes, can you tell me what room Alexander James McLean would be in?”

The receptionist nodded and began to type on her computer, her wrinkly fingers dancing gracefully over the keyboard. “Ah, a Backstreet Boy. And your relationship with this person would be…”

“His mother.”

“May I see some identification please?”

Denise placed her bouquets down and raised her purse up on the counter. She began to rummage through her bag, looking for her wallet. As soon as she found it, she pulled out her driver’s license and handed it to the older lady.

The receptionist pulled out a clipboard and began to scribble the information of her driver’s license onto a form. She then opened a cabinet in her desk and pulled out a nametag. “He’s in ICU unit number 5, present this tag to the staff of the ICU unit, it gives you clearance to the room. It’s the third floor and just follow the signs that direct you to the ICU unit. Remember, his unit is number five.”

Denise smiled and nodded, grabbing her driver’s license, nametag and her bouquet of flowers. “Thank you.” And with that, she began to make her way towards the elevators.

As soon as she stepped onto the elevator, the doors began to close when someone shouted for her to hold it. Quickly, she darted her hand out, preventing the doors from closing and causing it to reopen again. A young woman had stepped on, a young boy trailing behind, holding her hand.

“Thank you.” The woman muttered.

Denise smiled and pushed the third floor button. “Which floor?”

“Same as you… taking him to see his daddy.”

Denise looked down at the young boy and smiled. When the young boy looked up, Denise’s eyes widened. The young boy looked exactly like her son when he was little. Big eyes with curly eyelashes, chocolate colored eyes and hair, and most of all a smile that could melt anyone’s heart.

“Handsome son you have.” Denise remarked.

The woman looked down at her son and smiled. “Thank you… he takes after his father in so many ways.”

Denise looked up and stared at the closed elevator doors. She began to think of her late husband, of how everybody said that Alex took after Robert in many ways, but at the same time, she thought of how his father was never there for him.

There was a “ding” sound that rung out and the doors slid open. The woman walked out first, dragging her son along. The young boy looked back at Denise and smiled, waving goodbye, the pacifier in his mouth preventing him from saying anything. Denise smiled as well, waving goodbye before she walked out of the elevator herself and began to make her way towards the ICU unit.

Once she reached the ICU area, she stayed outside for a while, staring at nurses and doctors bustling back and forth through the glass doors. She took a deep breath in and pushed the glass door open, slowly walking in.

“May I help you ma’am?” a big, burly security guard had asked her.

Why does everyone have to ask me that? Denise thought to herself. Does it look like I need help?!? “Um, yes I’m here to see my son… Alexander James McLean.” She replied as she handed him the tag the receptionist had given her.

The security guard grabbed the tag and looked at it. “Alright, go ahead.” He said as he handed the tag back to her. “He’s in unit 5, just keep going straight and look for room 5.”

Denise nodded and began to walk straight down the hall of the ICU unit. She glanced by every room she passed, looking at the patients that were occupying the rooms. She began to think back when she first received the call of the accident. She nearly fainted when she was informed that her son and Kevin were in critical condition. She actually fainted when they told her that Aaron didn’t make it. After the accident, she couldn’t bring herself around to seeing them in the hospital. It was only weeks later when she realized that she was being selfish in not wanting to see them in the state that they were in, especially her son. Kristin Richardson had called her to tell her about AJ’s mild case of amnesia that only prolonged her distance from the hospital.

She found herself standing outside the door; half of her wanting to go in, the other half wanting to walk right back out. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, slowly pushing it open. She peered in through the crack of the door, seeing Howie standing beside the bed. She pushed the door further open and had walked in, catching both Howie and AJ’s attention.

Howie smiled warmly, “Hi Denise.”

Denise smiled back, “Hello Howard… how are you?”

Howie walked over towards Denise and had grabbed her in a hug. “I’m doing great, both Nick and I were discharged earlier today. Just thought I’d drop by and keep your son company, but now I’ll leave you two alone.”

But Denise shook her head, “Oh no dear, please stay. This is my first time seeing him, well, all of you since the accident and I…” she faltered, not knowing what else to say.

“Mom?”

Both Howie and Denise turned to look at AJ, who looked like a little lost pup. His eyes were slightly big; he had a small grin on his face, making him look young again. He didn’t have any facial hair; he insisted that the hair on his face was a bit grungy, and his short hair was a bit messy and ruffled.

“Hi Alex.” Denise choked out. “How are you doing sweetie?”

AJ’s small grin broke out into a full smile and he held his arms out to her. Denise began to cry as she walked towards the bed, allowing herself to be braced in her son’s arms, holding her tight and never letting her go. Howie simply stood there and stared at the scene before him, the smile never leaving his face. A minute or so later, the hug finally broke and Denise began to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.

“Gosh Alex, thanks for making me mess up my mascara.”

AJ chuckled, “Anytime mom, anytime…”

“Oh,” Denise suddenly said, remembering about the bouquet of roses she had brought. “I brought flowers for each of you.”

She handed AJ a bouquet of roses and then turned to give Howie his. “Um, mom… don’t you think we’re a bit… manly for flowers?”

Denise looked back at her son and scoffed, “No man is ever to manly for flowers. Now give me that so I can place it in a vase.”

“There’s a vase right on the sink in the bathroom.” AJ replied, pointing to the bathroom.

Denise nodded and walked into the bathroom, grabbing the crystal vase off the sink and filling it with cold water. She ripped off the cellophane that was wrapped around the bouquet and placed the dozen of roses into the vase. “I was looking for yellow roses, but all they had was white.” She said as she walked out of the bathroom, placing the vase on the desk near his bed. She looked down at the food tray that was by the bed and seen a crunched up brown McDonald’s bag.

“Alex.” She said in a scolding tone. “Are you supposed to be eating McDonalds? Who got this for you?”

“Uh…” AJ froze, thinking of an excuse. Howie quickly glanced away, not wanting to get caught. “A secret admirer got it for me. I guess it was okay that I ate it because the nurse delivered it to my room herself.”

“So the nurse got it for you?”

“No, a secret admirer brought it for me… the nurse only delivered it.”

Denise cocked an eyebrow. “I see…” she turned to look at Howie, who was busy avoiding her look. “And you wouldn’t happen to know anything of this, would you Howard?”

Howie quickly shook his head, and Denise could only laugh when she realized that she caught them in their lie. “Well, I’m gonna go pay a visit to Kevin and Brian… where’s Nick?”

Howie looked away, “He left…”

Denise continued to stare at Howie, knowing he was hiding something from her, but she didn’t want to press on. “Oh, okay. Well, when you see him could you give this to him for me.” She asked, handing him a bouquet of roses. “I’ll see you later sweetie.”

Howie leaned forward, accepting the kiss Denise gave him on the cheek. “Bye Denise.”

She turned back towards her son and smiled. She leaned forward and had placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll see you later on tonight baby… you get some rest, okay?”

AJ nodded, “Yes mom… bye.”

Denise began to walk out of the room, but stopped and turned around. “Oh, and no more McDonalds Alexander… and I mean it!”