Disclaimer: I am not Jodie Picoult and I don't own her books
Patrick watched annoyed as people who were supposed to be Nina's friends were acting just the opposite. He knew she had acted a bit impulsively but for GOD sake with all she had been through how could they not GET it. His mind couldn't turn logical.
"BACK OFF OF HER," he yelled.
Everyone looked at him.
He took a breath to calm himself down.
"Now," he began, "I agree that Nina Frost's behavior was uncharacteristic of Nina but step into her shoes for JUST A MINUTE! You know what National went through. You know how sick he is and you know why he is so sick. Is she right?
"In normal circumstances she wouldn't be right at all. In normal circumstances your behavior towards her would be absolutely acceptable and understandable. These are not normal circumstances. This is a mother dealing with her four year old being raped and diagnosed as HIV+. Her son's not in this room right now so I can say this bluntly.
"A four year old boy will probably not live to see his 10th birthday because of what happened to him. Would any of you act differently?"
Sara, a mother of an 8 year old a 10 year old and a 4 ½ year old, her oldest of who was dying of leukemia completely understood what Patrick was saying.
"I know I would," she admitted, "My children are the most important part of my life and if anyone or anything hurts them… I think I would melt down just like Nina did"
"Yes," said Doug, "but you didn't approve of her meltdown when she had it"
"You're right," Patrick admitted, "I didn't but that doesn't mean I was right. I didn't see Nina at the moment. I was thinking with a logical mindset. Well, it only took a few minutes to realize that there was nothing logical about what happened to National. Believe me when I say I regretted my way of thinking immensely almost immediately
"The sad truth is I didn't regret it immediately because if I regretted immediately I wouldn't have acted the way I did than but the way I'm acting now"
He then looked at Caleb.
"And you… what the hell is your problem. Nina has gone through so much and so have you, yet you act like she's completely wrong and that she shouldn't be over-reacting"
"That's because it hurts too much to act any other way," Caleb said, "The best thing to do is to pretend it never happened"
"So let's pretend Nina's meltdown never happened and get her into some sort of program where she can learn to feel better about what's going on"
Everyone cheered.
"Is everyone in agreement," the judge asked
Everyone was. It was decreed.
Patrick called for Nina to wait up when she was leaving.
"Thank you for that Patrick," she said, "I really appreciate your friendship"
"I appreciate yours too," Patrick said, "I love you"
"Always forever," Nina said using their childhood promise to always remain friends
Always forever," Patrick repeated