Ch. 11 Feel The Love

Rating: PG

At 2:30 a.m., Dylan was finally out of surgery. The doctor came in to tell everyone his condition.

"Is Dylan okay?" Paige practically jumped on him. "Is my brother okay?

"His condition is stable. He's in the ICU recovering." The doctor looked down at his clipboard. The next part he directed towards Rose. "Unfortunately, the accident almost crushed his spinal cord. I'm sorry ma'am, we did all we could, but he's permanently paralyzed from the waist down."

Rose gasped and looks of shock crossed everyone's faces. "Oh my God…" Rose put a hand to her mouth. She couldn't believe it. Paige fell into Marco's arms. He was just staring ahead, unbelieving of what he just heard.

As soon as he somewhat regained himself, Marco spoke. "Can we see him?" Paige looked up from his arms hopefully.

"Of course." He held his arm out, indicating for them to follow him.

"Mom? Can me and Marco go?" Paige looked at her mother.

"Yeah honey." She smiled as she tried to fight tears back. Paige could tell that she wasn't in any condition to be seeing Dylan right now.

As the doctor led them to Dylan, he started talking. "He's just waking up from the surgery. He's a little spacey, but that's just the painkillers. Whatever you do, don't let him move around too much."

"Dylan?" Paige whispered as she crept over to Dylan's bedside.

"Ugh…" The two heard a moan. "Mom?"

"No Hon, Paige." She stood over Dylan's bed.

Marco, however, decided to stay in the corner, out of the way. He still had no idea how Dylan would react to his presence.

"You know, you look a lot like Mom." Dylan's voice was pained and it wasn't hard to see how uncomfortable he was.

"Yeah…" Paige spoke in a quiet voice. As she looked over Dylan, a tear fell down her cheek.

"Don't cry Paige-y." Dylan's hand, with an IV tube sticking out of it, reached up and wiped it away.

Paige smiled and quickly diverted the subject. "Marco's here."

"Not funny." Marco's face fell. Dylan obviously didn't want to see him. Trying not to cry, the boy began tiptoeing out of the room. "Marco hates me; he wouldn't be here."

Paige looked up at Marco. He could tell she wanted him to say something. "No Hon. Marco doesn't-"

"It's not like I blame him. I'm the idiot who pushed him into coming out to his parents. He's probably happier without me."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Marco strode across the room over to Dylan.

As soon as Dylan saw Marco, his face lit up. "Marco…"

"Hey." Trying not to cry, Marco looked Dylan over. There were cuts and bruises all over his face and his left arm was in a cast. A blanket was covering his torso and legs, covering the horrible truth.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you." Marco took his hand as he grinned.

"Why are you visiting me?" Dylan couldn't have been happier to see Marco, but he was perplexed. After the other day, it was peculiar that he'd be here.

Marco was silent for a bit. He was trying to figure out how to best put his feelings into words. "Do you know the first thing I thought when I heard about your accident?"

"Good riddens?" Dylan grinned, joking.

"No." Marco was quite the opposite. He couldn't have been more serious. "I tried to imagine what my life would be like without you, but I couldn't. Dyl, you are a part of me. If I lost you, it'd be like losing a part of myself." He paused. "I love you Dylan."

This time, Dylan was the one in tears. "I love you too," he whispered. Marco leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips.

"It's okay," Marco reassured him. "I'm here."

"How is he Paige?" Mrs. Michaelchuk ran up to her.

"He's fine. He's hurting, but he's fine." She put her hands in her pocket.

"Where is Marco?" Mr. Del Rossi looked behind Paige.

"He's still in there with Dylan. You should see them; they are so cute together!" She grinned, remembering their little moment.

"Together?" Rosina smiled. "They made up?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, Marco and this Dylan boy are… together?" Mr. Del Rossi looked at his wife.

"Yes." Rosina looked over at her husband, unsure of his reaction.

"I have to go." He quickly grabbed his coat and went outside.

"You don't think that had anything to do with Marco and Dylan, do you?" Paige looked at Mrs. Del Rossi.

"I hope not." She looked at her husband's fading figure in concern.

"I should go." Marco tried to excuse himself.

"Don't leave." Dylan took his hand. "Stay here until I fall asleep. Please?" Dylan gave Marco his little puppy dogface; the one that Marco couldn't say no to.

Marco smiled and pulled up a chair. He rested his head on Dylan's chest. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.

"What do you think's going on?" Mrs. Michaelchuk looked over at Rosina.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

The two women decided to check on them. Upon walking in the room, they saw the two asleep.

Rosina couldn't help but feel a swelling of happiness in her heart when she saw the look on Marco's face. He was smiling and she couldn't remember him being happier. It was evident that he adored this Dylan boy.

"Mrs. Del Rossi-"

"Call me Rosina."

"Rosina, why don't you go home? I'll bring Marco home when he wakes up."

"I don't want to trouble you."

"Oh believe me, it's no trouble at all." She gave her a reassuring smile.

"If you're sure…" She looked at Marco one last time. Kissing his forehead, she said her goodbyes to Marco. "Thank you."

"You're welcome honey." Rose went over to Dylan's bed, opposite of Marco. "I love you baby," she whispered in his ear.

"Love you…" Dylan mumbled in his sleep.

Awwww...