Not Mine

~Part 7~

After talking to his mom for a while, John asked James if he could step outside the room for a second. He wasn't sure how he was going to ask, but he knew the point he was trying to get across.
"The money... If everyone already knows, what's the point of it..." He looked off to the side.
"Oh you saw that... Well the thing is, not that many people know, it just seems like it, since you've been in the same city your whole life."
"Oh- ok..." That was true, he hadn't been on a real vacation before, and only knew the people who went to his school, along with parts of their families.
James decided to take a walk around the hospital, and John and Philip did the same, leaving Maria and Alex in the room.
Maria looked at Alex, who was minding his own business, writing of course, "I stillll looooove yoooou....."
He looked back, half-disgusted, "I think the medicine is getting to you..."
"Noooo, issss trueeee."
"Whatever you say, I'm just gonna get back to writing now..." He tried to ignore her.
"Aleeeeeeex, come hereeeeee, wittthhhhh meee." She moved over in the bed a little.
"No-no-no... You stay there, I'll stay here..."
"Plleeeeeasse."
He sighed before putting down his pen and paper and going to lay with her, "Fiiiine, just for a minute though."
A minute turned to 2, 2 to 5, and more time passed than they could keep track of. They forgot there were visitors, because James walked in on them.
Alex quickly fell out of the bed, stumbling everywhere. James grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him up, "You want to explain yourself, Hamilton?"
Alex tried breaking free, which only lead to James gripping harder. "I- don't ha-have to expl-plain a th-thing," he was struggling to get air. He saw John and Philip in the doorway, but James didn't see them, since he had his back to the door. Philip looked at him, then ran over and tackled James. John followed him, and helped Alex get up.
Philip got on top of James and started continuously punching his face, trying to knock him out. He stood up and started jumping on James's ribs, hearing James scream in pain every time, until a bypassing nurse heard them and walked in.
"What do you think you're doing!?"
John backed away from Alex for a second, and explained what happened. The nurse didn't even give James time to explain before picking him up and bringing him out of the room.
Maria was still out of it, "Allleeexxxx come backkk, he's gone nowwww."
"No... No, no, no, no..."
Philip and John both stared at him in confusion. He saw them, quickly gathered his paper and pens, then walked out to the floor-lounge. They continued staring at him until he turned the corner and was out of view, then looked back at Maria.
"Heee looooves mee, I knoooow."
John looked at her, "Ew, no, what?"
"Yeeeaaaahhhhhhhh."
"Are you drunk or something? Why would Alex lo- ohhh... Okay no, that's you..."
"What do you mean?" Philip asked, being confused by their conversation.
"Heeee doesn'tttt knooooow? Ohhhh boooooy you're liiife is gonnaaaa changeeee."
Alex walked back in, realizing he forgot his water bottle, and Philip left with him, hoping for some answers. He explained what he heard and wanted to know more.
"Fine... I guess it's time to tell you..." Alex started, "Well umm you see, after you were born, everyone decided to take a small vacation, except me... I needed to finish working... But Maria here had other plans... Yes, you were born to me and Eliza, but John was born to me and Maria..."
Philip stared at him not saying a thing.
"Any other questions?..." Alex looked away and bit his lip.
He paused for a moment before spitting out, "So John is my half-brother? What about the money? What made James mad at you? Where is he, anyways? Why do you keep writing? Where is mom?-"
"Woahhhh slow down... Yes, John is your half-brother. The money... is to help our family, I'll tell you more later... James was mad at me because... uh... he walked in on me in the hospital bed with Maria-"
"Excuse me, what now!?"
"Again, I'll explain later, not sure whe-"
"No. Explain it all. Now. Money, bed, everything."
"Philip..."
"Now!"
"Okay fine... So yes, I've slept with Maria, and James found out... I was paying him to keep it a secret... I didn't want it to happen in the first place..."
     Philip started crying, mad at Alex, "I can't believe you've kept this from me all these years..."
     "I was only trying to protect you, honestly!"
     In the strongest voice he could get through his tears, Philip said, "Try protecting me now..." and started running away.
     Alex called after him, "Philip! Wait!"
     Philip ignored him and kept running, bawling his eyes out.