Oh girl this boat is sinking, Dustin.

[alice victoria kensington]

She tucked her long pin-straight hair behind her ear leaning over the coffee at some designs she had made at work that she couldn't pick through. She picked out each of their flaws and deciphered ways that she could fix them. Ultimately she was going to ask Dustin to pick for her. He had a pretty good idea of what he liked and she did take his opinion to heart because he was a band member and she was designing for bands. And when she heard the car door shut she sat up straight listening. The key unlocked the lock and the doorknob turned slowly. Alice jumped off the couch and ran to her husband jumping only to have him catch her with a smile on her face. She did love to keep him on his toes. Speaking of toes their puppy was at Dustin's feet greeting him in equally friendly a manner.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips into his. "Welcome home sweet." she muttered her face still pressed against his, and his unshaven face prickling softly. She was softly put on the ground and wrapped her arm around Dustin's waist, the easiest place to reach for a woman her height. She was thrilled to see him for some reason, and he seemed his usual happy self, never too excited. As she followed him into the other room his smile vanished and she thought of something to make it return. "Perhaps I could join you in the shower." she said in a lower seductive tone. But he turned and looked at her in a much different manner than she ever thought possible.

Alice furrowed her brow and ripped her arm from his side. "Fuck you Dustin." She listened to him walk away and she retreated to the front door puppy at her heels. "I'm going out." she screamed shrilly. Clipping the leash on their puppy who was obviously weary of her she lead him out and slammed the door. She was going to walk off some steam. How dare Dustin talk to her like that. Alice spent the whole walk brooding in silence. She didn't even want to return but the puppy needed water so she couldn't deny him of it.

Alice hesitantly opened the front door expecting to find him in the room before her. But he wasn't there. He definitely should have been out of the shower by now. And she couldn't hear the water running. Perhaps he had gone to lay down. So she unleashed the puppy and tip-toed through the house while the canine lapped noisily at the water bowl. She didn't see him in the bathroom though the puddles of water did not lie that he had been there and showered. He must be in the bedroom. "Dustin?" she asked quietly, knowing there was no where else he could be. Even thought she was mad at him, she still cared about him.

Alice pushed open the door and found him on the floor not moving. At first she thought it was a game. "Get up, don't you have any decency to not sleep on the floor." She began to kneel beside him, tucking her pin-straight brown hair behind her ear. "Come on you're not that tired." And as she put her hand on his back she wriggled him a bit to wake him. "Dustin, this isn't funny. I forgive you now stop playing." She put both hands on his shoulder and moved him a lot. There was no response. "Dustin?"" she asked loudly. Alice shook him and nothing. She shook him faster and faster, calling him louder and louder each time.

Alice got to her feet and ran down the stairs and through the house, almost tripping a few times. She unlocked her phone and dialed 911 with shaky hands. Running back through the house to be with her husband. "Hello?" She said even though the operated answered it with "911 what is your emergency?" "My husband he's on the floor, he won't wake up. I keep shaking him." she sobbed into the phone sitting beside him and pulling him as best as she could into her lap. "I don't know if he's breathing, I think he is, please help me." she practically screamed into the microphone. She told the operator what their address was and she told her that help was on the way, also that she would stay on her phone with her until help arrived. Alice just cried and held Dustin her lap, wrapping her arms around him as best she could, stroking his hair softly from time to time. The last thing that Alice had said was to fuck himself, and she didn't want that to be the last thing he ever heard from his wife.

The paramedics came and strapped him to a table taking him away from her even though she followed closely. Alice made sure the puppy was inside, closed and locked the door. She pulled herself up inside the ambulance with her husband and the paramedics. Alice held his limp hand with both of hers and stared at his face, or what of it wasn't covered by the oxygen mask.

After what seemed like a long time they arrived at the hospital rushing Dustin into the emergency room and his IV right after him. She was instructed to stay behind. And so she sat and waited. And waited.

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[dustin james kensington]

After a long morning and partial afternoon in the studio, the male had finally had enough and walked out. With the exception of Bailey, the entire band had been at practice and things weren't going as well as planned. Some of them couldn't seem to perfect the music like they had envisioned it in their head, Ashton had messed up a few times with the lyrics and the key he was supposed to be singing in, Elijah kept breaking his sticks at certain points of some of the songs, and Dustin himself had misplayed a handful of rifts in the wrong key. After so many hours of practice seemingly going wrong, Dustin had had enough. His anger level rose, which was normally uncommon for the male, but as of recently, it was becoming more and more typical. After exclaiming that he was done with practice that afternoon, after yet another misplayed note on his part, Dustin put his guitar on the stand it rested on when he wasn't around, grabbed his hoodie, and walked out. Leaving his band mates to fend for themselves, Dustin figured going home and taking a hot shower would help calm him down a little.

On his way home, Dustin managed to get stuck in traffic and then realize that he had stop at the end of the block, because the neighborhood kids wouldn't get out of the street when he had inched closer and closer to their playing spot. After waiting for nearly five minutes for the kids to move, Dustin honked his horn and the kids finally moved out of the way enough for him to get past them. Once Dustin had passed them, he finally made it back to the house that he had shared with Alice and parked his car in the driveway. Getting out, Dustin made sure that he had his phone in his pocket and his keys in hand before locking and closing his door. On his walk up to the door, Dustin's phone began to ring and he just ignored it. He didn't really care who it was at this moment, but rather, he just wanted to be left along by everything and everyone. Knowing that he was now about to be faced with his wife and dog, Dustin's temper seemed to flair a bit more. He just wanted them both to be out of the house so that he could have a couple of hours on his own to cool off.

Putting his keys in the door knob and unlocking the door, Dustin pushed the door forward, taking his keys out of the knob in the same swift movement. Once he had his keys in hand, he slipped them back into his pocket and closed the door behind him. Before he was even able to take a step forward, both Alice and their puppy were rushing towards him. When Alice jumped into his arms, Dustin grabbed a hold of her, just so that she wouldn't fall to the floor, but rolled his eyes. This was exactly the opposite of what he had wanted to come home to. When he put Alice down on the ground again, the male flashed her a half grin and walked towards the stairs to go up to their bedroom to take a quick shower. As he walked though, he heard the female speak and rolled his eyes before continuing up the staircase. "I just got home, Alice, don't be so damn needy. Can't I get ten minutes to myself?" the male spat out without even bothering to turn around to look at his wife.

Almost all the way up the staircase, Dustin heard Alice yelling at him to go fuck himself and that she was going out. This meant that he was going to have an hour or two to himself and he grinned. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out," he said, rudely, as he made it to the top of the stairs. Turning towards their bedroom, Dustin closed the door behind him with a bit of a force. He then grabbed clothes out of the drawers that housed them and made his way into the bathroom for a hot and relaxing shower. As soon as the male had gotten out of the shower, he got dressed quickly and realized that he needed to apologize to his wife for acting like a jerk. Hanging up the wet towel, Dustin went over to his side of the bed and reached for his running sneakers; his hoodie had been downstairs on the rack that he had hung it up on the previous night, so he didn't bother to grab one out of the closet. Getting up off the bed that he had sat down on to put his sneakers on, Dustin knew that something was wrong as soon as he had stood up.

With Alice still not home, Dustin tried to reach for his cellphone that he had put on his nightstand before his shower, but failed. Instead, Dustin's body started seizing and he had no control over it and fell to the floor. The seizure lasted a few seconds and left the male in a daze when it stopped. Trying to sit up and grab for his phone for a second time to call for help resulted in another seizure. This time, though, the convulsing lasted much longer. Dustin didn't wake up again after it had stopped like it had with the last one, but rather, left him unconscious and limp on the floor, waiting for someone, anyone, to find him.

--

Once the male had been taken to the emergency room, the doctors ran all sorts of tests and scans and finally found the source of the problem. A very large brain tumor that had been pressing on all sorts of functioning systems within itself, causing the male to act differently and such. It took them nearly seven hours to remove the entire tumor and another hour or so for Dustin to wake up in such a daze with a massive headache. As soon as he had woken up, the male didn't know where he was, but with all of the attachments coming out of his arms and hands, he knew that he had been in the hospital. When the door opened, Dustin looked up and saw a familiar face; it was one of the students he almost graduated with, Jessie. "I thought it was you when they rolled you in. When I saw the name on the chart, I couldn't believe it," the female said. "Look at you, hot shot. I always knew that you'd be the smart one of the group," the male joked. Jessie had been his study buddy all throughout college and he knew just how smart the female actually was. "Well, someone had to graduate med school," she said. "I never would have pegged you to be the one to drop out." Grinning, Dustin spoke, "Well, I've made a name for myself anyway. Now, I get to at least do what I enjoy and not what I'm forced to like," the male spoke. The pair spoke and caught up for another ten minutes or so, while Jessie went over all of Dustin's vitals and checked him over. When everything seemed to be alright, Dustin watched as Jessie excused herself and started for the door.

"Hey, Jess. Can you find my wife and bring her in here. I have to apologize," he spoke. "Wife number two, already?" she joked. "Actually, she's wife number one," Dustin spoke, grinning. Pausing for a moment, Jessie smiled at the male laying in the bed. "I'm glad to hear that things worked out between you both," she said, walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

www.polyvore.com/untitled_226/set?id=56212242

[alice victoria kensington]

Alice wasn't sure why he husband had been so mean to her. He seemed fine when he had gotten home, but all of that changed quickly. Alice was sure that her husband wasn't being himself. She couldn't put her finger on why he was so angry but it was irrational for him to do so. He was usually a very calm level-headed person and even when he got mad it wasn't ever out of hand. Something terrible must have pissed him off.

Alice sat herself down in one of the hard plastic chairs and waited until someone would tell her what was wrong. It was probably about two hours before she heard anything about her husband. She sat nervously waiting, contemplating all of the bad things that could be going on. Tumor was on her list, little did she know. When she was told that her husband had a tumor on his brain she covered her mouth, tears started welling up in her eyes. She knew brain surgery was a terribly difficult surgery. So many risks were involved. Alice was led down through some hallways into another waiting room with over sized stuffed chairs. The surgery waiting room. Alice grabbed herself a coffee and sat down in a chair away from the other families. She stirred it and sipped at it every so often. Mainly she was thinking about Dustin. Thinking about how he was in there with his head open. How he may not survive to see the end of this surgery. How if they removed the tumor he could only still live for another year or so. It made her almost emotional.

Alice pulled her feet up underneath her and curled up in the chair. She couldn't be bothered reading all of the outdated magazines on the table next to her. Eventually she dozed off still clutching her coffee cup. She awoke with a jolt, spilling a bit of coffee on her jeans and the floor. "shit" she said quietly. She had slept for three hours after passing two more hours. Alice got up and walked over to the counter where a nurse sat. "They haven't called for an Alice Kensington have they?" the nurse shook her head and told her that they would come find her when who ever it was she was waiting for came out of surgery.

So she said and waited. Another two hours came and went before she heard anything. Finally a tall man wearing blue scrubs exited through a door wiping his hands on them. "Kensington." he called. Alice dozing again in the chair jumped to her feet and rushed to him. "Yes, that's me, I'm his wife. Is he okay?" She asked pretty much in one breath. The doctor didn't smile, or offer a comforting touch he simply stood professionally and explained to her "There was a large tumor on your husband's brain. It was pressing down on certain parts of his brain. Did you notice anything different about your husband?" Alice thought for a moment before realizing that there was a change. "When he came home, he was irrationally mad at me. I've never seen him so mad before." "It's likely that the tumor was pressing down on a certain part of Dustin's brain that was causing him to experience different emotions. Which would explain the anger from when he arrived home tonight. He also most likely experienced some seizures and then lost consciousness. We've removed the tumor and the surgery went well. As for the after surgery he's going to have a long road to recovery and many follow up visits with us to ensure that he is still healthy." At this point Alice had tears in her eyes because she was so happy. "He's in the recovery room, we'll come and get you when he wakes up." "Thank you so much, thank you." she said in a sobbing manner. He touched her arm softly, trying to give a smile and then walked away to leave her to her thoughts. So Alice returned to her seat. In what felt like forever she was to be retrieved by a female doctor. "Kensington?" she called. Alice jumped to her feet, finally she got to see her husband.

Alice followed the female doctor who said something about having to see Dustin when she heard he was in the hospital, and that they used to work together. Alice tried to be polite but she was so worried about her Dustin that she couldn't think of anything else. And when "Jesse" opened the door to his room, Alice rushed in to his side. Tears welling up in her eyes again. "Boo." she said quietly grabbing softly for his hand and very very gently brushing back Dustin's hair from his forehead. "I thought I lost you." she whispered, "Don't you ever," she kissed his cheek softly, "ever scare me like that again."

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[dustin james kensington]

As Dustin laid in his very uncomfortable hospital bed and awaited the door to his room to open and show the face of his wife behind it, he thought about his life. He had almost just died, could have almost died, probably should have even died, but he hadn't; there must have been a reason behind it and he had to know why. Not only that, but it had gotten him to start thinking about his relationship with his family. Dustin knew that he should talk to his parents and explain his decision to quit med school for a hope and a guitar, but he was afraid of their reaction and rejection; though, what he was most afraid of was talking to his older brother, Austin. He had abandoned him so many years before and their relationship was nothing more than an apparent one-sided hate on Dustin's part. It was clear that Dustin wanted nothing to do with his older brother since their brawl in the studio parking lot. The male knew that he should at least apologize for hitting his brother so many times so hard, but it would be a big step on his part. Dustin never liked admitting when he was wrong, because his parents always taught him that that had been a sign of weakness. Weak was certainly not a proper adjective to describe the middle Kensington child, which was obvious after he had been through a lengthy brain surgery to remove a tumor the size of a softball.

Soon being pushed forcefully back into reality when the door to his room swung open and Alice stepped forth, Dustin smiled weakly up at her. When she moved to his bedside, he felt her hand on his own, then her fingers against his forehead, brushing what hair he had left from his face. "It's going to take more than a tumor for you to lose me, Button," the male said, using a pet name as a sign of affection for the very first time with his wife. He hadn't ever used a pet name for her, so he never really saw the need to start; although, after the events of that fateful afternoon, Dustin had decided that he was going to show his affection towards his wife on a regular basis so that she knew how much he truly did love her should anything else happen to him and he was no longer capable of showing any sort of emotion. "And you can trust me when I say this," the male began. "I don't ever want to scare you like that again." Taking a quick breath in, Dustin looked to Alice for a moment, just before he opened his mouth again to speak his mind further. "Alice, we need to talk. I want to end this marriage, it's been nothing but problematic since the start. I want us to start fresh. I want us to date and fall in love for real before I properly ask you to marry me," he spoke.

As he laid there, waiting for a response or some sort of reaction from his wife, Dustin just prayed that she wasn't going to be upset with him for the things that he had said just then. Dustin truly wanted a real fresh start for the pair of them, simply because their pasted had been tainted by the force of their parents when they were mere puppets of their game.