Chapter 15: All Good Things...
The remaining days of September passed quickly for Patrick
and Mike as they began to get back into the routine of their
day to day living. Patrick, true to his word, chatted with
all the guys, keeping them up to date on everything that he
and Mike did. The guys all called and wished Patrick a Happy
Birthday in October, and he and Mike had a grand time out
that night.
A few weeks later, Patrick woke up with chills and a fever.
Feeling ill worried Patrick and he called the doctor and made
an appointment to go in a see him that afternoon. Patrick
called Mike at work and told him what was going on and Mike
immediately came home to take his lover to the hospital.
As Mike entered the house, he was startled to find Patrick
lying face down on the floor, with the phone still in his
hand. Mike immediately checked for Patrick's pulse and vitals
and then called the paramedics.
As he waited for the ambulance, Mike began to cry, "Please
don't leave me...please Patrick."
As he knelt there, looking at his lover, the telephone rang.
"Hello??", Mike said, his voice filled with emotion.
"Mike? What's wrong?", Justin's voice came through
the phone.
"It's Patrick....he called and said he was feeling sick
and had a fever and chills....when I got home he was laying
on the floor, unconscious. Justin....oh god!"
Mike heard Justin's muffled voice as he explained the situation
to the others on his end, then he heard Lance yell out, "Patrick?!?
NOOO!"
"Mike...Lance, JC and I are on our way! We'll be on
the next flight up.", Justin said quickly and hung up.
Minutes later, the ambulance arrived and whisked Patrick
and Mike off to the hospital.
Mike sat beside Patrick's bed in the Intensive Care Unit
of The North Carolina University Hospital as the doctors ran
dozens of tests to determine what was happening to Patrick.
After what seemed like hours, the attending physician
sat down with Mike and explained his findings.
"Mr. Morrow has contracted viral meningitis, Mike",
the doctor explained, "Its like a cold, only it's many
many times worse. And with Patrick's weakened immune system,
it's even worse. We will keep him here in the ICU to monitor
his condition."
Mike waited til the door closed before he walked over to
the bed, sat down and began to cry. When he looked up, he
realized that JC, Lance and Justin were standing behind him.
"How is he?", Lance asked, as he walked over to
Patrick sat down and gently laid his hand on his head.
"Not too good, Lance." Mike replied sadly, "The
doctors said he's contracted viral meningitis, like a cold...but
much worse....and with his immune system degrading...it's
a exponentially worse for him. They have asked me whether
he had made a will and gotten his affairs straightened away....so
I guess they don't expect any more miracles here."
Lance began to weep, then, softly at first, then more emotionally
as he laid his head down against Patrick's and grabbed his
hand.
"Wake up Patrick. We made a deal! You have to wake up...or
you won't know that I got here in time...that I'm here with
you...that we're gonna do this together like we said.",
Lance cried.
JC walked over to Mike and held him as Justin sat down beside
Patrick's bed and wept silently.
JC's phone rang and he walked outside to take the call. A
minute later, he walked back in and spoke quietly to Mike
who nodded.
"Yeah...I'm sure he'd want them here too!", Mike
said quietly, and JC relayed the approval into his phone.
JC and Justin convinced Mike to go and eat while Lance stayed
with Patrick.
Lance sat quietly at the head of Patrick's bed, holding his
hand while running a hand through Patrick's hair and across
his face. About two hours later, the door to the room opened
and Kevin, Brian and Nick walked in. Lance smiled as Kevin
came over and put his arm around him, comforting Lance and
lending him much needed strength.
Nick looked at Patrick's unconscious form and began to cry,
turning to Brian and holding him. Justin, JC, and Mike appeared
a moment later, sighing at the lack of change in Patrick's
condition. A few minutes later, Nick walked over to the bedside
and sat down beside Patrick, taking his hand.
"We're all here, Patrick. I hope you know you're not
alone.", Nick said through his tears. Around Midnight,
Lance and Nick, on either side of Patrick, felt his hands
twitch once as he drew his last breath. The heart monitor
began to beep and the room was suddenly flooded with nurses
and doctors.
"Noooooooo! PATRICK!", Lance called out as the
orderlies pushed him and everyone else out of the room.
Minutes later, the attending doctor approached Mike, and
pronounced Patrick as dead.
"I'm sorry Mike, it was just too much for him.",
the doctor said as he squeezed Mike's shoulder.
JC and Justin walked over to Mike and grabbed hold of him,
hugging him tightly and whispering to him as Mike began to
cry. Lance slumped down the wall he had been leaning against
and began to weep.
"He never woke up...He never knew I was there. I promised
him I'd be there...that I'd be the last thing he saw. I loved
him...and I failed him."
Kevin knelt beside Lance and hugged him, consoling him.
Nick and Brian knelt down beside Kevin and Lance and the
four cried a while longer.
"I failed him....I didn't even get to say goodbye.",
Lance cried.
Nick began to cry a little harder and after a few seconds
replied, "Patrick didn't want you to say goodbye, Lance.
He said that if you did that it would mean that he'd be really
gone. He said that he'd always be with us in our minds and
in our memories and in the love we kept for him in our hearts.
He's always gonna be with us, in our hearts, Lance, so there's
no reason to say goodbye to him."
Kevin and Brian nodded and then Nick pulled Lance into a
hug, letting the young blond cry himself out.
The next few days were a muddle everyone with Patrick's family
arriving for the wake and funeral. The ten guys sang together
for the first time at the funeral, for their friend, Patrick,
then they acted as pallbearers, delivering Patrick's coffin
to its final resting place.
JC and Justin stayed very close to Mike, always close enough
to hug or touch the sad young man. Mike got up and delivered
Patrick's eulogy:
"Patrick...", Mike began, "Patrick was the
bravest person I ever knew...the most compassionate and loving
person I have ever known. He once told me that he cherished
his friends and his family, the people he loved, more than
anything else in the world. A famous scholar once said that
if a man dies, and no one comes to his funeral, he hadn't
really lived. If one or two people who truly loved him come
to his funeral, then he led a good life. If more than three
people come to his funeral that truly loved him, than that
man was a saint and had truly lived a rich, full life. I think
that, seeing you all here today would have made him the richest
man in the world. Not a day went by that he didn't thank God
for every one of you here today. He loved you all."
Mike sat back down then, covering his face with his hands
as he dissolved into tears. JC and Justin put their arms around
him to console him.
Patrick's sister Diana sat next to Lance who was crying as
he looked down at the picture he held of himself and Patrick
at her wedding. After a few minutes, she put her arms around
Lance and squeezed him tightly.
Lance looked over at Diana and sighed, "I promised him...I'd
be there...that I'd be the last thing he saw...cause I loved
him and didn't want him to die not knowing it."
Tears streamed down Diana's face as she replied, "He
knew... He loved you and Mike so much. You guys were all he
talked about. You sat with him to the end, right? He knew
you were there for him. He knew you were there, Lance."
Lance and Diana wept together silently as Patrick's coffin
was lowered into the ground.
The days after the funeral were spent packing up Patrick's
clothes and effects, as well as the rest of the house. Mike
decided that he was going to sell the house and move away
from NC, the memories of Patrick in the now quiet, empty house
were too much for him. JC called his lawyers and they were
going to take care of all the legalities. JC and the rest
of the guys insisted that Mike come back to Orlando with them,
and a week later, they all boarded the plane to Orlando.
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