Begin Anew
Copyright 2000 By Francis O'Ratigan. All rights reserved. With the exceptions of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from the Author.
This story is complete fiction. This story in no way implies the ACTUAL sexual orientation or beliefs of Actual living people. In other words FICTION!!
Any comments are welcome. Good or bad. Feel free to e-mail me at frnceso@hotmail.com
Chapter 4
June 2003 At the Hospital.
Kevin sat there listening to Jason as Jason allowed him into his painful past. Kevin broke down in tears a couple of times when he realized that Jason had truly missed him something terrible. But the main reason he cried was for the time he lost with his husband and his son. He promised himself that he would spend the rest of his life making it up to them. He heard footsteps and looked up.
"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. Jason looked up from his glass of water. He followed Kevin's eyes to the figure walking towards them. It was like time had stood still for him. He still had the curly blonde hair and his incredible blue eyes that sparkled with humor. Only to day there was no humor in them.
"Brian," gasped out Jason. Kevin stood up and waited for Brian to reach him.
"Hey Cousin," Kevin said. Brian stopped a few feet from Kevin and stared hard at him.
"Welcome back home Cousin!" he hurled at him as he hauled back with his fist and punched Kevin in the mouth. Kevin fell back and Jason ran to catch him before he fell. Kevin scrambled back up holding his lip. He wiped the blood from his lip. Brian drew back to hit him again but was stopped by Jason.
"Stop it Brian!" ordered Jason. "Leave him alone!" Brian reluctantly backed down and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. Jason turned to Kevin and took his face in his hand and tilted his head back to he could get a better look at Kevin's busted lip. "Oh boy," he sighed. "That is going to swell." Kevin swatted Jason's hands away and he turned on Brian.
"What the fuck was that for?" he demanded from Brian.
"You damn well what that was for!" shouted Brian. "You up and leave for over three years and not a word to any one!" Jason handed Kevin some ice for his lip and Kevin took it and held it to his lip. "Where the hell were you for all that time?"
"None of you business," hured Kevin as he sat down beside Jason. Brian got up and it looked like he was going to hit Kevin again. But this time Kevin stood up and drew back his fist too.
"That's enough!" ordered Jason. "The next one who throws a punch gets his ass kicked by me!" Kevin choked back a laugh and Brian smirked as he sat down. "What?" demanded Jason. "You don't think I can do it?" Kevin shook his head no and Brian giggled and shook his head no too. "Well I can! And don't make me have to prove it to you." Silence filled the room for a few moments. Until it was broken by a soft voice.
"How is the family?" Kevin asked.
"They are all fine. Worried as hell as to what happened to you. God Kevin you didn't even call or write. For three years nothing! Why did you do it?" demanded Brian.
"I needed some time to myself," Kevin said softly.
"Three fucking years?" squalked Brian.
"Yes three years!" shouted Kevin as he wiped some tears from his face. "I needed three years by myself!" Brian shook his head in bewilderment.
"So you up and leave your husband your son--," Brian started.
"I didn't know that Jason got Johnny back," interupted Kevin.
"That is no excuse and you know it!" Brian hurled at him. "You leave your family and your career and every thing and everyone you love just to be by yourself?"
"That's about it," mumbled Kevin.
"Bull shit!" shouted Brian. "There is more to this story than you are letting on!"
"Drop it Brian!" shouted Kevin. Jason looked at one cousin to another and shook his head.
"Yea you better drop it Brian," Jason said. "Kevin is real good at keeping secrets to himself."
"So how is Justin doing?" asked Brian changing the subject.
"He is in surgery," stated Jason. "They expect him to make a full recovery."
"That is good," Brian said. "So how have you and Johnny doing?"
"We are good," Jason said. He was still a little angry at the rest of the gang for not keeping in touch. "It is nice that you care," he hurled at him. Brian blushed and looked down at his feet. "Don't be so hard on Kevin. Johnny could have used his uncle around for support." Brian winced when he heard those words.
"I'm sorry we didn't keep in touch Jason," Brian said.
"Let's not dwell on the past," Jason said. "Tell me, how are the rest of the gang. Is the group still together?"
"Nick and AJ and Howie are doing great. And the Backstreet Boys are still going strong. Eversince Trevor joined the group we've been going strong." Kevin perked up when Trevor was mentioned.
"You replaced me?" he asked.
"Yea we replaced you Kevin!" shouted Brian. "What the hell did you expect us to do?" Kevin nodded silently. "But this is our last tour." Kevin jerked his head back up again. "Hey it couldn't last forever Kevin, 10 years is a good run. Now with Nsync breaking up we fill it is time to drop out of the lime light quietly while we are still friends."
"What happened to Nsync?" Kevin asked.
"Disputes within the group. Lance let it slip at one of their press conferences that Justin and JC were Gay. After that it was pretty much all out war. Not a pretty sight. Justin seems to have faired the best. He has already been signed to another label with another Group. JC is in rehab."
"Rehab?" asked a shocked Kevin.
"Coccaine," stated Brian sadly. "I hear he is pulling his life back together and getting back into singing. I believe he was supposed to be released yesterday. The press is hounding him something terrible."
"What happened to Lance?" Jason asked. He was out of the lime light a little too. He knew about the break up and JC's coccain addiction. But it was still a mystery to him what happened to Lance and the other two.
"He is devoting full time to managing. He actually orcestrated a hostile take over of Trans Com. He put Lou Prealman out of business for good," Brian continued shaking his head.
"Oh my," exclaimed Jason. "So little Lance turned into a JR." Brian looked at Jason confused. "JR was a character on a TV Series back in the Eighties.
He was ruthless and he specialized in hostile take over. No one liked him."
"Oh well Lance isn't like that. You know the last group he put together?" Brian asked.
"Yea didn't they do a TV show about them?" Jason asked. Brian nodded, "That was a cool show."
"Well any way turns out that Lou was trying the same stunts that he pulled on us and Nsync. Jacob called Lance and asked for help. Three months later it was all over but the crying. Lou out of business and Lance in charge. That is probably the only good thing that came out of the Boy Band War," Brian sighed. "So what were you two talking about before I walked in? It looked pretty serious."
"Jason was just filling me in on the missing years," Kevin spoke up.
"Man Jason," Brian said sadly shaking his head. "I am so sorry that I didn't contact you."
"We wont dwell on that right now. We other things to dwell on," Jason said quietly. "Any one hungry?" he asked looking over at Kevin and Brian. Kevin shook his head no and Brian nodded his head yes. "Come on Brian let's head over to the McDonalds across the street."
Fifteen minutes later the two men had their meals and were seated in a quiet corner. Brian didn't have to worry so much about fans any more. It was a reliefe for the both of them. Brian smiles and laughs softly to himself.
"What are you thinking about?" Jason asked.
"Just remembering the first day I met you," he giggled.
"Oh Yea I will never forget that day. I ended up with a black eye because of it," laughed Jason. Brian blushed and looked down.
"Not one of my better days," Brian mumbled softly. "If I could only take that day away from both of our memories." Jason reached over and placed his hand on Brian's arm.
"Brian, I've forgiven you along time ago," Jason said softly. "You should forgive yourself too. The two friends continue to talk for almost an hour. After eating they pick up something for Kevin to eat. They walk back across the street and into the hospital. Once in the waiting room they spot Kevin sitting by the window with tears flowing down his face. Jason runs up to him and kneels by him and takes his hand.
"Kevin, what is it?" Jason asked as he wiped the tears from his face.
"It is Justin," he whispers.
"What about Justin?" Jason asked a heavy weight of fear fills his heart.
"He's not going to make it," Kevin sobbed out. Jason fell back and sat on the floor in shock. Brian wrapped Jason in his arms whispering in his ear.
"What happened?" asked Brian. "I thought he was going to be fine."
"That was until they opened him up and discovered that his Kidneys were shot. The blunt trauma from the accident crushed them. They are frantically looking for a transplant. The Doctors say if they don't find one in 72 hours he wont make it," Kevin said as he walked over to Jason and helped him up and led him to the couch. "Jason baby, he been asking for you." Jason nodded and followed Kevin out of the waiting room. Slowly they made their way to the hospital room. Kevin held the door open for Jason. Jason stepped through and looked over at the bed that held Justin. He turned and buried his head in Kevin's chest.
"I can't do this," he sobbed. Kevin gently but firmly took him by the shoulders and held him away from his body.
"You are one of the strongest people I know. You can do this Jason," Kevin replied. Jason nodded and turned and looked down at Justin. He looked so peaceful laying in the bed sleeping. Jason walked to the bed and took his hand. Justin's eyes opened and smiled once he saw Jason.
"Hi sweetie," he breathed. Tears choked Jason because Justin's voice was so weak. "I guess I'm being called home."
"Hey who said anything about you leaving us?" Jason asked with a forced smile. Justin shook his head no but Jason pressed on. "If you think you are going to just give up and die you are out of your fucking mind!" Justin closed his eyes as a wave of pain raged through his body. "I'm sorry Justin," Jason sobbed. "I shouldn't be yelling at you right now." Justin smiled at him and took his hand in his.
"I wish I could've known you longer," he whispered. "You are a great person. Kevin is the luckiest man in the world." Tears graced his angelic face and Jason gently wiped them free. "Tell Johnny that I love him and that I will be with him always." Jason choked back some more tears as he thought of the prospect of breaking the news to Johnny if Justin died. Johnny worshiped his Uncle and the thought of little heart breaking was almost to much for Jason to bear. The two friends sat in quiet for a few moments. They hear a knock at the door. Jason looks up in time to see JC walk through the door. Jason gets up and goes to him. JC stops and looks at Justin lying in the bed. The tears start flowing and his knees buckle and he sinks to the floor. Jason catches him before he falls. After holding him while JC sobs into Jason's shoulder he looks up at Jason.
"How did this happen?" he asks. Jason sighed and told him the story about Kevin coming back home and Justin leaving in anger and wrecking the car. Jason could see that JC was getting angry every second the story was told. It got to the point that he was shaking with rage. "Where is he?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"JC don't," Jason begged. "Kevin didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"This is all of his fault!" JC shouted. Jason grabbed his arm and pulled him out side of the room.
"Yes!" Jason shouted back at JC. "I agree that Kevin must bear most of the blame here. Right now we have to be positve. We need to concentrate on being there for Justin. If this is it for him he doesn't need his last days filled with hatred and revenge!" JC nodded and headed back into the room. Justin was sleeping quietly and Jason sat next to Justin's bed and took his hand.
"You love him don't you?" JC asked. Jason nodded silently. "What about Kevin?"
"I love him too. I will always love Kevin. He is my husband and I will never betray that love," Jason explained. The door flew opened and in walked the doctor. He was wearing a smile on his face. Jason stood up and watched the Doctor closely.
"I have some good news," he said as he reached Justin's bedside. Justin opened his eyes and tried to sit up but Jason restrained him from moving. "We may have a Kidney for you." Jason and JC breathed a huge sigh of relief as the impact of the news hit them.
"Who is it?" Justin asked his eyes filled with hope.
"Do you remember when you gave a bone marrow transplant to Johnathan Richardson?" the Doctor asked. Justin nodded still not understanding where the Doctor was going with this. "Well he is your match. That is if we can get his permission and his parents of course."
"NO!" shouted a voice. Every eye turned to see an enraged Kevin standing at the door. "You are not taking one of Johnny's kidneys!"
Ok that is it for this installment. Understand that this is complete fiction. I don't even know if an 11 year old boy cold give one of his kidneys to a 22 year old man. But hey it is my story so get over it.
Let me know what you think. frnceso@hotmail.com