The Gift of Love... A New Tale of the Magi By Billy Burrew
Disclaimer: As usual, I would like to comment that this story is purely fictional and that it is no reflection on the sexual orientation of any of the members of NSYNC, Backstreet Boys or their estranged manager, Lou Pearlman. Please read this and enjoy it for what I intended it to be, an entertaining story. There is not a lot of sex, tho there are some adult situations. Please be forewarned. Remember, in the words of Peter Vincent, the Vampire Slayer in Fright Night, "Forewarned is Forearmed!" -Billy B
Chapter XV: 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, "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 had happened 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 doubly bad. 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 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 ten times worse....and with his immune system degrading...it's a hundred times 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.
A minute later JC's phone rang and JC 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 a half hour 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 giving him much needed strength. Nick looked at Patrick's unconscious form and began to weep openly, 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 they pushed everyone 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 weep. Lance slumped down the wall he had been leaning against and began to weep loudly.
"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 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 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 some kind of a saint and had truly lived a rich, full life. I think that, seeing you all here today would have made him the richest, happiest man in the world. Not a day went by over the last few months that he didn't thank God for being able to know each and 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 as he crying as he looked at the picture of himself and Patrick at her wedding. After a few minutes, she put her arm around Lance and squeezed.
Lance looked over at Diana and sighed, "I promised him...I'd be there...that'd I'd be the last thing he saw...cause I loved him and I 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 two were all he talked about. You sat with him to the end, right? He knew you were there for him. He knew."
Lance and Diana wept 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. Being alone with 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.