In The Cast

It was a dull day at work. Brian was hoping for something to happen. It did. Cynthia came into the office. "Brian," she told him, "Justin wants you to meet him in the emergency room of Mercy Hospital. He said to be careful driving over. It's nothing critical but he thinks you should come. I told him you weren't tied up and you could leave right away."

With that kind of message, Brian would have left immediately under any circumstances. "Take care driving over," Cynthia called after Brian as he retreated through the door. Cynthia had a kind of smile on her face. She may have known more than she had told her boss.

It was difficult for Brian to be careful as he sped toward Mercy Hospital. When he got there he rushed up to the desk. "I'm looking for Justin Taylor," he told the attendant.

"He's over there I think," she answered. Brian turned around to see Justin sitting in the waiting room perusing a magazine. Ben and Hunter were with him. They had not seen Brian rush in.

"What's going on?" Brian asked as he hurried over to where they were sitting, "You OK, Justin?"

"Oh yeah," Justin told him, "Didn't Cynthia tell you? It's Mikey, Brian. He fell off the stage at the dress rehearsal today and broke the bone in his leg just above the ankle. They're setting it now and he will be in a walking cast."

"He was a good bit of pain coming over here," Ben added, "And he wanted to see you, so I had Justin get the desk to call you at work to see if you could come over. Of course he wanted me too. Justin and Hunter were at the rehearsal when he fell and they came with him in the ambulance."

"He was so wrapped up in his lines," Hunter volunteered, "That he backed right off the stage. A couple of guys yelled at him but he was concentrating on his speech and didn't hear them."

"No doubt of his complete dedication to the theater," Brian commented.

"No," Hunter agreed, "As the paramedics were getting ready to bring him here, he told Malcolm that he would be ready to go on for the opening tomorrow, or else you could go on in his place since you know all the lines from rehearsing with him."

"Me?" Brian cried, "How does all this crap happen to me?"

"It isn't your leg that's broken, Sweetheart. And I don't think you have anything to worry about," Justin consoled him, "If they let Mikey out of the hospital, he will be up there himself. Dr. Marshall told me he thinks they'll let Mikey go home as soon as they get the leg set. Lots of actors have gone on in walking casts."

It wasn't long before the guys in waiting were informed that the patient had been plastered up and was ready to receive visitors. Only one at a time though, so Ben went in first. He wasn't with Michael for very long before he came out.

"Michael wants to talk to you, Brian," Ben said, "He wants some professional advice."

Brian stifled any nasty comment that might have come into his head and he entered the room where Mikey was waiting. He wasn't in there very long either. "The doctor told Mikey he can go home in a few hours," Brian informed them all, "And he says Mikey can go on for tomorrow's opening if he's not in too much pain. Mikey says he will play through the pain if necessary. The show must go on. Hunter, I don't think you and Malcolm have seen the last of Mikey, the actor."

"That's what we were afraid of," Hunter replied, "Mike really is a great guy but he cramps our style being around all the time."

"You want to elaborate on that?" Ben asked Hunter.

"I don't think so, Dad," Hunter smiled at Ben, "But don't worry. We don't do anything that you wouldn't do."

It wasn't very long before Michael came hobbling out, holding on to a male attendant who seemed to smile Brian's way. Justin noticed that Brian seemed to smile back and jotted down a mental note. Hunter was deputized to let Malcolm know that his maimed but still game star player would be available for the opening, and the group broke up and went their separate ways.

Brian and Justin had the job of stopping at the diner to tell Debbie about the day's catastrophe and try to keep her calm. They ate there, giving her all the answers they knew and making up those they didn't. They proved to be a great comfort to Deb, who was so looking forward to seeing her son on stage the next evening.

Later, when they got back to the loft, they lit the fireplace and cuddled together. It didn't take much more than that to make them deliriously happy.

"Baby," Brian accused Justin, "You told Mikey to break a leg, and he did."

"I admit I told him to break a leg, Bri," Justin told him, "But I'm not responsible for him falling. He only takes professional advice from you, or maybe Malcolm when he can't get through to you, so he wouldn't break a leg just because I told him to."

"Do you think he'll be OK for tomorrow?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Justin said in reply, "And even if he blows his lines, he'll get a big ovation for going on with a cast on his leg. It's probably a no-lose situation for our pal."

"Unless he backs off the stage again and breaks his other leg," Brian conjectured.

"He won't," Justin assured him, "If he comes close to the edge of the stage, you just yell at him. He might not hear anybody else warning him but he'll hear your voice whatever else he's doing."

"You know about me and Mikey, Baby," Brian said, "And you're not jealous. That's something I love about you. Not the only thing though."

"On the other hand," Justin told him, "There was that good looking male attendant that brought Mikey out."

"I can't get away with very much, can I?" Brian laughed, "Actually, I was planning to tell you about him."

"When?" Justin asked jokingly.

"As soon as I could get you to quit talking, Honey," Brian retorted, " This guy was fixing Mikey up when I went in to see him. Mikey told him I was his friend and mentioned my name. This guy said 'You're not the Brian Kinney who is the living legend around Babylon, are you?' Mikey tells him I'm the very one. He takes a good look at me and says "Brian, I think you retired too early. You could make a comeback any time you wanted.'"

"And you said?" Justin wanted to know.

"What do you think I said?" Brian queried.

"I have no idea what you said," Justin told him, "But I know what you should have said. You should have told him that you met the guy of your dreams and that you were in a committed relationship with him, that the relationship was going to last forever, and that you are so happy that you would never consider a return to your Babylon days. Now what did you really tell him?"

"Do I have to tell you what I told him if I say that I should have told him what you think I should have told him?" Brian asked.

"No," Justin answered as he pushed himself even closer to the greatest guy in the world.

"Well, actually," Brian confessed, "What you think I should have said is darn close to what I did say. Mikey was really impressed. I could tell by the look on his face. Now what did you think I told him?"

"Pretty much what you told him," Justin answered.

"How did you know that?" Brian demanded.

"By the look on your face," Justin told him.

Return to Fireside Chats