"Mikey!"

You look and see Brian running down the hall. "Thank God you're here." You just grab Brian and hold him tight. It's what you both need.

"How is he? Can I see him?"

"He slipped into a coma. They just don't know what's going to happen."

"FUCK." Brian slams his fist into a wall. "FUCK. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. IF I HAD BEEN THERE THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED."

"You don't know that."

"YES I DO! I could have protected him. I could have stopped it." Brian slumps onto a couch. All the strength leaves his body. You see Brian start to cry and he whispers. "I could have protected him." .

You haven't seen Brian cry since you were teenagers. Not since his dad..."Brian you have to be strong, for him and his mother. There was nothing you could have done."

"I could have told him I loved him."

"You will."

"Mikey, life's not like one of your comic books. There isn't always a happy ending."

"There is till I say otherwise."

Brian slowly stops crying. "You're so pathetic Mikey but I love you anyway."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They let Brian in to see Justin alone. His head is all bandaged and his face is all black and blue. And so many goddamn tubes and machines. Is he even alive? You have to will yourself to believe that. The opposite is too painful. You stand next to the bed and take his hand. Unknown to you Jennifer Taylor is standing in the doorway

"Hey. Looks like you had a hell of a time at that prom. So this is what I look like after a long night of partying. Surprised you never left me... You can't leave me now. You have to come back. You always have... If you don't come back how am I supposed to tell you how much I love you." The tears are just rolling down your face. "I promise I'll tell you that everyday for the rest of our lives. You can't leave me. I love you." You reach down and kiss him. Then as you look up and you see a women standing in the doorway.

"You must be Brian. I'm Jennifer, Justin's mother."

"How long were you there?" You say trying to wipe the tears from your face.

"Long enough. I've heard what Justin said about you. How he felt about you. I couldn't believe you felt the same way till just now."

'I care about him." You say trying not to start crying again.

"I know. We all do. Let's you and I just sit with him for a while. I think he'd like that."

You spend the rest of the day and night with Justin. Just talking to him. Holding his hand. Some times the nurses throw you out for a while so they can take care of him. You wait in the lounge. Someone left the TV on ESPN. Sports had been your life but right now it's pretty unimportant. Sportscenter is on and you hear your named mentioned. "Pirates management announced today that star second baseman Brian Kinney was given an emergency leave of absence from the club because of a quote family emergency. The Pirates did not release any further information but stated that their prayers are with Brian and asked the media to respect his privacy in his time of need. Next on Sportscenter..." So management has a heart after all.

They finally talked you into going home for a few hours. God this loft is cold and empty without him. You check your phone messages. First one is Claire. Crying of course. "Brian, what kind of family emergency. What aren't you telling me? Brian is mom sick?" Click, next message. "Brian this is your mother. They said on TV the team gave you a leave of absence because of a family emergency. There's no family emergency. What's going... Click. Shit I don't need this right now. WHERE'S MY FUCKING JIM BEAM?

You spend every waking hour of the next few days at Justin's side. God, I've learned to loath the sound of that respirator. The only good part is you and Jennifer got a real chance to know each other.

"Brian he was really proud of you. Your career and what you accomplished."

"He is?"

"Yeah he said he had a friend, who was a fan, put your stats in perspective for him. He even went to a card shop and bought every one of your baseball cards. He showed them to me."

"He did? I never knew." This twink continues to surprise you everyday.

"He even watched some games with his dad. But his dad never knew the real reason he was watching." Both you and Jennifer share a smile over that. "But it did draw them a little closer."

"How's his dad taking it?"

"He found out his son was gay reading it in a newspaper. He's trying to understand but it's been rough. Brian if I can ask, how'd your parents handle it?"

"My mom doesn't know. But I'm not close to her at all. My dad passed away a couple of months ago. Told him before he died. He accepted it in his own way. Did get to meet his grandson before he passed. That helped. "

"You have a son?"

"I was a sperm donor to Mel and Lindsay. His name's Gus. He was born the night Justin and I met. In fact Justin named him. He was at the hospital with me. Justin and I joke that was the night I got my two babies

"I met him. They were at Debs house the night of the...prom." She says weakly and starts to shake.

You hold her hand tighter. "He's going to make it. You have to believe it."

He'd want you to play. That's what Jennifer keeps saying. He's proud of you and your career. It's been a week. She said I've got to put my life back together. For him, it's what he'd want. The Pirates are back in town. Maybe I can play tonight.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Brian! Welcome back." Your team captain just walked into your office. You haven't seen him in a week. God, he's lost weight and he looks like shit.

"Hey coach. I want to know if I can play tonight."

"You sure you're up to it."

"No, but I have to do this."

"What happened?"

"You remember the kid that was hurt at the prom a week ago."

"Yeah. I read about it in the papers."

"I hate lying but I got to do this." He was a neighbors kid when I was growing up. He kind of adopted me as a big brother. We got really close. I was the first person he told about being gay." That's almost true. I was his first fuck. "That's how much he trusted me. It was like my own little brother getting hurt. His mom and I have been with him constantly. He's in a coma. They don't know if or when he'll come out of it."

"Jesus Brian. Why didn't you say something?"

"Who's been thinking straight the last week?"

"And you want to play tonight?"

"He'd want me to."

"Ok, suit up." You get up to leave. "And Brian, I know he's more then just a neighbor's kid. I saw your face in LA. I've been in baseball a lot of years. You're not the first one who's been a teammate. When you're ready to tell me my doors open."

You can't believe what you just heard. You freeze for a second and just whisper a reply "Thanks."

You call a team meeting and tell everyone the same story. Nobody can believe it. Who'd do that to a kid? You know they're with you. They're your teammates, your family. As you get dressed you see your friend Ken going from locker to locker. Something's up. Finally, he gets to you.

"If he's a member of your family he's a member of ours. We're all putting a small "J" on our caps. It stays on till he wakes up. "

You sit there dumbfounded. You can't believe they'd do this.

Ken yells at the rest of the team. "What do you know, we finally left the son of a bitch speechless."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It's your first at bat in a week. First pitch. Focus Kinney focus. I don't believe this. This schmuck is trying to groove a fastball past ME. You swing with every ounce of strength. BAM! GOODBYE BASEBALL!!!! You watch it arc to right center. Damn that home run could hit the bridge you think as you head to first. That one's for you Justin.

Bright light. Head hurts. Where am I? Sounds. Someone calling my name. They're so far away. BRIAAANNN!!!!

You're holding your sons hand when you see his eyelids move and open slightly. "Justin can you hear me. Squeeze my hand. Come on sweaty. Come on baby let me know you're in there. Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand."

Noise louder. Hurts. Mom. Do something. Squeeze her hand

Jennifer felt a slight pressure. "Oh my God. You can hear me. Do it again. Come on Justin squeeze my hand again" She feels another slight pressure. "Justin I'll be right back. I'm getting a doctor." You run out to the hall and yell to the nurse on duty to get a doctor, your son is waking up.

You run back in and grab his hand again. His eyes are open wider. "Don't try and talk sweaty. You have a tube down your throat to help you breath. You were hurt pretty bad. Just take it slow. If you understand me blink your eyes twice." Justin blinks twice. "Ok the doctor's on his way." You feel his finger move in your palm. Feels like he's writing a letter "B". "Brian?" Justin blinks twice. "He's here in town at a game. But he's here every day, as much as he can be. As soon as the doctor gets here I'll start making phone calls. Should be about 20 people outside that door in no time." You see Justin relax a little.

A couple of doctors run in and start to talk to Justin. You tell him "I'll be right outside. First calls to Brian. Promise."

"Hello"

"Hi, is Brian there?"

"He's out in the field. This is his coach. He asked me to take any messages."

"This is Jennifer Taylor, Justin's mom. Tell Brian Justin is waking up and asking for him."

"Mrs. Taylor, we've all been praying for that for the last week. I'm going to pull Brian out of the game right now and send him on his way. He'll be thrilled."

"Thanks, bye."

You hang up and everyone on the bench is looking at you. "The kids waking up and asking for Brian. Looks like he's going to make it." Everyone looks relieved. A few of the catholic players cross themselves. "Rodriquez get your glove. You're going in for Kinney."

"TIME" You yell to the umpire as you walk on the field. "Brian come on in." He comes up to you with a look of fear on his face. "Jennifer called. He's waking up and asking for you. Now get out of here, that kid needs you." Brian takes off for the locker room like a shot. You walk up to home plate. "Rodriquez replacing Kinney at second. Same spot in the order." As the umpire notes the change you call your opposite number out of his dugout. "I just want to tell you out of courtesy. A member of Brian's family was injured and has been in a coma for 2 weeks. He's an 18-year-old kid. He's waking up and asking for him."

"Jesus. And he's been playing."

"Yep and the rest of the team is as tough as he is so we're still going to kick your ass." You turn and head back to the dugout with a smile on your face. Nothing wrong with a little mind fuck in baseball once in awhile.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Brian approaches Justin's room he sees Deb and Mike had beaten him. "How is he?"

Jennifer looked at Brian and said, "The doctors are looking him over. They haven't come out yet."

"I know he was on a respirator. How'd he ask for me?"

He kept spelling a "B" in my palm with his finger. When I asked if he meant Brian he blinked twice for yes.

Deb started laughing. "My Sunshine's a smart little shit isn't he." We all kind of smiled along realizing how right she was.

All smiles stopped as the doctor came out of Justin's room. "Mrs. Taylor"

"Yes."

"Let me give you the good news first. We've only been using that yes/no code but Justin seems to understand where he is and that he was hurt. He doesn't remember what happened but we expected that. He's triggering the respirator on his own so we're going to pull it. He won't be able to talk for a few hours and probably not till tomorrow, his throats going to be pretty raw."

"Now the bad news." Jennifer says as she grabs Deb for support.

"There seems to be some weakness on his right side. It's not really bad. Physical therapy should help most of it but we'll know more later after some more tests."

Jennifer holds Deb tighter as she's about to lose it. "When can we see him?"

"Let us get him off the respirator first. Figure about 20-30 minutes."

"Oh Deb." You watch Jennifer hug Debbie and start to cry.

"Jennifer, he's strong. He's young. He'll make it. He woke he up. The worst is over." Deb tells Jennifer trying to comfort her.

You got some questions of your own. "Doc, what if he asks about what happened?"

"It would be better if he remembers on his own. But answer his questions."

"What about when he asks about Mark. The boy who died in the attack?"

"Tell him the truth. I'll have a mild sedative waiting if he needs it but I'd rather not use it."

He's been asking for you so Jennifer wants you to go in first. You take a deep breath and go in slowly. He's lying back with his eyes half closed. "Hey" you say softly as you sit down next to him on the bed. He sees you and smiles weakly. You give him a smile in return. "It's about time you woke your punk ass up. I've never seen someone who sleeps as much as you." He laughs weakly. You take his hand. "I missed you. We all did." Justin points to his throat. "I know you can't talk. They said you might not get your voice back till tomorrow. But what do you know I'll finally get the last word." He gives you the finger. "International sign language. Now I know you're feeling better." You both smile again. " I love you Justin. Never forget that." He's got a surprised and shocked look on his face. "Yeah I mean it. I promise I'm going to tell you that everyday for the rest of our lives. When you get out of here there's going to be some changes like you moving into the loft with me" He takes your hand and kisses it. "I know it's a shock. But things are going to change for the better." He's acting like he wants to say something. You put your ear right next to his mouth.

"What happened?" You hear him say very faintly.

"They said it would be best if you remembered on your own. But they also said to answer your questions. Remember planning on going to your prom?" Justin shakes his head yes. "Remember going?" Shakes his head no. "You went. You were attacked after the prom. Chris Hobbs did it." He's closed his eyes shocked at what he heard. "You took a blow to the head. That's why you can't remember." He pulls you closer. He wants to say something else and you dread the question you know is coming.

"Mark?" you hear faintly.

You're hesitating. You just can't say the words. "Mark went to the prom with you just like you asked. He was attacked to." You just can't say it. He knows something terrible happened. "Justin, Mark died. He died trying to save you." He's squeezing your hand tightly. You see the tears forming in his eyes. "Nobody blames you. His parents know he died a hero. It wasn't your fault." He pulls you into a hug and whispers in your ear.

"Never leave me."

You hug him tighter. "Never baby, never. Always and forever. Never forget that." You start to cry yourself.

You manage to calm each other down and convince him to let you go. You tell him Debbie and his mom want some time too. It's late and you make sure he knows you'll be back tomorrow morning. You walk out past everyone without saying anything and leave the hospital. You have a stop you have to make. You owe someone a thank you.

You haven't gone into a church for so long you almost forgot how. But you decide to go in anyway. You sit down in one of the pews. You're mostly alone and strangely, sitting here, you feel comforted. Finally a priest sits next to you.

"Can I help you son?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to say thank you for a miracle."

"How about just say thank you."

You laugh a little. "I don't remember it ever being that easy from the nuns."

"Son, sometimes the simple way is the best."

You don't remember the priests of your youth being like this guy. You start to tell him the whole story, about Justin, Mark's death, the last couple of weeks, and your life before Justin.

"That's some tale. Do you love this young man?"

"Oh God, yes."

"Does he love you?"

"Yes."

"Then God brought you two together for a reason. You take this bonus time you're going to have together and be good to each other and reach out together to other people and make a difference in their lives. That's how you say thank you for a miracle."

"Thanks. We'll do that."

"No problem Brian. Glad I could help." The priest gets up and starts to walk away.

"Hey how'd you know my name?"

The priest turns around, smiles and gives you the thumbs up. "Go Pirates."