Ten…
Title: Ten…
Story Type: AU
Word Count: 2389
Rating: NC17
Beta Queen: BigJ52
Story Summary: How much life can change in Ten Minutes, Ten Hours, Ten Days, and Ten Years…
Story Sub-plot: Countdown to the Best Christmas Ever…
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, plot, etc. are property of their respective owners, including, but not limited to Russell T. Davies, Cowlip, and Showtime. The author of this story is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended…
Chapter Summary: Brian worries when he gets home and Justin is missing…
Ten...
Part 1 - Ten Years After…
Justin’s POV
December 10th
“Hi! I just got your Christmas card. That is so Kinneyesque.”
“Hey Daph, come on in. You know I picked them out. Right?”
“Well yeah… I can’t imagine Brian selecting Christmas cards. You probably had to forge his signature too.”
“Being married has its privileges.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m just starting to prep for dinner.”
“Dinner? Dinner isn’t for like ten hours.”
“Yeah I know, but I’m making this new recipe with ten cloves of garlic. It’s one of those clay pot chicken dishes that cooks really slow all day. I’m mincing the garlic and pulling the skin back and spreading the garlic paste of olive oil and fresh rosemary under it.”
“It sounds yummy.”
“It sears into the skin and the breast meat. It’s kind of like marinating, only more intense. It should be basically falling off the bones and really juicy. Yet the skin is really crisp and garlicky on the top.”
~~~~
Justin’s POV
The first sensation was a huge rush of air or wind that pushed me forward just a bit before the impact. I heard the tires squealing, and the sound of metal scraping. Yet I felt like I was floating.
Everything is in slow motion and it’s all distorted. Like rippling waves across the water, or maybe like sound waves radiating out from a sonic boom. I was once in a small earthquake when I was working on Rage. It was at night and I was sleeping. It felt like someone shook the blankets, like I was riding the surf. It was kind of fun feeling the rush of the waves through my body.
Did I just see a fish swim by?
I feel kind of giddy, like I took E or something. I can’t remember what I was just doing, and I’m not sure where I am. It’s dark, yet there’s a bright light around me and in the distance I can see flashing lights. But I can’t hear the music. I have the sensation of Brian holding me tight to his chest from behind, but it’s more than that. I can’t move. I feel like I’m restrained.
I feel a little dizzy and lightheaded, yet I can’t really feel anything. Did I really just see another fish swim by?
I’m confused. What’s going on? The lights keep flashing in the distance but it’s like time is suspended. Are they strobe lights? Am I dancing? Why isn’t Brian here? I feel so all alone. I’m cold. I think I’m cold… But then again I can’t really feel anything.
~~~~
Brian’s POV
The taxi dropped me off out front from the airport. I come into the loft and it smells great. I’m starving. I set my suitcase down and call his name. Silence… Yet there’s several pots on the stove, turned down as low as possible, and that clay pot thing he had to have, in the oven. I just talked to him. I told him I would be home in ten minutes…
I decide to set the table and surprise him. I even use the good dishes and silver, complete with silver candlesticks. Where is he? I thought for sure he would be back by now. I’ve been home forty-five minutes, and I’m starting to worry. I feel my chest tighten when the phone rings.
I’m a little apprehensive but I answer it.
“Is this Mr. Brian Kinney? I have you listed as the emergency contact for a Justin Taylor-Kinney is that correct?”
“Yes.” I hear my own voice crack, and I can’t breathe.
Now there’s a knock on the door, and Michael slides it open. He and Ben enter. I’m just holding the phone out. I can’t talk. I fall into Michael’s arms while Ben talks with the police.
Michael’s crying and says, “I just saw them pull the Vette out of the river. I was so scared it was you, not that it’s any better this way… I’m so sorry…”
Ben breaks in and says, “We have to go now. I just talked with the police, and they’re taking him to the hospital. He’s unconscious.”
I feel Michael’s hand on my shoulder as I walk past the table, all set for our first anniversary. Just feeling the warmth of his touch grounds me, slightly. He helps me into my coat, and turns off the dishes on the stove. Then he locks up the loft. I feel lost, scared, nervous, and sick to my stomach. And I wish I was still that Brian that didn’t feel anything… Nothing at all… But I’m not, I’m Brian Fucking Taylor-Kinney.
~~~~
Justin’s POV
I’m swinging and swaying to the music. I feel like I’m in some old Fred Astaire movie in some ballroom, spinning and dipping. I can see little twinkly lights reflecting off the walls. Brian is holding me real close and I feel like Cinderella… He’s wearing a tuxedo. I’ve never seen him in a tuxedo before, not even for our wedding.
His shirt is a deep burgundy color, similar to the red fluid ribbons spinning near my head and dissipating, kind of like watercolors… Someone is slowly swimming towards me… He looks like a scuba diver. I find this very humorous because there’s no place to scuba dive in Pittsburgh, yet he seems to be wearing a mask and fins as well as the suit. I think he wants to dance with me? We must be at a costume party. Oh, I love that flashlight helmety thing.
~~~~
Brian’s POV
It’s funny what your mind does under stress. I’m sitting in the waiting room, waiting… Surrounded by all my family. The TV is playing in the background, but no one is paying attention. The ten o’clock news is on and I see the footage of them pulling the Vette out of the river.
I know I should be freaked because it’s totally smashed, and it’s hard to believe that anyone could have survived in that car. Note to self - no more sports cars. I’m buying both Justin and me new Jeeps in the morning, mine black, his red. My mind drifts back to his Christmas present last year; he bought me vanity plates for the Vette. He said it was a take-off on our new name, but anyone seeing me in my car got the message it said: TAY-KIN. He’s such a brat. God, I love him.
It’s funny because you’d think I’d be queening out about the Vette. But it seems so irrelevant at the moment. I just wish the fucking doctor would come back out and tell us what’s going on. No one’s been out since they first brought him in.
The police said that he had been submerged for only ten minutes, due to the fact that it happened practically in front of the fire department. The doctors said he was experiencing hypothermia, and that his body was in shock from the frigid waters.
Then they told me that his head hit the windshield, but because of the freezing waters he had relatively little swelling around his brain. They needed to bring his body temperature back up to normal very slowly. Otherwise there could be tissue, or organ damage or deterioration. He tells me that’s it’s a relatively new procedure where they use a dialysis machine to warm and re-circulate the blood. It should take about ten hours.
~~~~
Justin’s POV
Scuba boy is getting closer now; he looks so serious, not like he’s going to hit on me or anything. He looks determined. I’m not getting a good vibe from this guy. He’s mumbling something I can’t understand… And then I see it - a large hunting knife, and he’s coming at me. Oh my God, Oh my God, he’s going to kill me… More fish… Panic… Darkness…
~~~~
Brian’s POV
Carl comes into the waiting room at Allegheny General, sits down next to me and tells me that Justin was hit by a drunk driver. Some kid took his parents’ SUV, who didn’t know how to drive in the snow and ice… He’s under age… A lethal combination - he died on impact.
I want to be angry and hurt someone. But God I was a pretty wild teenager. I’ve driven drunk on more than one occasion. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I came home to find out Gus had made similar poor choices and I’d lost him. So as angry as I want to be, I’m old enough to realize that this really is an accident. A tragic accident.
Dr. Fleming approaches us and asks if he can talk with me separately. I look up and realize that our little group has expanded, so I leave the ten little Indians and follow the doctor to his office.
Deb, Michael, Ben, Emmett, Ted, Mel, Lindsay Daphne, Jen and Molly all look up with somber faces. They try and send all their strength to me as I walk behind the dear doctor into the abyss.
Dr. Fleming explains that Justin hit his head pretty bad. But with it being December the river water is almost freezing, that he experienced what you might think of as suspended animation. Everything starts functioning very slowly; his body basically shut down as the frozen water preserved his tissues and actually protected him. Of course he’s in shock and he’s received some other minor gashes and scrapes, as well as a broken left arm. He’s responding well to the warming process, and that he’s about halfway through.
He explains that once he is stabilized, and he seems to be responding well to the treatment, they’ll watch for signs of swelling in his brain. They know that it was very likely that he would experience some swelling from the previous trauma he’s suffered.
He explains that they have drilled several small holes to help relieve some of the pressure, but it was most likely that he will need surgery. He also tells me that they won’t be able to do any surgical procedures until he’s completed his dialysis, and is stabilized. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon.
Of course I have to ask if I can see him. I have to see him. I’m so scared that I will never see him again. Dr. Fleming hesitates at first but then he sees the look in my eyes, and says, “Only you and just for ten minutes at a time… That means ten minutes once an hour… I don’t want him under any stress.”
~~~~
Michael’s POV
Tonight started out so easy. Ben came and picked me up from Red Cape to go Christmas shopping for Hunter and JR. There was so much more traffic than normal then we heard that the bridge at Tremont and Tenth Avenue was closed because some asshole drove their car off the bridge and into the river.
We decided to stop at the diner for supper and wait for the traffic to clear. That’s when Todd came running in saying that it was Brian’s Vette that went into the river. That there was a dive team already in the water. Kiki immediately turned on the small TV in the corner and all the fags were speechless as we watch them pull the Vette out of the water. On the screen you could see all the police cars, ambulances and fire trucks parked haphazardly on the bridge. But you could hear their sirens like they were parked out front.
Ben placed his arms around Michael to give him the support that he knows his husband will need. Michael leans back into Ben’s embrace closing his eyes, as his tears swell behind his lids. Ben gently whispers, “We need to go find Justin. He shouldn’t be alone when he hears this.”
Michael nods and starts to leave the diner which is now so crowded beyond capacity that it’s a fire hazard itself. But no one’s eating, or even talking. There’s just a lot a sniffling and crying. Everyone’s in shock…
As we pass Woody’s we notice that it’s more of the same, except everyone’s drinking, crying and in shock. Ben says we might as well walk, it will be faster than trying to get through all this traffic.
Ben started to knock on the loft door, but I just reached up and pulled the door open and I’m shocked. Brian is standing by his desk, holding the phone, just shaking his head and crying. Ben takes the phone, and I take Brian into my arms, and tell him it’s ok to cry. We’re both crying now.
My emotions are all over the place. I feel guilty that I’m relieved. No, actually happy that Brian’s alright. Well, as alright as you can be when you learn that your husband... God, I don’t even know.
But I also feel so bad because the alternative isn’t really any better. I know I’ve given him a lot of shit over the years. But our relationship, no, friendship has really grown over the last ten years, and I’m truly happy for him and Brian. Hell, he did what no other man was ever capable of doing - taming the shrew (stud) of Liberty of Avenue.
I’m brought out of my thoughts by someone saying that they didn’t even have airbags back then. The Vette is like forty years old. I wish they’d just stop playing that footage on the news. It’s just a hunter green twisted hunk of metal and the tan convertible roof is sprung open and shredded. But the windshield is still in place, just smashed into a million cracks and pieces with a small hole about three inches wide, centered in front of the driver’s seat. The worst part is that you can still see tufts of his blond hair stuck into all the splintered glass. I can’t help my tears as they spring back to life, as I get up and turn off the TV.
~~~~
The answering machine at the loft beeps with a message waiting. Mr. Taylor-Kinney, it’s Margie from Newman’s Florist. I waited for you last night to come pick up your special order. But then there was that accident on the bridge… Anyways, I still have your golden gardenias if you want to come pick them up.
Malaysian Jasmine, Golden Gardenia or Kedah Gardenia (Gardenia tubifera Kula, Gardenia carinata Wallich, or gardenia carinata)