A few days after Brian went to get his blood drawn, he and Justin both received phone calls letting them know that Brian was a close enough match for Brian to give Justin one of his kidneys. The next couple of weeks had Brian seeing various doctors that performed numerous tests on him to make sure he was healthy enough to donate a kidney to Justin and to live with only one kidney. Brian was even required to save his urine in a plastic jug for a day to measure his fluid output, and he was a little embarrassed to hand the full jug over to the elderly nurse at the urology unit.

The doctors were soon all happy to report that despite Brian spending the last several years of his life drinking like a fish, smoking like a chimney, ingesting numerous drugs, and having more than one hundred different sex partners, he was very healthy. Per the doctors' suggestions, Brian abstained from drugs to clean out his system. He decreased his drinking to no more than one beer or shot per day. He even cut down his pack-a-day smoking habit to three of four cigarettes per day, along with drinking only one cup of coffee per day as opposed to his usual four or more cups. To prevent him from catching any STDs in the meantime, Brian significantly cut back on his tricking, only fucking a couple of guys a week and never allowing them to kiss or blow him.

Brian continued to avoid Michael, and Debbie eventually stopped hounding him over it. Ted and Emmett quit trying to fill Brian in on Michael's wonderful new life with Dr. David and his son, which left the three of them with very little to talk about. Brian's days consisted of long hours at the office; that is, when he didn't have a doctor's appointment. When asked by Cynthia why Brian would need to be out of the office periodically for his appointments, Brian only said that it was none of her fucking business and to take his messages when he was gone. He would spend most of the weekends working from home or visiting Gus at Chez Munchers.

Besides seeing Justin when he worked his morning shift at the diner, Brian kept his distance from the young blonde. They agreed that until they knew whether Brian could give a kidney to Justin, they would not have any sort of relationship, particularly a physical one. Of course, that had been Justin's decision, but Brian decided to grin and bear it. He knew that whatever the outcome, he would one day have Justin in his bed and be able to forget about him afterwards.

Justin had also decided not to tell anyone about the possibility of Brian donating to him, so nobody would be disappointed if Brian wasn't an eligible donor. Since Justin was legally an adult, his doctors were barred from contacting Justin's parents about the inquiry. After going through his own tests to ensure he was healthy enough for the transplant, the doctors informed him that he was indeed fit to receive a donated kidney, which would free him from dialysis and greatly improve his quality of life.

Once being physically cleared to donate, Brian was then required to meet with a counselor to evaluate his mental health. After asking him several questions about his life and emotional status, the counselor, a woman named Kelly that reminded Brian of an overweight Melanie, asked, "So, Brian, why do you want to donate a kidney to this young man?"

Brian cleared his throat. "Well-"

"Because you hardly know this person, and I don't see very many people like you who are willing to donate a kidney to someone that-"

"People like me?" Brian repeated.

Kelly gave him a tight, forced smile. "What I mean is, men your age with your lifestyle-"

"And what kind of lifestyle would that be, Kelly?" Brian asked while trying not to start a fight. He didn't want to come all this way only to be told he wasn't psychologically fit to donate to Justin, but this bitch was making it difficult.

"I'm referring to men like you: young, single, attractive, accomplished in their careers-"

"Gay?" Brian added to the list.

Kelly rolled in her lips and closed her eyes for a moment before saying, "Well... you must admit that young, gay men such as yourself care greatly about their physical appearance. The surgery will leave you with a few scars."

"They'll be removing my kidney with a laparoscopic surgery, which will only require a few small incisions," Brian informed her, repeating what the doctor that would be performing his surgery had told him. "And if anyone ever asks what my scars are from, I'll be glad to tell them."

"Right, but-"

"Look," Brian said, wanting to end the topic of Lifestyles of a Gay Man. "From what I've read and been told, it's a relatively safe procedure for the donor, the recovery time isn't that bad, I won't miss the kidney when it's gone, and... Justin needs a kidney. No, I don't know him very well, but I want to help him."

Kelly finally gave Brian a real smile. "Great answer."

********************

It was on a Thursday in the middle of the lunch rush when Debbie yelled to Justin that he had a phone call. The only person who had Justin's work number was his doctor, and he had to force himself not to faint while he walked over to the counter to take the call.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "This is Justin."

"Hey, Justin," the familiar male voice said. "Dr. Collins here."

"Hey," Justin replied as he tightened his grip on the phone.

"I just heard back from Kelly over at the counseling department, and she gave Mr. Kinney the green light. You're getting a kidney, son."

Justin squeezed his eyes closed to keep the tears from flowing. "Great. Um... what happens now?"

"Well, I'll give Mr. Kinney a call to let him know and see when he'll be available to get your surgeries scheduled."

"Okay. I'm available whenever," Justin informed him. The recovery time from his surgery would require him to take a couple of months off from work, but he was sure that everyone would understand.

Dr. Collins called back soon after to tell Justin that the transplant would take place a week from Monday.

After taking a short break to freely let his happy tears flow in the alley, Justin worked through the rest of his shift. He hoped that Brian would make an appearance, but the tall brunette did not. Without saying who his donor was, Justin let Debbie know about his surgery before leaving the diner.

Justin stopped by the house to shower and change, and then went to Daphne's to tell her the good news. She had been angry at him for about five seconds, wondering why Justin hadn't told her about Brian's offer before then, but was soon crying tears of joy along with her best friend.

He returned home after six that evening, as he knew that both of his parents would be home from work by then. His father was on the couch watching ESPN, and Justin asked him to come in to the kitchen with him, where he knew he would find his mother cooking dinner.

Justin and Craig found Jennifer draining a pot of spaghetti. "Uh, Mom... we need to talk."

Jennifer placed the cooking pot on the stove. "What's wrong, Honey?"

"Nothing. Can we sit down?" Justin said as he gestured to the small breakfast table.

The three Taylors each took a seat at the table. "What is it, Justin? You're scaring me," Jennifer said in a worried tone.

Justin smiled at his mother. "Nothing's wrong, Mom, I promise." Once he saw her visibly relax, he continued. "I have great news, actually. Dr. Collins called today... I'm getting a kidney soon."

Jennifer jumped out of her chair to envelop her son in a hug. "Oh, Sweetheart, that's wonderful!"

"Why didn't the doctor call us?" Craig asked. "He has my cell phone number."

"It's a living donor," Justin explained. "So it's not like we have to jump in the car and race to the hospital tonight. The surgery will be a week from Monday."

"Okay, but why did he call you first?" Craig probed in a slightly bitter tone.

"Because I'm eighteen, Dad," Justin said defensively. "I told him to call my work number first before calling you or the house."

"Well, where does the donor live?" Jennifer asked, trying to stop her husband and son from arguing about something so insignificant. "Are they coming here for the surgery, or...?"

"He lives here in Pittsburgh," Justin said as he looked down at his lap. "I know him, actually."

"So it's not someone who was paired up with you through the registry?" Craig asked.

Justin bit his lip. "No, uh... he's sort of a friend of mine."

Jennifer chuckled as she wiped her wet eyes with a napkin. "Sort of a friend?"

"He's someone I met at work," Justin explained, unable to look at either of his parents in the eye. The last thing he wanted to do was answer questions about Brian. "I told him that I was on dialysis, and he offered to donate to me."

"He just, out of the blue, offered you one of his kidneys?" Craig asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Justin said quietly.

Jennifer smiled. "Well, I think that was very nice of him... don't you, Craig?"

Much like Daphne had that afternoon, Craig asked Justin, "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner? Why are we just now hearing about this?"

Justin sighed. "Because I didn't want us all to get our hopes up before we knew for sure that he could donate to me, only to hear he couldn't. We've been down that road enough times, and I wanted to spare you and Mom the disappointment."

Jennifer placed a loving hand on Justin's shoulder. "I appreciate you doing that, Honey. God knows we've had enough rejections in the past."

"This guy isn't expecting money for this, is he?" Craig asked.

"No!" Justin yelled. "He doesn't want our money! Besides, it's illegal to be paid for an organ."

"They would tell him that when he first talked to the doctors about donating, Craig," Jennifer added.

Disgusted, Justin got up and ran up the stairs to his room. Jennifer followed after him.

"What the fuck is his problem?" Justin yelled. "He's acting like he's not even happy this is happening!"

"Honey... you're father, he just-"

"He's acting like Brian is some kind of hustler!"

"That's the man's name - Brian?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah," Justin said before sitting down on his bed.

"Well, maybe if your father met this Brian, he would feel better about this whole thing."

"But people donate kidneys anonymously all the time," Justin said. "Why is Dad acting like Brian has some kind of agenda or something?"

Jennifer sat down next to her son. "I don't know, Honey."

"And why should it matter who I'm getting it from? What, does he want me to be on dialysis and feel like shit for the rest of my life?"

"I'm sure he doesn't," Jennifer said. "It's... it's about the money, Justin. Your father's insurance premiums are already through the roof, what with your dialysis treatments and your diabetic supplies, and they'll only go up after the transplant. Then, there will be the cost of the anti-rejection meds-"

"And he only wanted to add to the debt by assuming that Brian would want money for his kidney?" Justin said with a scoff. "I'm so fucking sorry that I cost you an arm and a leg. It's not like I asked for this."

"I know, Honey," Jennifer said. "None of this is your fault, and your father doesn't blame you."

"Well, you sure could have fooled me." Justin paused to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "I... I need to get out of here."

Jennifer got up to follow Justin back downstairs. "Where are you going?"

"Out!" Justin yelled before slamming the front door closed. He jumped in his car and sped away, muttering to himself until he reached the intersection of Fuller and Tremont.