Part Nine



They didn’t get a call from Ted until the next morning. “Justin? I just wanted to let you and Brian know that Michael’s condition has been stabilized. He hasn’t woken up yet, so they still don’t know if there will be any brain damage.”



“Thanks for letting us know,” Justin said. “Did Ben and Hunter get there okay?”



“They’re here,” Ted said with a dark laugh. “Debbie tried to get them thrown out, but Ben still holds Michael’s medical proxy and power of attorney. Ben’s taken over the decisions and there’s not really anything that Debbie can do about it.”



“Sounds pretty messy,” Justin sighed. “Tell Ben that we’re here for him if he needs anything at all.”



“I’ll do that,” Ted said. “I’m going to stick around for a little longer and then head home to shower and change. I’ll be in the office before lunch.”



“Take your time,” Justin said. “We can get by for a few hours without you. Besides, if Brian can’t be there, I’m sure he appreciates having someone he trusts will tell him what’s going on be there.”



“Thanks, Justin,” Ted said. “But I’ll still be in for a few hours this afternoon. I’ll stop back this evening. They think it’s probably going to be a while before they see any change in his condition.”



“Alright,” Justin said. “I guess we’ll see you this afternoon then.”



Justin hung up and found Brian just emerging from the shower. He relayed what Ted had told him and he could see that Brian was somewhat relieved to know that at least they now expected Michael to live, though he didn’t say so.



“We’ve got a meeting with Cameron Cosmetics this morning,” Brian reminded his partner. “We should get going.”



“My car or yours?” Justin asked with a small smile.



BJBJBJBJBJ



In the end, it was three days later before Michael woke from his self-inflicted coma. Ted kept the couple up to date on his condition and was extremely understanding about Brian’s desire to know what was happening. When he did wake, it became clear pretty quickly that Michael would not escape this particular incident unscathed. He was not mentally incapacitated, but he did have difficulties with some motor skills and it would take months of physical therapy before he could recover as much as possible. He would never totally recover.



Ben came to visit Brian and Justin at the loft a couple days later, surprising them on Sunday afternoon as they were packing. “Are you moving?” Ben asked as he looked at the boxes scattered around the loft.



“We bought a new place over on Linden Street in Shadyside,” Justin told him. “Would you like coffee? And I made honey nut bran muffins for Brian this morning if you’d like one.”



“Thanks,” Ben said with a tired smile. “I’ve been living on hospital food for too long.”



Justin got the food together while Brian went to sit with Ben at the table. “How’s he doing?”



Ben sighed. “He’s alive and aware just how close he was to dying. The hospital is making him see a psychiatrist and it seems to be helping. He’s finally beginning to understand how much of his situation was his own making.”



“We dropped the suit,” Justin said as he set a plate and mug in front of Ben. “We never wanted something like this to happen.”



“I know,” Ben said with a sad smile. “He was wrong to do what he did. When it was discovered, he should have owned up to his actions. If he had, none of this would have happened. I think he’s starting to see that. He wants to talk to you. To both of you.”



“Is that a good idea?” Brian asked. “We don’t want to upset him.”



“I suggested that it might be best to do this when the psychiatrist is present,” Ben said. “He can help Michael see when he’s becoming unreasonable and keep things from getting too upsetting.”



“How are things between the two of you?” Justin asked carefully.



Ben took a sip of his coffee as he considered his answer. “Well, we’re doing okay for the moment, but I’ve told Michael that the only way I’ll stay after he leaves the hospital in a couple weeks is if he agrees to continue his sessions with the psychiatrist and if we begin couples counseling. We can’t continue to ignore the problems between us. And despite appearances, they don’t all have to do with the two of you. Michael has never dealt well with the fact that I’m sick.”



“Sounds like you’ve got everything under control,” Brian said with admiration.



“Tell that to Debbie,” Ben sighed. “I swear that woman needs a little counseling herself.”



Brian snorted. “Always has.”



“So when’s the move?” Ben asked, ready to change the subject.



“Next weekend,” Justin said. “We don’t have all the rooms furnished yet, but then again, we never finished refurnishing this place. We can live with sparse décor for a while.”



“Maybe if things go well with this visit, you and Michael could come over for dinner sometime after he gets out,” Brian suggested warily.



“I’d like that,” Ben said.



“Either way, you’re always welcome to come by,” Justin said. Brian glared at him, but Justin smiled. Unlike many of the old gang, he knew that Ben would never just drop in without calling first.



“Thanks,” Ben said. “These muffins are great. I’d love the recipe.”



BJBJBJBJBJ



“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Brian told Justin as they rode the elevator up to Michael’s floor in the hospital on Wednesday evening.



“Ben said that Debbie is working tonight,” Justin reminded him. “So she won’t be around to give us a hard time. And Michael’s doctor will be there.”



“I know,” Brian sighed as he took the blond’s hand and stepped off the elevator. “I just… I’m not even sure how I feel about all this. I mean, how do we move past this?”



“Let’s hear what he has to say before we make any decisions,” Justin said.



They quickly found the right room and paused just outside the door before entering. Michael was lying in the bed and Ben was sitting beside him, holding his hand. Mikey looked like he needed the reassurance as much as Brian needed Justin. The doctor was near the window, but gestured for Brian and Justin to take the two seats that had been brought in for them.



“Thanks for coming,” Michael said quietly. There was a slight slur to his words and both Brian and Justin knew that it was due to the motor damage.



“Of course we came,” Brian said.



Michael carefully nodded his head. “Yeah. Ben told me that you dropped the lawsuit.”



“We did,” Justin said. He didn’t mention why. He figured that went without saying.



“I wanted to thank you and say that I’m going to figure out a way to pay back the money I took,” Michael said. “And if you still want to buy the rights to Rage… I guess you were right. I can’t do anything with it without you. Unless you...”



“I’m sorry,” Justin said regretfully. “I really don’t think I can go back to working together like that again. At least not right now. But if you sign over your rights to Rage, we can just call it even.”



Michael and Ben shared a look and then Michael nodded. “Okay. That’s more than fair.”



They were all quiet for a few moments, but Brian eventually had to ask. “Why, Mikey? Why did you do it?”



“Do what?” Michael asked. “Take the money? Try to break you guys up? Try to kill myself?”



“How about you pick one,” Brian said with a small smirk.



Michael smiled back at him and they shared a moment of shared memory that was lost on the others in the room. Then Michael’s smile faded as he considered the question. “I’ve been trying to figure all of that out. Since I woke up, things seem really different. I mean, I remember doing those things, but… the emotions and reasoning that I was feeling then seem foreign, like they were someone else’s feelings. I know that what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry that I did any of those things. But I just don’t know why I would do any of that.”



Brian looked at the doctor for some sort of explanation. “When Michael took the sleeping pills, he caused his body to shut down, and his brain didn’t receive enough oxygen. As a result, certain connections have been lost. I’m sure you know that he’ll have some hard work ahead of him to get back his motor functions back. But there was also some emotional and cognitive damage. Basically, portions of his brain died and the other parts have to find new ways to perform the old tasks. Michael may never be able to connect to the emotions and thoughts that he had before.”



“In some ways, I feel like that’s a good thing,” Michael said quietly. “I don’t want to go back to being the person I was.”



“You have a chance to start fresh,” Justin said.



“Exactly,” Michael said. “I know that what I did to the two of you was unforgivable, but I hope that maybe with time we can maybe try to start fresh too?”



“It won’t ever be the same as it was,” Brian warned. “It can’t be. I can’t let you treat Justin the way you did.”



“Nothing in my life will ever be the same,” Michael said. “I’m learning to accept that. And like I said, I don’t want to go back to the person I was. But I would like a chance to see if we could all be friends.”



“We can try,” Justin said. “Why don’t you and Ben plan on coming for dinner in a couple weeks. You can see our new place and we can see how things go from there.”



“Thanks, I’d like that,” Michael said. He was obviously tired from the discussion. Brian and Justin stood and said their goodbyes, promising to get in touch with Ben once they were settled in the new place.



BJBJBJBJBJ



The move went well. They hired a moving company to get everything done quickly and efficiently. And Justin had spent some time ordering furniture for the new place which was delivered the day before the move. They had furnished pretty much all the rooms except for the guest bedrooms and Brian’s study. Brian wanted to do his study himself and there was no rush for the guest room. As long as they had a bedroom for themselves and one for Gus, they were happy.



Justin’s studio looked pretty empty, but all of the proper equipment had been added, including the new sink. The only furniture in the room, aside from the storage cabinets and drafting table, was an old leather chaise. Justin had found it in a consignment shop and bought it despite Brian’s protests. Justin refused to spend a lot of money on a piece of furniture that would inevitably get paint on it. Since it was Justin’s room, Brian eventually gave up the fight.



They had finally decided to keep the old loft and rent it out. Ted predicted that it would be a better investment to do it that way, and Brian had come to rely upon Ted’s advice in such matters.



The same weekend that Brian and Justin moved, Charlie and Dan moved as well and Michael was finally able to go home from the hospital. It was also the same weekend that Melanie finally left Lindsay. She showed up at their doorstep late on Sunday evening with a suitcase and Gus in tow.



“I’m sorry to just drop in on you guys,” Mel apologized after putting Gus to bed in his new room. “I just didn’t really know where else to go and I knew you at least had the room for Gus here.”



“The guest room isn’t furnished yet, but you’re welcome to the sofa for now,” Justin said. In fact, their new living room had two sofas flanking the gas fireplace. The red sofa from the loft had been moved into their bedroom here and they had bought two matching black leather sofas and a love seat. In the center of the grouping was a huge plum colored leather ottoman that could be used for extra seating, for putting one’s feet up, or to set drinks on the tray Justin had purchased just for that purpose.



“What happened?” Brian asked. “Why the sudden departure?”



Mel shook her head. “I didn’t choose to leave. We were fighting again and she… well, let’s just say that she made it very clear to me that I was no longer welcome. I told her I wasn’t going anywhere without Gus. Her response was to pack his bag.”



“She’s going to change her tune quickly,” Brian said. “You need to get Matt on this first thing tomorrow morning. See if you can get her to sign over her rights before she changes her mind.”



“I’ve already called him on the way over here,” Mel said. “He said he’ll have the paperwork ready in the morning and he and I can go and talk to her together. I’m prepared to give her the house and pretty much anything else we bought together in exchange. Maybe her greed will win out and make things simple.”



“What about us?” Justin asked quietly. He didn’t want to bring this up right now, but he knew that Brian never would.



“I’ve already talked to Matt about that as well,” Mel said. “If she signs over her rights, I’ll give you two shared custody.”



Brian and Justin exchanged a look that spoke volumes and then Brian said, “Let her know that if she agrees, we’ll pay her $5,000 a month for the next year for her to start fresh and do whatever the fuck she wants to do with her life. After that year, there will be no more money, however.”



Melanie gave them a small sad smile. “That should appeal to her greedy little heart.”



Brian and Justin exchanged another look. “You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you need until you can get on your feet. We’ll even order furniture for the guest room so you don’t have to sleep on the sofa.”



Mel laughed at that. “Thanks. I may just take you up on that. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope trying to raise Gus without Lindsay.”



“You won’t be alone,” Justin told her. “We’re here for both of you.”