It had now been over twenty four hours and there was still no sign of Mark waking up. Marie and Oliver had stayed by his side the whole time, and his brothers were coming down later in the day, with Shane’s parents. Nicky and Shane has put in regular visits, leaving only to snatch a couple of hours sleep before coming back. The only person they hadn’t see was Kian. And when Shane had left an hour before, they had asked why.
Flashback
“Shane, love, before you leave, is there any reason why Kian hasn’t been in? He was here when we arrived, but we haven’t seen him since.”
Shane shifted, feeling a bit awkward , not sure how much he should be telling them.
“Kian was the one who found Mark, he was pretty shocked, we all were, but, also…” he hesitated before continuing.
“I’ll talk to him, get him to visit, and when he does, ask him why, because he knows.”
Marie looked surprised, “He knows?”
Shane nodded, and looked over at Mark,
“Just, don’t hate him okay? Promise me that.”
Marie and Oliver exchanged confused looks, but they both nodded, “Okay, we promise.”
Shane smiled, “Good,” and with that, he was gone.
End flashback
A knock at the door made Marie and Oliver jump. As they turned towards it, they noticed a tallish man, with sandy coloured hair standing at the window, watching Mark. As soon as he saw them looking at him, he turned and hurried away.
There as another knock, and this time the door opened and Kian poked his head around.
“Kian, love!” Marie hurried across to him and hugged him tightly.”
Kian smiled sadly, “Hey Marie, Oliver, sorry for not visiting sooner…”
Maire cut him off, “It doesn’t matter, you’re here now.”
Kian walked over to Mark and gently ran a finger of the bandages,
“How is he?”
“No change, but the doctors are saying he should wake up soon, he’s just being difficult.”
Marie and Oliver exchanged looks, and Oliver stepped forward,.
“Kian, please,”
Kian looked up, a guarded expression on his face.
“What?”
“You know what Ki,”
Kian looked at the ground, this was scarily similar to the conversation he had had with Shane.
Marie took over the pleading, “Kian, we know you know why Mark tried to kill himself. We’re his parents, we deserve to know.”
Kian swallowed hard and nodded, “Okay.”
He dug around in his jacket pocket a minute, before producing a scrap of paper, which he held out to them.
Oliver took with a shaking hand, guessing what it was, and together he and Marie read it.
‘I’m sorry, this is the only way. Tell Kev. I’m sorry, and Mam and Dad that I love them.’
“Guess you’re first question is who Kevin is.”
They both nodded,
“He’s the sandy haired guy who has been here for almost as long as you guys have, he’s our new dance choreographer.”
“What’s he got to do with this Kian?”
Taking a deep breath, Kian let it all stumbled out,
“Mark’s gay and he’s having a super hard time accepting it. Then Kevin came alone and Mark fell in love with him, and felt the same way back, but Kev. did something stupid and now Mark is here, but it’s not Kevin’s fault, cause he loves Mark, and he though he was doing the right thing…”
Oliver held up a hand to stop Kian’s rambling.
“Did you just say that my son is gay?”
Kian shrunk back against the wall, and nodded.
Oliver collapsed into the nearest chair and sat with his head in his hands, while Marie approached Kian and held her arms out to him.
Kian fell gratefully into her arms and was surprised to feel tears trickling down his cheeks.
“It’s alright lad, I’m so glad you told us, it must have been such a big thing to carry around with you.”
Oliver had stood up again, and was now watching Mark, an unreadable expression on his face.
He was silent for a few minutes, before he spoke.
“I don’t care who he loves, just so long he lives. And if Kevin can help him live, the so be it.”
Marie gave a shaky smile and nodded in agreement, before making light of the situation,
“Well with three sons, I’m not really surprised, one of them had to be gay!”
They all chuckled, before falling silent again. After a few minutes, Oliver broke it,
“This Kevin lad, is he here now?”
Kian risked a quick glance towards the window, where he could just make out the outline of Kevin.
He nodded, and Oliver smiled, “I think it’s high time he came and sat in here, at least we have comfy seats.”
Kian moved towards the door, going to talk to Kevin, but Oliver stopped him,
“No lad, let me. I wanna talk to him first.”
Kian nodded and stepped to the side, letting Oliver pass.
Kevin rubbed a hand across his eyes, he had crashed at a motel near by, but had only slept for a few hours, before returning to the hospital, to watch silently through the glass window.
He looked up as the door to Mark’s room opened, and he was surprised when Mark’s dad came out. He stood in the doorway for a second looking around, until his eyes settled on Kevin.
Kevin felt himself freeze, he had heard raised voices before, and had guessed Kian had been telling the reason why their son was now fighting for his life.
As Mark’s dad approached him, Kevin fought of the urge to run away as fast as he could, he could just see Mark’s dad thumping him one for corrupting his son and causing him to attempt suicide.
So when his dad came up to him and actually held out his hand, with a friendly smile on his face, Kevin almost fell of his chair in surprise.
“You Kevin?”
Kevin nodded and nervously shook his hand, “yes sir”
“I’m Oliver, Mark’s dad, and don’t look so scared, I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk.”
He gestured to the seat next to Kevin, “Can I sit?”
Kevin nodded and Oliver sank into the seat.
“I want to ask you something simple Kevin, do you love my son? Think about it for a minute, I want an honest answer.”
Kevin stared at the floor, he hadn’t even known Mark for a week yet, could you fall in love with someone that quickly? He had always believed in love at first sight, and now, he knew, he had experience.
He looked Oliver in the eye, “Yes, I do sir!”
Oliver gave him a big smile, and held out his hand again, “Welcome to the family Kevin, heres hoping it’s a long stay. And drop the Sir, I’m Oliver, Sir was my Father!”
Kevin smiled back and shook Oliver’s hand again, hardly believing his luck. Instead of being sent packing, he was being welcomed into the family with open arms.
Oliver was trying to pull him to his feet, “C’mon lad, the stubborn bugger in there is refusing to wake up for his parents, but he might wake up for you!”
Kevin quickly stood up and followed Oliver into the room. When he saw Mark though, he froze. He looked different up close, all the machines attached to him, the small blooms of blood on the bandages. A gentle nudge from behind made him stumble a bit closer.
“Go on lad, he needs you. Marie and I are going for coffee, we’ll be back soon though.”
Kevin nodded and sank into the chair beside Mark’s bed. He nervously took Mark’s hand, running his fingers of the bandages and tried not to feel like this was all his fault.
He sat for a long time, just holding Mark’s hand, occasionally smoothing the hair from off Mark’s forehead. Feeling pretty stupid, he started to talk softly too him, whispering sweet nothings.
“C’mon Mark, wake up babes, I’m here. Please open you’re eyes, just a little little bit, then I’ll leave you alone. I love you, you know that? Even though I’ve only known you for a couple of days, you’re perfect, in every sense of the word. C’mon Mark, you’re scaring me, please wake up. Don’t make me sing, that’ll wake you up in a hurry, and I’ll probably get kicked out.”
To his surprise, Mark shifted a bit and moaned softly.
“What’s that babes? You want me to sing? You’re brave, okay, let me think of a song.”
He thought for a minute, before hitting on the perfect song,
“ I'd gladly walk across the desert
With no shoes upon my feet
To share with you the last bite of bread I had to eat
I would swim back to save you
In your sea of broken dreams
When all your hopes are sinking
Let me show you what love means
Love can build a Bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a Bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?
I would whisper love so loudly
Every heart could understand
That love and only love
Can join the tribes of man
I would give my heart's desire
So that you might see
The first step is to realize
That it all begins with you and me
Love Can Build A Bridge…”
He trailed off when he heard a little voice, “Kev?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up”
It suddenly hit Kevin who was talking to him.
“Mark? MARK! You’re awake!”
Mark swallowed hard, before smiling, “Kev?”
“Yes love?” The term of endearment slipped out before he could stop it.
“I’m sorry, I was so scared and I didn’t know what I was doing…”
Before he could protest, Kevin cut him off with a soft kiss on his lips.
“Shh, don’t worry about any of that. You’re alive and that’s all that matters.”
Mark closed his eyes and was silent for a few minutes, and Kevin was just thinking that he had gone back to sleep, when Mark spoke again.
“Kev?”
“Yeah?”
Mark tried to move his arm to take Kevin’s hand, but tendrils of pain shot up and down his wrist and he cried out in pain, tears trickling down his cheeks.
Moving quickly, Kevin slipped his own hand into Marks, and wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his jumper.
“Saying something Mark?”
Mark gave him a small, hopeful smile.
“You’re not gonna leave me are you Kev? I want you to stay.”
Kevin felt his heart break at the look in Mark’s eyes, and he kissed him again.
“I’m never going to leave you Mark, ever.”