The legal stuff: This is a sexually explicit story (at times) involving homosexuality. By continuing to read, you affirm under penalties of perjury that you are not a minor or in the company of a minor and are entitled to have access to sexually explicit material. The content and opinions expressed in this story do not imply anything with regard to the sexual preference of any member of 98 Degrees or other celebrities named herein. This is a work of fiction entirely.
Author Notes: For clarification purposes, because I did not use dates at any point in the story up until now, the story has been taking place around the date of Christmas 2006 and New Years 2007.
Thank you H for being such a great friend!
Dizzy
Seven days after his surgery, Andrew had still not regained consciousness. During the week after Andrew's surgery, Drew and the rest of 98 Degrees, along with Lance and Vanessa, had to live through the constant hounding of the press trying to find out why there were remaining in Boston for so long after their concert. While dodging the press, they could not remain at the hospital as much as Drew wanted. He fought with his brother and his friends everyday but they forced him to stay in the hotel room. He talked to Emma all the time except for when she was in class.
Emma had stayed by Andrew's bedside day and night while waiting for him to recover. She only left when she had classes to attend but came back right after and did her coursework in his room. Dr. Hill had taken a liking to her and her future career path and stopped by frequently to check on Andrew and visit with Emma. She had also been talking more and more with Jeff, texting him and talking to him in between the phone calls she received from everyone asking for updates on Andrew's condition.
Heather had to take over the restaurant with Morgan full-time because Abbey's boyfriend proposed to her when he was offered a job in Atlanta. Abbey, wanting to be spontaneous for once in her life, accepted and picked up and moved with him to Atlanta. With Heather taking on the added responsibility of the restaurant in addition to her job as general manager of the hotel, she had very little downtime to visit but spoke to Emma on the phone twice a day.
Eventually, a month had gone by and Andrew still had not awakened. Drew and the guys had to go back home in order to avoid any more problems with the press. Drew called Emma everyday asking for any changes in Andrew's condition. There were never any and after another 3 months had gone by, Emma had to make the most difficult decision of her life.
She arranged with Jeff, whom she had developed a relationship with, to fly out to meet the guys. The decision she was making was one she felt she should tell them about in person. Jeff picked Emma up from the airport and the new couple were inseparable for two days. Jeff had a feeling why she had flown out and so he tried to romance her worries away.
After spending two days with Jeff, Emma met up with the rest of the guys and Vanessa. Emma sat everyone down and eventually told them that she was ready to remove Andrew from life support since he had still not woken up. Drew was stone cold emotionless, which worried everyone.
Emma told the guys that she was planning on waiting another week and then she would let Andrew go. She asked that they be there with her when she said goodbye to Andrew. Of course, they all quickly agreed. Emma was so emotionally drained after their conversation that Jeff took her upstairs and put her to bed.
When Jeff escorted Emma upstairs, Drew finally broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. He knew Emma was struggling so he wanted to wait until she was gone before he let his emotions show. Nick and Justin put their arms around Drew while Vanessa ran her hands over the back of his neck to comfort him.
A week later, Drew was lying next to Andrew in his hospital bed. Drew told the others he wanted to sleep next to Andrew one last time, just to hear his heart beating. Drew knew the body he was lying in bed with was no longer Andrew but he no longer cared. As Drew laid his head on Andrew's chest, he began to sing quietly for Andrew.
"All I am, All I'll be Everything in this world All that I'll ever need is in your eyes Shining at me When you smile I can feel All my passion unfolding Your hand brushes mine And a thousand sensations seduce Me Cause I I do cherish you For the rest of my life You don't have to think twice I will, love you still From the depths of my soul It's beyond my control I've waited so long to say this to You If your asking do I love you this much I do In my world, before you I lived outside my emotions Didn't know where I was going 'Til that day I found you How you opened my life to a new paradise In a world torn by change Still with all my heart 'Til my dying day I do cherish you For the rest of my life You don't have to think twice I will, love you still From the depths of my soul It's beyond my control I've waited so long to say this to You If your asking do I love you this much Yes I do If your asking do I love you this much Baby I do cherish you From the depths of my soul It's beyond my control I've waited so long to say this to you If your asking do I love you this much Baby I do..."
After he finished singing, Drew kissed Andrew's dry lips and began to cry softly.
"Tomorrow morning, on our six month anniversary of meeting each other, Emma is going to take you off of life support." Drew whispered softly as tears rolled down his face. "You need to wake up...so that we can be together. We have so much ahead of us. I want to dance with you. I want to sing to you. I want to propose to you. I want to watch you walk down the aisle at our wedding. I want to buy a house with you. I want to adopt two boys and two girls and raise them with you."
Drew continued to cry against Andrew's chest wishing that Andrew could somehow hear his pleas.
"If you die, I am going to hate you for the rest of my life." Drew said in an angry whisper, his tears drying up. "You made me fall in love with you...and now you are going to leave me. It isn't fair."
The nightshift nurse came into the room and saw Drew lying on Andrew's bed. She cleared her throat to announce her presence. "Excuse me sir, you can't lie on the bed like that." She said as she moved next to the bed to check Andrew's vitals.
"I got permission from Dr. Hill." Drew said as he got off the bed and sat down in a chair so the nurse could do her job. "And how did you get in here?"
"I told your security guard there was a guy with a camera around the corner trying to sneak in so he went to go investigate." She said with a laugh.
She saw anger on Drew's face when she glanced over at him and she sighed. "Don't worry...your secret is safe with me. I just don't like dealing with authority."
"I don't have any secret." Drew said coolly.
"Uh huh...I'm sure that the press would love to know that one of the world's most famous singers is curled up on a man's hospital bed...especially when the singer is presumed straight." The nurse said.
"He's just a friend." Drew said quickly.
"And is that why you were singing to him?" The nurse asked leaving Drew speechless and blushing. "The rooms have intercoms. I'm the only nurse on this floor so I have to leave them on in case anything happens. I was sitting at the station and I heard you."
"Oh." Was all Drew could manage to say.
"So like I said...your secret is safe with me." The nurse said as she filled out some information on Andrew's chart.
"Thanks..." Drew began. "I'm sorry, I don't even know your name. Emma has been the only one that's been here to deal with all his doctors and nurses."
"My name is Analeigh." The nurse said with a smile. "Where is Emma by the way? I figure she'd be here tonight of all nights."
"She's with Jeff. He took her out to dinner to take her mind off of everything and to give me some time alone with Andrew." Drew replied quietly.
"So if you and Jeff are here, what about Justin?" Analeigh asked slyly. "Is he in town too?"
Drew smiled. "Yeah he is. He, Nick, and Vanessa are back at the hotel I'm sure."
"Are you all going to be here tomorrow or just Emma?" Analeigh asked. "I know it must be hard to deal with this and try to stay on the DL."
"It is...but I don't care anymore and neither do the guys. We are all going to be here tomorrow." Drew said sadly.
"I'm assisting Dr. Hill in the morning with the procedure." Analeigh said. "I've been assigned to Andrew since his surgery so I requested to be here for the procedure."
"Why would you ask to do something so...so horrible?" Drew asked curiously.
"I guess it's because I'm a hopeless romantic." Analeigh said. "When a patient is so young and has to go through this, I guess I just want to witness the miracle of them waking up."
"That's oddly..."
"Weird right?" Analeigh finished, interrupting Drew. "Everyone makes fun of me and my hopeless optimism but I just can't help up. I've watched too many movies and shows where the couples get happy endings and I am just waiting to see it happen in real life."
"I was going to say sweet." Drew said when Analeigh finished rambling. "Not too many people would look at this situation like you do. I'm glad you are going to be here. We need all the positive energy we can get."
"Thanks." Analeigh said with a cheerful smile. "So how did you guys meet?"
Drew told the story of how he and Andrew had first met to Analeigh. After an hour, she left him alone since she had to go check on the other patients on the floor. Drew crawled back onto the bed and fell asleep next to Andrew. It wasn't long until Drew fell asleep next Andrew for the last time.
The next morning everyone had gathered in Andrew's room. Nick had his arms wrapped around Vanessa, Jeff was hold Emma tightly, Justin was chatting quietly with the nurse Drew had met named Analeigh, and Drew was sitting in a chair next to Andrew's bed. Lance had flown in and was standing behind Drew. Since Drew was his best friend, Lance took time out of his schedule to be there for emotional support. Dr. Hill walked in the room grew silent.
Dr. Hill motioned for Analeigh to assist him and the two moved to the opposite side of Andrew's bed, facing Drew and the others. Drew looked up at Dr. Hill.
"Can you explain the procedure?" Drew asked quietly.
"Ms. Vance, would you do the honors?" Dr. Hill asked Analeigh who nodded.
"Well, Dr. Hill is going to remove the tube that is helping Andrew breathe. We will leave the monitors on so we can monitor his heart rate and pulse. And then, we just wait." Analeigh explained.
"Will he be in any pain?" Drew asked.
"No, he won't feel anything." Dr. Hill said.
"How long does it take...for..." Emma began but she was overwhelmed with tears and could not finish asking her question.
"Um...it varies. Sometimes, it takes only a few minutes and sometimes it can take hours." Analeigh quickly explained.
"What if he keeps on breathing on his own?" Drew asked, his voice filled with hopefulness.
No one said anything as Dr. Hill began to remove Andrew's breathing tube. No one said anything as Dr. Hill worked. Once he was finished, he checked Andrew's vitals. He looked at the group, who were all staring at Andrew.
"I think it is time to say your goodbyes." Dr. Hill said quietly.
A Note from the Author:
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who emailed me words of encouragement as I wrote this story. I regret that I abandoned this story so long ago but I hope that I can get back into writing. It may be continuing this story or I may begin working on a new one. I have a ton of ideas I just am lost now on how to incorporate them. I hope you have enjoyed what I have written so far and I look forward to sharing my creativity with you!
Andrew W.