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Kevin hated hospitals as they reminded him of the time he’d spent in them, watching both of his parents die. His mother had gone first when he’d been sixteen. Her car had spun on black ice in the middle of winter and hit a telephone pole. She’d spent ten agonizing hours in the ICU before slipping quietly away. He’d had Mia to help him through the loss, but he wondered how his father would have made it if he, Kevin, hadn’t been around.

An only child, he’d been the light of his parents’ lives, and they’d been proud of his creativity. His father had pushed Kevin through design school and struggled alongside him to get his pieces the acclaim they deserved. When he’d been twenty six years old, his first piece had been placed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His father had thrown a large celebration for Kevin, and, in the wee hours of the morning after, he’d had a heart attack and, after a day in the hospital, had passed on. Kevin considered the only good thing to come out of it was that his father had seen his efforts reach fruition.

Now, as he rode the elevator up to the Intensive Care Unit, he was thrust back into those two days he’d spent pacing the quiet floors. The nearly silent patter of the nurses’ crepe-soled shoes still set his teeth on edge, while the antiseptic smell of the entire place turned his stomach. Gripping the bags of food and clothes for his cousin tightly, he stepped off the elevator.

Before a nurse could inquire which patient he’d come to see, he spotted Christine making her way down the hallway and waved to her.

“Kevin!” She smiled wearily when she got closer. “It’s good to see you here.”

He hugged her then tipped her chin up to see the strain and worry in her eyes. “How’s Juliet doing?”

Christine rested her head against his shoulder for a moment. “She’s about the same. Still on the respirator, and her heart rate is dependent on that. Brian hasn’t left her side for more than a few minutes,” she murmured as an afterthought.

“He feels guilty, doesn’t he?” Kevin walked down the hall with her. “I can see why, but it’s ridiculous. I think he’s going to make himself sick.”

“Probably,” Christine agreed. “Listen, I’m going to drag him out of that room for a bit as I’m assuming what’s in the bags is for him. I need to sit with my best friend for a while, too.”

Kevin nodded. “Good idea. Let me know if you have trouble kicking my cousin out.”

She may have had a little bit of trouble, he thought when Brian stumbled into the waiting room five minutes later. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in years and the strain was etched into every line on his face. Finding a chair empty between Kevin and Dana, who was still waiting, too, Brian collapsed into it.

“Morning,” Kevin murmured.

Brian’s eyes were shut. “Morning.”

“I brought you food and clothes. I remembered where the spare key was.” He held up the bag containing clothes and a toothbrush. “How about you go change and look more human? You can eat afterwards and then go back to Juliet. How’s that sound?”

Brian shrugged but took the bag. “Thanks, Kevin. I owe you.”

“Not really, pal,” Kevin murmured as he watched his cousin drag his feet leaving the room.

Ten minutes later, Brian came back. Though he looked more awake than he’d been before, his eyes were still red-rimmed. He’d spent a minute indulging himself with a flood of frustrated tears over the hopelessness of the entire situation. The fact that he was in love with a woman, which had landed his ex in the hospital, was no easy burden. The idea that he had to let her go was, while noble, extremely painful. His heart was torn.

Kevin handed him a cup of coffee, and he drank it down as though it were water. “Nothing says morning like coffee,” he murmured gratefully but still turned down the takeout box of pancakes. “I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t be so childish and take the damn pancakes, Brian. You’re no help to anyone if you make yourself sick.” Kevin shoved the box into his hands. “Eat the whole thing.”

He dug in reluctantly but soon found himself gulping it all down. Maybe he had been hungrier than he’d thought.

“Did anyone call Juliet’s family?” Kevin asked him after a few minutes.

Brian nodded. “Christine called them last night. Her siblings should be here in a couple hours, but her parents are stuck in Chicago. There’s a huge storm in Ohio that they can’t fly through or around.”

“She’s pulled through so far, Bri, she’ll make it,” Kevin assured him, hoping that through some miracle he’d be proven right.

Brian polished off the last bit of pancake and sighed. “I don’t know. I’m praying and hoping beyond all hope that she’ll be okay. But she hasn’t been taken off the respirator yet, and she…” He shut his eyes as the thought that she wouldn’t survive rang in his mind again.

“She’s going to make it through, Brian,” Dana spoke up, squeezing his shoulder. “And nobody blames you, so why are you blaming yourself?”

He couldn’t answer that but couldn’t prevent himself from thinking it all the same. “Thanks for the food, Kevin.”

“No problem. Like I said, I don’t want you getting sick over all of this.” Kevin followed him towards Juliet’s room. “Have you talked to Reena today?”

His gut clenched at the thought of the woman he loved. “No. I don’t think I’m going to either.”

The cold reply shocked Kevin. “Uh, okay. Don’t you think she’s feeling guilty like you are?”

The response was a shrug. “It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s her guilt going to solve? She shouldn’t bother to worry. Besides, if you’re so worried about her, why don’t you ask Gwen?”

“Because I’m staying away from Gwen from now on,” Kevin said quietly.

Brian stopped in the middle of the corridor and spun to face his cousin. “What the hell are you doing that for? You’re in love with her, why are you leaving her? That doesn’t make any sense, Kevin. Why can’t somebody have a happy ending to their week, huh?”

Kevin shook his head. “It’s not a matter of happy endings. I just realized that Gwen’s not what I thought I wanted. I mean, she was, but what I want has changed.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Brian told him. “You’re running away because you’re scared that she’s perfect for you. You don’t want to lose her the way you lost Mia.”

“Who the hell would want to go through another loss like that?” Kevin tossed back. “You want to think that’s why I’m breaking it off with her, fine. Go ahead.”

Brian cursed under his breath. “Look-” He was cut off by the sounding of an alarm from Juliet’s room and moved out of the way as doctors and nurses rushed into the room. “What’s going on?” he tried to ask one of the doctors, but hearing the words “Code Blue” from one of the nurses froze him to the spot.

Kevin grabbed his arm and tried to lead him away, but Brian was rooted to the spot. “Kevin, she’s dying. Oh, God. She’s going to die.”

When his knees started to buckle, Kevin dragged him up. “Brian, she’s going to be okay. It’s just a false alarm. You’ll see.”

Christine stumbled out of the room, her face white. When he saw her, Brian’s legs found their strength again, and he let her hold onto him. “What happened?” he asked when her face was buried against his shoulder.

“I was sitting next to the bed,” she whispered. “All of a sudden, the machines started going haywire, and her heart rate…God, it began to drop. I saw the lines on the monitor straighten out, and I hit the button for the doctors. Brian, what if she doesn’t make it?” She was trembling, and Brian began to pray silently as they waited.

***

“Are you in love with Kevin?”

Gwen bobbled the glass of water she held and stared at Callie. “Pardon me?”

Callie sighed. “Gwen, I need to know if you love Kevin or not.”

“We know it’s a little personal,” Alex spoke up. “But we need to know. It’s important to the legend.”

Gwen’s brows lifted. “How can you worry about the legend while a friend of yours is struggling to hang onto life?”

“They’re equally important. We’re looking at the big picture, Gwen.” Callie studied the other woman’s reactions. Gwen was certainly a bit jumpier than she normally was, and a flush was rising on her cheeks.

“People you care about being hurt isn’t part of the big picture?” Gwen wondered.

Alex leaned forward. “Listen, for the moment, Jules is holding on. I talked to Christine an hour ago, and her condition was critical but mostly stable. Meanwhile, we have to believe that this is somehow connected to the legend. Your feelings for Kevin and his in return are important to that. Please, Gwen. Contribute to the greater good.”

“I saw Liliane yesterday.” Three heads turned towards the doorway where Reena stood with a large box in her arms. She shrugged when they continued to watch her quizzically. “When Juliet was pulled out of the water, Howie and Brian went to help, and that’s when I saw her. I mean, I didn’t know it was her…but I did. Does that sound crazy?”

Callie shook her head as an idea began to take seed in her mind. “It’s not crazy. I know what you mean.”

“Okay. Well, she was crying, and I heard her talking. But it was in my head. She asked why we always seem to love what seems most painful, most difficult.” Reena set the box down and leaned against the doorjamb. “And then she disappeared.”

“Do you love Brian?” Alex figured he should know as Brian was his best friend.

Reena stiffened, but he could see the look in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” she said after a few moments.

“I think it does,” Alex replied. “It matters a great deal. What’s with the boxes?” he asked, changing the subject for a moment to sate his curiosity.

She looked down, remembering, and picked up the box again. “My things.”

“You’re still unpacking?” Callie wondered.

Reena shook her head. “I’m leaving.”

“What?!” Even Gwen seemed in shock as this was news to her also.

“I need to go,” Reena said simply, fighting back the tears. “It’s not a big deal.”

Alex’s phone beeped before the other three could respond, and he picked up quietly. Meanwhile, Gwen had found her voice.

“What do you mean you’re leaving? You can’t leave, Reena!” She stood toe-to-toe with her younger sister. “Where do you think you’ll go? Boston? Did you forget that there’s nothing there for you anymore? You’ve got so much here, Reena.”

“No.” Reena shook her head. “I don’t have that much here.”

“What about Brian?” Callie asked softly. “You care about him, don’t you? He’ll be upset if you go.”

Reena squeezed her eyes shut as her heart ripped again. “He’ll be okay. He’ll be perfectly fine. There’s no need to try to guilt me into staying,” she added.

“Ladies.” Alex’s voice interrupted them. When they turned to him, his face was solemn. “That was Kevin. Juliet died ten minutes ago.”