Back Then (An LGBT Story)

Their /***/ Ending (Alternative Sad Ending)

Taylor stormed through the halls of the hospital that he had woken up at, ignoring the pain he still felt in his lower leg. There was someone that he needed to see and the staff were extremely stubborn about not letting him go.

They'd hold him down if they had to, but now, after a day of fighting, he'd pushed them off of him and had gone at the fastest pace that he could (which wasn't very fast as he had badly injured his foot) to see the one he needed so badly.

Taylor didn't care that nurses were calling after him to relax and sit down, at least for a bit longer. He didn't care that he was barging past people in the hall, he didn't care about the strong smell of medicine and rubber around him, he only cared that somewhere in this hospital, somebody was waiting for him to appear at their side, or at least, he had hoped.

Every so often, Taylor's vision would lose focus, which would slow him down, which then resulted in him becoming angry with himself for even considering stopping.

At this point, he remembered Seth, saying that he was amazed at how much work Taylor put into everything. Memories, pain, confusion and fear all clashed inside Taylor, which he was eventually able to turn into pure determination every time. Again, he continued walking to the room he had been told Seth was in.

At last, he got to a closed door, the label beside in on the wall told Taylor that he was in the right place. He'd found it. He couldn't waste time, so he didn't knock before he grabbed hold of the handle, pushing it down and then opening the door.

As soon as he looked inside, he wanted so badly to cry. Seth looked awful.

His face was scarred, his hand was bound in a cast, his skin was violently pale and he was covered in blood-soaked bandages... and Taylor knew that it was all his fault.

He took a few heavy steps to the side of the bed and knelt down beside it, reaching out his hand to grab Seth's.

"Hey." Taylor said, hardly expecting a response. He wasn't surprised when he didn't get one. He inhaled and sighed, feeling the first tear begin to make its way down his cheek and then roll off his chin. He knew that Seth wouldn't be able to respond to him, but Taylor didn't have the heart to try and wake him. He knew that could damage him even more anyway. Yet he kept talking.

"I've missed you. I still do."

". . ."

Taylor looked from Seth's scarred face and up to the machines that he had been hooked to, praying that he truly was okay, the beeping seeming like a figment of his imagination playing tricks on him, fooling him into thinking that the man he loved was still alive.

He looked back down only to have to snap his gaze back up again by the same constant beeping becoming slower. When he laid eyes on the screen, he saw that he wasn't hearing things.

Taylor pushed himself to his feet and headed straight for the door.

"Help! Nurse, doctor, please!"

***

Taylor stood outside the door, tears streaming down his face as he prayed for the best... but the best did not come.

One nurse opened the door to leave, allowing Taylor to hear the sounds coming from inside of the room clearer.

He heard a click, like a switch as he glanced over his shoulder through the open doorway.

He saw one nurse glancing at her watch, a serious look on her face.

"Don't say it..." Taylor whispered to himself, shutting his eyes tight. "Please, please don't say it."

"Time of death... 5:45 PM."

Taylor took a sharp intake of breath as he moved away from the doorway, taking a few steps before stumbling and falling over. Another patient who had been walking by stopped to help him up, but Taylor just wanted to stay down, on the cold, hard floor, by himself.

"He's gone..." He muttered through his shaky breaths.

"I'm sorry sir?" The patient asked, finally getting him to sit up straight.

"He's dead..." Taylor said, clearer this time.

The patient by his side, clearly understanding what he was talking about, held him tight, allowing him to cry onto her shoulder.

It was a long time before Taylor was convinced to go back to his room, where he sat alone, refusing to talk to anyone and when it came to when he became tired enough to fall back to sleep, all he hoped for was not to wake up the next morning.