Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:18:38 +0100 (BST)
From: Jezebel <eh_oh_po@yahoo.com>
Subject: In Another Life 4

Title: In Another Life.
Author: Jezebel the Temptress
Feedback: eh_oh_po@yahoo.com

Disclaimers: This story is fiction and it is not intended to imply anything
about the true sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or any personal
knowledge about their private lives.  If you are underage for your area, if
it is illegal for you to view such material or if you are opposed to two
men in a loving situation then this story is not for you either.

Notes: It's fiction.  Kevin is, was and always will be a Backstreet Boy in
this universe.

***

It hit him as soon as he walked in the queasy and overpowering scent of
bleach, it seemed to match the whiteness and sterility of the rest of the
room, a clinical and lifeless environment where people came to die.  Only
hospitals could get away with this type of interior design.

"Mr. Richardson?" Someone asked, Kevin turned and saw a small ferret-like
man with small glasses and a tuft of hair under his lip that was an attempt
at a moustache.  He guessed that this must be the doctor.  "Are you here
for Ms.  Maddox?"

"Ye...Yes." Kevin said, coughing halfway through to try and get a deeper
sound.  He'd had trouble finding his voice since seeing Kyle and now that
he was here to identify the body he didn't know if he could get his voice
to hold.

"I have to warn you that there is a lot of bruising, but it's mostly
post-mortem.  I assure you that she did not suffer very much." The doctor
said, Kevin wondered if they were just words to soothe him from something
that would already be traumatic.  Not really sure what to say he nodded in
response.

The man smiled encouragingly as he walked towards a sheeted table.  Kevin
had seen this a million times on TV but nothing really prepared him for
what he saw when the sheet was drawn back and he saw Julia there.

"Is that her?" The doctor asked, probably to pull Kevin's attentions away
from the dark bruises on her neck and face.  He could not see the rest,
Julia was still covered over, but he knew that there was more and that it
was likely to be worse.

"Yes, that's her." Kevin choked out through his sobs.

"Thank you." The doctor said softly, pulling the sheet back over her and
covering the body.

Kevin turned and blindly walked out into the other room, he didn't know
what else to do, he just had to get out of there.  This gave him some idea
of what had happened but he hoped that when Kyle awoke that they would be
able to get some more answers.

***

Kevin returned to the room where Kyle lay sleeping after seeing Julia, he
wanted to be near the young man in the hope that the fact that one of them
survived would bring him some comfort, he also hoped that he could bring
some comfort to Kyle.  They always said that even if a patient was in a
coma that there was a chance that they would hear you and that it might
bring them around sooner.  Kevin hoped that Kyle would want to hear his
voice.

It had been so long, so much time had passed and yet there was still a
residual pain that pulsed through Kevin's mind when he looked at the young
face of the still man in the bed.  Kyle was different now, Kevin didn't
know how he might have changed as a person but he knew that physically he
was different, older and more mature.

"Hi." Kevin said softly as he took the now familiar seat.  "I just saw your
Mom."  Kevin said, he knew that there wasn't much chance that Kyle would
comprehend what he was saying but he wanted to say it anyway.  "She looked
so peaceful, and the doctor said that she wasn't in any pain, at least not
now."

There was no response, but then Kevin was not expecting one.  He continued
his one-sided conversation with Kyle anyway.

"I know that you didn't believe much in anything but she is in a better
place, and I've prayed for her and for you." Kevin said.  "I know that God
is watching over you, he always was."

The words trailed off as Kevin felt the tears coming, there was a slight
hitch in his voice as he spoke of God, a god that he had questioned
recently as to why this had happened, but still a god that he believed in.
He believed that god had brought Kyle back into his life for a reason.

The silence took over the room, Kevin lost in his thoughts and prayers and
Kyle remaining as he had been for the three days that Kevin had sat at his
side, still sleeping.

***

It had been four days now since they had heard the news, four days in which
Kevin had skipped out on meetings, rehearsals and all of the other
commitments that he would otherwise have attended unfailingly.  Brian had
always thought that Kyle and Julia were a bad influence on his cousin and
this just proved how right he had been.

The second day Nick had come by to see Kyle but didn't stay.  Brian wasn't
even sure that the youngest Backstreet Boy had gone in to see how Kyle was,
he had checked on Kevin and left.  Now though it was his turn to check on
Kevin and he wouldn't leave there without his cousin.

The directions that AJ had given him were detailed and it was easy to find
the room where Kyle slept.  The wild one of the bunch had also been in to
visit Kyle a number of times and was keeping the rest of them up to date on
his condition, but Brian had asked Alex to stay away today so that he could
have some time with Kevin and Kyle.  Brian had expected to find Kevin at
Kyle's bedside keeping the continuing vigil that had kept the rest of them
from working.  He had not expected the room to be occupied by anyone else.

"It's such a shame." A voice said loud enough for Brian to hear it from his
side of the door.  "So young and lost in a coma that they think he may
never recover from."

"They say that he is a hero too." A second voice replied.

Brian thought that he must have the wrong room, either that or they were
talking about Kyle's roommate, but he had heard that this was a middle aged
man and not someone that you might describe as young.

"I know.  He saved his younger brother from taking a beating.  Poor boy
doesn't have anyone now."

It had to be the wrong room, Brian thought to himself, Kyle doesn't have a
brother.

"And did you see who is coming to visit him?" The second voice asked.
"Between you and me I think that there is something going on, like he's
supposed to be getting some kind of bravery award or other.  Why else would
a member of the Backstreet Boys be visiting him?"

"Anne swore us to secrecy on that." The first voice chastised.  "which is a
shame really because my niece Donna is a big fan."

They continued to talk about family and friends, having moved on from their
conversation but Brian was still reeling from what he had heard.  They
really couldn't have been talking about Kyle, not the spoilt brat that had
ruined his cousin's wedding, he could not have been a hero.  Then again it
was six years ago, and a lot could happen in that time.

Brian forget his initial reason for coming to the hospital and instead was
faced with the prospect of finding out more about Kyle.  They had all just
assumed that this was the same young man that they had known, but maybe
time had changed him and Brian hoped that he had changed enough with time
to forgive some of the things that Kyle had done and move on too.

He would find out what it was that had put Kyle here and then he would
worry about the impact that this new presence could have on all of their
lives.

***

Kevin returned to Kyle's room after taking a few moments to collect his
thoughts, he had gone for a coffee to give the nurses a little peace to do
Kyle's bed bath.  Despite the fact that Kevin had nearly been Kyle's step-
father it seemed odd to see the younger man in this state and he felt
uncomfortable staying in the room while they saw to something that was so
personal.  Kevin was sure that if Kyle had been conscious of it he would
have been thankful for the privacy.

Kevin entered the room, carrying the machine coffee that was a touch too
bitter and took a small sip before sitting down.  He frowned as he saw that
they had moved Kyle slightly, he looked uncomfortable with his arm now
under the blanket, especially as it was the only arm that he would be able
to use for a while.  Kevin put his coffee aside and freed Kyle's good arm.
It surprised him when the arm moved slightly of its own accord, sliding
back into its original place.

Kevin wondered if he should call the nurse, but he remembered seeing
something once about involuntary muscle spasm, it was probably just Kyle's
muscles contracting from lack of use.  Instead Kevin reached out and took
the hand in his own.  If Kyle's subconscious was trying to exercise his
muscles then Kevin would help it.

When he felt a returned squeeze from Kyle's hand he nearly jumped out of
his chair in fright.  He continued to hold the limp appendage but reached
for the buzzer with his free hand.  Two minutes later a nurse came in to
check on him.

"He moved." Kevin said.

"Mr. Richardson, sometimes the muscles will..."

"No, I mean he did more than twitch, he squeezed my hand." Kevin said
impatiently.  "He actually moved."

"I'll call a doctor and ask him to examine him." The nurse said
appeasingly.

"Urgh..." A small gurgle came from Kyle.

The nurse looked down at her patient more critically now, as if taking
Kevin seriously for the first time.  She checked a few of the machines that
Kyle was hooked up to and then went outside.  At first Kevin thought that
she was abandoning them, but she came back a minute later.

"I've paged Doctor Chesterfield.  He'll be down in one moment to check on
our patient." She said brightly.  "I think that we may have misjudged the
young man."

"Kyle is a fighter." Kevin agreed with a smile.  It was the first real
smile he'd had in days, and why not, this was the first glimmer of hope he
had felt in that time.  He wondered if Kyle would recover soon - he hoped
so.  Kevin still had a lot of questions about what had happened but also
had a few answers to give.  He hoped that Kyle would wake up so that they
could talk.

***

It was of course too much to hope that the first groan from Kyle was
anything more than an aberration.  It was not the first moan in Kyle
calling out "Kevin", neither was it the beginning of a miracle.  The
doctors said that Kyle had regained consciousness briefly but that there
was a lot more damage to heal still and that he would remain unconscious
for some time yet.

Brian had used this as argument to try and get them back into the studio.
Nick had agreed.  It was only the staunch refusal of Kevin and the support
that AJ threw to his cause that kept them from recording.

Kevin wanted to be there when Kyle finally woke up and he told his cousin
in no uncertain terms that he was not going to abandon the boy again.

Kevin built a pattern of getting in to the hospital early and leaving late,
reading to Kyle or telling him stories about the tours that they had been
on, making sure that he was there for the longest time that he could be and
only stopping to get food or a quick rest.

Any time that Kevin stepped out there was always someone else with Kyle.
AJ was good at this, he seemed to talk more to the young man in the bed
than to anyone else and Kevin wondered if this was because Kyle couldn't
answer back.  Howie too took his turn.  Usually Howie would just sit with
Kyle and watch television, not really knowing the boy well enough to talk
to him as Kevin did, but the change of stimulus could only help; or so the
doctors said.  Nick made infrequent visits too, trying to support Kevin in
spite of the fact that he had never really liked Kyle.

It was only Brian that stayed away.

Brian wasn't doing it to be spiteful, at least not really, the last thing
that he wanted to do was cause trouble in his cousin's life but he didn't
feel as if he had anything that he could give to Kyle and there was more
useful things that he could do with his time than sit idly by waiting for
something that might not even happen.

While the others were watching and waiting at Kyle's bedside, Brian did
what he could to run interference between management and the record company
as well as looking into the rumours that he had heard at the hospital.

He had promised himself that he would give Kyle a second chance, had prayed
that God would help him to do so, and he was not about to back out of that
now.

It was almost ironic therefore that Brian was there, three weeks later,
when Kyle finally did wake up.

Kevin was working his way through the regular routine, reading the paper to
his captive audience, and ignoring his cousin's presence at his side when
Kyle moved.

Brian, who had not spent a lot of time there, barely noticed it the first
time and wondered why Kevin was on his feet calling for a nurse, it was
only on the second twitch that Brian noticed it.

"Kyle, Can you hear me?" Kevin asked, keeping his voice low and non-
threatening.  "Kyle, it's Kevin."

There was a moan from the bed, as if Kyle was trying to respond.  Kevin
took this as a positive sign and while they were waiting for the doctor he
decided to try again.

"Kyle.  It's time to wake up now." Kevin said, remembering something he had
seen once somewhere.

"Mr. Richardson, if you could step back a little." The doctor said as he
entered the room.  "I need to examine the patient."

"Kyle, I'm still right here..." Kevin said softly, moving backwards but
keeping his eyes trained on his young friend.

Kyle's eyes fluttered open and for the first time Kevin remembered just how
blue they were and the promise they had once held of him growing into a
gorgeous young man.  If it hadn't been for the fading bruises and the age
gap Kevin would have found him attractive.

"Jon...?" Kyle asked, his voice dry.

"Mr. Maddox, I'm Doctor Milan..."

"Jon?" Kyle said again, this time a little more panicked.

It surprised everyone when Brian was the one that stepped forward.

"Jon is fine." Brian told Kyle as he took his hand.  "Let the doctors take
a look at you and then we'll talk."

Kevin stared at his cousin and Brian sighed.  He had been there to talk to
Kevin about a few things, things that he thought might change their lives,
and Kyle had forced it out of him too early.  He wondered if there would be
a time when Kyle would not be behind the major upheavals of their lives.

***

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" Kevin asked angrily as soon
as they were out of earshot.  "He's just woken up and you're trying to
confuse him already.  Who knows what damage was already done before you
waded in?"

"Kevin..." Brian tried to intervene.

"No." Kevin replied.  "He was delirious and you've given him false hope.
We don't even know who it was that he was asking for.  What if he isn't
fine?"

"He is." Brian said softly, his voice barely audible.

"What?" Kevin asked not hearing his cousin over his own anger.

"I said 'He is'" Brian said more adamantly.  "While you were here I've been
trying to find out a bit about why Kyle ended up here.  I thought that he
might need to know when he woke up."

Kevin didn't know what to say to that.  He hadn't really thought about much
beyond Kyle's initial need to wake up.  No one mentioned what would happen
after he was awake.

"It turns out that Julia was attacked by her boyfriend.  Kyle got hurt
because he was trying to stand up to a man that was three times his size
and to defend her." Brian said.

Kevin was shocked.  He hadn't thought that it would be anything so bad and
wondered how much more there was about Kyle that he did not know.  He had
seen the boy that lay in the hospital bed as the one he had known all those
years ago but was only now realising that he knew nothing of the young man
that he had become.

"It wasn't only his mother that he was defending though." Brian said.  "It
turns out that he got most of his injuries after Julia was down trying to
keep Jonathan safe."

"Who's Jonathan?" Kevin asked.

Brian only then realised that Kevin didn't know.

"Jonathan is Kyle's brother."

"Brother?" Kevin asked in disbelief.  "The man tried to kill his own son?"

Brian looked away, pale suddenly, and Kevin wondered what it was that he
was missing.  Surely it couldn't be any worse than that.

"What?" He asked, wanting to know what had Brian looking deathly white.

"Jon is nearly six." Brian said pointedly.  "It wasn't his son that Julia's
boyfriend tried to kill...I'm pretty sure it was yours."

Kevin's jaw dropped and he was shocked into silence.  He wanted to ask why
Brian had not told him this earlier or why he had never heard it from Julia
but before he could say anything the doctor had exited the room and was
calling him.

"Mr. Richardson?" He asked.  "Kyle is awake and asking for you.  I said
that you would go in."

Kevin nodded, still shocked into silence.  There were a million questions
running through his mind but he knew that the only person that could answer
most of them was in no fit state to respond.  He would have to leave the
questions for another day.  In the meantime he had other concerns such as
making sure that Kyle was okay and that there was no permanent damage.

***

"Kevin?" Kyle asked, his voice a little rough from lack of use.  "I
need..."

"It's okay." Kevin said moving to the place at Kyle's bedside where he had
kept his vigil for the last weeks.  "Brian has done a little research and
explained it to me.  I'm going to make sure that Jonathan is okay..."

"...have to get him." Jon said, the first part cut off in a painful
swallow.  "If Gary has him..."

"It's okay." Brian said softly, his voice almost mournful.  "Gary isn't
going to hurt anyone anymore.  The police have him in custody..."

"Kyle, your Mom..." Kevin said, trying to think how you could explain to
someone that their mother was dead.  He had never thought what he would do
if someone told him that of his own mother because it was something that
did not bear thinking about.

"I know." Kyle said weakly.  "He killed her.  That's why you have to make
sure that Jon is safe.  I know that you probably hate me for what I did but
please don't hold it against Jonny, he's so little and you're all he has
now... I know that you didn't want us before but he needs you."

"Kyle, I didn't know about Jonathan." Kevin replied, shocked that anyone
would think he could abandon his own son.  "I never hated you either."

Kyle coughed.

"Well, maybe a little...at first...but not in a long time.  And you don't
have to worry about Jon, you and he are both going to be safe now because
I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you are."

Kyle nodded, fatigue obvious in his face.  Kevin was not surprised given
what the young man had been through.

"We'll let you rest for now, I need to make a few calls anyway, but I'll be
back later." Kevin said.

Kyle barely moved as he tried to nod his head.  Kevin stood, brushing a
fatherly hand over Kyle's head to brush his bangs back, before moving away
and heading to the door.  He shut it behind him, shutting the world out of
Kyle's room, then he turned to Brian.

"Where is Jonathan?" Kevin asked.

"He's with foster parents at the moment." Brian said softly.  "Julia didn't
put your name on the birth certificate so he has been made a ward of the
court until further investigations can be made about his family."

"I'm his father." Kevin said.

"No one knows that." Brian replied.  "You know what Julia was like..."

Brian didn't get to finish the sentence because Kevin hit him squarely in
the jaw and knocked him to the ground.

"You will *never* repeat that in front of Kyle and you most definitely will
not say that in front of my son." Kevin said.  "I left him behind once, and
I'm not going to do it again." He added before turning on his heel and
leaving.

Brian sat up, a little dazed at seeing such a reaction in his Cousin.  He
had never seen Kevin raise a fist to anyone, not even Nick on one of his
worst days, and yet he had raised one to him.  He had miscalculated Kyle's
influence on Kevin again.  The young man that lay on the other side of the
thin partition wall continued to surprise Brian and he wondered if maybe it
was time to give the boy the benefit of the doubt and get to know him a
little better.  If nothing else it might start to mend his relationship
with Kevin.

***

If he were starring in an afternoon special they could have fast-forwarded
through the process of proving that Jonathan was his son.  The legal red
tape would be lost for dramatic effect and Kevin would have been able to
walk straight into the social services building and retrieve his son.
Unfortunately this was not a movie, it was real life, and so Kevin had to
sit in the cramped reception area while he waited for an overworked social
worker to get around to his case.

He hoped that while he was here Kyle was alright.

Finally after over an hour's wait he was seen.

"Are you Mr. Richardson?" The kindly woman in a light yellow dress said.
She reminded Kevin of his Kindergarten teacher and wondered if that was why
she was suited to her job.

"That's me." Kevin said with a small smile as he unfolded his large frame
from the uncomfortable reception chair and stretched to his full height.

"Please, come this way.  I believe that you want to speak with me about the
Maddox boy?"

"Jonathan.  Yes." Kevin replied.

The woman stopped in front of a desk piled high with files and took a seat,
indicating for Kevin to do the same.  Kevin waited for a moment while she
got herself settled and pulled out a brown folder with a number written on
the front.  She flipped it open and looked at the contents for a moment
before looking up to study Kevin.

"What can I do to help you?" She asked pointedly.

"I'm Jonathan's father." Kevin replied.

"No one is named on the birth certificate." She replied frankly.  "And the
report says that there has been no paternal contribution so far.  Why did
you suddenly come forward now to claim the boy?"

"I only just found out that he existed." Kevin replied.  "I've visited Kyle
in hospital and he told me that Julia had another son, that I had a son."

"Well, assuming that you are his father, we would still need to assess the
placement of him with you." The woman said.  "We don't just hand children
over to anyone claiming to be a parent, no matter how kind-hearted they
are."

"I know." Kevin said.  "And I'll do whatever is necessary, I just want my
son."

"I'll file some paperwork with the Family Court today." She said with a
small smile.  "We will of course need to take a sample of your DNA to prove
that you are his father."

"Okay." Kevin said.

"You can make an appointment with the lady in reception." She said,
dismissing him.

"Is that it?" Kevin asked.

"We cannot do anything else until we have established paternity." She said.

Kevin nodded, wondering if he should consult a lawyer just in case.  In the
mean time he would get things started.  The sooner that Kyle and Jon were
home with him the better.  He had missed out on so much already he was not
about to waste a minute more.

***

TBC

Notes: Thanks to everyone that sent feedback, sorry this has been a while
coming, there is definitely more in the pipeline :)