~Chapter 1 - Just Fine~

Mitchell Prichett was always sure that everything was totally fine with him. No matter how often people told him otherwise. Sure, he had some issues and odd habits, but all in all, he was perfectly okay. And whenever his partner, his father or his family found a flaw, it was only a matter of days until he corrected it, because that's what he always did. He was more than happy with who he was and it was difficult to convince him that something wasn't right with him. May it be the fact that he could be a big snob, unromantic or a workaholic. But once he saw it too he would work on it day and night until it was fixed. He did this for a lot of people, but mostly for himself. He wanted people to like him, he wanted his family to like him. Sometimes it felt like his confidence was suffocated by his fear of being more different than he already was. Mitch never wanted to start fights, he tried to avoid argues and tried not to be overwhelmed by his feelings. This was the part Cam could already perfectly play without him.
They couldn't use another drama queen, so it was on him to keep his feelings inside, so they could focus on the situation.
He was always very careful and regardful, so he thought first it was no big deal when it all started. "Okay, I may just get sick." , was his first thought when he got trouble with breathing, while he got up the stairs. He made no bigger deal out of it when he even started wheezing for 10 minutes, after lifting a heavy box. "I should train more often." , he said. Cam was starting to worry. Mitchell might not be an old man yet, heck he was in his thirties, but even Cam could lift heavy objects and climb the staircase without getting trouble with his breathing. "Maybe you should go and see a doctor." , Cam had said to his partner, but like he always did, Mitchell just waved it off. "It's probably nothing. No need to worry about it." , Mitch had said before he kissed his Partner and left to work. Later that night, it was 2 weeks now, Mitchell jolted up inside his bed. A rush of adrenaline was shooting through his body, as he wheezed panicked. He didn't know what was wrong or why it felt like he was going to have a panic attack. He couldn't even remember of having a nightmare before. What's going on!? He clenched his chest, feeling his heart beating unlikely. The beats were fast but not in a monotone rhythm. Sometimes a beat was even skipped, what was no good sign. When he tried to control his breathing he ran a hand through his ginger hair to comfort himself. Something like that never happened before and that scared Mitchell. He didn't know how long he was sitting there, trying to get a normal heartbeat again. It maybe just was something around 20 seconds, but for Mitchell, it felt like an eternity when Cam finally woke up. "Micthell? What's wrong?" , Cameron asked, but the panicking man couldn't hear him at first. When Mitch didn't respond and just kept wheezing, Cam sat up. Looking at his partner with fear and worry, he placed his hand gently on his shoulder, what made the other man jump at the sudden movement. "S-sorry", he said, his pulse going down from the gentle touch, "j-just a nightmare."
That was a lie, but he didn't want to worry Cam. Or more not to worry himself. Having a nightmare was the only logical explanation for this, right? Right?
The next few days Mitchell went to see a doctor. The event of the last night irritated him and once he was over with this, he could get this out of his mind. That would be a short check up and done. Nothing important, or at least he thought so.

He sat in the hospital, already rolling his eyes annoyed. This was ridiculous. Sending him to the hospital just for an examination. This was already taking long enough, he had not left work early just to be stuck here and be late for his dinner with Cameron.
"Jesus Christ…" , he mumbled under his breath, checking his watch for the felt twentieth time. Peeking a bit out of the door he wished to see a doctor approaching, telling him that everything was fine. And like heaven has heard his praying, the doctor came into the room, followed by two nurses. "So, Mister Prichett. I'm sorry it took so long, but we had to make sure."
Mitchell had to fight another eye roll and put his fake smile on. The one he always used when he had to behave in front of people with a higher ranking. "That's no problem, sir. But please make it fast. I'm already late for dinner with my family." The doctor looked over to one of the nurses, then back to Mitchell, with the look that was literally screaming that something isn't right. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Mitchell, but we have to inform you that you have cardiac arrhythmia." What did they say? Maybe he misheard. The words came out of the doctor's mouth, but Mitch couldn't realize them. Couldn't order them into a right place in his vocabulary. "W… What?" , he asked, surprised that his mouth was suddenly so dry and raspy. "That means, you have irregular Heartbeats. A defect in your DNA, causing your heart not to work the way it should." The words needed some time to clinch inside Mitchell's head.
For a few seconds, he could feel something in his chest skipping a beat. "This can become dangerous. You may…" "Why now?" , Mitchell cut him off. Why did this have to happen right now? This didn't make any sense. He never had problems with his health before. Why now? Now that everything was perfect? He had Cameron, he had Lily, a nice house, a good job, his family… why now?!
The man in the white lab coat cleared his throat. "Well, it looks like you already have it all your life long. But the indications can show up in early childhood or past adulthood. That's different with every patient." With that, Mitchell gulped. He could feel his nails thrilling inside his legs he was resting his hands on. He had to calm down… This could be worse. Focus Mitch, stay calm. It's probably not such a bad case.
"You may already notice the trouble with breathing. You said you had something like a panic attack last night for no reason?" Mitch couldn't really form a word, so he just nodded. "This kind of incidents can happen more often now. Your heart is irritated and will lose its rhythm. It can take some time until it controls itself again but in the worst case this can lead to a total cardiac arrest." Mitchell nodded. He gained his focus back, folded his legs and hands and listened silently. "You should prevent physical effort, stress, things that exhaust you… you know. In case you get another of these fits, you have to stay calm and take one of the pills we will give to you later. If it doesn't get better you call 911, they will try to help you and…"
"Can I go now?"
"...Excuse.."
"May I just have these pills and leave? I already said, I'm late for dinner" , Mitchell cut him off again. This wasn't his normal manner… but Mitchell was sure: He wasn't able to act like normal one second more if he had to keep listening to this. He just… couldn't. The doctor gave him the pills and he left the hospital tensed. He wouldn't make this a big deal, but he knew someone who would. And he couldn't let him know. He couldn't let anyone know what was going on with him. He wouldn't bother them with something no one of them could ever change or stop. It was like it was. He just had to learn how to live with it, that was all. Everything was gonna to be just fine.

"And she said: 'coral pink to this shoes? But okay, it's not my party.' You should have seen her look when I… Mitchell are you listening?" ,Cam asked. He was sitting on the table and was telling this story for the fourth time. First he just wanted to test, if Mitchell was really listening but after the fifth time he was already bored himself. Mitch has rested his head on his folded hands and his elbows on the table, staring at his Partner, nodding absent. "W-what? Yeah, unbelievable Cam. How…" "ok Mitchell that's enough." , Cam spit, dropping his fork and knife. The shrill sound of the cutlery dropping to the plate, together with Cam's sudden cry, made Mitchell jump a little. "Cam.." "What's the matter with you today, Mitchell? At first you won't talk to me about the incident from last night. Then you forgot to make Lily ready for the Kita. You came two hours too late for dinner and now we are sitting here, with a cold filet mignon, and you aren't even paying attention when I tell the same boring story for the fifth time!" Stutter escaped Mitchel, trying to form an excuse, but without success. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Cam, I… had a rough day. It was a hard day at work and then I got stuck in the traffic… and I am just exhausted and.. and tired. I'm sorry I'm ruin this dinner for you." ,as he said that he run his hand through his ginger hair again. A clear sign for Cam that something was really discomforting him. These tired but tensed blue eyes, the absent look, he was so silent and now the hand running through his hair.
Cameron took the hand of his partner, he gained a weak grip. "Mitchell, is everything okay? Did something happen at work?"
Mitch took a deep breath, he was really near to tell Cameron but he could hold himself back. He wouldn't make it worse than it already was, so he tried to smile and said: "I'm just tired that's all. But thanks for your concern." Miche's grip on Cam's hand got stronger, sending a light chill through his body. "Then you better go to bad. I'll clean this up." , Cam said with a calm smile. The one he always put on when he was caring about someone. And he even received a smile. A small but real smile from Mitch. "Thank you, dear. I have luck to have you." ,with these words he stops up, kissed his partner and left for sleep.
He laid awaken for long, thinking about his visit at the hospital. Should he tell Cam after all? Maybe even his family?
But when he thought about how they would overreact and make it a big deal… uh who was he kidding? This was a big deal. Having arrhythmia wouldn't be light to handle, but he knew that he was going to make it somehow. He had to. He couldn't let Cam alone with Lily, that would be irresponsible.
So he would continue to keep this for himself, it was probably easier this way. Without Cam getting more emotional and Gloria getting more hysterical screaming about everything. He could do this, everything was gonna to be fine.
Mitchell was so lost in his train of thoughts that he didn't notice that Cam has already came in, dressed himself and was now laying next to him. He cuddled his warm body against the hi her haired man, hugging him from behind. He placed a gentle kiss on Mitchell's neck, whispering: "Goodnight. I love you."
He let out a shaky breath and turned around to his partner. He closed his eyes, hoping he could continue his life tomorrow, like this day never happened. He would open his eyes and the world would be fine tomorrow.
"I Love you too."
Just fine.