Nothing's ever impossible
Brian O'Leary sighed as he sat in the hospital waiting room. He didn't need to be there, nothing was wrong with him, but his fiancee insisted. "Brian O'Leary?" the doctor called. He stood up and followed him into the room. He knew he would find nothing wrong. Headaches occured everyday, and that's all he had. It would go away in time. About a half hour later, the doctor came in looking grim. "I don't like the looks of these test results. I need to do them again. I will give you a call in a couple weeks and let you know what I come up with." he said. Brian thanked him and went on his way. ~~Harmony, Maine~~ Luis and his brother were working on the boat they had found a couple days ago. It was in pretty good shape, despite the fact that they found it in the junk yard. All it needed was a new motor and some seat coverings, and a new coat of paint. They had gotten the motor and the seat covers already, now they were working on painting it. They were hoping to have it on the water within the next week or so. **2 weeks later** ~~St.Lisa's island~~ Brian was moping around his motel room, when Diana came in. "Come on Brian, your appointment is in an hour. We don't want to waste time." she told him. He frowned at her. "Diana, I'm fine. My headaches are gone, and I'm not sick anymore. This is totally useless, it's not like it's going to be anything life threatning." he told her. Or so he thought. "Well, you don't want to take any chances. I love you, and I want to make sure you are one hundred percent OK before we fly back to Harmony and meet your family." she told him. He sighed and let her lead the way to the hospital to get his results back. ~~hospital~~ "Well Brian, it was just as I feared. Your headaches are not being caused by stress, as you originally thought. It's something much more worse. They are being caused by the massive pressure being put on your brain." he told them. Diana frowned. "Which means what?" she asked. The doctor looked her straight in the eye. "There's no easy way to tell you this. You have a brain tumor. Fortunately for you, we can opperate on it. In most cases, people with brain tumors are usually inoperable. You are one of the fortunate ones." he explained to them. Diana gasped. "How soon does it have to be operated on?" she asked. "Within the next couple days. If it isn't soon, the tumor could get worse, and take over the whole brain. Then he could die." he said. "How did this come on?" Brian asked suddenly. The doctor shrugged. "Could of been a number of things. Nobody really knows how these things start. Do you have a family member who has ever had a tumor of any sort?" he asked. He shrugged. "I can't think of any." he said. The doctor shrugged. "Then I don't know what to tell you. All I can say is that we need to operate on it as soon as possible. I'll schedule with the neurologist for Tuesday at 11:00." he said. Brian nodded and thanked the doctor for his help. Then they left for the hotel. "Guess that means we have to put our trip on hold." he said sadly. Diana nodded. "Yeah, but it's for the best. You can see your family after your better." she told him. He nodded. "Not that my brother was looking forward to seeing me. But I wanted to see him, make things right with him." he said. Just then Liz appeared. "So was Diana right? Was something wrong?" she asked. Diana nodded. "Yes. Brian has a brain tumor, and he's scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday morning." she told her. Liz gasped. "Brian? But he's as healthy as a cow." she said. Brian chuckled. "Not anymore Liz. The doctor doesn't know what brought it on. He did say I was one of the lucky ones and that I would recover in time if it was dealt with right away." he told her. Liz still couldn't believe her ears. "I can't believe this. It's all happening so suddenly, it's too hard to believe it. Especially when it is happening to someone like Brian." she said. Brian went up and put an arm around Liz. "I'm strong Liz. I'll make it through. Then we will go to Harmony as planned, I promise." he said. Liz still looked doubtful. ~~Harmony~~ "So, do you think it is ready to be taken out yet?" Miguel asked his brother. Luis frowned and shook his head. "It looks done, but something doesn't feel right. I get the feeling that we are forgetting something, but I can't think of what it is." he said. Miguel walked around the boat, frowning. "I don't see anything wrong. I think we have everything we need." he said. Luis shook his head. "I don't want to take any chances. I lost Sheridan on a boat, I'm not going to lose you the same way." he said, abruptly turning and walking into the house. Miguel shrugged and followed him inside. He thought the boat was perfect, but he didn't blame his brother for worrying. After all, he had lost his fiancee in a boat explosion(Which everyone knew was brought on by the Crane's) and he almost lost his sister when she confessed to Julian's murder(the real murderer is still at large, but Ethan managed to get her off), so he didn't blame him for being so protective. He just wished he'd lighten up a little bit. After all, he was 17, he knew how to take care of himself. He sighed and walked into the house after his brother. **Tuesday morning** ~~Hospital~~ "Good morning Brian. Let me explain what we are going to do this morning, ok?" the neurologist said, launching into an explanation of what he was going to do, and how much effort it would take for Brian to recover. "We need you to put your full effort into recovering, because that will pretty much give you a clean bill of health. So are you ready?" he asked. "As ready as I'll ever be." he said, following the doctor. Liz and Diana got prepared to wait the grueling 5 hours it would take for Brian's surgery. Once the doctors were done, they came to talk to the girls. "Good news. Brian is in recovery, and he is doing fine. The bad news is, the loss of blood the surgery required. We need to find someone who has the same blood type as him." he explained. "What is his blood type?" Liz asked. "It's a very rare type, called OO-. Not many people have it. Nobody here in the hospital does, I checked already. What about you two?" he asked. Diana shook her head. "Not that I know of." she said. Ywo nurses led her off to testing. "I have AA+." Liz replied, as Diana came back, shaking her head. "Nope, unfortunately not. I have AA-." she said. The doctor shook his head sadly. "Do you know if he has any relatives? Any sisters or brothers? They are usually the best to test, usually one of the siblings has the same type of blood." he said. Liz and Diana shook their heads. "He never mentioned any if he does." Liz said. "I know he has a brother, he's mentioned him quite a bit. I know he lives in Harmony, but I do not know his name." Diana spoke up suddenly. The doctor smiled. "That is a plus. We can ask him his name and look him up. Thank you ladies, I'll let you know what we come up with it." he said, walking back to Brian's room. ~~Harmony~~ "Mama, where's Miguel?" Luis asked, coming into the kitchen for breakfast that morning. "He took the boat out to test it, I believe." she said, as Theresa came into the kitchen. "Nope. His motorcycle is gone, so I think he went to look for the part Luis told him was missing." she said. Luis released the breath he was holding. "Good, I didn't want him on the boat by himself until I made sure it was safe." he said. Pilar nodded. "That's a good idea. Well, I'm off you two. Don't get into any trouble, I'll be home later." she said, grabbing her purse and leaving the house. Luis glanced up at the clock. "I'm going to work. Make sure Miguel does not mess with the boat unless I'm there." he told his sister as he left the house. Theresa sighed. She hated being left alone in the house with nothing to do, and when nobody was home. Whitney was off on some tennis tournament, Chad and Simone were with her, and all her other friends were on vacation. She finished her breakfast and settled back to watch some early morning talk shows. ~~hospital~~ "Welcome back Brian. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked him. "Like I got hit by a truck." he mumbled. The doctor laughed. "Not quite. But you did just undergo extenstive brain surgery for a tumor we found. Do you remember any of that?" he asked softly. "Yes. I remember Diana making me go to the hospital. I remember Liz and how scared she looked when she found out I had the tumor." he replied. The doctor smiled. "Good, that's very good. You remembered the names of your fiancee and friend. That's a start. Now, I already told the ladies this, but during the surgery, you lost alot of blood that needs to be replaced. You have a very rare type of blood called OO-, that nobody else in the hospital has. We tested Liz and Diana, and neither of them have it." he explained. "What does this have to do with me?" Brian asked. The doctor frowned. "You need a blood transfusion. Now, usually in this type of situtation when someone has a rare type of blood that nobody else has, a family member may have it. I need to know if you have any brothers or sisters that could get tested for this blood type. It's crucial that we find this out soon, and get you that transfusion." he said. Brian nodded. "Two brothers and two sisters." he said. "What are their names and where do they live?" he asked. "Luis, Miguel, and Theresa all live in Harmony and Paloma lives in Spain with my aunt." he said. "Who would be my best bet to get ahold of?" he asked. "Luis or Miguel. Their always home." he said. The doctor nodded. "Ok. Can I have the number? You can talk to them once I get ahold of them." he said. Brian nodded and recited the number off the top of his head. The doctor dialed the number. ~~Harmony~~ "Hello?" Luis said answering the phone that afternoon. "Yes, is there a Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald there?" the voice on the other end asked. Luis frowned. "This is him speaking." he said. "Hello Luis. My name is doctor Tyler Burckman calling from the St.Lisa's island memorial hospital. I have someone here who would like to speak to you." he said, handing the phone to Brian. "Hello Luis." he said quietly. "Antonio? Why is the hospital calling? What happened?" he asked. Brian laughed. "Slow down. First of all, they know me as Brian. Second of all, the hospital is calling because of me. See, Diana insisted a couple weeks ago that I go to the hospital to get the headaches I'd been having checked out. Turns out it was a brain tumor. It was operated on, but I lost alot of blood during the operation and need a blood transfusion. The doctor wants to know if he can test you, Miguel, and Theresa to see if we have the same type of blood." he said. "What type of blood is it?" Luis asked. "A rare type, not many have it. OO-." he said. Luis gasped. "I think that's Miguel's blood type." he said, checking the police records he held on his brother and sister. "It is, I just checked. So what do they need to do?" he asked. Brian handed the phone back to the doctor. "Brian has told me that your brother has the same blood type as him. If possible, I need to fly him down here to do the transfusion. As soon as possible, so Brian can recover faster and get home." he said. Luis nodded as Miguel came in the door. "Wait a second, here's my brother." he said, handing Miguel the phone. "Hello?" he asked. "Who am I talking to now?" the doctor asked. "Luis's brother." he said. The doctor laughed. "You must be Miguel. Has Luis explained any of what is going on to you?" he asked. "Just that my brother needs a blood transfusion and I have the same type." he said. The doctor sighed. "Yes. I need you to fly out here so we can do the transfusion as soon as possible. Your brother would like to talk to you." he said, handing the phone back to Brian. "Hey Miguel." Brian said when he got on the phone. "Antonio?" he asked quietly. He hadn't heard his voice in quite awhile. Brian laughed. "Yes Miguel, it's me. This isn't the way I expected to be calling you, but what's done is done." he said. "How was this brought on Antonio?" he asked. "I'm not sure Miguel. But fortunately Diana noticed in time that something was wrong with me and got me checked out. I owe her for that." he said. Then he turned serious. "Miguel, I know we haven't seen each other in a few years, but I really need you right now." he said. Miguel sighed and looked at Luis, who nodded. "Sure. How soon do I have to be there?" he asked. "As soon as possible. Would you be able to fly out today?" he asked. Miguel handed the phone back to Luis. "Antonio? We'll make it a family trip. When Mama gets home, I'll tell her what happened and we can leave tonight." he said. "Ok, that'd be great. This wasn't exactly the way I was planning on introducing you guys to Diana, but I guess it'll have to be." he said. "Don't worry about it. Once your well, you have to promise me you'll come home." Luis said. "I promise. I'll see you guys later." he said, hanging up the phone. ~~that night~~ Once Pilar got home, Luis was there to tell her about the phone call they had recieved that day. "Where's your brother and sister?" she asked. "Miguel's taking a nap, and Theresa is watching TV in her room I believe." he said. She nodded. "Now what was it you had to tell me?" she asked. He sighed. "Mama, there is no easy way to tell you this. Antonio is not coming home as planned. We have to go to St.Lisa's and see him." he said. "Why?" she asked. He sighed. "He's in the hospital Mama. He needs a blood transfusion and the only able to give it to him is Miguel." he explained. Pilar frowned. "When do we have to leave?" she asked. "Tonight." he said. Pilar was silent for a second, then nodded. "Ok. Are the kids packed yet?" she asked. He nodded. "We told Theresa and they went to pack right away. I'm ready too." he said. She nodded. "Let me go pack then we can leave." she said. "Ok. I need to call Sam and let him know I won't be in for a couple weeks." he said, picking up the phone. "Harmony PD, chief Bennet speaking." he heard when Sam picked up the phone. "Sam, it's me." he said. "Luis, what's up?" he asked. He sighed. "I won't be in for the next couple weeks. A family emergency came up. We located where Antonio is and he's in a hospital and needs our help. So we have to fly to Bermuda tonight." he said. Sam whistled. "No problem Luis. I can get Hank to cover for you, he's covered for you before." he said, as Pilar came out of her room. "Thanks for understanding Sam. I'll call you and let you know how things are. I'm sure Antonio would like to talk to you." he said, hanging up the phone.
Later that night, they were all on a plane flying to the small island of St.Lisa's, off the coast of Bermuda. Once they arrived, they managed to get to the motel where Liz worked. Then Theresa found a note telling Luis where the keys were, and that Luis was welcome to drive Liz's car to the hospital. They all gathered inside the car and made their way to the hospital. ~~Hospital~~ "Liz!" Luis called when he spotted her first thing when they got to the hospital. She looked around and smiled wryly. "Hey Luis, nice to see you again. Who's all this with you?" she asked, as three other people came up behind him. "Liz, this is Theresa, Miguel is next to her, and my mother behind them. Guys, this is Liz." he replied, introducing them all. "Hi." they all said in unison. "Nice to meet you. I'm glad you guys got here. Brian just slipped into a coma about a half hour ago, and the doctor wasn't sure if you would make it in time." she said, as Dr. Burckman came up behind them. He walked up to the guy who closely resembled Brian and shook hands with him. "I'm Dr. Burckman. You must be Luis." he said. He nodded and motioned Miguel up behind him. "This is Miguel, and Theresa is over by my mother." he said. The doctor smiled. "Nice to meet you all. Liz probably already told you that Brian slipped into a coma a little while ago. We thought it was impossible for him to wake up once he went out again." he said sadly. Miguel shook his head. "Nothing is ever impossible as long as you try your hardest at whatever it is." he said. He laughed. "You sound like a psychologist." he said. Luis laughed. "Psycho maybe, haha." he laughed. "Anyway, let's get this underway. This shouldn't take long, but I will explain what we are planning on doing." he said, explaining what was going to happen. "How old are you?" he asked. "17." Miguel replied. Dr. Burckman nodded. "Ok. We just need a legal guardian to sign this then since you are under 18." he said. Luis took the clipboard and scanned through it, then signed it and handed it back to the doctor. "Follow me." he said, leading him into a room. ~~a few hours later~~ "Well, both boys are doing fine. However, Brian is still in his coma, but the transfusion should take affect immediately." he said. "Can we see him?" Pilar asked. The doctor nodded. "Yes you can, but only one at a time." he said. They all looked at Liz. "You can go first." Theresa told her. She smiled and thanked them and went back to the room. Luis was the last to go see his brother, since everyone else had gotten hungry and went down to the cafeteria. ~~Brian's room~~ Luis walked warely into the room. He hated being around his brother this way, hooked up by machines and everything. The last time he had saw someone like that was when Theresa was on death row, before Ethan had granted her pardon. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and started talking. He had heard cases where if you talked to the person in the coma, they could hear and they had a better chance of waking up. He remembered when he put Sam in a coma by accidently shooting him, he'd talked to him all the time until he finally woke up. "Hey bro, you gotta wake up. We came all this way to see you, now you cannot just leave us here with Liz and Diana." he paused, trying to think of something else to say. "You know, Miguel and I found and fixed up this boat a few days before we came here. We were hoping we could get you out on it, and maybe it would convince you to stay. It may be a bribe, and it may not be, but all I know is that we need you." he said. He sat quiet for a few minutes, thinking of something else to say. When he couldn't think of anything, he just leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, in deep thought.
He could see a bright light at the end of the tunnel where he was walking. He looked down and saw his brother sitting in the chair next to his bed. He could hear everything he was saying. Then all of a sudden visions of his childhood were brought back to him. He had just arrived at home for his sister's 5 birthday party, and he was not looking forward to it. To make matters worse, he did not want all of Theresa's friends running around the house and making all the noise their little lungs could possibly make. He heard screaming the minute he got inside the house. He looked around, amused, as he saw Theresa, and her friend Whitney running around the house, with Miguel chasing after them. Luis came in then, surrounded by Hank and Sam who were helping set up for the party. "Hey Tony, we could use your help with some of these things." Luis told him. Tony turned and walked out to the garage to grab some chairs for the table that was set up in the living room. Once the party started, everyone started having fun. Theresa and her friends went outside so they could play tag, but when Miguel tried to follow them, she yelled at her little brother. Tony came to the rescue and the two of them went upstairs to play with Miguel's toy cars. He smiled at that memory. He remembered it well. Theresa had ended up getting the thing she wanted most that year, which was a tape player, the most a 5 year old could ever ask for. Luis frowned. For a second there, he thought he had saw a smile on his brother's face, but then it disappeared. "Come on bro. I don't know what to call you anymore, you go by so many different names now it's confusing." he chuckled. He remembered when he had first found out that Antonio was alive, when Beth had told him he was in Bermuda. When he ran into him, he had found out that he was going by his middle name, Brian. "Anyway, about this boat we found. It's a nice one, not to big, but not to small. It has a small cabin in it, but right now it's being used as a storage room. Miguel is anxious to get it started, but I'm kinda scared to go on it. Last time my fiancee got killed when our boat exploded in Bermuda." he explained. Brian kept trying to open his eyes, but it felt like something was keeping them shut. He heard his brother say he was afraid to go on the boat, which brought back another memory. Luis had hardly ever been afraid of anything. He remembered the last time he was afraid of something was when he was starting high school. Tony had been sitting out in the living room with his sister and brother when he heard Luis come in and slam the door to his room. He figured that he was just upset about something and that it would pass in time. But once he heard the radio blaring as loud as it could possibly go, he knew something was wrong. Luis never turned his radio up that loud unless he wanted to forget about something bad happening to him. He got up and went down to his brother's room. He opened the door, and the first thing he did was go straight to the radio and turn it off. If Luis noticed, he didn't say anything. He was lying face down on his bed. Tony went over and sat down on the bed, putting a hand on his brother's back. "Luis? What's wrong?" he asked. Luis turned over and looked at his brother, but didn't answer. Tony could see the tears streaming down his face, which was unusual because Luis never cried. "What's wrong?" he asked again. Luis shook his head. "Nothing, I'm fine." he said. Tony looked at him. "You wouldn't be in here avoiding everyone, much less crying, if you ok. Tell me what's wrong, you know you can tell me anything." he said. He sat up and ran his sleeve over his eyes, to wipe his tears away. "It's just that I'm afraid for school to start. Especially since Hank is moving next week." he said. Tony was surprised. Sam hadn't said anything to him about his family moving, and he hadn't heard anything from his mother either. "I didn't know Hank was moving, Sam never mentioned it me." he said. Luis nodded. "Sam's going to stick around here and finish school." he said. Tony nodded. "So what's the problem?" he asked, clearly confused. "I'm just scared. Hank's always been with me and I knew I could always count on him if something went wrong. Now he's moving, and school starts in 2 weeks and he's not going to be there." he said. Tony nodded, now fully understanding the problem. Hank and Luis had been best friends all their lives, and he could understand how his brother felt. It was hard to be 14 years old and starting a new school and having your best friend leaving at the same time. "Well, you'll always make new friends. And besides, you and Hank would of been going your seperate ways soon anyway, after all, you're both growing up." he said. Luis nodded. "I know that, but at least I would of been confident having Hank in the same school." he said. Tony looked at his brother. "You know Luis, I had the same problem when I started highschool. I didn't know anyone until I met Sam. You'll make new friends. Sure, it'll take time, but eventually you'll forget about Hank, and make all new friends. Besides, I bet it won't be long after school starts that you'll have a girlfriend." he said, smiling. Luis grinned. "Why do you say that?" he asked. Tony laughed. "Trust me Luis. It's the Lopez-Fitzgerald charm, the girls can't resist it." he said. Luis laughed, feeling better already. Luis had finally gotten up and left, becoming tired all of a sudden. He felt an urge to stay, but ignored it. He figured if anything happened, the doctor would call and tell them. Brian remembered clearly the memory of Luis's first day of highschool. Hank had moved, but came back two weeks later. He had become home sick and had moved in with Sam. As much as he kept trying to open his eyes, he couldn't. Until 2 days later. **2 days later~~ Liz and her guests were sitting in the dining room that morning, when the phone rang. She got up to answer it. "Uh-huh. That's great. Yeah, their all right here. I'll tell them and we'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you." she said, turning to her guests and telling them that Brian had woke up. ~~hospital~~ As soon as they got to the hospital, the doctor showed them the way to the room. When they got to the room, they saw Brian sitting up and laughing at something one of the nurses had said. He turned and had a huge smile on his face when he saw his family standing next to him. Pilar had tears in her eyes as she went up to hug him. "Dios mio, your actually here." she said. He nodded and gave her a big hug back. "Yeah Mama, I'm really here." he said.
Chapter 2
~~Liz's hotel~~ "Well Brian, I'm thankful that you're ok. Are you planning on going home now that your ok?" Liz asked him. He nodded. "Yes I am Liz. I promised my brother that I would go home. Besides, I want to go on the boat he and Miguel fixed up." he said, winking at Luis. Luis laughed. "You mean, you heard that?" he said. He nodded. "Of course I did. I heard everything you said, which also sent back memory flashes quite like the ones Dian-I mean Sheridan was having when she regained her memory." he explained. Luis groaned. "Please don't tell me what the memory flashes were of." he pleaded. Antonio laughed. "One was Theresa's 5th birthday. Speaking of, where did her and Miguel take off to?" he asked. Liz and Pilar exchanged smiles. "Anyway, the second one was of when you first started highschool." he said. Luis groaned. "Oh great, I had a feeling that would have to be one of them." he said, as his brother and sister came back in the room with a giant cake in their hands. Antonio looked at his mother. "Mama? What is this all about?" he asked. She chuckled. "We had to have time for Theresa to make it. We didn't even tell Luis, because we needed him to distract you from going into the kitchen with Theresa and Sheridan." she explained. "But what is it for? My birthday was months ago." he said. She shook her head. "A welcome home gift. Luis and Miguel got the boat, so Theresa and I thought we'd make something." she said. "Liz helped." Sheridan replied, coming into the dining room. Liz nodded. "That's right, it's from all 4 of us." she said. He laughed and they all started eating the cake.
Chapter 3 ~~Harmony, Maine~~ Antonio looked around the house that he had not seen in over 20 years. "Wow, it's amazing to think that I grew up in this house." he said. "Yeah, and it's amazing to think that we still live in this house." Luis replied, coming up behind him with one of his bags. "Geez, what'd you do, pack all your belongings?" he asked. Antonio laughed. "Well, I was gone for almost 20 years, and I didn't think I'd be coming back. So yes, I did." he answered as Pilar came in behind them. "Luis, you and Miguel are going to have to double for awhile." she told him. They all heard Miguel groan. Antonio laughed. "Don't make Miguel give up his room. I'll double with Luis." he said, looking at his brother who nodded. "Are you sure Luis?" she asked. "Yeah, that's fine." he mumbled, also not wanting to give up his room. Awhile later, Miguel came running into their room. "Let's take the boat out now. Please Luis?" he asked. "Not yet. Let's give Tony some time to rest. We'll take it out tomorrow." he said. Antonio laughed. "Come on Luis, what's the fun in that? Let's take it out now." he said. Luis groaned. "Are you two going to gang up on me now that your back?" he asked. Antonio sprang from his bed and jumped on top of his brother. "Alright, alright, we'll go." he said, struggling to get up. "Tony, get off me." he said. Antonio giggled. "Alright, fine. Your no fun anymore. Come on Miguel, let's go" he said, as the three of them went out to the boat. They had been out on the boat for about 2 hours and they were all having a good time. Luis smiled at his brother, after missing all this time with him. It felt good to have him back. But was he going to stay....
Brian O'Leary sighed as he sat in the hospital waiting room. He didn't need to be there, nothing was wrong with him, but his fiancee insisted. "Brian O'Leary?" the doctor called. He stood up and followed him into the room. He knew he would find nothing wrong. Headaches occured everyday, and that's all he had. It would go away in time. About a half hour later, the doctor came in looking grim. "I don't like the looks of these test results. I need to do them again. I will give you a call in a couple weeks and let you know what I come up with." he said. Brian thanked him and went on his way. ~~Harmony, Maine~~ Luis and his brother were working on the boat they had found a couple days ago. It was in pretty good shape, despite the fact that they found it in the junk yard. All it needed was a new motor and some seat coverings, and a new coat of paint. They had gotten the motor and the seat covers already, now they were working on painting it. They were hoping to have it on the water within the next week or so. **2 weeks later** ~~St.Lisa's island~~ Brian was moping around his motel room, when Diana came in. "Come on Brian, your appointment is in an hour. We don't want to waste time." she told him. He frowned at her. "Diana, I'm fine. My headaches are gone, and I'm not sick anymore. This is totally useless, it's not like it's going to be anything life threatning." he told her. Or so he thought. "Well, you don't want to take any chances. I love you, and I want to make sure you are one hundred percent OK before we fly back to Harmony and meet your family." she told him. He sighed and let her lead the way to the hospital to get his results back. ~~hospital~~ "Well Brian, it was just as I feared. Your headaches are not being caused by stress, as you originally thought. It's something much more worse. They are being caused by the massive pressure being put on your brain." he told them. Diana frowned. "Which means what?" she asked. The doctor looked her straight in the eye. "There's no easy way to tell you this. You have a brain tumor. Fortunately for you, we can opperate on it. In most cases, people with brain tumors are usually inoperable. You are one of the fortunate ones." he explained to them. Diana gasped. "How soon does it have to be operated on?" she asked. "Within the next couple days. If it isn't soon, the tumor could get worse, and take over the whole brain. Then he could die." he said. "How did this come on?" Brian asked suddenly. The doctor shrugged. "Could of been a number of things. Nobody really knows how these things start. Do you have a family member who has ever had a tumor of any sort?" he asked. He shrugged. "I can't think of any." he said. The doctor shrugged. "Then I don't know what to tell you. All I can say is that we need to operate on it as soon as possible. I'll schedule with the neurologist for Tuesday at 11:00." he said. Brian nodded and thanked the doctor for his help. Then they left for the hotel. "Guess that means we have to put our trip on hold." he said sadly. Diana nodded. "Yeah, but it's for the best. You can see your family after your better." she told him. He nodded. "Not that my brother was looking forward to seeing me. But I wanted to see him, make things right with him." he said. Just then Liz appeared. "So was Diana right? Was something wrong?" she asked. Diana nodded. "Yes. Brian has a brain tumor, and he's scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday morning." she told her. Liz gasped. "Brian? But he's as healthy as a cow." she said. Brian chuckled. "Not anymore Liz. The doctor doesn't know what brought it on. He did say I was one of the lucky ones and that I would recover in time if it was dealt with right away." he told her. Liz still couldn't believe her ears. "I can't believe this. It's all happening so suddenly, it's too hard to believe it. Especially when it is happening to someone like Brian." she said. Brian went up and put an arm around Liz. "I'm strong Liz. I'll make it through. Then we will go to Harmony as planned, I promise." he said. Liz still looked doubtful. ~~Harmony~~ "So, do you think it is ready to be taken out yet?" Miguel asked his brother. Luis frowned and shook his head. "It looks done, but something doesn't feel right. I get the feeling that we are forgetting something, but I can't think of what it is." he said. Miguel walked around the boat, frowning. "I don't see anything wrong. I think we have everything we need." he said. Luis shook his head. "I don't want to take any chances. I lost Sheridan on a boat, I'm not going to lose you the same way." he said, abruptly turning and walking into the house. Miguel shrugged and followed him inside. He thought the boat was perfect, but he didn't blame his brother for worrying. After all, he had lost his fiancee in a boat explosion(Which everyone knew was brought on by the Crane's) and he almost lost his sister when she confessed to Julian's murder(the real murderer is still at large, but Ethan managed to get her off), so he didn't blame him for being so protective. He just wished he'd lighten up a little bit. After all, he was 17, he knew how to take care of himself. He sighed and walked into the house after his brother. **Tuesday morning** ~~Hospital~~ "Good morning Brian. Let me explain what we are going to do this morning, ok?" the neurologist said, launching into an explanation of what he was going to do, and how much effort it would take for Brian to recover. "We need you to put your full effort into recovering, because that will pretty much give you a clean bill of health. So are you ready?" he asked. "As ready as I'll ever be." he said, following the doctor. Liz and Diana got prepared to wait the grueling 5 hours it would take for Brian's surgery. Once the doctors were done, they came to talk to the girls. "Good news. Brian is in recovery, and he is doing fine. The bad news is, the loss of blood the surgery required. We need to find someone who has the same blood type as him." he explained. "What is his blood type?" Liz asked. "It's a very rare type, called OO-. Not many people have it. Nobody here in the hospital does, I checked already. What about you two?" he asked. Diana shook her head. "Not that I know of." she said. Ywo nurses led her off to testing. "I have AA+." Liz replied, as Diana came back, shaking her head. "Nope, unfortunately not. I have AA-." she said. The doctor shook his head sadly. "Do you know if he has any relatives? Any sisters or brothers? They are usually the best to test, usually one of the siblings has the same type of blood." he said. Liz and Diana shook their heads. "He never mentioned any if he does." Liz said. "I know he has a brother, he's mentioned him quite a bit. I know he lives in Harmony, but I do not know his name." Diana spoke up suddenly. The doctor smiled. "That is a plus. We can ask him his name and look him up. Thank you ladies, I'll let you know what we come up with it." he said, walking back to Brian's room. ~~Harmony~~ "Mama, where's Miguel?" Luis asked, coming into the kitchen for breakfast that morning. "He took the boat out to test it, I believe." she said, as Theresa came into the kitchen. "Nope. His motorcycle is gone, so I think he went to look for the part Luis told him was missing." she said. Luis released the breath he was holding. "Good, I didn't want him on the boat by himself until I made sure it was safe." he said. Pilar nodded. "That's a good idea. Well, I'm off you two. Don't get into any trouble, I'll be home later." she said, grabbing her purse and leaving the house. Luis glanced up at the clock. "I'm going to work. Make sure Miguel does not mess with the boat unless I'm there." he told his sister as he left the house. Theresa sighed. She hated being left alone in the house with nothing to do, and when nobody was home. Whitney was off on some tennis tournament, Chad and Simone were with her, and all her other friends were on vacation. She finished her breakfast and settled back to watch some early morning talk shows. ~~hospital~~ "Welcome back Brian. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked him. "Like I got hit by a truck." he mumbled. The doctor laughed. "Not quite. But you did just undergo extenstive brain surgery for a tumor we found. Do you remember any of that?" he asked softly. "Yes. I remember Diana making me go to the hospital. I remember Liz and how scared she looked when she found out I had the tumor." he replied. The doctor smiled. "Good, that's very good. You remembered the names of your fiancee and friend. That's a start. Now, I already told the ladies this, but during the surgery, you lost alot of blood that needs to be replaced. You have a very rare type of blood called OO-, that nobody else in the hospital has. We tested Liz and Diana, and neither of them have it." he explained. "What does this have to do with me?" Brian asked. The doctor frowned. "You need a blood transfusion. Now, usually in this type of situtation when someone has a rare type of blood that nobody else has, a family member may have it. I need to know if you have any brothers or sisters that could get tested for this blood type. It's crucial that we find this out soon, and get you that transfusion." he said. Brian nodded. "Two brothers and two sisters." he said. "What are their names and where do they live?" he asked. "Luis, Miguel, and Theresa all live in Harmony and Paloma lives in Spain with my aunt." he said. "Who would be my best bet to get ahold of?" he asked. "Luis or Miguel. Their always home." he said. The doctor nodded. "Ok. Can I have the number? You can talk to them once I get ahold of them." he said. Brian nodded and recited the number off the top of his head. The doctor dialed the number. ~~Harmony~~ "Hello?" Luis said answering the phone that afternoon. "Yes, is there a Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald there?" the voice on the other end asked. Luis frowned. "This is him speaking." he said. "Hello Luis. My name is doctor Tyler Burckman calling from the St.Lisa's island memorial hospital. I have someone here who would like to speak to you." he said, handing the phone to Brian. "Hello Luis." he said quietly. "Antonio? Why is the hospital calling? What happened?" he asked. Brian laughed. "Slow down. First of all, they know me as Brian. Second of all, the hospital is calling because of me. See, Diana insisted a couple weeks ago that I go to the hospital to get the headaches I'd been having checked out. Turns out it was a brain tumor. It was operated on, but I lost alot of blood during the operation and need a blood transfusion. The doctor wants to know if he can test you, Miguel, and Theresa to see if we have the same type of blood." he said. "What type of blood is it?" Luis asked. "A rare type, not many have it. OO-." he said. Luis gasped. "I think that's Miguel's blood type." he said, checking the police records he held on his brother and sister. "It is, I just checked. So what do they need to do?" he asked. Brian handed the phone back to the doctor. "Brian has told me that your brother has the same blood type as him. If possible, I need to fly him down here to do the transfusion. As soon as possible, so Brian can recover faster and get home." he said. Luis nodded as Miguel came in the door. "Wait a second, here's my brother." he said, handing Miguel the phone. "Hello?" he asked. "Who am I talking to now?" the doctor asked. "Luis's brother." he said. The doctor laughed. "You must be Miguel. Has Luis explained any of what is going on to you?" he asked. "Just that my brother needs a blood transfusion and I have the same type." he said. The doctor sighed. "Yes. I need you to fly out here so we can do the transfusion as soon as possible. Your brother would like to talk to you." he said, handing the phone back to Brian. "Hey Miguel." Brian said when he got on the phone. "Antonio?" he asked quietly. He hadn't heard his voice in quite awhile. Brian laughed. "Yes Miguel, it's me. This isn't the way I expected to be calling you, but what's done is done." he said. "How was this brought on Antonio?" he asked. "I'm not sure Miguel. But fortunately Diana noticed in time that something was wrong with me and got me checked out. I owe her for that." he said. Then he turned serious. "Miguel, I know we haven't seen each other in a few years, but I really need you right now." he said. Miguel sighed and looked at Luis, who nodded. "Sure. How soon do I have to be there?" he asked. "As soon as possible. Would you be able to fly out today?" he asked. Miguel handed the phone back to Luis. "Antonio? We'll make it a family trip. When Mama gets home, I'll tell her what happened and we can leave tonight." he said. "Ok, that'd be great. This wasn't exactly the way I was planning on introducing you guys to Diana, but I guess it'll have to be." he said. "Don't worry about it. Once your well, you have to promise me you'll come home." Luis said. "I promise. I'll see you guys later." he said, hanging up the phone. ~~that night~~ Once Pilar got home, Luis was there to tell her about the phone call they had recieved that day. "Where's your brother and sister?" she asked. "Miguel's taking a nap, and Theresa is watching TV in her room I believe." he said. She nodded. "Now what was it you had to tell me?" she asked. He sighed. "Mama, there is no easy way to tell you this. Antonio is not coming home as planned. We have to go to St.Lisa's and see him." he said. "Why?" she asked. He sighed. "He's in the hospital Mama. He needs a blood transfusion and the only able to give it to him is Miguel." he explained. Pilar frowned. "When do we have to leave?" she asked. "Tonight." he said. Pilar was silent for a second, then nodded. "Ok. Are the kids packed yet?" she asked. He nodded. "We told Theresa and they went to pack right away. I'm ready too." he said. She nodded. "Let me go pack then we can leave." she said. "Ok. I need to call Sam and let him know I won't be in for a couple weeks." he said, picking up the phone. "Harmony PD, chief Bennet speaking." he heard when Sam picked up the phone. "Sam, it's me." he said. "Luis, what's up?" he asked. He sighed. "I won't be in for the next couple weeks. A family emergency came up. We located where Antonio is and he's in a hospital and needs our help. So we have to fly to Bermuda tonight." he said. Sam whistled. "No problem Luis. I can get Hank to cover for you, he's covered for you before." he said, as Pilar came out of her room. "Thanks for understanding Sam. I'll call you and let you know how things are. I'm sure Antonio would like to talk to you." he said, hanging up the phone.
Later that night, they were all on a plane flying to the small island of St.Lisa's, off the coast of Bermuda. Once they arrived, they managed to get to the motel where Liz worked. Then Theresa found a note telling Luis where the keys were, and that Luis was welcome to drive Liz's car to the hospital. They all gathered inside the car and made their way to the hospital. ~~Hospital~~ "Liz!" Luis called when he spotted her first thing when they got to the hospital. She looked around and smiled wryly. "Hey Luis, nice to see you again. Who's all this with you?" she asked, as three other people came up behind him. "Liz, this is Theresa, Miguel is next to her, and my mother behind them. Guys, this is Liz." he replied, introducing them all. "Hi." they all said in unison. "Nice to meet you. I'm glad you guys got here. Brian just slipped into a coma about a half hour ago, and the doctor wasn't sure if you would make it in time." she said, as Dr. Burckman came up behind them. He walked up to the guy who closely resembled Brian and shook hands with him. "I'm Dr. Burckman. You must be Luis." he said. He nodded and motioned Miguel up behind him. "This is Miguel, and Theresa is over by my mother." he said. The doctor smiled. "Nice to meet you all. Liz probably already told you that Brian slipped into a coma a little while ago. We thought it was impossible for him to wake up once he went out again." he said sadly. Miguel shook his head. "Nothing is ever impossible as long as you try your hardest at whatever it is." he said. He laughed. "You sound like a psychologist." he said. Luis laughed. "Psycho maybe, haha." he laughed. "Anyway, let's get this underway. This shouldn't take long, but I will explain what we are planning on doing." he said, explaining what was going to happen. "How old are you?" he asked. "17." Miguel replied. Dr. Burckman nodded. "Ok. We just need a legal guardian to sign this then since you are under 18." he said. Luis took the clipboard and scanned through it, then signed it and handed it back to the doctor. "Follow me." he said, leading him into a room. ~~a few hours later~~ "Well, both boys are doing fine. However, Brian is still in his coma, but the transfusion should take affect immediately." he said. "Can we see him?" Pilar asked. The doctor nodded. "Yes you can, but only one at a time." he said. They all looked at Liz. "You can go first." Theresa told her. She smiled and thanked them and went back to the room. Luis was the last to go see his brother, since everyone else had gotten hungry and went down to the cafeteria. ~~Brian's room~~ Luis walked warely into the room. He hated being around his brother this way, hooked up by machines and everything. The last time he had saw someone like that was when Theresa was on death row, before Ethan had granted her pardon. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and started talking. He had heard cases where if you talked to the person in the coma, they could hear and they had a better chance of waking up. He remembered when he put Sam in a coma by accidently shooting him, he'd talked to him all the time until he finally woke up. "Hey bro, you gotta wake up. We came all this way to see you, now you cannot just leave us here with Liz and Diana." he paused, trying to think of something else to say. "You know, Miguel and I found and fixed up this boat a few days before we came here. We were hoping we could get you out on it, and maybe it would convince you to stay. It may be a bribe, and it may not be, but all I know is that we need you." he said. He sat quiet for a few minutes, thinking of something else to say. When he couldn't think of anything, he just leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, in deep thought.
He could see a bright light at the end of the tunnel where he was walking. He looked down and saw his brother sitting in the chair next to his bed. He could hear everything he was saying. Then all of a sudden visions of his childhood were brought back to him. He had just arrived at home for his sister's 5 birthday party, and he was not looking forward to it. To make matters worse, he did not want all of Theresa's friends running around the house and making all the noise their little lungs could possibly make. He heard screaming the minute he got inside the house. He looked around, amused, as he saw Theresa, and her friend Whitney running around the house, with Miguel chasing after them. Luis came in then, surrounded by Hank and Sam who were helping set up for the party. "Hey Tony, we could use your help with some of these things." Luis told him. Tony turned and walked out to the garage to grab some chairs for the table that was set up in the living room. Once the party started, everyone started having fun. Theresa and her friends went outside so they could play tag, but when Miguel tried to follow them, she yelled at her little brother. Tony came to the rescue and the two of them went upstairs to play with Miguel's toy cars. He smiled at that memory. He remembered it well. Theresa had ended up getting the thing she wanted most that year, which was a tape player, the most a 5 year old could ever ask for. Luis frowned. For a second there, he thought he had saw a smile on his brother's face, but then it disappeared. "Come on bro. I don't know what to call you anymore, you go by so many different names now it's confusing." he chuckled. He remembered when he had first found out that Antonio was alive, when Beth had told him he was in Bermuda. When he ran into him, he had found out that he was going by his middle name, Brian. "Anyway, about this boat we found. It's a nice one, not to big, but not to small. It has a small cabin in it, but right now it's being used as a storage room. Miguel is anxious to get it started, but I'm kinda scared to go on it. Last time my fiancee got killed when our boat exploded in Bermuda." he explained. Brian kept trying to open his eyes, but it felt like something was keeping them shut. He heard his brother say he was afraid to go on the boat, which brought back another memory. Luis had hardly ever been afraid of anything. He remembered the last time he was afraid of something was when he was starting high school. Tony had been sitting out in the living room with his sister and brother when he heard Luis come in and slam the door to his room. He figured that he was just upset about something and that it would pass in time. But once he heard the radio blaring as loud as it could possibly go, he knew something was wrong. Luis never turned his radio up that loud unless he wanted to forget about something bad happening to him. He got up and went down to his brother's room. He opened the door, and the first thing he did was go straight to the radio and turn it off. If Luis noticed, he didn't say anything. He was lying face down on his bed. Tony went over and sat down on the bed, putting a hand on his brother's back. "Luis? What's wrong?" he asked. Luis turned over and looked at his brother, but didn't answer. Tony could see the tears streaming down his face, which was unusual because Luis never cried. "What's wrong?" he asked again. Luis shook his head. "Nothing, I'm fine." he said. Tony looked at him. "You wouldn't be in here avoiding everyone, much less crying, if you ok. Tell me what's wrong, you know you can tell me anything." he said. He sat up and ran his sleeve over his eyes, to wipe his tears away. "It's just that I'm afraid for school to start. Especially since Hank is moving next week." he said. Tony was surprised. Sam hadn't said anything to him about his family moving, and he hadn't heard anything from his mother either. "I didn't know Hank was moving, Sam never mentioned it me." he said. Luis nodded. "Sam's going to stick around here and finish school." he said. Tony nodded. "So what's the problem?" he asked, clearly confused. "I'm just scared. Hank's always been with me and I knew I could always count on him if something went wrong. Now he's moving, and school starts in 2 weeks and he's not going to be there." he said. Tony nodded, now fully understanding the problem. Hank and Luis had been best friends all their lives, and he could understand how his brother felt. It was hard to be 14 years old and starting a new school and having your best friend leaving at the same time. "Well, you'll always make new friends. And besides, you and Hank would of been going your seperate ways soon anyway, after all, you're both growing up." he said. Luis nodded. "I know that, but at least I would of been confident having Hank in the same school." he said. Tony looked at his brother. "You know Luis, I had the same problem when I started highschool. I didn't know anyone until I met Sam. You'll make new friends. Sure, it'll take time, but eventually you'll forget about Hank, and make all new friends. Besides, I bet it won't be long after school starts that you'll have a girlfriend." he said, smiling. Luis grinned. "Why do you say that?" he asked. Tony laughed. "Trust me Luis. It's the Lopez-Fitzgerald charm, the girls can't resist it." he said. Luis laughed, feeling better already. Luis had finally gotten up and left, becoming tired all of a sudden. He felt an urge to stay, but ignored it. He figured if anything happened, the doctor would call and tell them. Brian remembered clearly the memory of Luis's first day of highschool. Hank had moved, but came back two weeks later. He had become home sick and had moved in with Sam. As much as he kept trying to open his eyes, he couldn't. Until 2 days later. **2 days later~~ Liz and her guests were sitting in the dining room that morning, when the phone rang. She got up to answer it. "Uh-huh. That's great. Yeah, their all right here. I'll tell them and we'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you." she said, turning to her guests and telling them that Brian had woke up. ~~hospital~~ As soon as they got to the hospital, the doctor showed them the way to the room. When they got to the room, they saw Brian sitting up and laughing at something one of the nurses had said. He turned and had a huge smile on his face when he saw his family standing next to him. Pilar had tears in her eyes as she went up to hug him. "Dios mio, your actually here." she said. He nodded and gave her a big hug back. "Yeah Mama, I'm really here." he said.
Chapter 2
~~Liz's hotel~~ "Well Brian, I'm thankful that you're ok. Are you planning on going home now that your ok?" Liz asked him. He nodded. "Yes I am Liz. I promised my brother that I would go home. Besides, I want to go on the boat he and Miguel fixed up." he said, winking at Luis. Luis laughed. "You mean, you heard that?" he said. He nodded. "Of course I did. I heard everything you said, which also sent back memory flashes quite like the ones Dian-I mean Sheridan was having when she regained her memory." he explained. Luis groaned. "Please don't tell me what the memory flashes were of." he pleaded. Antonio laughed. "One was Theresa's 5th birthday. Speaking of, where did her and Miguel take off to?" he asked. Liz and Pilar exchanged smiles. "Anyway, the second one was of when you first started highschool." he said. Luis groaned. "Oh great, I had a feeling that would have to be one of them." he said, as his brother and sister came back in the room with a giant cake in their hands. Antonio looked at his mother. "Mama? What is this all about?" he asked. She chuckled. "We had to have time for Theresa to make it. We didn't even tell Luis, because we needed him to distract you from going into the kitchen with Theresa and Sheridan." she explained. "But what is it for? My birthday was months ago." he said. She shook her head. "A welcome home gift. Luis and Miguel got the boat, so Theresa and I thought we'd make something." she said. "Liz helped." Sheridan replied, coming into the dining room. Liz nodded. "That's right, it's from all 4 of us." she said. He laughed and they all started eating the cake.
Chapter 3 ~~Harmony, Maine~~ Antonio looked around the house that he had not seen in over 20 years. "Wow, it's amazing to think that I grew up in this house." he said. "Yeah, and it's amazing to think that we still live in this house." Luis replied, coming up behind him with one of his bags. "Geez, what'd you do, pack all your belongings?" he asked. Antonio laughed. "Well, I was gone for almost 20 years, and I didn't think I'd be coming back. So yes, I did." he answered as Pilar came in behind them. "Luis, you and Miguel are going to have to double for awhile." she told him. They all heard Miguel groan. Antonio laughed. "Don't make Miguel give up his room. I'll double with Luis." he said, looking at his brother who nodded. "Are you sure Luis?" she asked. "Yeah, that's fine." he mumbled, also not wanting to give up his room. Awhile later, Miguel came running into their room. "Let's take the boat out now. Please Luis?" he asked. "Not yet. Let's give Tony some time to rest. We'll take it out tomorrow." he said. Antonio laughed. "Come on Luis, what's the fun in that? Let's take it out now." he said. Luis groaned. "Are you two going to gang up on me now that your back?" he asked. Antonio sprang from his bed and jumped on top of his brother. "Alright, alright, we'll go." he said, struggling to get up. "Tony, get off me." he said. Antonio giggled. "Alright, fine. Your no fun anymore. Come on Miguel, let's go" he said, as the three of them went out to the boat. They had been out on the boat for about 2 hours and they were all having a good time. Luis smiled at his brother, after missing all this time with him. It felt good to have him back. But was he going to stay....