Learning to Love (2/?)

By Carol M.

See first part for details.

Enjoy guys!

"Jesus Christ, Michael, what the hell was that?" asked Debbie as she approached her fallen son on the floor of Babylon. Uncle Vic and Ben were right behind her, extending their hands to help Michael off the floor.

Michael wiped off the trickle of blood that was leaking from his lips. "I have to stop him," he said as he raced towards the door.

Vic put a hand on Michael's shoulder to stop him. "Just let him be, Michael. Maybe he just needs to work through things himself."

Debbie snorted. "Brian work through things? That' s a fucking laugh if I ever heard one."

The crowd parted slightly, revealing Lindsay and Melanie. "Where's Brian?" asked Lindsay as she approached Michael.

"Probably busy killing himself," said Michael as he once again started for the door. "We've gotta find him. He's gonna do something crazy."

"Michael, just calm down, alright. He probably just needs to blow off some steam," said Ben as he embraced Michael tightly.

Michael shook his head. "No, no, he's high and he's hurting and I'm afraid he's…"

"Well who knew that Babylon was going to turn into Fight Club for the night," interrupted Emmett as he and Ted approached the crowd of friends. "Of course, you and Brian aren't exactly Brad Pitt or Jared Leto."

Vic laughed. "Brian would beg to differ."

Michael sighed in irritation. "Look, I think we need to go find him. I've got a bad feeling."

"Honey, Brian's a big boy. You've looked after him long enough," said Debbie. "Now just forget about him and enjoy your party."

Michael shook his head. "I can't. Not until I know he's okay."

"Maybe he just went back to his loft and went to bed?" offered Lindsay.

Melanie snorted. "Yeah that's fucking likely. When has Brian ever gone to bed alone?"

"If he did, it would be the first sign of the apocalypse," said Ted as he nonchalantly smiled at Emmett.

Emmett returned the smile and then put his hands on Michael's shoulders. "Sweetie, when the king of Liberty Ave. has his heart broken, it's best to stay out of the path of destruction until the storm clears."

"Don't any of you care about him?" asked Michael in anger.

"Of course we do, sweetheart, but sometimes you just have to let a person cool off before you can help them," said Debbie.

"Come on, Michael, they're playing our song," said Ben as he tried to drag Michael towards the dance floor.

Michael sighed and was about to let himself be led though the crowd when they all heard horrified shouts coming from the entrance of the club. Michael pulled away from Ben and instantly dashed outside, his heart beating wildly in his chest. "What happened?" he asked urgently to the crowd of clubgoers loitering outside.

"There was an accident. A jeep plowed right into some pickup out there," answered an older man dressed in nothing but leather chaps.

"Oh shit," said Michael as he ran towards the street. What he saw nearly made him collapse to the ground in terror. Brian's jeep was lying on its side in the middle of the street, crushed beyond recognition. Smashed against it was the back end of a gray pickup, the driver trying unsuccessfully to dislodge himself from a bent door. "Brian," he whispered as he ran towards the mangled jeep, desperate to help his best friend.

"Holy Christ," shouted Debbie as the others caught up to Michael and saw the destruction.

"Somebody get an ambulance!" shouted Ben urgently as he came up to Michael's side, intending to assist in whatever way he could.

"Brian!" shouted Michael urgently as he tried to push his way through the glass and metal to find his friend. He spotted the unconscious bleeding form of Brian almost instantly and couldn't stop the tears that started flowing down his face.

Ben immediately took Michael in his arms and turned him away from the horrible image. "Shhh, he'll be okay, he'll be okay. He'll get through it."

"Brian," said Lindsay softly when her and Melanie made it to the jeep. She put a hand up to her mouth. "Oh god."

"Where the hell is the goddamn ambulance?" shouted Debbie, on the verge of hysterical tears.

"They're on their way, Deb," said Ted as he and Emmett stared at the mangle jeep in horrified fascination.

"What's going on?" came a female voice from behind the crowd. Debbie turned around to see a terrified Jennifer staring at Brian's jeep. "Was he…was Justin…is he in there?" she managed.

Debbie shook her head. "No honey, Justin already left. He's safe."

Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief that was quickly replaced with worry. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You can find Sunshine and tell him what happened," said Debbie as the harsh sounds of sirens started ringing from the distance. "It's about fucking time!"

The ambulance pulled up, along with a fire truck. Firefighters and paramedics quickly poured out of the vehicles, telling everyone to move back. The paramedics approached the jeep and did a cursory exam of Brian, motioning towards the fire fighters for assistance.

"Is he…is he dead?" asked Michael tearfully.

"No. We've got a pulse, but we've got to get him out of here as soon as possible or we might lose him," said one of the paramedics. "I need you people to give us more room and let us do our job."

The crowd of friends stepped back and then watched as the paramedics tended to the driver of the pickup that Brian had hit. The man seemed to be shaken, but not seriously injured. Then they watched as Brian's jeep was torn apart by the Jaws of Life and Brian's bleeding, broken form was pulled from the wreckage.

"Brian, can you hear me?" asked Michael as he stared down at his best friend, who had just been put on a stretcher. The paramedics were sticking him with needles and tubes and other medical equipment that made Michael flinch. "Can I ride with him?" he asked one of the paramedics as he looked back at Ben for silent permission.

Ben nodded slightly and grabbed a hold of Debbie's hand to console her.

The paramedic looked up and also nodded. "Yeah, but just you. They rest of you people will have to meet us at the hospital."

Melanie nodded. "Me and Lindsay have our car. Somebody can ride with us."

"I've got mine too," said Ted as he pulled out his car keys.

"Well what the hell are we still standing around here for?" asked Debbie. "Let's get to the hospital. Melanie, Vic and I our riding with you guys."

"That's fine," said Melanie as she grabbed Lindsay's hand and started to rub it. "He'll be fine, Linds. Brian's the most stubborn prick in all of Pittsburgh."

"You're damn straight he's going to be okay," said Debbie. She glanced up at the ambulance and watched as Brian was lifted inside with Michael at his side. "You take care of him, Michael. We'll all be at the hospital as soon as we can."

Michael nodded tearfully as the ambulance doors shut and the vehicle tore away, it's blaring sirens causing everyone in the crowd to wince.

TBC