first off: WYN! i absolutely love you. thank you.
and much thanks to Sullen Shadowhawk and Secret Plasures for your reviews!
i'm so appreciative of you all -- you've no idea. thanks for joining the ride (Wyn for being on the ride since the start) and hanging through 'til the end.
okay, so...i guess i've managed fluff. -wince- ;-) but without further ado, the itty-bitty epilogue!
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Epilogue: "Not So Cruel...but Ironic"
Arthur Stuart sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair, dark head bowed, slumped forward. Tears he did not want to shed slipped silently down from his closed eyes to trail down his cheeks or make the dizzying drop to the dull tiled floor.
"Bleeding hell, Curt..." he whispered aloud. It had been so cruel...so horrible...
...But the beeping of the machine beside him dispelled any lingering doubts, though...
"I almost lost you -- again." He sighed and sat up, looking over at the man in the hospital bed, still too pale, eyes closed softly -- in sleep, much to Arthur's relief -- tubes and machines still hooked up to him, though. It was wild -- that he felt this way. He had shared one night -- just one, so many years ago, but his heart had belonged to Curt Wild ever since. And now. Now Curt... A sad, but genuinely happy smile came to Arthur's lips.
"But I didn't. You came back, again."
Curt Wild was still alive.
Ironically.
(The lyric in the page break is from "Diamond Meadows" by T. Rex)
Thank you so very much to all who've read. ...Now, the question is: what's next?