A/N: Thank you to everyone who has supported this story. I felt like doing one last chapter. A small epilogue.
Harvey rolled out of bed. He didn't sleep well the night before. How could he? Today was a big day. Ten years ago today, he lost Mike. Even when he thought about it, he couldn't believe it's been ten whole years. What he had trouble believing was how much had happened.
He stayed at the firm for three more years. Three miserable years. He hated being there without Mike. Donna did everything she could for him but nothing worked.
When the autopsy was performed, the coroner concluded that Mike died from Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. After raising the money he needed, Harvey and Donna left the firm and started the Michael Ross HCM Awareness Foundation. They spent their time traveling the country and visiting high schools and colleges to raise awareness of the disease. Although it is more commonly fatal in athletes, it can kill anyone. They often had people with them who lost a loved one from the disease. Harvey was so grateful to have Donna with him. She knew how to make the audience care. When she spoke, everyone was entranced.
Most of the time, Donna was the one speaking. Harvey found it difficult to talk about it. He preferred to be behind the scenes.
After touring the country for two years, Harvey realized that he was tired. He was ready to go home. Their last stop was at NYU.
Donna started preparing a week in advance but Harvey stopped her. He knew this would be their time doing this and he wanted to be the one to speak. With some help from Donna, he had his entire speech planned.
It was a beautiful speech. He was proud of it. When he went up to the stage, he saw the picture of Mike along with pictures of others who had passed. He looked at the picture of Mike for a minute while the audience sat in silence. When he stole a glance at the families, he knew what he had to do. Harvey tossed up the speech.
He walked over to the picture of Mike. "My name is Harvey Specter and I am here because of this man. His name is Mike Ross and he was the most important person in the world to me. I love him more than anything." Some people in the audience got up to leave. He expected that. He knows there are people who aren't ok with homosexuals.
"He isn't here because of a heart defect that went undiagnosed his entire life. It's not fair. It doesn't matter what his life choices were and whether or not you agree with them. It isn't fair for someone to be taken away so young."
Some of the people who got up to leave were standing by the door. They were listening to him.
"Imagine rolling over to say good morning and your partner isn't breathing. In fact, he's already cold. He had been dead for hours. I performed CPR for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes! The paramedics didn't say anything when they got there but I knew. I didn't want to admit it but I knew he was gone. All I could do was race through the events of the night before. Did he hit his head? Did he drink too much? No. He didn't. He was living his life and it was taken away from him by a bad heart." He looked around at the people in the audience. Some of them had tears in their eyes. Donna was doing everything she could to keep her sobs quiet.
"It's called Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM. Odds are at least ten of you suffer from it, whether you know it or not. I know many of you are pre-med students so you probably have an idea of what it is. If you don't know, then your teachers are not doing their job. You need to know about this disease and others like it. They are killing people every day. Please, go to your doctor. Get looked at. Most people are asymptomatic. What's the worst that happens? If you have the disease, there are multiple options including medication and surgery. If you don't have it, consider yourself lucky that all you had to do was spend a couple of bucks to find out your heart won't kill you in your sleep. I am from New York. I know a lot of specialists. See your primary care physician and if he refers you to a specialist, contact us. If you have financial problems, that is why we are here. We will help you through this."
By this point, most of the audience was in tears. Many had their cell phones out. He could tell that the few people in the front row who were on their phones were looking for a phone number for a doctor.
"Thank you. My name is Harvey Specter and I am here in memory of Mike Ross." Everyone stood up and cheered. The people by the door who were going to leave were now clapping their hands and cheering. Harvey felt tears forming and bowed before walking off the stage.
Four years later, Ray was pulling into the cemetery. Harvey tried to come as often as he could but lately he had been slacking. He had so much to tell Mike.
He walked up to the tombstone. No matter how many times he went, he still got the sinking feeling in his chest when he read Mike's name. Harvey knew he didn't like flowers so every time he went, he left a different movie. Today it was Rocky.
Harvey sat down in front of the stone. "Hey Mike. I know it's been awhile since I've been here. A year and a half to be exact." He didn't think it would be this hard. "The foundation is doing well. We keep in contact with the people who are suffering from this illness. Overall, we had over 100 people contact us saying that because of us, they got tested and were diagnosed with HCM. We know of 12 that have passed away. Because of you Mike, we have saved over 80 lives. The names of those 12 people will remain in my memory forever. There is one person who died named John Hammond. He passed away about three years ago. He heard me speak at NYU and decided to get tested. He was fantastic Mike. You would've loved him. If possible, I think he saw more movies than you."
Harvey looked up and nodded to the man waiting to the side. "Mike I brought someone here to meet you. His name is Ryan. He was John's husband. Ryan and I connected after his passing. We got married in the Spring. I want you to meet him."
Ryan came over and put his hand on Harvey's shoulder then kneeled down beside him.
"Hi Mike," Ryan began. "It's so nice to finally meet you." He looked up at Harvey. "Can I speak to him alone?" Harvey nodded and gave Ryan and Mike some privacy.
"Harvey has told me all about you. I wish I could've come to visit sooner. He wasn't ready though. I don't really know if he's ready now. I wish we had the opportunity to meet. I want you to know that you will always have his heart as John will always have mine. But I do love him. He is so important to me. We adopted a daughter. She's 3. Her name is Lauren. I don't know if Harvey told you about her, but she is amazing. She is our rock. I think she has super powers. No matter how depressed or angry we are, she always knows how to cheer us up. Harvey said you had that ability."
"Mike, I promise to take of Harvey until the day I die. I really hope you are watching after John. He can be a handful so don't let him party too much. Thank you for everything. I hope to be back soon."
Ryan stood up and went over to Harvey. They hugged for a long time. Harvey let go first. "Give me two more minutes."
Harvey went back to Mike while Ryan got in the car. "I didn't hear everything he said, but I saw him say Lauren's name. She's getting so big so quickly. She has HCM also. Every day, I run into her room and make sure she's still breathing. The doctors say it isn't a serious case but I still worry. You turned me into a softie Mike. And I love you for that. Thank you for making me a better person."
He looked around to make sure Ryan couldn't hear him. "I'm sure you know by now but I figured it was about time I admit it. If you had asked me to marry you, I would've said yes in a heartbeat. I would've changed my name to Ross if that was what you wanted. I would've done anything to make you happy."
Harvey put his hand on the stone. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I love you Mike, always."
When he stood up, he felt a light breeze that wasn't there before. It went away as quickly as it came. Harvey smiled. He knew everything would be alright.