Tomorrow May Never Come

After his condition was stabilized at the hospital on Long Island Suzy had rushed him to, Brian was taken to his personal hospital in New York, where Michelle's assistant would take care of him while she was on her day off.

It was a close call; Brian was just minutes away from a full blown heart attack and possible heart failure. For now, he needed rest and recuperation, and he would be okay.

Eyes opening when the doctor came in to see him, Brian sat up a little.

"Hello Mr. Haner. How are you feeling today?" he asked as he held the clipboard to his side.

"Pretty good...better," Brian asked, trying to be as upbeat as he could in that situation.

"Good. But...you do realize that another episode like this could result in-"

"Yeah, I know," Brian said, hastily cutting off the doctor. He didn't want to hear it, though he knew it was true.

"We should call Michelle," Suzy said from her seat next to Brian's bed. He'd almost forgotten she was there, she'd been so quiet.

"No..." Brian refused. "I'm fine. We don't need to bother her on her anniversary. It's fine."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Haner. I've already paged her. She should know about this," the doctor said, and Brian sighed, laying back into the pillows. Just what he needed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hand held in her husband's, Michelle made her way around the department store, looking at various items. Jeff hadn't gotten her anything, knowing it'd be better if she picked it out herself and he paid for it; that was just the way things worked for them.

Hearing the beep of her pager in her purse, Michelle checked it, stepping away from the counter of cased jewelry.

"Ah-ah," Jeff scolded lightly. "No pagers, no cell phones...nothing today. You promised me, today is for us. No work."

"It could be something important," Michelle replied.

"Well, you're not the only doctor at the hospital. Someone else can take care of it," Jeff insisted.

"Baby..." Michelle huffed, letting out a little pout.

"Chelle, it's always like this. We try to go out or do something with just the two of us, and work interrupts you. What's the point in trying?" Jeff asked.

"Alright, alright." Michelle turned the pager off, putting it back in her purse. "No sulking, alright? I'll make it up to you by spending all your money," she commented with a smirk.

"Oh, great, just what I need," Jeff answered back playfully, a smile tugging at his lips.

Coincidentally, Zack had brought Kate to the same department store, intent on picking out something nice to go along with her diamond engagement ring. She'd insisted she didn't need anything more, but Zack rebutted, saying that he wanted to do it for her.

Looking around, Kate's eyes stopped on an exquisite diamond necklace.

"You like that one?" Zack asked, standing next to her and seeing the look in her eyes.

"No...Yes..." Kate stuttered, letting out a sigh. "Zack, it's way too expensive."

"Oh come on. It's nice...it'll look nice on you. And besides...my dad is paying for it," Zack joked, poking his tongue out at her. Kate chuckled. "Now, why don't you go look at it in the mirror, and I'll pay."

Letting out another sigh, Kate had the attendant at the counter to let her see the necklace, trying it on and heading a few feet away to one of the large mirrors, where another woman was stood, admiring a pair of earrings she was trying on.

Standing before the mirror, Kate was nearly startled when she realized she recognized the woman in the reflection. The woman went to walk away, when Kate stopped her.

"Hi," she timidly said, and the woman turned to her, brow furrowed. "Michelle, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Kate...Brian's friend?" Kate asked more than stated, hoping Michelle would know her as a friend of Brian's. When Michelle's eyes lit up and she smiled, Kate knew she was right.

"Oh, right! Brian talks about you all the time," Michelle said. Kate smiled weakly; of course he did...they were married. Michelle and Brian probably discussed everything.

"All good things, I hope."

"Oh, of course," Michelle said with an assuring nod as Zack walked up to the pair.

"Oh, this is my fiancé, Zack. Zack, this is Brian's--"

"Oh, right. Hi," Zack greeted, knowing how Kate was going to finish the introduction. Sticking his hand out, he shook Michelle's hand.

"It's nice to meet you. So, you guys shopping?" Michelle asked, eyeing the necklace Kate had on.

"Trying to," Zack mused, and Kate rolled her eyes playfully, lightly elbowing him.

"Me, too. It's our anniversary today so I decided I'd come blow some of my husband's money," Michelle joked.

"See? She's doing it too..." Zack mumbled.

"So is Brian here too?" Kate asked, upon hearing mention of him.

"Brian? Why would he be here?" Michelle asked, confused, before turning to look for her husband. "Jeff!" she called out, waving him over. He arrived and flashed Zack and Kate a smile. "Jeff, these are Brian's friends, Kate and Zack."

"Hello," Jeff greeted, shaking both of their hands.

"This is Jeff, my husband," Michelle said with a smile, placing her hand on his arm. In that split second, both Kate and Zack felt shock run through them.

"Husband? You're married again?" Kate asked, not quite sure what was going on.

"Mich, you never told me you were married before," Jeff joked. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"Oh, shut up," Michelle laughed, lightly hitting him. "One is more than enough."

"Actually, we met through Brian," Jeff informed. "He's such a great guy; so full of life. Always wanting to see everyone else happy. But now..."

"Jeff..." Michelle said, caution in her voice as she tried to get him to stop.

"Now when I see him... Really, Michelle, when I see Brian now, I can't believe that he..." Jeff said with a pause, turning to Zack and Kate. "Well...Brian doesn't have very much time."

Those words alone caused Kate's stomach to drop. What did Jeff mean, Brian didn't have very much time? He was dying? Brian never said anything about it...

"But, it's really nice to know that you guys are with him in his last days," Jeff finished, and Michelle frowned slightly, knowing just by the looks of pure shock on both Zack and Kate's faces that they had no idea, that Brian had never told them.

The entire world around Kate just seemed to stop. All she heard over and over in her head was the line "Brian doesn't have much time..." It echoed inside her mind, and as the seconds ticked by, she felt her heart slowly breaking more and more.

Everything started to make sense to her. The way Brian acted, the way he tried to make everything right for everyone else, the way he was such a free spirit. Brian knew he didn't have much time left, and was going to face it with a smile and take care of everyone else before he was gone.

And then she remembered something she told him the day they first met.

"Live...laugh...smile...who knows? Tomorrow may never come."

Her stomach wrenching, Kate felt like she was going to be sick. Slowly, unsure of her own actions, she turned and began walking away, just wanting to walk away from the whole situation.

"I love you. I love you very much, Kate."

She remembered the words he had said, just weeks before. He'd told he was married to save her of the heartbreak of losing him, had done it to keep her from getting attached. He really did love her...

"I will love you forever. I will love you til the day I die...and even after that."

Throat tightening as tears began to fall, Kate let them come. One of the men she loved was dying.

"Oh my God..." she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked away faster. Zack quickly made his way to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kate..."

"No...I--I need to be alone, okay? I'm sorry," she sobbed, wiping her eyes.

"It's okay, I understand. If you need me, you know where to find me, okay?" Zack asked, and Kate nodded before he placed a kiss on her forehead and let her go. Kate left the store in a hurry, not wanting to be seen with tears slipping down her cheeks.

"...They didn't know..." Michelle muttered once she and Jeff were alone in the store once more. Quickly grabbing her phone, she knew she had to tell Brian what had just happened.

"Brian, I...I'm sorry but, Kate and Zack...they know. They know everything."

Eyes closing, Brian leaned back again in the hospital bed, phone pressed to his ear. "No...damn it," he said with a sigh before hanging up the phone. Taking a deep breath, he got up out of the hospital bed and grabbed his clothes from the chair. He had just finished dressing when he mother came into the hospital room.

"Bri, what are you doing? The doctors said-"

"Yeah, I know what they said. But I have to go. I have to do this," Brian replied, wincing as he pulled the IV drip from his arm. "Please."

Without another word of objection from Suzy, Brian hurried from the hospital, making his way out into the bright sunlight. Squinting, he realized that traffic during the middle of the day was going to be hard to manage by taxi; he'd be better off getting where he needed to goon foot.

Knowing it probably wasn't the smartest of choices, Brian broke into a run, heading toward one place where he hoped at least one of his friends would be. His breathing came in labored gasps, his heart pounding and working harder than he needed it to in his state. It took only minutes before he was nearly drenched with sweat, leaning against a building to try and regain himself. If he kept going at this rate, he knew he'd end up back at the hospital again, but he needed to do this. It couldn't wait.

Meanwhile, Zack slowly stepped out onto the balcony of his apartment, looking out at the city and thinking about everything that had just happened. The more he ran everything over in his mind, the more he realized that Brian had lied. He really did love Kate, after all that time. He just would never say it.

Hearing footsteps and heavy breathing behind him, Zack turned and saw Brian standing at the entrance to the balcony. He silently cursed himself for leaving his door unlocked again; he just wanted to be alone. But when he saw the pained expression on Brian's face, tears leaking from his eyes as he hunched over grabbing his side, he suddenly felt anger flare up in him.

"You lied to me," Zack spat. "You fucking lied to me! You do love her!"

Brian shook his head, trying to control his breathing so he could speak.

"I don't love her," he finally said, shaking his head once he was able to stand fully upright.

Glancing to Brian's side, Zack saw the crossed fingers his friend always did, finally realizing why he did it. "Don't do that, okay!?" he yelled, pointing at Brian's hand. "Stop! Doing that doesn't change the truth, Brian! Kate loves you, and you love her...so how the hell did I get mixed into this whole love story?"

Brian took a deep breath, licking his lips before he spoke.

"Love stories are made with two people, Zack, and in a few months, I won't be here anymore. I'll only be a memory. You're the reality here, Zack."

"Reality I can face, but once you're gone, she's going to mourn over you, and I don't think I have the strength to fight you for her even as a memory," Zack hissed, taking a step toward Brian, who was suddenly furious.

"Don't have the strength!? Don't you fucking look at me and say that! If you don't have the strength to do it, then it obviously means you don't love Kate as much as I thought you did."

"What do you even know about my love for Kate? You know absolutely nothing, Brian! Kate is my life..."

"And you're just going to let your life go so easily?" Brian countered. "What don't you understand, Zack? Kate would get me only to lose me... But if she were to lose you, she would lose love, friendship, everything she sees in you. She'd lose everything. Her love lies in you. It belongs to you. It just needs time, and that's the one thing I don't fucking have, Zack! I don't have time, Goddamnit!" Brian cursed, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth as he tried to steady his breathing again. He was getting worked up; he needed to calm down.

"Kate is yours. You can't leave her," Brian continued, looking Zack square in the eyes. "If not for you, or for Kate, then do it for a dying man's last wish. Please fulfill it, Zack. You can't leave her, you cant!" Turning, Brian went to leave, knowing where Kate would be.

"What would you have done if you were in my place?" Zack called out, and Brian paused in the doorway, slowly turning.

"I wish... I wish I was in your place..." he nearly whispered, and then he left, knowing exactly where to find Kate...

Wind whipping around her, Kate leaned against the railing at the park, looking down into the water of the Hudson River under the Brooklyn Bridge. She couldn't control her tears anymore and let them flow freely, not bothering to wipe them away.

That was how Brian found her as he came from behind. He was exhausted, holding onto the railing for support before he stumbled to his knees as he watched her. Even from a few yards away he could hear her sobs, and knowing she was so upset broke his heart even more.

"Kate.." he said, struggling to get her name on his lips. Turning, Kate locked eyes with him, and he smiled but she could still see the pain in his eyes. Stumbling toward her, Brian took a few tentative steps. Seeing the struggle it caused him, Kate met him halfway, looking up into his dark eyes. Her eyes closed when Brian reached up to wipe away her tears.

"Sshh...please. Don't cry, Kate," he tried to console, but it was no use as she began to cry harder. Hand shaking, Kate brought it up to rest on his chest, over his heart, and Brian placed his own over hers. The longer Kate looked at him, the harder it was for her to fathom that he was dying. Granted, Brian didn't look his best, but even when he had it was still a wonder that there was anything wrong with him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered out, and Brian sighed.

"Because...I didn't want you to worry about me," he answered truthfully. "You've got enough things to worry over...I didn't want to be one of them. I just wanted you to be happy..."

Eyes prickling with more tears, Kate could barely nod that she understood his reasoning.

"So you....you love me so much that you want to make sure there's love for me here...eve after you go?" Kate asked, throat feeling tight the harder and longer she cried. "Even if it's not yours?"

Brian couldn't force him to answer, but it was the truth. The look in his eyes was somber when Kate's gaze met his own.

"Why? Why did you do this? Why did you have to love me so much?" she asked, turning angry as she fisted the cloth of his shirt in her hands, pushing against him as hard as she dared to. Brian placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back, looking hard at her.

"No..." was all he could get out before Kate collapsed into his chest, holding on to him tightly. "I don't...I don't love you, Kate. I don't love you," he said, lying both to Kate, and to himself. Because he did. He loved her more than he'd ever loved another human being in his entire life, and it hurt him knowing that he had to leave her all alone.

His words just caused Kate to cry harder into his chest.