The Seven Pieces of a Feuilleton

Chapter 23

In his entire fifteen years of acquaintance with Dylan McKay, Brandon had never seen his friend so incensed. He had seen Dylan angry with his father, his mother, Brandon's father, frustrating SAT administrators. He had stood with Brenda and Valerie in Mexico as they watched Dylan rage at the cons who had stolen his money and taken his sister. He had been on the receiving end of Dylan's temper once or twice himself, which Brandon assumed he saw the extent of when they tracked down Cannefax at the bar.

He was wrong.

Since the moment they had walked into the hospital, Dylan had displayed a calm exterior - an eerie calm, a calm Brandon disliked.

A layer of ice slowly thawing over a bubbling volcano.

They were all there, everyone except the person they all wanted to see: the one who had brought them back together as a gang once again. It had, after all, been Brenda who had convinced Brandon to fly to Los Angeles, and if Brandon had not returned, his findings would not have helped to fix the destruction between Dylan and Steve directly before the latter would teeter between life and death.

Seven years before, they had stood waiting to hear the outcome of Brenda's crash in the same hospital where they now waited to hear about Steve and Donna.

He was the boy who had stood by Brandon through everything, even if he had gotten him into trouble once or thrice. She was the girl who had become a beloved little sister to them all, Brenda and Brandon especially.

Quite irritated at Fate for continuously playing tennis with the lives of those he loved, Brandon fervently wished that in the future, he would never step foot in that hospital again.

Janet sat awaiting news on Steve's surgery, comforted by her cousin Izumi and best friend Preeda. Her parents pestered the medical staff for answers. Andrea stood in the corner, calling Steve's younger brothers and mother on Janet's behalf. Clare had asked to be part of the team monitoring his condition, neglecting to mention her own past with him lest she be removed for being too close to the case. She had walked by the operating room and Donna's room at least five times each before Dylan and Brandon burst through the hospital doors, though Clare admitted that she had lost count. David bounced around from Donna's room to Kelly's, and back again. Valerie comforted Robinson, who sat vigil beside his wife and was being presently embraced by his sister.

Brandon bent to kiss Donna's cheek. "Hey, Don. Gotta hang in there, okay? Bren and I wanna meet that new kid of yours."

It was unsettling to see Donna where so many of their group had been before. It was Donna who had waited with the gang when Brenda was in surgery, when Brenda and Kelly were in recovery from the fumigated car, when Dylan totalled his Speedster, when Andrea awaited the birth of Hannah, and when Kelly's previous eating disorder resulted in severe medical attention.

It was Donna who had kept their spirits up when all seemed lost. It was Donna who had comforted Brandon when he had broken down over seeing his twin in the position Donna now lay in, and it was Donna who had helped him tell Brenda about the loss of her daughter.

Brandon realized that it was his turn to carry that optimism Donna was famous for, in a time that would make it exceedingly difficult.

But he had to: for Donna and her family, for Steve and his wife, for their friends, for Dylan and - Brandon swallowed roughly - for Brenda.

If Brandon wanted to maintain the connection their old gang had gradually begun to rebuild, he would need to take on the role Brenda and Donna normally shared.

Slowly rising, he settled a hand on Robinson's shoulder. "How's she doing?"

"Brandon, man, am I glad to see you." Sounding choked-up, Robinson stood and threw his arms around him.