Take my hand, take my whole life too

My love, my life

After moving into the brownstone, Alex and Henry always set up a Christmas tree with quirky and odd decorations each year. Alex hangs up things he finds at thrift stores as well as things from his childhood and Henry hangs up decorations the kids at his shelter make every year. They lie down under the Christmas tree on every Christmas eve and wait till 12 O’clock to kiss under the mistletoe, with a promise to always do this no matter how old they are or what the situation is, to stick together through health and sickness.

And well, Alex breaks that promise early on.

[1st January 2024]

After the Christmas celebrations and the new years gala, both Henry and Alex get back to work, Alex joins the firm again and Henry gets back to the shelter and brings gifts for the younger children in the institute. He and Alex always exchanged gifts on Christmas morning with handwritten notes in ugly sweaters, it had almost become a routine to do so for them. Coming back to work after a long holiday felt too tiring for the both of them, so to look forward to something, Henry prepared a surprise date on the first Friday night of the week to give him something to look forward to, he thought to make it special, to make his famous quiche for Alex and decorate their brownstone, maybe let David wear a little bowtie. As he's sitting beside the children reading them a story from a book, he receives a call from an unknown number, “Hello, is this your roya- mister Henry Fox speaking?” The lady on the other side asked to which he replied, proudly “Yes, this is Henry Fox Claremont Diaz speaking, how may I help you?” the lady sighs a bit and asks another question “Is Mr. Alex Claremont Diaz, your husband?” she asks and Henry panics a little “well, yes, may I know who this is?” He asked as he got up and left the room to focus on the caller better “I'm calling from the Lenox hill hospital, your husband is admitted in here, could you please come at the hospital to see your husband and fill out a few forms?” The lady asks and by the time she ends her sentence Henry is already sat in his car “why is he admitted there? Please tell me that he's fine??” he asks while starting the car “I can't say a lot on call as it violates HIPPA, but I urge you to come here as soon as possible” she informs him again. He thanks her and hangs up, he tries to drive as fast as possible, he was in such a panicked state that he didn't even bother for the PPO’s, all he was thinking was “Alex, Alex, Alex”. The ride felt like the longest time he's waited in his life, and the entry into the hospital felt worse as it brought back so many memories, but he had to control himself as his husband needed him at the moment. The lady at the reception desk immediately recognised him and guided him to Alex's room. As he reached, he was hesitant to open the door as it felt eerie to him, but he had to. “Hey Henry…” Alex said weakly from his bed, he had an IV in his vein. “What happened? Why are you here? Are alright did you get brui-” Henry starts babbling “calm down, love. I'm fine right now” Alex cuts him off and holds his arm with the one not attached to an IV “the doctor was waiting for you, she'll tell us both together, I wanted to wait for you” Alex tells him calmly, and Henry is slightly terrified. Alex, whose brain runs at 240 miles per hour was now punctuating every one of his words with a breath and a sigh, and Henry is smart enough to realise that he only does this when he's in unbearable pain and unable to show it. Henry kisses his forehead and fixes his hair before holding his hand and resting his head on his shoulder. “May I come in?” The doctor knocked on the door and asked “Yes absolutely” Henry replied standing up for her, old habits die hard, eh? “Please be seated sir” she says as she pulls a chair for herself. “Please tell me what's wrong, doctor” Alex asks calmly “I need you two to stay prepared for what's coming next” she says and Henry takes it as a sign to hold Alex closer and tighter. “Please don't give me a fright, please tell me” his hand which is not holding Alex's is currently shaking, he's practically vibrating right now. She sighs and looks at the documents “We've run a few tests and some blood work as a precautionary measure, and I need you to listen to me carefully” she looks up to them both “A tumour has been detected in Mr. Claremont Diaz’s pancreas, and according to lab work, it's detected as a cancerous tumour” she says and Henry's heart drops, this is the second time in his life that he's hearing this exact phrase, well not quite exact, but the fear and confusion is the same. He asked the same question he asked the first time, on the brink of tears, “please check the records again, I'm sure it's a mistake” he said in one breath “sir, please calm down and drink some water. We can deal with this. It's only stage two, it will be fine with chemotherapy and radiation very soon” she says in an attempt to calm both of them down, but Henry is the only one panicking, Alex on the other hand is just trying to control his tears “will I be fine, doctor?” He asks, swallowing his tears “we have the best treatment in all of America, I'm sure if we all work together we can battle this disease” she feels a little emotional as well, no matter how many times one has done this, it never gets easier. “I would recommend you to start chemotherapy by Friday morning and get a thorough analysis by an oncologist in the coming days” she said as she got up from her seat to leave and Henry's heart dropped a little more, thinking about the special date he had planned with Alex on Friday. “you can stay as long as you like, we're all here for you” she says as she exits the room. Henry lays his head on his shoulder, uncontrollably sobbing and murmuring to him “please don't leave me, please”