Patrick curled himself up as tightly as he dared, both hands clutching his stomach. He felt hot tears of fear and pain trickle down his cheeks, and he bit his bottom lip in agony. He slowly brought one blood-covered hand to his face, and whimpered pitifully. He averted his vision, which was blurred with horror, and was terrified to discover that there wasn’t another living thing around- not even an animal. “Pete….” He whispered, mustering the strength to pull his cell phone out of his pants pocket. Slowly, he dialled his partner’s number, the blood-loss making his movements sluggish. “Hello?” the voice on the other side was slightly comforting.
“P….Pete….” Patrick whispered into the handset, the blood on his hand causing the phone to slip slightly. “Hel…Help me….”
“Patrick?” Pete’s voice had taken on an almost terrified tone.
“I’ve…I’ve been…stabbed….Pete….” Patrick’s eyes closed softly, his head landing heavily on the bloodied concrete. His arm landed heavily, his cell phone skidding a few feet, the voice on the other line practically screaming the young man’s name.
“Patrick?” Pete yelled his voice chocked and shaky with emotions. “…PATRICK?!”

After several moments of frantic searching, Pete was almost terrified to find Patrick in the condition he was in. “Patrick…” Pete whispered, crouching next to the younger man. He pressed his hands over Patrick’s own, and the blond moaned in pain, his face contorting with agony. Slowly, Pete placed on hand on the side of his lover’s face, choking back tears. “Patrick…I’m here…..” He swallowed, attempting to get rid of the lump that was in his throat. “Everything….It’s gonna be alright….” Pete trembled as he placed a soft kiss on Patrick’s bruised face, and felt the bitter sting of tears filling his eyes. Patrick sighed in pain as he looked up at the dark-haired man.
“P…Pete…” he queried, his voice a barely audible whisper. Wearily, he placed one blood-covered hand onto the side of his partner’s face. “D….Don’t cry…..” Patrick’s eyes fluttered momentarily and Pete shook him to keep him awake.
“Stay with me…” Pete grabbed Patrick’s bloodied cell phone, and dialled the emergency services as quickly as he could.

“Come on…..Keep your eyes open…Please, Patrick….” Pete placed a gentle kiss onto Patrick’s trucker hat, holding the younger man’s head close to his chest.  Patrick broke out of Pete’s loose embrace, and looked up at him, smiling bravely. “Pete….”
“An ambulance will be here soon….Just, hold on….Please baby…” Sirens sounded somewhere in the distance, as if on cue, and Patrick smiled bravely again.
“I…I’m gonna…..gonna die….aren’t I?”
“No…Don’t say that….Please….”
“Pete….I…..I….love you….” Patrick’s eyes closed softly, his head drooping onto his right shoulder.
“Patrick?” Pete shook him, but after receiving no response, shook the younger man again, harder this time. “NO!” he gasped loudly, fear and sorrow sinking into his heart.  And ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring, and paramedics rushed over. Pete found himself standing about 6 feet away from Patrick, and watched, terrified, as the paramedics desperately tried to get a response. One shouted something about a pulse, and a stretcher was wheeled past Pete by the paramedic he hadn’t even noticed. All he could so, was watch and follow as Patrick was bundled into the back of the ambulance. “Sir- are you his friend?”
“I….I’m his boyfriend…” Pete muttered, squeezing the paramedic’s hand tightly as he was assisted onto the ambulance. Suddenly, the engine revved and the ambulance sped off, the sirens sounding on that continuous loop…..