The Miracle

So, if you've ever seen the movie "The Cure" you might like this one. I've basically redone the ending at the hospital and changed the outcome of the main character's fates. Some of the lines are taken from the scene in "Roseanne" when Dan is at the hospital after suffering his heart attack in season eight. Enjoy! Sequel to "The Interview" is being worked on now!

Eric and Dexter, best friends for a few short weeks, sat together in Dexter's hospital room. Dexter had been slowly declining in health as a result of the AIDS disease that had infected him for many years. Eric came to the hospital earlier that day to visit and had asked Linda, Dexter's mother, to let him stay with his best friend overnight. Linda agreed and had left about an hour before. While Dexter lay on his bed daydreaming, Eric sat reading a magazine. Dexter turned to his best friend and spoke.

“Man, you gotta be bored out of your mind,” he said.

“Nah, I'm fine,” Eric replied. “They got some interesting stuff here in this magazine. Listen to this: 'George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, now wants to make a prequel trilogy for his movie series. Fans are torn between whether or not the movie will do as well as the others or will just plain suck.'”

Dexter laughed. “Look, why don't you go downstairs and get something to eat. You must be starving.”

“Oh I'm fine. I've been taking hits from your IV when you weren't looking,” Eric joked. “Next time, I'll add some chocolate.”

Dexter sighed. “Eric, man, I'm fine, go,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess if I go down there, I can beat the post-childbirth rush,” Eric replied, making Dexter laugh again. “You want me to get you anything?” he asked, standing up and walking to the door.

“Nah, I'm good.”

“You sure you don't want me to get you a cigarette or something?”

Dexter laughed again and Eric left the room. When his best friend had left, Dexter began talking to himself, but he was also talking to His Father.

“Oh man,” he sighed. “Alright, you got my attention. I got no more fight left in me. That's all I had was the fight. All I could do for my entire life was fight this disease and try not to succumb to it. I'm not ready to leave yet. I will keep fighting and living for my mother. Just give me some more time to work on stuff. I know you're not big on making deals, but just give me some more trips around the sun, you know.” Dexter began tearing up at this. “I don't want to leave them. Mom can't make it without me. And Eric will be crushed if I leave him and will have nobody else in his life to love and love him, at least not for a very long time. It's not like I'm asking for money or the moon; it's not that much. Please.”

Outside of Dexter's room, Eric stood near the door flipping through the magazine, not really reading it. As he did so, he also spoke to His Father.

“So, what is this, some huge cosmic joke thing you got going? Everytime something goes good, you have to make it turn to crap on me. Why? What did I do to deserve that? Why, this early in my life and frienship with him does this have to happen? I depend on you and you totally let me down. Although, you have let Dexter live long enough to meet me and establish a relationship that I will always be grateful for. Now, I ask you to do one more thing for me. Let there be a miracle of some sort, please. Let Dexter live his life fully, like everyone else does. Give him that right to stay alive and enjoy his life with his family and friends. Please, I beg you. I can't live without his friendship. And his mother, she can't live without him. If you take him away, you will crush her. Don't save Dexter just for me, do it for his mother as well. Please.”

Half an hour later, Eric returned to Dexter's room. Dexter had been watching television while Eric was away eating some dinner. Eric sat back down in the chair which sat close to Dexter.

“So, how you holding up?” he asked.

“I'm starting to drag a little bit,” Dexter replied.

“Well, I'll let you get some rest,” Eric said, getting back up to fetch a pillow and blanket for himself. He sat his sleeping materials down and stood next to Dexter.

“Eric, I'm scared.”

“Yeah well, I'm not, so we're cool.”

“Listen, there's something I gotta tell you and it's real important.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I just want to you to know that I've never had a friend like you before and I won't stop being your friend no matter what. I just wanted to let you know just in case...”

Eric interrupted, tearing up a little bit. “Don't say that. There is no just in case. Okay?”

“Okay,” Dexter replied.

“So I have something I want to tell you too,” Eric said, struggling to not burst into tears. “For the first time in probably my whole life, I've been feeling totally helpless watching you fight this disease.”

Dexter reached out and grabbed Eric's hand. “Your entire life is a long time,” was all he said before Eric leaned forward and the two friends embraced into a warm hug. They remained that way for quite some time before breaking apart.

“I promise you, Dexter, that no matter what, I will never stop being your friend. I will always think of you as the best friend I've ever had and will ever have.”

“And I promise you, Eric, that I will always be your friend, no matter what happens. I will always think of you as the one person besides my mother who stood by my side while I fought this disease. I will be forever grateful that you came into my life.”

The two friends hugged again. When they broke apart, Dexter laid down and slowly drifted off to sleep. Eric wrapped himself up in his blanket and sat down in his chair. He flipped through the magazine and read some of the more interesting articles. As he did so, he cried silently to himself and kept glancing over at Dexter, watching his best friend peacefully sleep. After about an hour of repeating this process, Eric put down the magazine, put his pillow in a comfortable spot and slowly fell asleep next to Dexter.

The next morning, Dexter awoke first. He felt light and airy, as if he was totally healthy and the AIDS was gone from his body. He looked around and found Eric lying asleep at the foot of his bed, having shifted there at some point in the night. Smiling slightly to himself, he reached over and shook Eric's head awake. Eric stirred and slowly woke up.

“Hey Dex, how you feeling?” Eric asked.

“I feel like a million bucks,” Dexter replied. “It feels like I'm not sick anymore, as if the disease has somehow been eradicated from my body.”

“Really? Maybe we should call the doctor and see what's happened.”

Eric walked over to the wall and pushed the button that would page the doctor. Within seconds, Dr. Stevens entered the room and walked over to Dexter.

“How you feeling buddy?” he asked.

“Great, actually. I feel like I'm not sick anymore for some reason. Like I've somehow been cured.”

“Really?” Dr. Stevens said with an air of curiosity. “Well, let me check your throat and other things to see what's going on here. Open your mouth and say 'ah'”

Dexter did so and Dr. Stevens examined his throat. After a few moments, he let Dexter close his mouth and then spoke to him.

“Well, your throat looks much better, it looks more like a normal healthy person's throat. Let me check your blood pressure and breathing patterns.”

He did so. The tests came back normal, indicating that Dexter was indeed in relatively perfect health. He ran some more tests and each came back showing results of a typical healthy person. After testing Dexter in every possible way he could, Dr. Stevens laughed for a moment.

“What is it?” Eric asked.

“It's a miracle,” Dr. Stevens replied. “I think Dexter has somehow, almost magically, been cured!”

Eric and Dexter looked at each other for a moment before bursting out into cheer. Dr. Stevens joined them as well, patting Dexter on the head and shaking hands with Eric. As they celebrated, Linda entered the room, apparently somewhat terrified by the trio's actions.

“What's going on?” she asked.

“It's Dexter, Linda,” Dr. Stevens replied. “Somehow, miraculously has been cured of the disease!”

“What do you mean?” Linda said, skeptical of what the doctor had just told her.

“Mom, are you deaf? I've somehow been cured!” Dexter exclaimed. “I felt terrible yesterday, but feel awesome today. Dr. Stevens ran some tests on me and found me in perfect health!”

Linda hesistated for a moment before running up and hugging Dexter. “My goodness, this is so wonderful!” she then hugged Dr. Stevens and Eric. Thank you both for staying here with him! Eric, how did you sleep last night?”

“Well, except for being slightly uncomfrotable, not bad at all,” Eric replied, making everyone else laugh.

“I think this calls for some celebration,” Dr. Stevens said. “After Dexter checks out and goes home, we'll all go to lunch or something later today on me. How's that sound?”

“Sounds good to me!” Dexter replied.

An hour later, Eric, Dexter, and Linda left the hospital all in good spirits. As they walked to the car, Linda spoke to Eric.

“So what did you guys do last night?”

“Well, I went down and got something to eat. But before I did, I stayed right outside the room and prayed that Dexter would somehow be saved so he could stay in our lives.” Eric replied.

“No way,” Dexter interjected. “I did the exact same thing right before you left!”

“So did I, at home last night,” said Linda. “It's looks like all of our faith in what the lord can do was all that was needed to get Dexter out of the hospital and free from that awful disease.”

“That and I think the love we all have for one another was strong enough, stronger than AIDS even, to make it so that I would be cured by this morning,” Dexter said.

“I think you're right,” Eric replied. “If we did not have this love for each other, I doubt whether all of us would be standing here talking about it.” They reached the car. “I'm truly thankful for you Dexter, and I will keep my promise I made to you last night, forever.”

“And I will too,” Dexter said. “Forever.”

They got into the car and drove off. Not only were the driving away from the hospital, but they were driving towards their new beginnings now that Dexter was free from the disease. He and Eric would be together as best friends for life, always by each other's side.