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He was going to die soon. The doctors had said without chemotherapy he had a maximum of a year to live. Perfect. He had enough time to finish the Exy season, find himself a replacement, and inform his father.
Kevin Day was dying and he didn't feel the need to stop it.
His drinking problem had skyrocketed after the mass suicides made by the Ravens. Niel and Andrew did their best to help him. They never bought alcohol, never drank in front of him, and steered him away from Edens with the promise of Exy. And it helped for the most part, but they couldn’t always be there.
Nicky and Aaron regularly went clubbing, occasionally managing to drag Kevin along. There he would get so drunk he was vomiting well into the Monday after.
He could only admit to himself that he had a problem.But that didn’t matter now. Four weeks ago, Kevin went to the doctor’s for his annual checkup. He didn’t feel comfortable going to Abby for them, so he went to the nearby hospital. Abby hadn’t cared as long as he had a clean bill of health. Kevin thought this checkup would be the same as the others. Height check, weight, blood pressure, etc. but it wasn’t. When the doctor was examining his stomach, he noticed that Kevin would flinch when too much pressure was put on the area above his liver. The doctor took an x-ray, and sure enough there was a mass.
Kevin convinced his doctor to write a note saying he had a clean bill of health to, “ease their worries.” The doctor did it without question. They scheduled a time for Kevin to come back for a biopsy, to see if the mass was malignant or not. Then Kevin went on his merry way. He gave the note to Abby and was cleared to play.
A week later, Kevin went and got the biopsy done. Another week and the results came back; cancer. Liver cancer that was starting to spread. Kevin discussed treatment plans with melancholy, knowing he’d never go through with them. He scheduled another appointment, the first session hopeful, knowing full well he wouldn’t go.
He wouldn’t go because Kevin wouldn’t be telling anyone about this. And he didn’t. For months he suffered silently. He had finally gotten “sober”, Niel had been so happy and even Andrew cracked a smile. In reality, the drinking made his liver hurt more than it already did. Nonetheless, he let his teammates be happy for him.
His vow of silence ended two months before his expected demise. Kevin set up a meeting with Ichirou. He informed the boss his time would be up soon and he expressed regret at being unable to pay back the debt he owed, and pleaded for him not to take it out on Neil or Jean. Ichirou was silent as Kevin spoke his truth. At the end, he left with only a simple, “I hope you’ll reconsider treatment, not for my gain, but for your friends.”
Kevin took the advice to heart, he really did. But what would it matter? Kevin only predicted good things from his death. Andrew would be unchained from their deal. The team would be free from his insufferable self. And his father would be rid of his second-place son. Who wouldn’t want that? So in the end, Kevin never started the life-saving treatment.
The cancer was at its worst, and Kevin didn't know how much longer he could hold on. He had already written letters to everyone who mattered: Andrew, Neil, Wymack, the team, Jean. They were nearing the end of the season and the Foxes only had to beat USC. Internally, Kevin didn’t want to win. He wanted to give Jeremy the win he deserves.
His body seemed to agree with him, as it gave out only minutes into the second half of the game. His vision blurred and his legs started to feel like static. He clumsily made his way away from the play, trying not to faint on the court. He only just managed to make it to the door before collapsing.
Two days later, he awoke in the hospital. As his vision cleared, he saw both that it was night and that his team surrounded his bed. They were each in varying stages of grooming and consciousness. Only Andrew and Neil were fully awake. It seemed they had been for a while. Kevin's heart ached as he saw how domestically they sat with each other. They were curled up together, mumbling in soft German.
Kevin broke the silence by letting out a pained groan. His belly burned with vigor. The drugs he was on certainly weren’t doing enough. His sounds made Andrew bolt to his side and Neil run to get a nurse: presumably.
Andrew stood by with his arms stretched as if he wished to comfort the dying man, but Kevin was grateful he didn’t touch him yet. His mind wasn’t ready for comfort quite yet. Neil came back only moments later with a nurse who looked like she was cosplaying a zombie. The men were pushed back as she did her duty.
The drug started to flow and Kevin slowly felt less pain and more sleepy.
He let the blackness overtake him once again. Though before he went, he swore he heard Neil metter, “Stay alive, dear,” in French.
For the next few days, Kevin was in and out of consciousness. Most days either Neil or Andrew were by his side, if they weren’t, his father was. The times he was lucid enough, he managed to give apologies to them. None accepted them, only saying he didn’t need to be sorry.
_______________
It was a warm, sunny day in Palmetto, South Carolina. A day Kevin Day would have loved to play Exy on. The weather contrasted the black attire worn in the cemetery. The Foxes watched solemnly as the casket containing Kevin’s body descended into the earth. None of them were saved from the cruelty of tears, even Andrew.
Ask any one of the Foxes and they would tell you this was the first and only time they’ve seen Andrew Minyard, goalkeeper to the Palmetto Foxes, shed a tear that was formed out of angst and not a joking gesture. Neil would tell you, and Andrew would nod along, that without Kevin, life felt dull. Like something was missing. Betsy tried her best, but there was nothing to aid all the grieving young adults at once.
When Jean heard the news, no one could coax him out of a gloomy-eyed trance for over a week. The dissociation didn’t let up until the Exy season started again.
It took six months for Kevin’s letters to be found. It wasn’t out of neglect, it was the fear that if anyone moved his stuff, Kevin would cease to exist. It wasn’t until Neil had sat down in Kevin’s bed and really took it in, that he realized the papers previously recorded as junk were, in fact, envelopes.
Once received, some tore into the yelling paper, but others couldn’t bear it. Jean made Jeremy take the letter to his parent’s house until he was ready. Andrew refused to even touch it until Neil coaxed him to, saying it was what Kevin wanted.
Everyone found out the cause of death from the letters. The press never found out. The only person who previously knew was Wymack, it was his son afterall. The reason caused a shift in how all the Foxes interacted with the world. They started to discourage the new recruits from drinking and taking drugs, helping to prevent relapses, and tried harder to hear if one was having a bad day.
They all blamed themselves. There were signs, how didn’t they see them?
Kevin Day was once a man who believed he was second in everything: priority, love, the game, and so much more. But he would always be number one in the hearts of Neil and Andrew, right beside the other. As a way to keep Kevin close, they used their court salaries to turn the ashes they had kept of Kevin into their wedding diamonds. They started new charities for alcoholics and cancer research, thousands of dollars left their pockets to make sure Kevin was never left behind.
Kevin Day may have been dead, but he lived daily in Neil Josten and Andrew Minyard.