A couple of years after he returned to Florida, my brother started having health problems. He returned home and after some tests they discovered that he had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. His time in the hospital was very rough. Our brothers never accepted his sexuality and even said that he had AIDS and not cancer. This made me very angry. He was in the hospital for a long and difficult time.

When he got out of the hospital he moved home to stay with my parents and me. At this time I was going through a difficult time in my personal life. My brother and I spent a lot of time together socializing with friends and just being together. I thought he was dealing well with his life but I was mistaken.

One night when he was in his room my Mother walked by and caught him swallowing a bottle of pills. He was trying to take his life. My Mother called for an ambulance but before it arrived, my brother tried to run off. I ran after him and started to panic because he was getting tired. I grabbed him by his belt and tried to hold him up. I began to guide him towards home where I could now see the ambulance and police car waiting. I pushed him towards the police so they could save his life and was shocked when they threw him to the ground and handcuffed him. I felt like I had betrayed him! My mother and I were both crying.

I followed the ambulance to the hospital and then spent several hours waiting for news. After asking at the desk they finally let me in to see him. He was sleeping and the nurse told me that he had refused to drink the bottle of liquid that he needed to drink to make him vomit. I found her very unsympathetic to his situation. It made me angry. I sat with my brother and told him how much I loved him and that I needed him in my life. He opened his eyes and looked at me. He said he loved me too. At that moment, I grabbed his face and poured the liquid down his throat. He got so sick after that but it saved his life.