It's been eleven years since Nick ran off with David for the West Coast. And though his life resembles a blue dream, after more than a decade of bar tending in resorts and cruise ships, Nick is finally thinking of heading home. First, he needs to go see about David in Vancouver ...<br><br>When he arrives, Nick finds a community of young men devastated by AIDS. Part of him wants to flee back to Montreal, but David is dying and Nick knows his place is by his best friend's side. In those four days and nights in David's apartment by the English Bay, Nick learns more about himself than he ever did before. When it's all over, he packs his bag and locks up his grief, determine to honor the promise he made to David of opening up his own restaurant.<br><br>Five years later, Nick is gaining a reputation in the industry as a chef, but has yet to have any meaningful relationships. Until Derek O'Reilly, that redheaded kid with the avocado-green eyes he used to know, walks into his dining room and ignites Nick's passion once more.

Blue Awakenings

I nodded, my gaze riveted to Davie’s face. We’d just finished giving him a sponge bath and I’d helped Annette change his sheets. Davie had lesions all over his thighs. They were purple. They looked so painful, and the idea that these lesions were inside his throat and on his lungs…I couldn’t take it.


“He’s in pain,” I said, not looking up at her. Davie had complained last night, something he hadn’t done before. He’d cried from the pain in his throat. I hadn’t slept all night. It had been the worst night of my life. Watching him suffer. And the hours going by so slow, minutes trickling, until finally, the dawn had come and he’d opened his eyes to watch the light fill the sky and he’d turned to me and said, “I love the morning.”


Now, I was bleary-eyed, feeling the madness gain on me.


Annette touched the top of my head. “Eat. Take a shower. I’ll watch over him.”


Chapter 18