Dead Roses And Gilded Lies

Summary

The final wish of a world-renowned young pianist was for me—a man he hadn’t seen in ten years—to be the one to care for him during his final days.

In the luxury hospice suite, he showed me photos of him and his wife traveling the world. Greece, the Maldives, the Swiss Alps. He looked radiant; I looked like a man who had spent a decade working double shifts.

"Seriously, man, I don't even know how to thank you. You're a saint," he said, his voice thinned by the cancer. He leaned back into the pillows, a smirk playing on his pale lips. "Especially considering you’re the ex-boyfriend.