Patrick

Patrick is the Support Group Leader for a weekly cancer support group for young people, held in the basement of an Episcopal church shaped like a cross. A cancer survivor himself, he is a divorced, mostly friendless adult who exploits his past illness to eke out a living, and his repetitive, self-pitying life story and clichéd spiritual platitudes make the group a source of depression rather than comfort for Hazel.

Role and Leadership

Patrick is the only person over eighteen in the room, and he leads the group with a fixed routine. He begins each meeting with the serenity prayer, then recounts his own depressingly miserable life story—how he had cancer in his testicles and was expected to die but did not, and now, as a full-grown adult, he is divorced, addicted to video games, mostly friendless, eking out a meager living by exploiting his cancertastic past, slowly working toward a master's degree that will not improve his career prospects, waiting for the sword of Damocles to give him the relief he escaped when cancer took both of his testicles but spared what only the most generous soul would call his life. He then asks each member to introduce themselves by name, age, diagnosis, and how they are doing today, and after the circle, he asks if anyone wants to share. He lets them talk about dying, but most of the members are not dying and will live into adulthood, as Patrick did.

Spiritual and Emotional Framework

Patrick frames the group's location in explicitly religious terms, repeatedly telling the members that they are sitting in the very sacred heart of Jesus. He leads a prayer at the end of each meeting, addressing Jesus and asking for healing and peace, and then recites a long list of the dead from a sheet of paper because it is too long to memorize. After the prayer, he leads the group in a mantra: "Living our best life today." Hazel finds his spiritual framing and the group's overall atmosphere depressing, and she communicates with Isaac through sighs during the meetings.

Interactions with Hazel and Augustus

When Hazel first speaks up in the group, responding to Augustus's fear of oblivion, Patrick's delight is evident, and he immediately calls on her, assuming she is opening up and becoming part of the group. Later, when Hazel returns to Support Group after her ICU stay, Patrick greets her warmly, saying he is so glad to see her. When Lida calls Hazel an inspiration, Patrick asks Hazel how that makes her feel, and Hazel responds with a sharp comment about trading her strength for Lida's remission. Patrick tries to mediate, saying he does not think that is what Lida meant. At the prefuneral Augustus arranges, Patrick is not present; the event takes place in the same room, but it is Augustus who orchestrates it. At the real funeral, a minister speaks, not Patrick. After Augustus's death, Hazel attends Support Group again, and when Patrick asks her to share a memory of Augustus, she responds by asking if he ever wishes he would just die. Patrick answers without his usual pause, saying yes, of course, and then asks her why she does not. Hazel cannot answer, and Patrick continues the meeting, saying a special prayer for her and adding Augustus's name to the long list of the dead.