Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr flew to New York last month to see George Harrison while he was undergoing last ditch treatment at a hospital on Staten Island. It was the last time the three Beatles would be together.
For six hours they sat talking and reminiscing. McCartney was surprised to discover Harrison "in good spirits" and sitting up in bed. Harrison's wife, Olivia, and son Dhani, 23, were on hand. When the three then parted, McCartney could not contain his tears.
Harrison had been admitted under the alias George Arias, his wife's maiden name, to be treated at the hospital's radiaton and oncology unit, a leader in lung cancer treatment.
The pioneering treatment was administered by Gil Lederman, director of radiation oncology at Staten Island University Hospital and a world expert on "fractionated radiation therapy", the use of targeted radiation against cancer.
Large doses were given in 10 minute blasts through catheters to a metastatic tumour that had spread from Harrison's lung to his brain, a process which minimised the effect of the radiation on the surrounding healthy tissue. The hope was that his life could be extended.
When the media appeared outside the hospital, Harrison took refuge in Dr Lederman's home. The hospital refused to confirm or deny it was treating him, and Neil Aspinall, the perennial Beatles spokesman, said the seriousness of Harrison's illness "had been exaggerated".
McCartney was asked about Harrison's health but dodged the issue. "I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he seemed good," he said. "He's my brother - we speak a lot."
In the final two weeks it became clear that this time the stories were true. "The quiet Beatle" managed to maintain his privacy almost to the end.
On Sunday, Harrison was discharged from the Staten Island hospital and joined his wife and son at the Los Angeles home of Gavin De Becker, an old friend. There, he received daily chemotherapy treatment at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Centre.
His treatment had begun four years ago with radiation therapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. "I had a little throat cancer. I had a piece of my lung removed," he said.
He had a lump removed from his lung at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in May, and in June he had radiation therapy in Switzerland for a brain tumour.
When in July the British Mail On Sunday made up a quote from Beatles producer George Martin saying Harrison was resigned to dying, the former Beatle announced he was "active and feeling very well". The denial was to deter the press from intruding on the last months of his life.