"This sucks, this absolutely sucks! Who's gonna get sick next, huh? We can't have anyone else go down! It's bad enough Nick and Kevin are sick..."
AJ was ranting on and on in the waiting room. Howie and me patiently waited for him to finish his tantrum. He finally settled down and flopped down angrily on the sofa. I knew what he was feeling, I just wasn't about to vocalize it. I looked over at Howie.
"Do you think Kev's okay? The doctor's been in there awhile hasn't she?"
"Calm down, I'm sure she's looking over Nick too, she'll come out and get us when she's done." As he spoke, the door opened and in stepped not Dr. Turtle, but Nurse Katie. All three of us jumped up immediately. I spoke first.
"How are they?"
She finished scribbling on a chart and looked up at me. "Well, Mr. Richardson and Mr. Carter are both resting comfortably. You can go in and see Mr. Richardson if you'd like, Mr. Carter is in testing."
Testing again? Poor Nick. We all flew to the door. Katie held up her hand. "One at a time please," she smiled in amusmant. I looked at Howie and AJ as Howie waved me on. I gave him a thankful look and walked into Nick and now Kevin's room. Kevin had an IV in his arm and looked pissed as hell dressed in a hospital gown.
I smiled at him trying to hold it together as that role was now in my hands alone. "Hey Kev, how ya feelin' big guy?" I noticed all at once how sick he looked. He had the dark bags like Nick under his eyes and he was sweating pretty badly.
He looked away. "I'm fine Brian, I'm just a little tired, nothing a little rest won't cure."
"Bull shit Kevin! You are sick as a dog! Look at you! You collapsed! Why don't you stop lying to yourself and me and let yourself be taken care of!"
He looked at me in shock. I don't blame him, I don't lose my temper often but this was getting to be too much. He suddenly winced in pain.
"What is it Kev?" I asked as I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked me in the eyes.
"It hurts Bri, I'm scared, it hurts."
"What hurts Kev?"
"My head!" he wailed, closing his eyes. I helped him move his bed so he was laying down.
"Just sleep, relax, you're gonna be fine, but you have to let them help you."
He nodded, eyes still closed.
"You know Kev, you worry so much about the rest of us, what about yourself, huh? If that was me, you wouldn't have let me get to the point where I collapsed, you would have dragged me to the doctor when you first noticed a problem. You have to stop thinking only of others and start thinking of yourself too, you hear me?"
"When did you get so wise cuz?" he whispered.
I smiled."Must be a genetic thing."
He laughed despite his pain. "Oh really?"
"Yup!"
He opened his eyes again, suddenly serious. "Brian, don't tell Nicky how sick I am, I don't wanna worry him."
I sighed, Nick had a right to know, but Kevin was right. We didn't need Nick any sicker when he was finally starting to get better. I looked up as Nurse Katie wheeled in Nick who was sucking on a lollipop. I grinned at him and pulled it out of his mouth.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Nick, you can just keep down toast, I don't think you should be having candy."
He pouted. "Since when did you turn into Kevin?"
Okay, now I was scaring myself. Kevin glared at Nick from his bed.
"Watch it, Blondie!"
Nick stuck out his tongue at him. I smiled at Nick as Nurse Katie finished settling him in.
"Okay boys, I want both of you to get some rest now. Mr. Littrell, you need to leave."
I stood ruffling Nick's hair. "I'll be back later guys. Get some sleep. Especially you Train. Nick don't keep him up, you hear?"
"Yeah, yeah Frick."
I slapped his hand. "I don't care how sick you are, don't be a wise ass to me." He just laughed slapping me back. I followed Nurse Katie out into the hallway, and leaned up against the wall. "How is Kevin, really?" I asked looking her in the eyes.
She led me into the waiting room where Howie and AJ had disappeared. Probably to get something to eat. We sat down on the sofa. "Mr. Littrell, Dr. Turtle has suggested that we put Nick and Kevin into Isolation until we know what's causing their illnesses. I shouldn't have even let you in, but the isolation hasn't been confirmed yet so I did."
I paled at her words. "What are we dealing with here? What's wrong with Kevin?"
"That's just the thing, we don't know. Just like we don't know what's wrong with Nick. Nick is getting better, but his fever is still high."
I sighed. "What's Kevin temperature, he didn't tell me."
She looked at me sadly. "102.5"
Oh man, this wasn't good.
"So, we will be moving them in a little bit, you and your friends will need to wear gowns and masks when you go in, okay?"
I absorbed all she had told me in 5 minutes. My 2 friends lives were in danger and I couldn't even be with them without protection. I nodded sadly, putting my head in my hand. I needed to find AJ and Howie. I stood. "Thank you for being honest with me." She hugged me suddenly, patting my back. I hugged her back fighting my tears.
"You're welcome. And if you need anything, ask for me at the nurse's desk, they can find me, I'll be on all day." I gave her a thankful look as I walked off to find Howie and AJ.
"Howie, have you gotten a hold of Nick's dad yet?"
"He's still over in Europe, he's trying though, he really is."
AJ looked up form his sandwich which he was picking at. "Should we call Kev's Mom?"
I sighed. "I don't know Jay, let's wait till they know a little more, we don't want to worry her, Kev's older, Nick's only 18."
He nodded shoving his lunch at me. "You want it?"
"No and I want you to eat it. I don't want another one of us getting sick."
He grunted something and picked it back up, taking a bite.
"God boy." I turned to Howie, "When AJ's done, lets go back up and see if they moved them yet." AJ stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and stood, eager to go back upstairs. I slapped his head. "I said eat it, not make yourself sick." He grinned, mouth packed with food and started to the elevators. Howie rolled his eyes as he pushed the button for the 5th floor. The doors opened to reveal a situation in the hallway outside Nick and Kevin's room. Nick was panicking and screaming. Kev was trying to calm him down as they wheeled their beds to the elevator we had just stepped off.
"BRIAN! DON'T MAKE ME GO!! I WANT BRIAN!!" My heart broke as I grabbed his hand as he went past.
"Frack, calm down, I'm right here, don't worry, it's okay," I tried to soothe him as Howie and AJ ran over to Kevin to see of he was okay. Nick's panic attack was scaring him. A nurse pushed me off of Nick.
"Excuse me Sir, you can't touch him without a gown on."
"I can touch him if and when I damn well please! He's 18 years old and you're scaring him by moving him away from his friends! His parents aren't here and I wanna stay with him!" I exploded.
Howie pulled me back gently. "C'mon Bri, let them get Nicky settled in, then we can go in." I stopped and watched Nick go down the hall still screaming my name.
"BRIAN, DON'T GO!!"
I turned with tears in my eyes as my two remaining bandmates and I walked down the lonely hall.