"Come on, Nick," Howie begged, holding the banana in front of my lips.
"I'm not hungry. And you don't have to feed me!"
Kevin looked up from my knee. "Nick, eat the damn thing! Is passing out not enough of a hint that you need to eat?"
Didn't he get the hint that if I did I'd puke?
"But-"
AJ rolled his eyes, shoving the banana through my lips. "There! Yum! Yum!"
My stomach churned. This was not appetizing.
I coughed. "I just can't eat it-"
AJ tossed another piece into my mouth. "Yes, you can!"
"Ow!" I winced as Kevin cleaned my knee with the rubbing alcohol.
Howie frowned. "Is his knee okay, Kev?"
He nodded. "I think so. Stretch your knee out for me, Nick."
"I don't want to."
"Why not?"
Well, wake up call, Kevin. It would hurt. I threw my legs over the bunk sitting up. "Just let me be, I'm fine."
"Nick, lye back." Brian said soothingly, re-joining us. "You have to let them take care of you."
"But I'm fine!"
Howie gently forced me back. "But-"
Kevin turned to his cousin. "I told you to lye down. You were almost hyperventlating!"
"But I didn't! I was scared for him."
I cleared my throat. "Bri-"
"Shut it, Nick! You already scared Brian enough for one day!" Kevin barked.
He treated me as if I had committed a crime. "I didn't mean to."
Kevin bandaged my knee. "Were you doing this to get attention?"
"Back off, Kev!" Brian hissed. "He can't help being sick."
"He's not sick, Brian, you're sick. Nick just wasn't eating and being stupid."
Howie laid a washcloth against my forehead. "Kevin, I was the one that caught him. He went straight down and he didn't even flinch when you picked him up."
AJ faced me. "There are some paramedics in the arena. I think we should get him checked out. Maybe he does have a virus or something. He looks awful, Kev."
"All right," Kevin sighed. "They can take a look at you too, Brian."
"What?" Brian fumed. "Kevin, he passed out!"
"From not eating!"
I stood. "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" I fought my tears as I continued screaming. "All I care about is Brian! And I didn't do that on purpose, Kevin! If I did why would I be worried about Brian while you guys were waking me up?"
"Nick, sit down," Brian whispered.
"NO!" I stumbled out of the bus, running off, still hearing them yelling.
"DAMN YOU, KEVIN!" Brian hollered, taking off after me.
I ran through the parking lot, just wanting to get away from Kevin's harsh tones. What more reason did I need for keeping this to myself? I tumbled over onto the hard cement, my knee throbbing. "Aw-" I breathed, bringing my knee to my chest. "Son of a bitch."
"Nick? Nick?" I heard Brian shouting as he ran up behind me. He tried to catch his breath. "Wh-why did you run off like that?"
"I was sick of Kevin bitching at me. And l didn't want you getting upset."
"You don't need to worry about me."
I winced. "Likewise. I'm fine."
He pointed to my knee. "Your knee hurting?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I scraped the skin off and it's burning pretty bad. Guess, I shouldn't have ran, huh?"
He chuckled. "Guess not." He rested his palm to my brow. "No fever, but you still don't look well to me."
"Bri, I just lost consciousness. What do you expect?"
"Okay, good point." He extended his hand. "Come on, I want the paramedics to take a look at you."
"They'll say Kevin was right."
"Either way, I'd feel better knowing, okay?"
"Then, will you drop it?"
"If you stop gagging and start talking to me, I'll drop it."
I just couldn't talk to him and gagging is kinda' involuntary. "Um, sure thing."
He pulled me to my feet as I limped.
"Damn," I groaned, "Kevin made this bandage a little tight."
"The paramedics can fix it up."
The paramedics? If I don't get a Snoopy band-aid and lollipop, I'm going to be thoroughly pissed off at the United States medical system.