Where Am I?
”Hey! He ate breakfast? He’s up and eating breakfast and you didn’t call us?” Kevin questioned as he eyed the dirty dishes and cups sitting on the bed tray.
“Yeah, I thought we promised to call when something happens,” Howie added.
AJ shook his head. “No, you got it all wrong, me and Bri had the breakfast, not Nick. God, are you trying to make us feel guilty about eating?”
“Well I---”
“Do you honestly think that Nick could wake up from a coma and eat a full breakfast?” AJ interrupted Howie.
Howie folded his arms across his chest. “Well, um, weirder things have happened before, and besides, that would be Nick though, right?”
Kevin, AJ and Brian looked at Howie, blank expressions on their faces.
“Think about it...we’re talking bottomless pit Kaos, the guy that lives for food. Oh skip it, I was trying to make a joke,” Howie mumbled as he sunk into a chair.
Brian grinned. “It’s okay Howie, I know where you’re coming from and I wouldn’t be surprised if Nick didn’t wake up and ask for a Mountain Dew and a bag of Doritos.”
Kevin suddenly broke into the long silence. “So how was breakfast?”
“Put it this way,” AJ grinned, pushing his glasses up. “Kaos was smart to be asleep, hell who knows, maybe he’s faking it to get out of that god awful thing they called breakfast!” AJ reached down and squeezed his younger brother’s foot. “Right Nick?”
Nick’s eyes flew open.
“HOLY SHIT!” AJ breathed, jumping back from the bed.
The scowl on Nick’s face indicated that he was mad, his blue eyes stayed focused on the wall at the foot of the bed. AJ leaned in and put his face in the line of Nick’s vision. He removed his sunglasses, his dark eyes locked with the young man’s clear blue eyes. The scowl never fading from his expression.
“Pissed ya off when I did that?” AJ thought outloud and once again, placed a hand ontop of Nick’s foot and squeezed it again.
Nick quickly drew his foot away from AJ’s grasp, his eyes still locked onto AJ’s, his jaw set. As AJ reached out again for Nick’s foot, Kevin growled.
“Stop doing that, you’re making him mad, he doesn’t like it!”
AJ persisted, squeezing his foot once again. “The doc says we’re supposed to stimulate him.”
”Stimulate, not irritate,” Kevin corrected.
“Fu..fu..fu”
All eyes turned to Nick when the gutteral sound was made. His face was still twisted in anger, his eyes locked onto AJ’s face.
AJ released his hold on Nick’s foot. “What did he just say? Nick?”
“Fu..fuuuck.” Nick groaned in a low voice, anger still in his eyes.
“We must be getting somewhere,” AJ theorized and reached out once again for Nick’s foot.
“I don’t think that making Nick madder is going to solve this,” Kevin warned.
Nick scowled at AJ, never taking his eyes from his Backstreet brother.
“C’mon kid, talk to me,” AJ challenged, grabbing Nick’s foot once again.
Kevin reached out and slapped AJ on the arm. ”STOP!”
Rubbing the offended area, AJ mumbled something inaudible and inched away from the bed. After a few moments of staring at AJ with disapproving looks, their attention was once again focused on their young brother, laying in the bed.
Nick eyes searched the room. “Whose place is this?”
“Huh?” Brian grunted, not sure he heard Nick’s soft voice correctly.
“Why are you in my bedroom?”
Kevin and Brian exchanged uneasy glances. Howie immediately left the room to get the nurse.
Kevin leaned over so that his face was in Nick’s view. ”DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”
Instinctively, Nick cupped his ears, a sour expression on his face. “Don’t,” he muttered.
“I guess we don’t need to yell anymore,” AJ advised.
Sighing, Kevin tried again. “Do you know who I am?”
Nick raised an eyebrow as he looked at the dark haired man. “Kevin.”
Kevin asked the names of AJ and Brian and Nick supplied the right answer each time. Before Kevin could ask another question, Nick stopped him.
“Whose place is this?”
“You’re in the hospital,” Kevin replied.
“Why?”
“You took too many meds when you had been drinking.”
Nick’s eyes went from Kevin’s face, to AJ’s and then to Brian’s. A look of confusion crossed his face and with a quiet and shaky voice, “Where am I?”
“I told you you’re in the hospital,” Kevin replied calmly.
“Why?”
“God, he sounds like a broken record,” AJ mumbled. “Nick, Kevin just told you that you took too many meds when you had been drinking!”
Nick cupped his ears and shook his head. “Don’t.”
Leaning towards his friend, Brian gently pried Nick’s hands away from his ears. In an unexpected twist, Nick suddenly went from meek and passive to angry and agressive as he reached out and started swinging his fists at Brian, landing the punches on different areas of his body until he stepped away.
“Nicky, stop!”
AJ placed himself between Brian and Nick in an attempt to stop Nick from swinging at Brian. Pulling Nick’s arms down, AJ was momentarily successful until Nick lunged forward and his teeth sunk into AJ’s forearm.
”SONOFABITCH!” AJ jerked back, covering the wound with his hand. “What the hell?”
Stunned, the three men stared at their blonde haired brother, not sure what was happening or what to say or do.
“Get out of my car!” Nick shouted, an angry glare in his eyes.
“You’re in the hospital,” Brian corrected.
”Get the fuck out of my fuck!” Nick shouted again.
“You’re not making sense,” Kevin calmly replied.
Tears slipped down Nick’s flushed cheeks; his eyes wild. As AJ opened his mouth to speak, Kevin quickly placed his hand on AJ’s back and shook his head. He was mentally cursing the amount of time it was taking Howie and the nurse to return.
“Why are you here?” Nick questioned.
No one spoke, afraid that any words would start Nick off on another tantrum.
“Why can’t you go away?”
Tears were burning in Brian’s eyes.
“Brian he doesn’t mean it,” Kevin whispered.
Brian bowed his head, wiping his eyes. “I know.”
