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“Has Jane or Bob called?” Brian asked later that evening.
The others shook their heads.
“Figures,” Brian scoffed. “They weren’t exactly happy with me when they left this morning.”
AJ shrugged. “I’m sure they made it home fine,” he said.
“And don’t worry, Bri. They’ll come around. They’re just still upset about this whole thing,” Howie said.
“I know,” Brian replied. “But still…” He let the sentence trail off.
“It’s time for Nick’s dinner, guys,” Kevin said, glancing at his watch.
Brian got up from his seat and went into the kitchen. Leighanne was already blending the protein shake that Nick was supposed to drink. He was not able to chew, so he could only have liquids and very soft foods.
“Here ya go, honey,” Leighanne said, handing Brian the tall plastic cup with a straw and lid, containing Nick’s dinner.
“Thanks,” Brian replied, smiling at his wife. She had been great about his decision to take care of Nick himself and had taken the training needed herself to that she could help out with his care.
Brian carried the drink into the downstairs guest room, where Nick was staying. He found Nick propped up in bed, right where Brian had left him.
“Hey, buddy!” Brian greeted cheerfully. “You hungry?” Of course, there was no response. “Well, I’m sure you are. Here’s dinner,” he continued, placing the straw in between Nick’s slightly parted lips. He held the cup as Nick drank slowly through the straw.
When he was finished, Brian set the cup aside and patted Nick’s shoulder. “I’ll be back later, Frack,” he said, taking the cup out into the kitchen.
Later that evening, Brian, Kevin, Howie, and AJ all sat crowded in Nick’s room with him, absently watching TV.
Howie glanced at Nick and saw that his eyelids were drooping. “Hey, Bri, I think Nicky’s ready for bed,” he said.
Brian turned to look at Nick and nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’ll get him ready.”
“You need some help, Bri?” Kevin offered.
“Sure, Kev. That’d be great,” Brian said.
Kevin nodded. Howie and AJ exchanged glances and left the room.
“Okay, what first?” Kevin asked.
“Let’s get him dressed in his pajamas,” Brian replied, pulling a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a T-shirt out of the dresser.
Together, he and Kevin struggled to undress Nick and get him into the pajamas. Brian clenched his teeth the whole time, trying to keep himself from crying. But it was hard, knowing that Nick might spend the rest of his life like this, like a helpless baby, having to be dressed and fed, unable to do anything for himself.
“Now what?” Kevin asked, once they had successfully dressed Nick. >p?“Now I have to change his… his catheter bag,” Brian said uncomfortably.
"Oh,” Kevin said, glancing down. “Can you do that on your own?”
“Yeah. The people at the hospital showed me how,” Brian replied.
“Okay. I’ll… I’ll… uh… be back later then,” Kevin stammered, escaping from the room.
Brian let out a sigh and hesitantly began to do his duty.
By nine, Brian had Nick all ready for bed. He bent over Nick’s bed and ruffled his friend’s hair. “’Night, Frack,” he said softly. “See you in the morning.” He smiled slightly at his friend and turned out the lights, leaving the door open slightly as he headed back to the living room.
“I’m exhausted,” he announced, wearily sinking down in a chair. “I have a feeling this is going to be harder than I thought.”
“You’re not have second thoughts, are you?” Howie asked.
“No. No, of course not. Nick is my best friend, and I’ll do anything I can for him,” Brian replied confidently. “I think I’m gonna go to bed now though guys. It’s been a long day.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Bri,” they all replied.
“I’ll be up later, honey,” Leighanne said, kissing him before he headed upstairs to their bedroom.
Around nine the next morning, Brian popped his head in the door to Nick’s bedroom to see if he had awaken yet. He smiled when he saw Nick’s eyes open.
“Morning, Nick!” he greeted, going to the window and pulling open the curtains, letting in a flood of morning sunlight. “How are you this morning, buddy?” he asked, turning his attention back to Nick. He knew Nick couldn’t answer him, but he didn’t care.
He saw something glistening on Nick’s chin and realized it was a glob of drool. Brian took a Kleenex and quickly wiped it away from Nick’s face.
“Hey, how about we get you cleaned up now?” Brian suggested.
He pulled a pair of fresh underwear and socks, along with a clean T-shirt and pair of wind pants out of Nick’s dresser and draped them over a chair.
“Be right back,” he told Nick, heading into the bathroom. He filled up a basin with warm water and grabbed a washcloth and a bar of soap and carried it all into Nick’s room, setting it down on the nightstand.
Then came the difficult task of undressing Nick. It was an awkward process, but Brian finally accomplished it.
Next, he dipped the washcloth into the basin of water, ringing it out so it would be only slightly damp. He lathered up the washcloth with the bar of soap and gently scrubbed it over Nick’s body.
It was at times like this that he almost was glad Nick was so gone mentally. How embarrassing would it be to have your best friend have to change your clothes and bathe you? Too horrible for Brian to imagine. And yet, here he was doing it.
When the sponge bath was done, Brian toweled off Nick and got him into the clothes he had laid out.
Then he headed into the bathroom again to grab a razor and a can of shaving cream. He squirted a glob of the shaving cream into his hand and smoothed it over Nick’s face. Then he wet the razor and began to carefully shave off the blonde stubble that had grown on Nick’s face.
When he was finished, he wiped off Nick’s face and rinsed out the razor, taking his supplies back into the bathroom.
“Well, Nicky, looking good. Not too bad for my first time, eh?” Brian said good-naturedly. He barely glanced at Nick, knowing he would only be met with that same vacant stare.
“I bet you’re hungry,” Brian continued. “I’ll go see about getting your breakfast ready, kay? Be back in a bit.”
He smiled down at Nick and left the room, leaving the door open behind him.
He walked into the kitchen to find AJ helping Leighanne make breakfast, while Howie and Kevin sat around the kitchen table, reading the newspaper.
“Nick’s awake?” Howie asked, glancing up from the section of newspaper he was holding as Brian entered the kitchen.
“Yup,” Brian replied. “I got him all ready too. I just need to get him his breakfast.”
“I’ll do it,” AJ volunteered, turning the frying bacon over to Leighanne.
Brian nodded. “Thanks, Bone,” he replied, taking a seat next to his cousin.
A few minutes later, Leighanne passed steaming plates around the table, as AJ finished blending Nick’s breakfast drink.
Brian started to stand up to take the drink from AJ, but AJ motioned him back down. “I’ll give it to him,” he said.
“Okay,” Brian replied, turning back to his breakfast.
AJ carried the drink into Nick’s bedroom. “Hey, Kaos,” he said. “Ready for breakfast? I made it myself. Don’t worry, it’s not poisonous.” AJ rambled on and on as he positioned the straw in Nick’s mouth. He set the cup down so that it rested on Nick’s chest, tilted against his chin so that he could drink.
“I’ll be right back, Nick,” AJ said, leaving the room. He headed back into the kitchen and grabbed his plate.
“Where you going, AJ?” Kevin asked.
“I’m going to eat with Nicky,” AJ replied, carrying his plate back into the guest room to be with his friend.
Things had slowly begun to get better in the past month. Kevin, AJ, and Howie had all gone home, leaving Brian and Leighanne to share the duty of caring for Nick, which they had both grown accustomed to. It was now just a regular part of life.
Nick had made some improvements since he had been living with Brian. He could not speak yet, but he made noises. His face still looked blank most of the time, but when someone was in the room with him, his eyes followed them. When it was Brian, there seemed to be a kind of sparkle in them that didn’t show when anyone else was there.
Still, Nick had a long way to go. There was no movement in his arms or legs. The nurse who came daily to give Nick his medicine, which was in the form of a shot, had showed Brian how to exercise his arms and legs to keep the muscle from deteriorating.
Brian wasn’t even sure why. It didn’t look promising that Nick would ever have hope of walking again anyway. In fact, it didn’t look promising that Nick would ever be doing much of anything again.
One morning, the phone rang. Leighanne grabbed it, putting it to her ear.
“Hello?” she said. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Thompson. Oh... sure, that’s fine. Okay. Okay, bye.”
“What was that about?” Brian asked.
“That was Nick’s nurse, Mrs. Thompson,” Leighanne replied. “She’s going on vacation next week so she won’t be around, but she’s already hired another nurse named Alice Scott to come in her place.”
“Oh, okay,” Brian said. “Sounds good.”
At promptly two in the afternoon, one week later, the doorbell rang.
Brian opened the front door to find a young red-haired woman standing on the porch.
“Brian Littrell?” she asked, stepping forward.
“Yes,” he said. “Are you the new nurse?”
“Yes. I’m Alice Scott,” she replied, shaking his hand warmly.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Scott,” Brian said, smiling politely.
“Oh, call me Alice,” she said.
“Okay. Well, Alice, come on in,” Brian replied, stepping back to let her enter the house. “I’ll show you to Nick’s room.”
Alice gazed wonderingly around the house as Brian led her through it to the guestroom.
“Nick, meet Alice, your new nurse. She’s going to be taking care of you for this week, until Mrs. Thompson comes back,” Brian introduced, leading Alice into the room.
“Do you have any questions, or should I just leave you to your business?” Brian asked Alice.
“Nope, I think I’m all set,” she replied, smiling at him.
“Okay. I’ll be back later then,” Brian said, stepping out of the room.
As soon as he was gone, Alice closed the door and turned to Nick. “My, my, Nick, you’re in worse shape than I thought. This is going to be great!”
Nick’s eyes stared at her as she pulled a small camera out of her medical bag.
“Say cheese,” Alice giggled, aiming the camera and snapping a picture. The flash went off brightly, causing Nick to blink his eyes in pain.
Alice ignored this and stepped closer to get a better view, snapping another picture right in Nick’s face.
After taking a few more shots, Alice quickly put away the camera and set to work, giving Nick his proper injection, for she really was a nurse. A nurse in search of money by selling rare pictures of Nick Carter as the invalid he had now become to all the hot tabloids. She knew it was a great plan; she would make fortunes.
“There you go, Nicky,” she said, packing up her medical supplies. She snickered. “See you tomorrow.”
Marissa walked through the grocery store, carrying a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs in her arms.
She got into the express check-out line behind several other people. As she waited, she glanced at the rack of magazines beside her. Her eyes scanned the headlines, falling on one that headed the front of the National Enquirer in big, bold letters:
Marissa felt a wave of nausea run through her. She picked up the magazine with shaking hands and turned the pages until she came to the article. As she caught sight of a blown-up picture at the start of the article, she gasped in horror.