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“Hey, what’s taking Nick so long?” Kevin asked, glancing at his watch. “How far away is that video store?”
“Just about ten minutes away,” Brian said. “But you know how picky Nick can be.”
“Yeah,” AJ said. “He’s probably still trying to decide what movies to get. Don’t worry, Kev, he’ll be back soon.”
Kevin nodded, settling back on the couch to wait, trying to ignore the strange feeling deep inside him, the feeling that something wasn’t right.
***
“Shit, here comes the police,” Shawn said to Marissa, his eyes widening as a squad car approached, its lights flashing brightly. He scooted from his perch on the hood of his car as the police car stopped, and two officers climbed out.
“How many people are injured?” one of them asked, as they both hurried over to Shawn and Marissa.
“Two,” Marissa replied. “But one’s already dead. Luke,” she said sadly, motioning to the backseat of the car, where Kaelyn still sat, sobbing and cradling her dead boyfriend’s body in her arms.
“And the other?” the officer asked.
Shawn nodded to the other car. “The driver of that one’s hurt pretty bad, I think,” he said. “W… we didn’t know what to do.”
The officer nodded and hurried off towards the other car. The other officer remained behind with Shawn and Marissa.
“My name’s Officer Kennel. Can I get your names, please?” he asked.
“Shawn Roberts,” Shawn replied.
“And I’m Marissa Cohen,” Marissa said.
The officer nodded. “Can you explain what happened?” he asked.
“We… uh… we were just driving along, and that car came out of nowhere. I… I didn’t even see it until it was too late. I tried to swerve out of the way, but it hit us,” Shawn stammered.
“Was it in the wrong lane?” Kennel asked.
“Um…” Shawn looked to Marissa for help.
“No,” she said softly. “We were in the wrong lane.”
He studied them for a moment, then asked, “Kids, have you been drinking tonight?”
Marissa felt her face grow red. “Well…”
“No, sir,” Shawn interrupted, his eyes focusing on the ground.
Marissa glanced at him quickly, surprised that he would just lie like that. “Officer, I did have a few drinks,” she admitted, not wanting to get in even more trouble for lying to him, as Shawn had done.
He nodded. “How old are you?” he asked.
“Eighteen,” she said, glancing down.
“And do you know what the legal drinking age is?”
“Twenty one,” she replied, ashamed. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “I want you to go over by the police car over there for a little bit, okay?”
She nodded, hurrying over to the car. There, she stood, watching as Kennel continued to talk to Shawn.
“So, sir, you’re telling me you haven’t had any alcohol to drink tonight?” Kennel asked.
“Yes, sir. No alcohol,” Shawn confirmed.
“Okay. I need you to do a few things for me then,” Kennel said.
“Okay…” Shawn replied slowly.
Kennel took him by the shoulder and led him to the side of the road. As he did so, two ambulances pulled up, and some paramedics hopped out. “Over there,” Kennel instructed one group, pointing to Nick’s car. They nodded and hurried over, while the others went to Shawn’s car.
Kennel turned back to Shawn. “Okay, sir, you see this line here?” he asked, pointing down to the white line marking the edge of the road. Shawn nodded. “I want you to walk straight down it, one foot in front of the other.”
“Sure,” Shawn said, relieved. This would be easy. He started down the line, surprised when he discovered it was a lot harder than he had expected to stay on the line. He kept losing his balance and staggering. “My balance has never been to good,” he said sheepishly to Officer Kennel when he reached the end, feeling the need to defend himself.
Kennel said nothing. He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. “I need to take a look at your eyes,” he said, holding the light up to Shawn’s eyes. “Follow the light with your eyes, but don’t move your head.” Shawn did so, wondering what the officer was looking for.
When that was done, Kennel pulled another piece of equipment out. “This is a breathalyzer,” he said. “I need you to breathe into this for me, okay?”
“Uh… sure,” Shawn said. Shit, his mind screamed. He knew this was a device for measuring his blood alcohol concentration. His heart sank, knowing that once he had breathed into it, the officer would know how much he really had drunken that night.
But, knowing he couldn’t refuse to do the test, he breathed into the breathalyzer. Kennel stared at it for a moment, waiting for the results to show up. When they did, he looked up at Shawn, his eyes narrowing. “Son, your BAC is at .13. The legal limit for people of legal age is .08. According to the Zero Tolerance law, the limit for minors is nothing. You’re under arrest.”
“Okay, I’m getting worried now,” Brian admitted, glancing at his watch for the third time that minute. “Where could he be?”
“Maybe he got lost or something,” Howie said. “Made a wrong turn, maybe.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Brian said. “How ‘bout I take Leigh’s car and go looking for him?”
“Sure, Bri. That’d be good,” Kevin said.
“Okay,” Brian said.
He was putting on his jacket when suddenly, the phone rang. Brian hurried to answer it, but it stopped ringing, and he figured Leighanne must have answered it upstairs.
He let his coat drop to the floor and slowly walked back into the living room. He wasn’t sure how, but he suddenly knew that something was wrong. He wasn’t sure what, but something told him that he was soon to find out.
Just then, he looked up to see Leighanne coming slowly down the stairs, her robe wrapped tightly around her. She came up to him, and he noticed how pale she looked. “Brian,” she said softly, “there’s been an accident.”
“Nick,” Brian murmured, fear coursing through his body. She nodded sadly. “How bad is it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “The paramedic I talked to wouldn’t tell me. He just said to come to Atlanta General.”
Brian turned to look at the other three guys, who were staring up at him, their faces expressing a mix of shock and fear. “Let’s go,” he said softly, heading back into the foyer and grabbing his jacket up off the floor.
Kevin, AJ, and Howie hurriedly put their shoes and coats on.
“Bri, do you want me to drive y’all there?” Leighanne asked. “You’re upset…”
“Naw, it’s okay, honey. You stay put. We’ll be fine,” Brian said, giving his wife a quick hug.”
“Okay…” Leighanne said hesitantly. “Call me when you find something out, okay? I don’t care how late it is.”
Brian nodded. “I will,” he said. “Bye.”
“Bye,” she said, watching sadly as he led the others out to her car. She heard the engine start up and saw the car back out of the driveway. She watched it drive away until the headlights disappeared into the night.
***
“Marissa!”
Marissa looked up to see her mother hurry in to the police station, where she had been sitting for the past half hour. The expression on her mother’s face showed a mix of relief, grief, and anger.
“Mom,” Marissa murmured. She had never been so happy to see her mother, even though she figured she’d be getting a lecture from her. That didn’t matter though. Marissa knew she deserved whatever was coming to her.
Marissa’s mother, Joyce Cohen, threw her arms around her daughter, hugging her tightly.
“Baby, are you okay?” Joyce asked worriedly, her green eyes, so like Marissa’s, studying Marissa intently.
Marissa nodded. “I am,” she whispered, “but… but Luke’s dead. And Kaelyn’s a mess. And Shawn’s been arrested!” Her eyes filled with tears, and she began to sob. “And, Mom, Nick’s hurt… bad. What if he dies?”
“What? Who’s Nick?” Joyce asked, pulling back to look at her daughter.
Marissa began to sob harder and could barely get out her next words. “The driver of the other car. It’s Nick Carter… from the Backstreet Boys.”
“Oh, honey,” Joyce said softly, stroking Marissa’s dark hair. Marissa wasn’t sure her mother even knew who the Backstreet Boys were, but that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter to Marissa who Nick was. What mattered was that he was critically injured… all because of her and her friends.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Marissa wailed. “I should have called you. I should have never let Shawn drive!”
Joyce nodded. “Yes. You’re right. But you can’t take it back now. What’s done is done.”
“I know,” Marissa whispered. “I’d do anything to take it back though. Anything.”
***
Brian, Kevin, AJ, and Howie sat in a lonely waiting room in the Atlanta General Hospital.
At this time of night, the waiting room was almost empty, except for a few people on the other side of the room – a man, two women, and a teenage girl. All four of them looked very upset, and the girl was crying softly, her face buried in her hands. Brian’s heart ached for her as he realized she must have just lost or was close to losing someone she loved.
The four young men stared pensively into space, worried sick about Nick. None of them spoke, but inside their heads, their thoughts ran wild.
Why did I let him go by himself? Brian wondered, stricken with guilt. He doesn’t live around here; he doesn’t know his way. I could have gone to get the videos myself, or at least gone with him. I could have driven him. Then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
God, please let him be okay, Howie prayed. He’s so young. Suddenly, Howie thought of something. It was January 27th. No, Howie realized, glancing down at his watch. It read 1:22. It’s January 28th now. It’s Nick’s birthday. He’s 21 today. Howie’s soulful brown eyes filled with tears. Nick was only 21. Just barely a legal adult. Please, God, let him be okay. He has the whole rest of his life ahead of him. Please…
“Guys, do you know what day it is?” Howie asked softly.
The other four looked up, surprised that one of them had spoken. The realization hit Brian immediately. “Nicky’s birthday,” he whispered.
There was a moment of silence as they sat there, filled with sorrow.
“Hey guys, what about the Superbowl?” AJ asked suddenly.
“Oh, shit,” Kevin muttered. The Superbowl! It’s tonight! And we’re supposed to sing the national anthem! They had been looking forward to it so much. But now this. Maybe he’ll be just fine, Kevin told himself hopefully. Maybe they’re just checking him over, and they’ll release him. And then we can celebrate his birthday, and we can all sing at the Superbowl together. The thought was a nice one, but Kevin was not at all sure that was the case. If the doctors were just checking Nick over, why was it taking so long? They had been sitting there for quite awhile.
“We need to get a hold of management,” AJ said softly. “If we’re going to have to cancel the Superbowl thing, they’ll need to know right away so they can plan for someone else to sing in our place.”
“Not yet, Bone,” Kevin said. “Wait until we know something. Maybe we won’t have to cancel.”
AJ nodded, hoping Kevin was right. But like Kevin himself, AJ knew the reality of what had happened… and what could happen.
“Come on, Marissa, let’s go home,” Joyce said. The police were done questioning Marissa and had let both her and Kaelyn off with a lecture and a fine for drinking under the legal age. Kaelyn’s mother had come and gotten her earlier and taken her straight to the hospital to be with Luke’s family, at Kaelyn’s insistence. She had calmed down a bit, but Marissa knew that getting over Luke’s death was going to be extremely hard on her friend.
“Marissa, come on,” Joyce said again, intruding into Marissa’s thoughts.
Marissa wanted to go home. She wanted to forget this whole night ever happened. But she could not, and she knew it.
“Not yet, Mom,” she said. “Can we go to the hospital?”
“The hospital? Why?” Joyce asked.
“I… I need to be with Kaelyn,” she said. “She’s so upset over all of this. I want to be there with her.”
Joyce sighed. She just wanted to take her daughter home and deal with all this later, but she knew she couldn’t refuse this to Marissa. She was angry at her daughter, but she knew she couldn’t show that now. Marissa was upset enough as it was. A lecture by her mother right then would only make it worse. Joyce knew that Marissa needed her love and support to get her through this tragedy.
“Alright,” Joyce said. “Come on.”
She helped Marissa to her feet, put her arm around her shoulder, and walked her slowly out to the car.
***
When Marissa and her mother got to the hospital, Marissa immediately headed to the nearest nurses’ station, explained who she was, and asked where she could find Kaelyn. Luckily, the nurse she talked to knew who she was talking about and kindly said, “Come with me.”
“Marissa, honey, do you want me to come with you, or just wait here for you?” Joyce asked, not sure if her daughter needed time alone with her best friend or not.
“Here would be fine,” Marissa replied, offering her mother a grateful smile. Joyce nodded and sat down in a chair across the hall, watching as Marissa followed the nurse to a waiting room down the hall.
“She’s in here,” the nurse said to Marissa, opening a door for her. “Go on in.”
“Thanks,” Marissa said softly, slowly walking into the room.
She immediately saw Kaelyn sitting in a chair on one side of the room, her head in her hands. Kaelyn’s mother, Donna Ross, sat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly. Next to Donna sat Luke’s parents, James and Nancy Milton. They both looked grief-stricken as well. All four of them seemed so lost in their thoughts that they did not notice Marissa’s entrance.
“Mrs. Milton?” Marissa asked softly.
Nancy Milton looked up to see Marissa standing there. “Oh, Marissa,” she said, offering a sad smile. “Are you okay, dear?”
Marissa shrugged. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Nancy nodded. She said nothing more, and her silence made Marissa feel even more horrible, as she was reminded of the part she had played in Luke’s death.
Marissa made her way down the line to Kaelyn. She took a seat next to her. “Kae?” she asked softly, willing her friend to look up at her.
Kaelyn did so, her watery blue eyes meeting Marissa’s. “I can’t believe he’s gone,” she murmured, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “It seems like a bad dream. But we’ll never wake up from it, will we? Things will never be the same again.”
Marissa’s own eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around Kaelyn, cradling her trembling friend in her arms, wishing she could make this all go away, praying that it really was just one big nightmare and things would be all right in the morning.
***
Brian watched as a girl with short, dark hair came into the waiting room. She didn’t even look at him and the other guys, but headed straight to the four people on the other side of the room. He watched her speak shortly with one of the women and then sit down beside the still crying girl. He watched as they hugged each other and then put his head down, not wanting either of them to look up and catch him looking at them. First, staring was rude, and second, he didn’t want to be recognized by them.
He turned his attention away from the girls and focused it on a small stain on the beige carpet beneath his feet. He fidgeted, wondering what was taking so long for a doctor to come talk to them. He was growing more uneasy by the minute, wondering how badly Nick had been hurt.
He looked up when he sensed someone approaching. He saw that it was one of the girls from across the room, the dark-haired one.
The other guys had looked up too.
“Hi,” AJ said, forcing a smile at her.
She did not smile back, but stared at them with wide green eyes. “I… I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“Excuse me?” Kevin asked.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice catching.
“What do you mean, honey?” Brian asked gently.
“Nick. You’re here cause of Nick, aren’t you?” she asked.
They nodded. “He was in a car accident,” Kevin said gently.
“I…I know,” she choked. “Because it’s all our fault.”
“What?” AJ asked, his eyes widening.
“M… my friends and I… we were coming home from a party… and my boyfriend was driving… in the wrong lane. Nick hit us…” she cried, breaking down.
Brian immediately felt awful for the girl, but Kevin narrowed his eyes at her. “Were you guys drinking?” he asked, his tone low.
She nodded slowly, unable to speak. She looked stricken.
“Don’t you know that drinking and driving is illegal?” Kevin asked harshly. “Nick is hurt, maybe even dead, all because of you.”
She jerked back as if she’d been slapped, letting out an anguished sob. “I’m sorry,” she wept again.
“Sorry’s not going to change what happened,” Kevin said, his steely gaze never leaving her tearstained face. “Because of you-“
“Kev, stop!” Brian cried. Kevin turned and looked at him sharply. “Stop it. You heard her. She’s sorry. You can’t put all the blame on her like this. I have a feeling she’s learned her lesson already.”
The girl nodded vigorously, her eyes wide with fear.
“Maybe you’d better go back with your friends,” AJ said.
She nodded and turned around. Then she stopped and turned back. “I hope he’s gonna be okay,” she whispered, then turned away from them again. She glanced back at the four people she had been with earlier, then back at the Boys, and then she fled the room.
“You better hope he’s gonna be okay,” Kevin muttered under his breath as he watched her run out.
“Kev,” Howie said, resting a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Calm down. You’re just upset.”
“Damn right I’m upset,” Kevin snapped. “Cause of a bunch of fucking irresponsible teenagers, my friend could be dead!”
His voice rose, and Brian noticed the girl sitting across the room raise her head sharply.
“Shh,” he hissed to Kevin. He was about to suggest they find another room to wait in when the door opened and a tall, middle-aged, dark-haired doctor entered.
“Are you all with Nickolas Carter?” he asked, approaching them.
“Yes,” Brian said, his heart pounding.
“Would you gentlemen please come with me then?” the doctor asked. “I need to talk to you in private.”