Altered States
+Chapter Twelve+
Confrontations
The chemo had been going along well, and Brian was figuring that no one
knew what was going on. He managed to ask his personal bodyguard to
accompany him at every tour stop, not to ask any questions and to absolutely
not tell anyone anything that he saw or heard at the stops.
Nick approached Steve one day after he and Brian came back from one of
those times that they secretly disappeared for a few hours.
“Hey Steve, what’s up?”
Steve glanced up at Nick as he continued to toss his cards down on the table
at a rapid pace. It was some game that the guards usually played and it was a
face paced game, one miscalculation and you could lose. “Hey Nick.”
Nick watched the cards flying back and forth across the table. He took a big
gulp from the water bottle he was holding. “Is there some place we can go to
talk? I need to ask you some stuff.”
Nick’s request caught Steve offguard and he miscalculated his cards and
threw the wrong one down causing him to lose the game. He cursed under his
breath as the men around the table laughed at his loss and started in with
their name calling.
“Yeah I guess we can go now since I just lost fifty bucks,” he grunted as he
pushed himself away from the table.
“Oh, sorry man,” Nick apologized quickly.
“Yeah, well, for me fifty bucks is almost a half days pay and I have a kid to
support believe it or not,” Steve continued to grumble as he and Nick walked
out of the hotel room towards Nick’s room.
Once inside Nick’s hotel room, Steve stood in the center, refusing to sit
down. He folded his arms defensively across his chest. He was preparing
himself not to leak out any info on Brian. He had a hunch that this was where
Nick was going to be going.
“Okay Steve, I’m gonna get straight to the point, what the hell is going on
with Brian?”
Steve shook his head. “Nick, you know that I’m not allowed to discuss Brian
with you. I’m his personal trust.”
“Steve, I’m begging ya man, I know something’s not right. You and him
disappear at every freakin stop for a few hours at a time and when you come
back you come back empty handed and Brian looks a new shade of green.
Something’s up and I need to know!”
“No can do,” Steve stated firmly.
Nick paced the room as he thought. “Okay, how about I pay you for the
info?”
Steve softened a little at the mention of money. “It would have to be alot to
make me tell you anything.”
“Five hundred?”
“Make it twenty five hundred and I’ll sing like a canary,” Steve replied.
“Steve, I don’t have that on me and there’s no ATM machine that would allow
that kind of cash out,” Nick replied.
Steve turned on his heel. “Then we have nothing to talk about.”
“Okay, okay, how about I go and take out $500 right now from the ATM in
the lobby and then I give you all I have on me and I owe you the rest
tomorrow, would that do?” Nick blurted out while he tried to itemize the
contents in his wallet.
“I guess that will do,” Steve replied.
Steve followed Nick out of the room down to the lobby while he made his
withdrawal from the automatic teller machine. Nick winced as he decided to
use his credit cards for a quick withdrawal, knowing full well that his CPA
was going to wring his neck when he saw the bills and the high interest rate
he would be paying for the cash advances.
“Here, two thousand five hundred, all paid up. Now, let’s go to that
conference room there and talk about this,” Nick stated as he strode over
to a small room off the lobby.
“I’ve been taking Brian to a hospital at every stop,” Steve started out in a
low voice.
Nick’s eyes shifted back and forth as he tried to grasp the situation. “A
hospital? Why?”
“Well most of the time it’s to have blood drawn for labwork. His doctor
arranged for Brian to carry a card with him and he has blood drawn and the
results faxed to his doctor in Kentucky.”
“Okay, most of the time. What about the other times?” Nick asked slowly.
“The other times he gets hooked up for chemo,” Steve replied quietly.
The word chemo hit Nick like a punch in the stomach. “Chemo?” He narrowed
his eyes at Steve.
“He has cancer, he’s trying to beat it without anyone knowing about it I
guess.”
“Where? How?” Nick’s mind was racing, a million thoughts running wild.
“I guess it’s leukemia. They’re trying to push it into remission.”
“Oh my god..... oh my god,” Nick cried out. “No, this can’t be! They had to
have made a mistake!”
“I’m sorry but I’m just telling you what I know. You’d have to talk to him to
find out more. Can I go now? You’re gonna be alright aren’t you?”
Nick couldn’t talk, he simply nodded.
“You sure you’re gonna be okay?”
“Yep,” Nick choked out.
Chapter 13
