Altered States
+Chapter Five+
Symptoms Well Hidden
~Flashback~
Brian looked around the bus as he walked back to his seat. Nick had his head
propped up against a window, game boy still in his hands, sound asleep. Howie
was on his cell phone, Kevin was reading a book and AJ was no where to be
seen which only ment he stole his way to the back of the bus with Amanda.
Reaching in, Brian fumbled with the game boy trying not to wake Nick up, but
failed when the machine suddenly jerked away from him and Nick sat up quickly.
“Sorry buddy, I didn’t mean to wake you up, I just didn’t think you wanted your
batteries to die down,” Brian apologized.
Nick rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Oh, it’s okay Bri. You have any idea where
we are right now?”
Brian looked out the bus window at the landscape. “Looks like mile marker 86.”
“Ha ha, so funny. No, state what state are we in?”
“Not sure, they all look alike to me,” Brian replied.
“That’s true. I’m gonna go ask Steve,” Nick remarked as he slid out of his seat
and brushed past Brian.
Hit with a wave of dizziness, Brian sat down quickly in the nearest seat. He
passed it off to being on the run the past few weeks and didn’t think much about
it. He knew this was happening a lot but he wasn’t getting too concerned yet.
“Kentucky, dumbass,” Nick stated with a southern drawl. “You didn’t recognize
your own territory?”
“How the hell should I know? I just woke up myself,” Brian snapped back
defensively.
“Whoa, don’t bite my head off, dude!”
Brian lightly massaged his temples. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay, we’re all tired.”
“Just change the subject now,” Brian requested.
“Fine by me.”
Nick took a seat across from Brian’s and grabbed the gameboy and clicked it on.
“So, where are we now?” Brian asked.
Nick shot a blank stare at Brian.
“You don’t know either?” Brian asked, innocently.
“Seriously Brian, you need to get checked over, we just talked about where we
were not even five minutes ago. I told you Kentucky.”
“Sorry, yeah I forgot you told me that,” Brian lied.
Nick set the gameboy down in the seat. “Brian, something’s going on here that
you’re not telling me.”
“Nick, there’s nothing going on.”
“Don’t pull that bullshit on me, you’re a lousy liar and you know better than that.
Spill it!” Nick urged.
“Honest Nick, there’s nothing going on,” Brian quickly replied.
“Okay, I’m calling Kevin over here so he can clear this up for me. Hey Kev---”
Nick’s voice was muffled when Brian placed his hand over it. Nick retalliated by
biting into the palm across his mouth.
“OUCH!” Brian shouted as he pulled his hand quickly away.
“Do I involve Kevin or not?” Nick whispered harshly.
“No.”
Brian could tell by Nick’s pointed stare that he wasn’t going to let anything go at
that moment. “Okay, alright. I’ve been having some headaches lately and
sometimes I get dizzy, it’s probably an ear infection or something like that.”
Nick nodded, but Brian could tell by the look on his face he wasn’t totally
convinced. “Bri, you’ve been forgetting shit a lot lately and I mean a lot.”
“Oh come on, you of all people should know that states start to blend in when
we’re touring,” Brian begged.
“It’s not just this Brian, it’s all the little things, the mood swings, forgetting lyrics
to songs, where to be during a segment in a dance. That’s not like you at all and
I’m worried.”
“It’s probably stress Nick, you make too much of it,” Brian replied.
“What would you say if I were doing this?”
Brian sighed, realizing he was defeated. “I’d tell you to go get checked out.”
“Exactly! We have a 3 day layover. I’m telling Steve to stop in Lexington so you
can see your family doc, and you’re not gonna fight this either,” Nick stated as
he strode off towards the front of the bus.
“Don’t I have a say in this?” Brian called out.
“Nope.”
Chapter Six
