The elevator reached the fifth floor and we walked towards the ICU. We were trying to hurry because Brian didn’t look very good. He was still breathing hard and looked sort of greyish. At one point I saw his hand venture up to his chest and rest there. We buzzed the ICU door and they let us in. Shari glanced up from the nurse’s station and threw us a disapproving look.

“Guys, that was closer to a half an hour than 20 minutes.” She scolded.

“I think something is wrong with Brian.” Nick said worriedly, ignoring what Shari had said about being late.

“How do you feel?” Shari asked Brian as she came out to where we were all standing.

“Not very good.” Brian whispered. “My chest hurts.”
“You probably over-exhorted yourself. I knew that this wasn’t a good idea. Let’s go back to your room.” Shari said.

When we reached his room Nick pushed the wheelchair up to his bed. Kevin picked up Brian in his arms and set him gently on the bed. Then he helped him out of Nick’s jacket and took off his hat which he tossed at me. I put it back on. Brian started to lay down, but Shari stopped him.

“Not yet, hun. We need to hook all this stuff back up to you.” She took Brian’s hospital gown off and started attaching the leeds to the patches that were still stuck all over his chest and sides. Brian teetered a little and Kevin immediately put his hands on Brian’s shoulders to steady him. When she was done they helped him into his gown again. Shari then put the blood pressure cuff around his arm. Last, she taped a white wire with a red light on the end to one of his fingers. That one was to monitor his saturation’s. “Okay, now you can lay down.” She told Brian.

Kevin helped him lean back into his pillows while Shari studied the various monitors. The rest of us watched anxiously. Brian craned his head up to look at the different numbers on the screens. He still looked like he was in pain.

Shari frowned. “Your sats are a little low. I want you to wear the oxygen mask until they go back up. Then you can put the canula back on.”
“What about everything else?” Asked Nick as Shari gave the mask to Brian.

“Well his heart rate is up a little bit. Same as his blood pressure. I think that he just pushed himself too far and his heart is reacting to it now. Now that he is lying down and getting a steadier flow of oxygen they should go down a bit.” Shari explained as she took the oxygen cord with the nasal canula off the portable tank and set it on the bedside table. The cord with the mask at the end was already hooked into the wall and on Brian.

I was still looking at the numbers on the oximeter machine. The number read 88. “Shouldn’t that be in the upper 90’s?” I asked Shari.

She looked at me. “Well, that is what we are aiming for.”
“Can I have some pain medication or something?” Brian whispered.

“Yeah, I can give you some Ibuprofen, but nothing too much stronger. Anything else will knock you out for awhile. Your doctor is going to be here in about an hour to talk to you about your surgery tomorrow morning. Although, it would be a good idea if you rested until he got here.” Shari told him.

She left to go get him some ibuprofen. Brian looked really tired. His eyes kept falling shut, but he kept catching himself.

“Brian, why don’t you let yourself fall asleep for awhile? You might feel a little better for when your doctor comes in.” I suggested.

“That would be rude.” He tried to smile. Even as he said it his eyes were falling shut. Shari returned with a small cup and a little pill cup.

“Brian, here you go. This should help with the pain.” She helped him sit back up and gave him the pills and water to drink. He leaned back and closed his eyes again.

“Come on guys, let’s let Brian get some rest for awhile. We can get some food from the cafeteria.” Said Kevin.

Nick looked up from the chair he was sitting in next to Brian’s bed. “You guys go on ahead. I’m going to stay with Brian.”
Kevin looked like he was going to protest, but changed his mind. “Okay, we’ll bring you back something then.”
Kevin left first followed by Howie, AJ, then me. Instead of going to the cafeteria, though, we went to our waiting room instead. I flopped down on the couch and AJ sat down next to me. Howie sat down at the table and began drumming his fingers. Kevin paced around the room.

“I really didn’t want to leave him, but I don’t want to get Shari in trouble. She has been really nice to us.” He said.

“Well that makes sense, Kev.” Howie told him.

I tuned them out and thought about how Brian had reacted to that little girl. He was so kind to her. They all were.

“Yo Ellie! Where are ya?” AJ waved his hand in front of my face.

“Brian’s going to make a great father.” I said thoughtfully.

AJ looked at me funny and then grinned when he realized what I was talking about. “Yeah, he’s got a way with kids doesn’t he?”
“He sure does. He amazes me. Here he is, in the hospital, getting ready to have surgery tomorrow and he is all concerned with comforting some little girl he doesn’t even know.”
Howie spoke up from the table. “That boy’s got a heart of gold.”
“All you guys do. That was so sweet to sing to her.” I said.

“Yeah. We’re sweet like that. Now as I was saying, are you hungry?” AJ said impatiently.

“One track mind.” Kevin shook his head.

“Well, if I don’t get some food, I am liable to keel over or something.” AJ tried to defend himself.

“So let’s go to the cafeteria then.” Said Howie getting up from the table.

“Wait, it might not be a good idea for all of us to go down there together. That would increase the chances of us getting spotted.” Kevin said sensibly.

“Aw man, I didn’t even think of that.” Mumbled AJ.

“I could go down and bring you guys something back.” I suggested.

“You might get recognized too though.” Howie pointed out.

“Me?! Why would I get recognized?” I exclaimed.

“That picture of you and B-Rok they showed on the news was a pretty clear shot.”
“But they only showed it for like 10 seconds! And no one is going to be looking for me.” I protested.

“Yes they are. Think about it. That station showed Brian nearly passing out and being held up by an unknown girl: You. People are going to want to know who you are. Also they figure that if they find you then they find Brian and the rest of us. Not to mention if you think about it, 10 seconds on TV is a long time. It is long enough for anyone who is trying to find us to get a good look. This is going to be huge between the press and the fans. Trust me when I tell you that very soon they are going to find out that we are here. You are going to have to be careful.” Explained Kevin.

I just stood there in shock. I’m no one special. Why would anyone look for me? “Still, I still won’t be as likely to be recognized as you guys. Only the people who saw that picture and paid attention to it will recognize me.” I reasoned.

“Yeah, but that we don’t know how many stations that was aired on. There is no telling how many people saw it.” Kevin argued.

“Okay, just for our sakes, Ellie, will you promise to be careful and make sure one of us is with you to make sure nothing goes wrong?” Howie asked me.

“What could go wrong?” That last part came as a surprise to me.

“You never know. You could get mobbed by reporters. Sometimes the fans get out of hand. Some of them have treat past and current girlfriends pretty bad and we don’t want anything to happen to you.” Howie explained patiently.

My eyes widened. “But I am not any of your girlfriends.”
Kevin sighed. “But they aren’t going to know that.” I think he was getting frustrated with me.

“Okay, I’m sorry. This is all so new to me. I give you my word I will be careful.” I said finally.

“Thank you.” Kevin and Howie both smiled at me.

“Okaaayy now that that’s settled, can we get some food?” AJ begged.

“Yes, you brat.” Kevin told AJ. “AJ, you go with Ellie to the cafeteria. I am going to call management and fill them in on what is going on. Howie, see if you can get ahold of Brian’s parents again.” He said taking charge.

AJ and I left the room and headed towards the elevators.

“How long do you think it will be before people start finding out that we are here?” I asked him.

AJ shrugged. “Probably not long. It might be a good idea for the hospital to bring in some extra security.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they already did.” I commented.

We were quiet the rest of the way to the cafeteria. When we got there AJ pushed open one of the double doors and held it for me to go in first. There were a lot of people in there. It looked like most of them were employees.

“Aw crap! Why is it so busy?” AJ whined in dismay.

“Shift changes were just over a little while ago. Everyone that just got off is probably grabbing dinner before they head home.” I told him as I scanned the big white-board on an easel that served as a menu.

“You sure seem to know a lot about hospitals. Were you in an accident or something?” AJ asked incredulously.

“No. How about hamburgers? They can’t ruin a hamburger too bad.” I said, changing the subject.

AJ let it drop. “Well I don’t know. I have pretty high standards when it comes to burgers. You know, my McDonalds!”
“Blech!” I made a face, laughing. “I can’t say I share you tastes there.”
AJ stared at me in mock horror. “I banish you to the netherworlds! Such nerve you have to dog my Mickeys!”
I laughed hard. “I’ll chew broken glass first.”
AJ just shook his head sadly at me. “You are a lost cause.”
We picked up two trays. I ordered my plain cheeseburger and fries. Then I watched with amusement as AJ gave the lady behind the counter his order.

“I’d like 4 orders of hamburgers and fries with everything on them.”
She raised am eyebrow at him. “Hungry?”
“Yup.” AJ nodded at her. The lady shrugged and piled four burgers on a plate.

We walked over to a big table with condiments, napkins, plastic silverware among other things. He put the separated the burgers in different Styrofoam containers. Then he split up the huge pile of french fries. Last, before we left we grabbed some drinks from the cooler before we went to pay for everything.

I thought we did a pretty good job being inconspicuous on our way back to the room. When we got to the door of our room AJ tried to balance the four food containers and three of the drinks while pushing the buttons to the door lock. He tried the handle and it wouldn’t budge.

“Dumb lock.” He muttered as he started over. The container on the top of the pile started to slide off and shot my hand out to catch it. I barely caught it before it hit the ground. Unfortunately it was upside down.

“Nice catch!” AJ said. He tried the code again and still the door wouldn’t open. I snickered when he kicked the door.

“Allow me.” I said smoothly as I gently pushed him out of the way. I pushed the buttons and turned the handle easily.

“Wh- what? How did you...?” AJ sputtered.

“I pushed the buttons in the right order.” I smirked at him.

AJ started laughing out loud now. “Okay you win this time.” He pushed open the door for me to go through.

Howie was watching some sitcom on TV and Kevin was sitting at the table talking into his cell phone. He looked up at us when we walked in and smiled. Howie got up from the couch and took some of the stuff off of our hands. “Smells good guys.” He said quietly.

“Burgers man.” AJ nodded at Howie. “So what’s new?” He kept his voice low as well as he gestured towards Kevin.

“Kevin has talked to at least six different people by now. They have tightened security around here and next week’s concerts have been canceled. As is the rest of the tour. It is a good thing there was only a month and a half left. They suggested going ahead without Brian, but we said no way. It wouldn’t be the same without him. I got ahold of Harold and Jackie and they are in the process of trying to get a flight down here...”
Suddenly Kevin’s voice cut through the air. He did not sound happy. “Well that is wonderful!” He said sarcastically. Then silence. “I realize this, but right now our first priority is to be here for Brian...okay...thanks.” He snapped the flip of the phone shut and set it on the table. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

We were all staring at him. “What was that all about?” AJ asked.

“Whoever took that picture of Brian and Ellie sent it in to all the television networks so it is everywhere now. Not to mention all the newspapers tomorrow morning. Barry wants us to hold a press conference A.S.A.P. I told him, well, you heard what I said.”
“So what does all this mean?” I asked, shocked.

Kevin looked at me seriously. “It means that you are going to have to be careful just like we said earlier. Reporters, fans, you name it, are going to be all over soon.

“Okay.” I said, somewhat overwhelmed. “Any news on Brian?”
“Sort of. Howie called Nick’s cell and Nick said he fell asleep right after we left. Apparently he was exhausted. Other than that, I don’t know. His doctor will be here in a half hour to go over the surgery.” Kevin said. He took one of the Styrofoam boxes and opened it up. Howie and AJ sat down also and opened theirs.

“I’ll go bring Nick his if y’all want to eat yours.” I offered.

“What about yours?” Asked Howie.

I shook my head. “I’m not really hungry.”
“Can I have it?” AJ looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“AJ!” Kevin gave him a dirty look. “El, you need to eat something.”
“I will later, okay? I’m going to bring this to Nick.” I picked up the remaining container and headed out the door before they could protest. “AJ you can have it.” I called over to my shoulder as the door shut behind me. In total honesty my stomach was too knotted up with worry to eat. Visions of Brian the way he looked when we left floated through my mind and the knot tightened. I hoped he was doing better cause I don’t think I could handle seeing him a whole lot worse.