"He's asleep for now," Kevin said as he drew the curtains closed on the blonde's bunk.
"Man," AJ breathed. "How much more shit can this kid go through?"
Howie shuffled the deck of cards as he watched the eldest band member make his way toward the table. "Poor Nick has had nothing but bad luck ever since we set foot in Spain. I have never in my life seen someone have the worst luck that he's had."
"Well, at least management finally got it through their heads that Nick needs time to heal," Brian added. "Wonder what made them finally realize that they had to cancel the rest of this tour?"
Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, don't care to know. Why ask?"
"Probably when Kaos zoned out on stage they began to see that he wasn't fit to be performing. I swear fat ass only sees dollar signs," AJ spat as he fished his pack of cigarettes from the window ledge.
Brian's eyes widened. "You aren't planning on lighting up right now are you?"
AJ put the cigarette to his lips and stuck a match. "Yeah."
"I don't like eating around second hand cigarette smoke, thank you," Brian replied as he placed a napkin over his sandwich.
"Did you ever get a hold of Nicky's folks?" Howie asked, trying to lighten the dark mood that was forming between Brian and AJ.
Kevin shook his head. "Nope, you'd think one of them would return my calls. I think one time I left a message with his older sister but she seems to be as scatterbrained as Nick."
A loud thud from the sleeping quarters startled the four men. Kevin was the first to react, followed by the rest, racing toward the bunks.
Call it stupidity or just dumb luck, but for a moment I could have sworn that I was laying in a double wide bed in my motel room. Who would have thought I went from there to this stupid bunk on the freakin bus.....next thing I know, I have the guys staring at me laying on the floor.
"Nick! You okay?"
I could only look at Kevin's face and blink. The fall wasn't that far but jeeze, it can knock the wind out of a guy!
"He's got that spaced out look on his face again," AJ warned.
Okay, I'm not skitzoid! "I'm fine," I whimpered. Geeze, I hate when I sound all pathetic.
"Do you know where you are Nicky?"
Why does Howie always ask stupid questions? "Yeah......a bus!"
"A bus?" AJ echoed.
I winced when AJ's words hit my ears. It felt like the effects from one hangover from hell - I had a big time headache and any noise seemed to make my head pound even more. "Yeah a bus and don't talk so loud."
"I wasn't talking loud," AJ defended in a hushed voice.
"His eyes look funny," Howie said as he knelt down.
"I fell out of the bunk, no big deal okay? I thought I was home and rolled over too many times," I said as I started to sit up. A wave of dizziness suggested however, that I needed to lay back down. Gritting my teeth, I ignored the suggestion my body was telling me and sat up.
"Nick what year is it?"
Pulling a blanket off the bottom bunk, I pulled it over my head, trying to hide because I could feel the tears coming. "Why do you care....you never cared before!"
The four men exchanged worried glances as they looked down at the sobbing lump on the floor. Finally Kevin broke the tense silence.
"Nick, c'mon get up and lets get you back up in bed."
I let Kevin help me off the floor and for some reason he started to lead me to AJ's bunk. Normally I would have begged him to just let me do this myself and go back to my own bed but I honestly didn't care at this point. I felt horrible, my head felt like it would split in two any second but there was no way I would confess to feeling like that! I couldn't help but notice that AJ looked a little pissed when I started to lay back but for some reason he didn't say anything. The smell of cigarettes and the CK cologne that AJ dumped on himself was strong and I swallowed the nausea, praying I would hurl on the blankets! I wasn't gonna complain, no way!
"Just call if you need anything, little man," Kevin said to me as he tucked me tightly in the bed.
God....he called me little man in front of the guys again! There were times I would have said something back to Kevin about that I wasn't little anymore but I was too tired to agrue, I just closed my eyes.
The silence in the bus was nothing compared to the dark mood that AJ seemed to be in. Howie couldn't stand the icy silence from the tattooed rebel and decided it was time to break the thick tension that hung in the air. "That was really nice of you not to make a big deal about Nicky taking your bunk Jay."
Tossing the magazine he was looking at aside, AJ's eyes trailed toward the sleeping quarters. "I guess," he grunted with a shrug. "I just hope that little shit doesn't fart in there and stink the bed up."
"He's sick AJ, Nick can't help it," Brian defended.
"You know that was sort of odd how Nick let Kev put him in the bunk," Howie thought outloud.
"Yeah I was thinking about that earlier, Nick knows how much AJ hates anyone in his space," Brian added.
"God you guys are making me out to be a real asshole," AJ sputtered.
"Guys, lets not fight!" Kevin Richardson warned. "Could hear you clear from the bathroom!"
"You were in there long enough! You must have red rings around your ass!" AJ smirked. "Is it safe to go in?"
"You know we're not suppose to shit on the bus!" Kevin defended, his face turing red at the accusation.
"It takes you twenty minutes to piss? You better see a doc when you get back to the states then."
"For your information, I was up front talking to the bus driver most of the time jackass."
Brian rolled his eyes. "I just love how the conversation always goes toward bathroom habits."
"That's always been a top priority with Bone," Howie agreed.
"Well no one said anything when Nick did it," AJ rasped.
Kevin turned toward AJ. "When Nick did what?"
AJ suddenly realized his mistake. He almost squealed on Nick for shitting on the bus after he swore himself to keep the secret. "Ah, nothing.....just forget what I said okay, I gotta go take a leak."
Brian arched a brow in question as he watched the tattoo rebel stand up and stretch his arms as he headed off toward the bathroom.
Kevin shook his head. "I just never know how to read him sometimes."
The obvious sound of Nick gagging broke the men from their thoughts. Kevin immediately started off toward the sleeping quarters when he almost collided with the blonde as he was rushing toward the bathroom, a hand cupped over his mouth.
"Shit.....AJ's still in the bathroom," Brian pointed out as he watched the scene unfold.
I prayed as I hurried toward the bathroom.....basically I was praying that I would make it there on time. I had already baptized AJ's bunk and I needed to get to the toilet before I threw up again. God when is my stomach going to start giving me some relief? Shit! The door is locked! I started to bang on the door.
"Hold your water!" AJ snarled.
"AJ OPEN UP! NICK NEEDS TO GET IN!" Kevin yelled.
Thank God for Kevin Richardson! I didn't dare open my mouth because I knew what the end result would be. Unfortunately for me, just as AJ opened the door it happened......with my hand being over my mouth, I threw up and it squirted every which way possible, most of it going down my shirt but some hit AJ right on the front of his favorite t-shit.
This has to be the worst day of my life!