Swollen Issues - Chapter Four
“Hey, where are you going buddy? The pilot said we’re gonna be landing in a few minutes,”
Howie asked as he watched Nick inch his way down the aisle in first class towards the
restroom. When didn’t reply, Howie shrugged his shoulders and directed his attention back
to the magazine he had been reading.
Pushing his clausterphobia aside, Nick stepped into the tiny bathroom compartment. The
noise of the plane’s engines seemed intensified for some reason, playing havoc on the
migraine headache that was beginning to flare up.
“God, I look for shit,” Nick mumbled to himself as he looked in the mirror. He cupped a
small amount of water from the faucet and splashed it on his face. “They have to stop
scheduling overseas tours,” he decided outloud.
A gentle knock on the door drew Nick’s attention away from looking at the dark circles
that were forming under his eyes.
“Nick? Is everything okay?”
Nick closed his eyes hearing Leighanne’s voice on the other side of the door. She was so
damned parental, her and Kevin would make the ultimate Mom and Dad. “I’m fine,” he
sighed.
“You don’t look like you feel very well,” she pressed.
“Oh, it’s nothing, probably air sick again, I guess,” Nick was trying to believe that was all it
was too. The schedule management had secured for them was going to be rough. Three
weeks worth of things crammed into four days.
“Whoa, are you sure you’re okay sweetie?” Lee asked as she steadied a wobbly Nick when
he exited the restroom.
Nick managed a slight nod.
Leighanne took an arm and helped him back to his seat and offered to get some juice for
Nick. He waved her off, thanking her.
“Brian,” she whispered as she eased back down into her seat. “I think you’re right, Nick
must be coming down with the flu.”
Brian shook his head. “Poor guy, he really doesn’t need to be sick now.”
“Let’s hope it’s just a twenty-four hour bug or something like that,” Leighanne suggested.
~*~*~*~*~
“Yo Nicky, we’re here, get your ass up!” AJ whispered sharply into Nick’s ear as the plane
was descending.
Moaning, Nick turned away from AJ’s voice, trying to find comfort in the peaceful dream
he was having. Poking on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.
“God this is amazing,” Howie marveled as he looked out the window towards the airport
terminal. “Look at all the fans out there!”
Nick opened an eye and gazed out towards the airport. Just as Howie described, there was
a sea of dark hair and signs waving. Nick closed his eyes again. His throat was killing him,
his eyes felt as if they were going to drop out of their sockets and he the migraine he was
experiencing was more than likely touched off from the fever he had.
Grabbing their carryon gear, the men hurried through the airport terminal, thousands of
young girls screaming and yelling, camera flashes giving off a strobe light effect. Inwardly,
Nick was cursing himself for packing his sunglasses in another bag. The lights from the
cameras were making his headache worse, he lost his balance a few times only to be
corrected by Kevin who kept up with him through the airport.
“I just need to get to my room,” Nick coached himself.
“What was that Nick?” Kevin yelled, trying to be heard over the sea of screams.
“Nothing,” came the Nick’s quiet reply. Kevin merely shook his head and continued to smile
and wave at the fans as they filed past them.
“Would you move over, you wart hog?” AJ stated as he shoved Nick in the ribs trying to
claim some space in the back seat of the limo.
“AJ, leave Nick alone, he’s sick--” Brian defended.
“Oh not again,” AJ interrupted. “I swear, he gets sick as often as I change my shorts.”
Nick swallowed hard, he didn’t bother to comment to AJ’s remark, he lowered the bill to
the ball cap over his eyes and leaned back in the seat.
“I think the jet lag is getting the best of us right now,” Leighanne pointed out in a hused
voice.
“Well, I don’t know if you guys are aware of this or not, but we have a welcoming party at
the hotel with a meet and greet sponsored by the press,” Howie pointed out.
“Oh just let this end,” Nick sighed.
~*~*~*~
The ride from the airport to the hotel was short and soon, Nick felt poking again on his
shoulder, this time it was Brian asking Nick to get up to go into the hotel.
“Meet and greet time, people!”
“Thank you Bruce, wouldn’t have figured that one out on our own,” AJ hissed at the PR
manager.
Bruce was oblivious to the sarcasim. “Anytime my young friend.”
The screams of the young fans were deafening and all the men managed to paste
“showtime” smiles on their faces. Each of them desired to leave the lobby and go to their
rooms and catch up on some of the precious sleep they have lost. Each of them cursing
their PR manager under their breathes for him to not only schedule this meet & greet, but
to bail out before the party even started.
Leighanne kept watching Nick out the corner of her eye. She could see that his face was
chalk white and his lips were reddish looking, his eyes glassy. She placed a hand on her
husband’s shoulder. “Honey, I’m going to save Nick and get him to rest in that chair over
there.”
“Nick? I think you should just go up to your room and lay down and rest for a bit,” she
suggested to Nick. She felt a little bit of anger towards Bruce for scheduling something so
dumb as a meet & greet for only hours after their plane had touched ground.
“No, I’ll be fine,” Nick protested as his head bobbed.
Chapter Five