Swollen Issues - Chapter 40
Nick flung the suitcase open and started to pitch clothes in as he threw the
drawers open to the dresser. He didn’t care about neatness, he was more
concerned about getting out of the hotel and onto the plane as soon as
possible. This trip had nothing but bad memories for him. He had been sick
from the plane trip over and it never let up.
Going into the bathroom, he grabbed all of his personal effects and threw
them into his small shaving kit bag. A wave of dizziness and nausea swept
over him and he quickly sat down on the edge of the bathtub.
“God, will this shit ever end?” He sighed outloud. He was sick and tired of
being sick. Shrugging, Nick figured it was just because he had just been
released from the hospital.
His eyes fell onto the thermometer that laid on the bathroom counter.
”Remember, Mr. Carter, it will be important for you to check your
temperature twice daily until you see your family physician and make sure
you call him if your temperature goes over one hundred degrees.”
Blocking out the Japanese nurse’s discharge instructions, Nick grabbed the
thermometer and threw it into the trash.
“Won’t be needing this anymore,” he announced outloud. Glancing, he caught a
view of his face in the mirror. He shivered a little as his body was trying to
gather warmth from the fever he was still fighting. His face was still a
pasty white and his hair was matted down. “Yep, I look like I feel,
COMPLETE SHIT. I don’t care though, I just wanna get out of here!”
Walking out of the bathroom, Nick shook his head as he laid the shaving kit
into the suitcase. Looking at the blood test results, Nick wadded the paper
into a tiny ball and aimed towards the waste paper basket, NBA style.
“Carter shoots.... aw...Carter misses,” Nick called out in an announcer type
voice.
Taking ahold of the letter the doctor had written for Nick to give his family
doctor when he returned to the states, he debated on whether or not to
open it and read. He turned the envelope over and over, fingering the edge
of the seal. Tearing it half, he tossed it into the wastebasket.
“Why do I even care? It’s probably a bunch of nothing anyways.”
A firm knock on the door was followed by Howie calling out to Nick on the
other side.
“Hey! Are you all packed up and ready to go?”
Nick opened the door and gestured for Howie to come in. Grabbing his
suitcase and his carryon bag he nodded. “I’ve been ready since last week.
Stupid question D.”
“Alright, well, we’re all packed up and yours is the last bag to be loaded on
the shuttle van.”
“Otay, let’s get out of here, I’m ready to go.”
*~*~*~*~*
Nick was quiet the entire ride from the hotel to the airport. He managed to
stop and quickly sign a few autographs before getting into the shuttle van,
but they were brief, and he was in the van before the rest of the guys were.
Kevin quietly observed the younger band member from his seat, situated
across the aisle from Nick. He noticed that Nick’s color was off, and he
seemed to be sleepy acting. He also noticed that Nick more than once got up
from his seat to use the restroom.
“Are you feeling okay, Nicky?”
Sighing, Nick fastened his seatbelt and closed his eyes before muttering a
quiet, “Yeah.”
Nick decided he couldn’t wait to get home, safe and away from the
scrutinizing eyes of Kevin, Bruce and the rest of the group. He hated flying
and theorized that his nausea was from being air sick. Period. Nothing more.
Brian also noticed that his young friend was taking several trips to the
restroom especially after he had been served lunch and only picked at it.
Kevin and he had a long talk during the few days that Nick was in the
hospital and both had worried about Nick possibly being caught in the snares
of drug use as well as an eating disorder.
Bruce was always hounding the poor kid about his looks and picked on him
about his weight when he got older and started to struggle with it. Weight
had always been a sore issue with Nick and it was evident that he had been
struggling with it recently.
“Something wrong, honey?” Leighanne asked her husband when she noticed
he was deep in thought.
Brian slightly shook his head. “No, just a little tired, sorry.”
She took his hand and patted it. “Get some rest sweetheart, we should be
landing in a little bit.”
Easing his seat back, Brian thankfully took her advice.
“Hey Nick, what are you planning when we get back,” AJ pestered a sleeping
Nick.
“Sleep, sleep and more sleep,” Nick mumbled. “Leave me alone.”
AJ put his hands up as if to fend off any imaginary hits from Nick. “Judas
Nick, take it easy, it was a simple question.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off, I just don’t feel that great right
now,” Nick apologized.
“Yeah I know, lemme guess, airsick?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
AJ took the hint that the conversation was over when Nick turned his back
to him and and adjusted the blankets around his neck a little bit tighter.
~*~*~*~*~
Nick looked wearily at the numbers on the alarm clock.
4:14 a.m.
“God, when the hell am I going to feel better?” he moaned as he threw the
covers off his body. Standing up, he started to shiver as the air made
contact with his sweat soaked skin. His thoughts went back to the nurse
telling him that he needed to check his temperature until he saw his family
doctor.
He debated on checking to see if he had a fever. “I guess I better in case
Brian asks and then at least I wouldn’t be lying to him,” Nick theorized as he
stumbled to the bathroom in seach of the digital thermometer.
After rummaging throught the drawers for a few moments, he was finally
rewarded with the thermometer. Sticking it into his ear, a beep sounded off
in a few seconds.
Squinting his eyes while trying to adjust to no glasses as well as the
bathroom light, Nick tried to read the numbers.
“One hundred two point two. Okay, big deal, take tylenol and go back to bed,”
Nick decided outloud. Plodding down stairs towards the kitchen, Nick caught
a glimpse of himself in a mirror.
“Lettuce my ass,” he muttered as he walked by the reflection. “I’m a big guy
and I know what I want and I don’t need Bruce’s whiney voice dictating me on
what I can and cannot do.”
Spilling three tylenol out of the bottle, Nick washed the pills down with a
generous gulp of water.
Walking back up towards the bedroom, still shivering, he decided a hot
shower may calm down his frayed nerves and warm his body up. The nurse’s
words sprang into his head when he stepped into the inviting shower: “It’s
very important that your fever does not go over one hundred degrees.”
“One hundred and two isn’t that bad,” Nick yawned as he reached for the
bar of soap. “I’ll be fine in a few days. It’s just good to be back home in my
own country, my own house and my...”
Nick gasped outloud as stabbing pain seared through his stomach. He braced
himself against the shower wall, letting the hot water spray over his body.
He dismissed the sharp pain as nerves.
“I’ll be fine, just great,” he coached himself, with very little conviction in his
voice. “Just peachy.”
The End
Stay Tuned for a Sequel!