Johnny’s voice shook Nick quickly from his self absorbed thoughts with a jerk. “End of the road Carter.”
Opening his eyes, he was rewarded with the view of the hotel they were staying at but his relief was quickly replaced with anxiety when he noticed the sea of frenzied fans standing at the hotel entrance.
“C-can we go to the back to get out?” Nick stammered.
“What the hell for?” Johnny snapped.
Nick gestured at the window. “All those girls...”
“Since when did you become a sissy about girls? I thought you liked the attention!”
Nick placed a protective hand across his stomach. “Not since I’ve felt like my stomach might turn itself inside out.”
Johnny sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll be with you to protect you from those ferocious teenies, now c’mon kid, lets get moving.”
Reluctantly, Nick inched his body across the bench seat toward the side door of the van, wincing as sharp pains shot through his abdomen. As Johhny pulled the door open, the screams of the young girls pierced the air. Gritting his teeth, Nick braced himself for the pain that he was certain to feel once his feet hit the ground.
“You are really hunched over, I guess I didn’t notice it before,” Johnny said in a sympathetic tone as he took the young man’s arm. “We can try to hurry through the crowd.”
Nick dipped his head in acknowledgement as he tried to keep up with the tall manager’s steps.
“Sorry girls, Nick can’t stop to talk to you,” Wright informed as they made their way past the crowd.
Nick forced a smile on his lips as he struggled to keep walking toward the wanted hotel entrance. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Once inside the elevator, Nick finally let the tears come. He had sucked up this long but he knew that he couldn’t hold it inside any longer. He hurt and he felt homesick for the first time ever.
The black manager couldn’t help but take notice. “Are you feeling that bad Nick?”
Nick nodded in agreement, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“Do you think it could be the flu? I know there’s a virus floating around here,” Wright questioned.
Nick could only shrug his shoulders in reply.
“Something you ate?”
Again, Nick shrugged his shoulders.
“Did you and Brian punch each other?”
This question produced a smirk from the ailing teen. The thought of he and Brian having a fist fight seemed totally illogical. They loved each other like brothers. Brian was his best friend and best friends never fight.
Johnny seemed satisfied that he got a smile out of the young blond. “Glad to see you thought that was funny....I was starting to get worried that something was seriously wrong with you.”
The elevator finally stopped on their floor and Nick took a faltering step forward, Johnny was quick to grab the young man’s arm.
“Easy there.”
Normally Nick would have resisted assistance from anyone but he was suddenly feeling dizzy and decided it was best to accept the help that was offered instead of finding himself eating the hall floor.
Johnny whistled as he fished around inside his suitcoat inside pocket for the room card. Nick suddenly started to shiver.
“Here we go, jump into bed and cover up,” the manager sternly advised. “I will be checking up on you in an hour or so.”
Nick slowly made his way toward the bed he had earlier claimed as his but quickly decided that his body wasn’t going to allow the travel to the farthest bed and gingerly sat on the edge of the bed that was closest to the bathroom.
“Good thing your bed is close to the bathroom,” Johnny observed as he walked toward the door.
“Um yeah,” the blond agreed, thinking that AJ was going to kick the crap out of him when he came back and found him laying in his bed.
“Get some rest so you can get healthy by tonight,” Johnny advised just as he was closing the door.
Nick sighed in response to the older man’s request. The ache in his stomach went from feeling like his insides were on fire to sharp stabbing pains to a sudden feeling like he was going to puke his intestines out.
“Yeah like I can get healthy in two hours, that would be a miracle,” the blond muttered. Laying over onto his side, he quickly found a comfortable position and closed his eyes. After only a few moments, Nick’s eyes shot open and he quickly clamped a hand across his mouth as he scrambled out of bed to make it in time to the bathroom. In his haste, his feet got tangled up in the bedsheets and he fell on the floor with a hard thud. Kicking at the sheets, Nick crawled toward the bathroom, mentally praying that he would make it before his stomach spewed.
No such luck!
The betrayal of his stomach forced Nick to stop for a few moments and when he got a respite from heaving, he quickly made his way to the bathroom to finish the task. After several minutes of hovering over the bowl did the young man feel it was safe to move back into his bed.
“Yuck,” Nick muttered when he stepped out of the bathroom and saw the remains of the failed trip to the bathroom.
“Yuck,” Nick muttered when he stepped out of the bathroom and saw the remains of the failed trip to the bathroom. Too sick to even think of attempting to clean up the vomit, Nick grabbed a white bath towel and laid it over the mess.
Whimpering, he made his way back to the bed, dragging the discarded blankets up as far as he could without his stomach protesting the movements. He finally opted for the covers on half of his body and half on the floor.
After a few minutes of shivering underneath the partial covers, Nick suddenly felt like he was in an oven and tore at the blankets until he got them off. His eyes drifted over to the phone on the nightstand and he instantly thought of home. He wished he could call his mother and tell her how awful he felt but because of the time difference, he thought he would wake the house up not realizing that it would only be early in the evening hours in Florida.
”JUDAS...WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN HERE?”
Nick jerked awake hearing the black man’s bellowing voice; his face quickly flushed with embarrassment.
“I-I got sick,” he apologized.
“I can see that Carter. How old are you?”
“Huh?”
“It seems like someone your age would know enough to get into the bathroom if they were going to throw up.”
“God, I can’t even touch this......I’m going to call housekeeping,” Wright mumbled, stifling back a gag.
Nick felt embarrassed for the trouble he had caused. “No, don’t do that, I’ll clean it up.”
Before Johnny could say no, the young man slowly made his way from the bed only to drop to his knees when a sudden, sharp pain raced through his abdomen.
“NICK!” Johnny quickly rushed to his side helping him back into bed. “You don’t look so good.”
“I really don’t feel so great,” he admitted.
Johnny placed a hand on Nick’s forehead. “God you’re really burning up! Maybe I should call the hotel doctor.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “NO.....don’t do that I’m sure I’ll be fine I just need to sleep okay? I really don’t want to see a doctor and you know Lou would kill us for even doing that.”
“He would?”
“Yeah you know, the budget?”
The black manager stroked his own chin as he digested Nick’s reasons for not calling the hotel doctor. “Well are you sure you don’t need to see the doctor?”
“I swear.”
“Well then, let me at least call a housekeeper and get this cleaned up, it’s a service of the hotel and I know that at least that is free of charge.”
“But this is just too gross for anyone to clean up, lemme.....”
“Nick you stay put,” Johnny urged as he rested a gentle hand on Nick’s shoulder while he dialed the hotel operator. “Yes......this is room 1412, we need housekeeping up here to clean up an accident by the bathroom......yes someone vomited.....thank you.”
Nick winced and felt his face flush with embarrassment as he listened to Johnny’s side of the conversation.
“Now you close your eyes and rest and hopefully you’ll be asleep with the maid comes in to clean up.”
“My life couldn’t be so lucky,” Nick mumbled as he closed his eyes.
“Honey, I’m home.....” AJ singsonged as he made his way into the hotel room he was sharing with Nick. Entering the room further, he lowered his trademark sunglasses as he inspected the living quarters, his nose immediately assualted with the smell of sickness. His eyes quickly trailed to the unmade bed - his bed!
“Hey dickhead! I thought I told you your bed was by the window....” he quickly stopped his scolding when he heard the sound of someone heaving in the bathroom. “Kaos? You still that sick?”
The only sound coming back in reply was strained dry heaves.
“Phew......this place stinks to high heaven,” AJ muttered as he went to the window and slid it open.
“Close the window!”
“Huh?”
“I-I’m c-cold,” Nick replied through clattering teeth.
AJ whirled around to take a look at how his young brother was dressed. He was surprised to see that he was still dressed in blue jeans and but this time he aparantly layered his upper torso with a bulky sweatshirt and a hooded sweatshirt jacket. Surprise was quickly replaced with concern as he watched the teens stooped posture and his slow, calculated steps. Immediately the rebel singer took action.
“Kid, you need to get out of your street clothes and put on some warm pjs.”
“A-all I-I h-have i-s b-box...”
“Howie has flannel pants I can guarentee it,” AJ interrupted. “Sit your ass down on the bed, lemme cover you up and I’m going to call and see if Howie can bring you some.”
As AJ dialed the room to Kevin and Howie’s he reached over toward Nick and drew the covers up. “Yeah, D it’s Bone, do you think you could spare some flannel pants for Kaos? He’s freezing to death and I know the kid don’t wear anything but boxers and a tee to sleep in......yeah......white as a sheet...yup....you do? Excellent!”
Nick looked over at AJ with watery eyes.
“D’s bringing a pair of his jammies over so you can get warmer,” AJ grinned.
The blond sighed as he shivered.
AJ winked. “Yeah I know, but I’m sure the horses will look good on you.” He looked at the other bed and stripped the comforter and thick blanket and placed them ontop of Nick’s bed.
“B-but...”
“No buts, I’ll call the maid and have her bring up more blankets...”
Nick sighed. “She was here once already today.”
“She was?”
Nick nodded as he burrowed his body further into the blankets, seeking warmth.
“Why?”
His cheeks immedately flushed with embarrassment. “I didn’t make it to the bathroom.”
“Ouch.....well I doubt we’ll get the same one again.....you know you should have the wastebasket by the bed in case you need to get sick again,” AJ decided as he walked into the bathroom.
Nick felt helpless as he watched his older brother play dutiful nursemaid. For as crusty as he acted sometimes, AJ really had a soft side to him.
“Dude....did you know theres a Micky D’s down the road from here?” Brian announced as he came in, arms burdened with white McDonald’s bags.
“Got enough?” AJ rasped as he watched Brian dropping the bags on top of Nick’s bed.
“I got this for all of us, moron,” the young Kentuckian corrected. “I know Nick would appreciate it, starve a cold, feed a fever thing...”
“Not hungry,” Nick mumbled.
“Nick Carter not hungry?” Brian asked with a mock sound of shock in his voice. He reached into the bag and unwrapped a cheeseburger, offering it to the ailing teen. “Sure you are.”
His eyes widened as he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Rok put that away, can’t you see the smell is making the poor boy sick to his stomach?”
“But it’s just McDonald’s, Nick’s favorite,” Brian protested.
“It’s also greasy food...”
“Please don’t talk about grease,” Nick whimpered.
Brian took the bags and placed them ontop of the vacant bed. “Hey where’s the blankets?”
“Gave them to Nicky, which reminds me that I have to call the maid,” AJ replied as he lifted the receiver on the phone.
Brian stared at the tattooed rebel, one eyebrow arched in question and then looked over at the shivering teenager. “AJ being domestic?”
Nick could only roll his eyes in response, watching as Brian rifled through the McDonald’s bags, pulling out a carton of french fries. The smell wafted into his nostrils and suddenly his stomach immediately protested. Nick grabbed the wastebasket and started heaving into the cylinder.
“Gross!” Brian yelped, throwing the box of fries back into the bag. He quickly jumped up and rushed to the door.
“He really can’t help it,” AJ called after Brian. “You could at least take your smelly food with you!”
Brian darted out into the hallway, bumping into Howie, nearly knocking him over.
“Whoa....Brian, whats the hurry?”
“SomethingisseriouslywrongwithNickyhedoesn’twantMcDonaldsandheneverre fusestoeatanythingevenwhenheissick!”
The Latino gripped Brian’s arms. “Whoa, whoa, calm down I can’t understand you.”
Brian paused for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose to collect his composure. “I think something serious is going on with Nicky. I brought him some hamburgers and he refused to eat anything and he is getting sick right now!”
“Well do you eat when you have the flu?” Howie questioned.
Brian shook his head. “Well I don’t and I guess no one else really does, but we’re talking about Nick here.”
“Well maybe he picked up a good bug,” the Latino assured.
“Yeah but he’s like got a ton of sweatshirts on and blankets and he looks like he’s freezing to death.”
“Flu will do that.”
“I’m gonna go get Kevin. He can tell if something is off with Nicky,” Brian stated as he turned and sprinted toward his cousin’s room.
As Howie started to knock on the door, the hotel maid stopped beside him, carrying several blankets. He acknowledged her presence with a warm smile. “My friend must really be cold,” he commented.
“Yes he seems to be pretty sick, I had been called up here a little bit ago to clean up a mess on the floor.”
Howie furrowed his brow. “Oh?”
Before the woman could explain, AJ opened the door, grabbing the pajamas from his hands. “Thank God D, Nick really needs those.”
Howie turned to the maid. “I can take those for you.”
The woman handed the blankets over. “Thanks, and don’t be afraid to call if your friend needs something else.”
Howie entered the sickroom, finding Nick hovering over the wastebasket, gasping for breaths when the heaving subsided. The young blond was prone to asthma trouble when he had a cold and the Latino was instantly concerned that this may trigger up an asthma attack.
“Nick are you having breathing trouble?”
“Dumbass he just got done heaving his guts what the hell do you think?”
“I was thinking more about asthma AJ,” Howie defended.
Nick waved his hand. “I’m fine.”
“He really has a nasty assed flu bug,” AJ stated. “Nick do you think you could sit up and I’ll help you get out of those clothes?”
“I’m not queer!” Nick snapped as he gingerly laid back on the bed.
“I sure as hell ain’t either!”
“I’m fine I don’t need to get warm,” he retorted as he threw the covers off his body.
“You were freezing a minute ago,” AJ advised.
“Yeah well now I’m burning up!” Nick tore at the hooded sweatshirt jacket pulling it off and then pulling the sweatshirt off his body as well.
“Nick what are you doing?” AJ admonished.
“Tryin to get fricken cool,” Nick muttered.
“You’ll get chilled if you do that,” Howie remarked.
Both Howie and AJ watched in amazement when the kid they knew was so sensitive about anyone seeing his stomach pulled his sweatshirt off and lay back down without caring who saw it.
“I’m starting to wonder now if Brian wasn’t right about this,” Howie said to himself.
“Right about what?” AJ echoed.
As the Latino opened his mouth to reply, Kevin and Brian bolted into the room.
“What the hell! Can’t you people let me sleep?” Nick whined as he rolled onto his side and curled up into a ball.
A concerned Kevin Richardson stood next to Nick’s bed. “Brian’s pretty concerned about you little man.” When no movement came from the figure in the bed, Kevin glanced over at AJ. “What’s been going on?”
“Kaos has been puking his guts out or at least now he’s been heaving his guts and he was complaining about not being able to get warm but that was before he stripped his sweatshirt off and complained about burning up.”
“Kev he really got weird about the smell from the food, I think something is wrong,” Brian said.
“You already told me that,” Kevin calmly replied. “Nick, I need you to roll over so I can talk to you.....please?”
As requested, Nick rolled slowly onto his back. Kevin was shocked at how pale and sweaty the young teen was.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
“My stomach hurts really bad,” Nick muttered.
“How much?”
“Like when I walk and move or do anything,” Nick admitted.
The tall Kentuckian’s eyes trailed down from Nick’s face to his abdomen, quickly noticing it was distended but decided not to comment on that issue since he wasn’t sure if it was distended from his ailment or if the teen had been overindulging.
Taking a breath, Kevin decided it was time to check to see if this was serious or not. “Nick, my hands are kinda cold but I need to check to see if it hurts when I do this.....”
Before Nick had time to reply, Kevin pressed a hand into the lower part of the teenager’s stomach.
“Jesus! Your hands are freezing!” Nick gasped.
“Sorry.....does it hurt when I press down?”
“Um a little........OHMYGOD!”
Kevin jumped when Nick yelped. He had just pulled his hand away from the teen’s stomach.
“Brian, call for an ambulance........NOW!”