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Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Six



Jess walked nervously down the hospital corridors towards Nick’s room. She hadn’t seen him in six days and was anxious to see him and see how he was feeling. As Jess neared his room, she saw a security guard sitting outside of the door. When he saw Jess walking towards him, he stood up.

“I need to see some identification before I can let you go in, ma'am.” The large man stated.

Jess fumbled in her purse and found her billfold and pulled out her driver’s license. The guard took it and looked at the picture and then looked at Jess and then he looked at the list of names on his clipboard. As he handed the drivers license back to her, he thanked her.

Jess sighed as she knocked on the door.

“It’s open.” Nick said from the other side of the door.

Taking a breath, Jess pushed the door open. She felt her heart skip a beat when she was Nick sitting up in his bed reading a magazine.

Nick looked up and was happy to see Jess enter the room. He set his magazine down and started to get out of the bed.

“No, don’t stay where you are.” Jess asked Nick to stay in bed.

“Hey, I can get up, it’s okay.” Nick offered.

“No, it’s easier for me to kiss you when you are sitting, Nick.” Jess laughed as she spoke.

When she got to the bed they first hugged and then kissed. Jess took everything about Nick in when she looked at him. She felt like it had been years instead of days that she had seen him. She felt like crying because she was so happy to see him again.

“I missed you so much, Nick.” Jess said with tears in her eyes.

“Hey, I missed you too, darling, and please don’t start crying on me, please.” Nick said back to Jess softly.

“I won’t, it’s just that I was beside myself this past week worrying about you.” Jess sighed.

“Yeah, I guess I pretty much had the easy part of this whole thing, this is the first day I have been actually awake. They kept me pretty much sleeping the whole time I have been here. I was awake only long enough to eat and then within an hours time, they had me out again.” Nick told her.

“So how are you feeling?” Jess asked.

“Um, tired, but it’s a good tired it’s not that exhaustion crap.” Nick replied.

“That is good. Has Brian been up to see you yet? I called him as soon as I found out this morning.” Jess asked.

“Nope, he hasn’t been here yet.” Nick said.

“He was so happy when I told him you could see people. He has really had a hard time with not being able to come and see you.” Jess said. “Have they mentioned when they are gonna spring you outta here yet?” Jess asked while she sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“Nope, not a word. I am getting so sick of being in here too. Don’t get me wrong, they have been great here, it’s just I want my life to be normal again, you know?” Nick looked out the window from his bed as he spoke.

“Yeah, I understand, babe.” Jess said as she took Nick’s hand.

As Jess looked at Nick, she could tell he was fighting the urge to fall asleep.

“Go ahead, put your head back Nick. Just sitting here with you is plenty for me. I want you to get better.”

“Awh, I am so tired of sleeping though. They stopped giving me stuff every four hours. I think they cut it back to twice a day now.” Nick answered sleepily.

“Shh, just close your eyes.” Jess reached up and smoothed his hair back.

Nick closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly. Jess moved the magazine and the remote control that was laying on his stomach. She sat back in the chair and looked at Nick while he slept. Jess couldn’t help but think about what things were like before the accident. She remembered all of the energy and life that Nick was full of. Now that was replaced with depression and tiredness. Nick looked so peaceful resting that for a second it seemed to Jess that he was okay, he was only resting.

A lot that had happened to Nick since June. He had gone through the accident, losing the usse of his legs, regaining the use of his legs, total paralysis and losing his voice and then after getting it back and reaching his goal to be onstage again, he was only held back by collapsing onstage. It didn’t seem fair to Jess to have Nick suffer so much. It wasn’t like he was some horrible person that needed to suffer, he was such a good person, always willing to help others.

Just as Jess was feeling tears fill her eyes, she heard a soft knock on the door. She stood up and walked over to the door and opened it a crack. She saw Brian’s smiling face on the other side.

“Hey, glad to see you.” Jess whispered to Brian.

“Same here.” Brian whispered back as he quietly entered the room. He looked over at the bed and saw Nick sleeping.

“He just fell asleep, he was fighting it but he finally gave in.” Jess spoke quietly to Brian so that she would not wake Nick up.

Brian nodded his reply. He was just as happy as Jess was just to see him again.

“He looks like he’s feeling better.” Brian remarked quietly.

Jess nodded. She didn’t want to talk for fear of waking Nick up. She gestured towards a chair that was in the corner of the room. Brian walked softly over towards the chair and picked it up and carried it over to the same side that Jess was sitting on. When he sat the chair down, Brian accidentally bumped the bed. Both Jess and Brian held their breath as they looked at Nick.

Nick’s eyes fluttered open and it seemed to take a second for them to focus on Brian’s face.

“Hey buddy, how are you?” Brian smiled and touched Nick’s shoulder.

Nick smiled at Brian. “Hey, glad to see ya.”

“How are you feeling?” Brian asked.

“Pretty good, better.” Nick answered. He was getting sick of people asking him that question, but he realized they were asking out of concern.

“That’s great, you look good.” Brian rubbed Nick’s head and messed his hair up. That was always a sure fire way to annoy him. Brian didn’t get too many chances to do that to Nick when he was standing because of the difference in height.

“Hey, comeon, quit that.” Nick protested hoarsely.

Brian just laughed. He liked getting a reaction out of him.

“Hey, you would do that too if you could move fast enough!”

“Ha, ha, very funny, you are so full of it.” Nick answered back as he was trying to sit up in bed.

“So when are they letting you out of here?” Brian asked.

“Don’t know, no one wants to tell me, I guess.” Nick replied softly.

“You’ll get out as soon as they think you are ready and not before, we don’t need to have you back in here again.” Jess answered.

Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. He was getting so sick and tired of being sick and tired. He was beginning to feel as if he would never be normal again. He wasn’t sure what normal felt like anymore.

“Hey, don’t you be rolling your eyes at me, mister.” Jess laughed.

Nick rolled his eyes back at her again, this time more slowly for emphasis.

“Ohh, big man,” Jess laughed.

“Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You’re welcome, it was my pleasure.” Jess replied.

“Okay you two, quit it, this is getting on my nerves.” Brian interjected.

Nick settled back into the bed and sighed. “This is really driving me crazy, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we know.” Both Brian and Jess spoke at the same time.

A nurse appeared into the room. “I’m sorry, but you will have to leave now, the patient needs his rest.”

“But, we’ve only been here for not even thirty minutes,” Jessica protested.

“Come on, why can’t they stay?” Nick looked upset to think that Brian and Jess would have to go.

“Sorry, doctor’s orders.” The nurse tried to look appologetic and failed miserably.

Before Nick could say anything more, Jess stood up and whispered in his ear, “Just relax, we will be back in awhile, okay, you need to rest to get better.”

Nick just looked at Jess and then Brian. “I can’t believe this shit.”

“Hey, relax, we will be back to see you again, I promise.” Brian touched his friend on the shoulder.

The nurse held out a cup with medication in it and a cup of icewater. Nick just looked at the items and then looked at the nurse. Everyone that was in the room knew it was obvious that he had no intention of taking the meds.

“Nick, you have to take that. If you don’t take it, Brian and I will not come back to see you.” Jess tried to plea bargin with him.

“Jess, if I take that, I won’t know whether or not you came back to see me.” Nick said angrily.

“What is it?” Jess asked.

“Tranquilzers.” Nick replied flatly. He was getting so sick of taking mood enhancers and things to relax him, he was beginning to wonder if he would know how to fall asleep on his own.

“Well, I guess you have to take them Nick. The doctor wouldn’t prescribe them if you didn’t need them you know.” Brian tried to encourage Nick to take the drugs.

“I honestly don’t see where I need to take this stuff anymore.” Nick was trying to get the nurse to leave with the medications.

“Nick, you still need to take it, they wouldn’t give it to you if you didn’t need it. Now, please!” Jess begged him to take his medication.

Nick reluctantly held his hand out for the cup of pills. Taking the cup he tossed the pills into his mouth and then took the glass of icewater from the nurse. After he swallowed the water he put on a fake closed mouth smile for the nurse.

The nurse asked him to open his mouth. Nick shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out and lifted it up to show her that the pills were gone.

Once the nurse was convinced he had swallowed his pills, she reminded Jess and Brian that they needed to leave.

“Can we stay until he falls asleep?” Jess asked.

The nurse knew that Nick would be asleep in less than five minutes after taking the pills.

“I guess that would be fine, but I will be checking back here in ten minutes.” The nurse turned and left the room.

“Witch.” Nick said quietly after she left the room.

“Hey, now she was doing this for your own good, don’t take it out on her.” Brian softly reprimanded Nick.

The pills were already starting to effect Nick. His eyelids appeared to grow heavier each time he blinked.

“Where are you guys gonna go while I sleep?” Nick asked. His speech was slurred to the point where it sounded like he was drunk.

“Probably out to eat or something.” Brian replied.

Nick’s head started to drop and then he jerked it back up again fighting the sleepiness that was starting to overtake him.

“That’s okay, Nick, let it go, go to sleep.” Jess talked softly trying to soothe Nick into sleep.

Nick couldn’t fight it any longer. His head dropped and stayed down. Jess pulled the covers up to his chest and kissed him gently on the forehead. She turned to Brian and pointed at the door. They walked quietly out of the room.

Jess let the door close softly. Nick’s nurse was walking towards the room as they turned toward the elevators. Once she saw Brian and Jessica, the nurse turned around and walked back to the nurse’s station.

“Man, did you see that? She was actually coming back to see if we had left.” Jess said to Brian in a shocked tone.

“Well, she is doing it for Nick’s own good.” Brian reminded her.

“I’m just wondering how much longer he needs to stay and how much longer they are going to be giving him meds, I hate to see him strung out on stuff like a junkie or something, you know that tranquilzers can be addictive.” Jess said worriedly as she pressed the down button on the elevator.

“Oh, don’t worry so much, Nick is in good hands and I am sure they wouldn’t keep giving him something until he is dependant upon it.” Brian insisted.

“Let’s hope you’re right on that, I mean, look at some of those rock stars that are always doped up.” Jess pointed out.

Brian just laughed at her. “I cannot believe how paranoid you can be. Relax, Nick hates taking pills, that would be the furthest thing from his mind to constantly take stuff all the time. So, where did you want to go and eat at?”

“I don’t care, you decide.” Jess said quietly.

“Okay, let’s just get out of here first, if you don’t mind?” Brian asked Jess as they got on the elevator.

“Any place but here is fine by me.” Jess said as she watched Brian push the button to the lobby.

Neither one of them spoke while the elevator stopped on every floor to either let people on or off. They eventually ended standing towards the back when the elevator finally reached the lobby. Jess and Brian had to move through the people that were standing towards the front.

Jess looked out towards the lobby when they got off the elevator. She was surprised to see a television camera with a reporter standing in the lobby doing a broadcast. Brian tugged his hat down lower and stood next to Jessica’s left side to be obscured by the camera just in case they were there reporting about Nick. Jess and Brian both strained to hear what the reporter was talking about as they walked past her.

Their suspicions were confirmed when they heard the reporter mention Nick’s name. Jess and Brian automatically stepped up their pace towards the front doors and tried to be inconspicious as they walked past the televsion camera. One of the television crew members caught Brian and approached them and literally stepped in front of Jess and Brian.

“Excuse us, please.” Brian asked the man politely. The man still stood in front of them, as Jess and Brian tried to step to the left, the man also stepped to the left. The same happened when they moved to the right. Brian was starting to get agitated. “I said, excuse us, please.” Jess could detect anger rising in Brian’s voice.

The reporter came rushing over with her television camera rolling.

“Hi, Brian, I am Angie from WSTB channel 4 in Tampa. We are taping live and we would like to ask you a few questions regarding Nick Carter.” The tall blonde girl asked Brian as the cameras were rolling and she stuck her microphone in his face. Jess could see how annoyed Brian was becoming. She had her hand on his back and rubbed it up and down in an attempt to soothe Brian, she could feel the tension growing.

“Ah, this really isn’t a good time for this right now.” Brian tried to be polite.

“We just have a few questions that concerned fans are wondering about. Could you tell me why Nick is here?” The reporter smiled as she stuck the microphone back in Brian’s face.

Brian just stared at her in disbelief. He couldn’t believe the audacity of the reporter to ambush him like that in the lobby. He was also wondering how a hospital would allow a reporter in the lobby to begin with.

“I really feel that is between Nick and his physician.” Brian answered quietly.

“Good answer, Brian.” Jess thought to herself quietly.

“Well, the fans are truely concerned about Nick. He has been very ill since the last part of June. We were wondering if this had anything to do with his collapse onstage last week?” The reporter was persistant.

“Could be, it’s really between Nick and his physician.” Brian answered again.

“Well, what is wrong with Nick?” The reporter asked and this time put the microphone in front of Jess’ face.

That evidentally was enough for Brian. He put his hand over the microphone. He pushed the mike down away from Jess’s face.

“I would appreciate it if you would leave us alone, I have already told you anything that I would want to share with you and I do not appreciate being ambushed on live tv by you. If and when we do an interview, I would appreciate you contacting my agent and then I may consider doing one, but I do not do interviews about my friend while I have just left him. That is not fair to me and it is certainly not fair to Nick, understand me?” Brian was visibly upset and tried to keep his composure.

The reporter appeared as if she was not going to give up even after Brian had begged her to leave them alone. Brian turned to walk away and the cameraman stepped in front of him filming him as he was attempting to walk away. Brian just put his head down and kept walking and grabbed Jess by the arm as he walked away. Jess had no choice but to follow Brian. The cameraman kept up his pace along with Brian and followed them through the parking lot. Jess couldn’t believe that they insisted on following them out to the car. Brian opened the drivers side door and motioned for Jess to get in and slide over. She quickly did as Brian instructed and Brian was right behind her.

Brian didn’t say a word as he put the keys in the ignition and started the car up. Jess had never seen Brian this upset and angry before in his life. She didn’t think he really had the capacity to be that way. He was always such a easy going person.

“This really sets the mood for an enjoyable lunch now, don’t it?” Brian said as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

“Um, yeah.” Jess didn’t know what to say or do to make Brian relax and forget about the reporters.

“I really cannot believe how people could be so intrusive, I mean, here poor Nick is trying to get on with his life and then you have these idiots trying to magnify anything and everything that has been going on with him since June. How could anyone ever start to recover with that kind of shit going on?” Brian just started rambling on as he drove. He needed to get it off of his chest, it had been building for such a long time. He usually didn’t mind reporters and television cameras, he knew that they were trying to make a living too, but this time, there was something there that struck a raw nerve with him.

Jess sat in the passenger seat and quietly listened to Brian. She knew that she was a better friend just listening to him and not saying or offering anything to him unless he asked her.

Suddenly, Brian realized that he was talking and not paying much attention to Jess. “Oh, God, I am so sorry Jess, let’s change the subject, this has really got me shook up for some damn reason.”

“Don’t worry about it Brian, I’m here to listen, you need to let it out.” Jess said quietly.

“Nope, where shall we go?” Brian asked as he scanned the buildings along the busy road. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Nothing.” Jess replied.

“Comeon, why am I always the one to make these decisions? Where would Nick go right now?” Brian decided to try and turn the tables on Jess.

Jess thought about it for a second, an image of Nick popped into her head. “Um, I guess he would go for a big juicy cheeseburger and fries.”

“Sounds fine to me. Now, lets see where a good place that has the best burgers would be at.” Brian looked down the street. The only restaurants that were along the strip that they were on were all fast food joints.

Jess spied a bar coming up. “Hey, let’s go to that place, it looks kind of interesting to me.”

“A bar? Are you sure about this?” Brian asked her.

“Hey, it’s not like I’m gonna sit back and drink beer for an hour. Bars are always notorious for good greasy cheeseburgers. Let’s try it, hey it may end up being the best place for food and I discovered it.” Jess tried to coax Brian into her decision.

“Alright, but if this place bites, you’re paying, right?” Brian teased.

“Sure, we’ll use Nick’s credit card, okay?” Jess laughed.

“Sounds like a deal to me.” Brian said as he pulled the car into the parking lot.

Chapter 37

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