Chapter Eight

“Sure, come in.” Jessica stood up.

Brian walked in the room followed by Kevin. Nick was asleep. Brian hugged Jessica and then Kevin went to her and gave her a tight hug.

“How are you doing?” Kevin asked.

“Okay.” Jess looked up at him. He was so tall, but Nick was still taller.

Both boys walked over to Nick’s bed. Kevin looked at Nick’s bruised face. It was the first time he had seen Nick in over a week. They were on a mini vacation before they would leave on for their new album release.

“How long has he been sleeping?” Brian asked. He was anxious to talk to Nick. He didn’t want to wake him up.

“About an hour. His mom and dad were here a while ago and he fell asleep while they were here.” Jess spoke softly.

“Anything new in his condition?” Brian asked.

“The doctor wants to do some new tests to find out the extent of any permanent damage to his spine. He is hoping that maybe a new steroid will help with the swelling and that may be the whole problem with his legs.”

Nick coughed. He was starting to wake up. His eyes slowly opened and he looked at Kevin. He looked puzzled to see him standing there.

“Hey Chaos. How ya doin’?” Kevin smiled at Nick.

Nick managed a smile at Kevin. He slowly turned his head towards Brian and Jessica.

“Nicky, my boy.” Brian smiled. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you. You’ve had us pretty worried.”

Nick’s response was a smile back at Brian. He slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. The drugs that he was getting was making him very sleepy. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open and talk.

“Hey.” Nick finally was able to get the word out. Kevin touched his friend on the shoulder. He knew it was hard for Nick to talk right now. As he looked at Nick he had to fight back the tears that he could feel burning his eyes. It was hard for him to take this. Nick was too young to have anything like this happen.

“How are you feeling?” Kevin asked Nick.

“Road kill.” Nick joked. Everyone laughed. Nick was still cracking jokes even though he was feeling crappie. That was Nick, he hates to see anyone down.

“Seriously?” Brian asked.

“He should feel pretty damn good.” Jessica snapped back lightly. “I gave him a sponge bath this morning, he refused the chance of having a nurse give him one.”

The guys looked at Nick.

“Is this true, Nick? I can’t believe you passed the chance on a gorgeous nurse toweling your body down, you must of got hit in the head really hard,” Brian joked.

“Hey, wait a minute, I think I can be just a gorgeous as any damn nurse, and maybe better than any damn nurse. I give courteous professional service.” Jessica interjected.

“True, I guess Nick was afraid they would have sent in some 450 pound woman to attend to his needs.” Kevin replied.

They laughed at Nick’s expense. Nick smiled a half-hearted smile. There was so much he could say back, but he didn’t have the energy. Just as things died down in the room, an orderly came in.

“I need to take you down for some tests, can I see your wrist?” the orderly kept his head down and didn’t make eye contact with anyone in the room. He acted painfully shy.

“What tests?” Jessica asked.

“He needs to have an MRI, CT scan and few other tests with contrast or dye.” the orderly stated.

Nick’s nurse came into the room as the orderly was verifying the information on his chart with Nick’s hospital bracelet.

“Sorry, we have to steal Nick for a while. These things always seem to happen when you have company, never fails,” she apologized. “Jessica, I think it would be a good idea for you to take a breather, Nick will be gone for a few hours from his room and you can’t accompany him into the rooms for the tests, don’t you think so, Nick?” the nurse looked at Nick for approval.

“Go on.” Nick said softly, “I’ll be OK.”

“Yeah, Jess, you can come with Kev and me. We’ll take you somewhere to rest. Nick will be okay.” Brian pulled at Jessica’s arm.

“Are you sure you want me to go?” Jess asked Nick.

Nick nodded his head slowly. He closed his eyes. Jess touched his shoulder. Nick slowly opened his eyes and looked into her eyes. Jessica bent over and gave Nick a soft kiss on the lips.

“I love you, Nick. I’ll be back soon.” she whispered into his ear.

of Nick smiled faintly. “Love you too.” No one could hear what he said, but Jess could read his lips.

Brian, Jess and Kevin waited until they took Nick in his bed out of the room to the elevator.

“Are ye ready to go, miss?” Brian asked Jess in a corny Irish accent.

“Sure,” Jess replied.

“Ok, let’s hit the road.” Kevin opened the door for Brian and Jessica.

They got on the elevator and Kevin and Brian put their hats on and sunglasses. They were preparing to go out in public. Jessica couldn’t help but laugh. When she looked at them all she could see was Kevin and Brian.

“What’s so funny? “ Brian asked her with a puzzled look on his face.

“Nothing, it’s just that I know it’s you guys, you wouldn’t fool me one bit.” Jessica laughed.

“Hehehehe.” Kevin imitated her laugh. “Remember your smart remarks when we get to the car, funny girl.”

The elevator stopped on the lobby floor. All three of them walked out and through the crowd in the lobby. So far so good, Brian thought to himself as they got to the front door. As soon as they opened the door, the roar of the crowd on the front lawn hit them.

“Ohmygod, it’s Brian and Kevin,” some girls screamed in the crowd.

“Hold on tight Jess, we’ve gotta make a run for the car.” Brian shouted as they started to run. He knew from experience that the crowd was going to rush them. Sure enough, when they started to run, there were several girls chasing them screaming and crying.

They made it to Kevin’s car and no one wasted time arguing about who was going to drive, sit in front or whatever. They slid in and Kevin started the car and put it in reverse. He didn’t care about the people that were standing behind the car, he knew that they would move.

They sped out of the parking lot and onto the busy street. Kevin and Brian both glanced at each other and high-fived.

“Is this what you guys go through a lot lately?” Jess asked.

“Just recently,” Brian said. “The fans know that we would be at the hospital visiting Nick, so naturally, they are looking for us and scrutinize every body that walks past them. When you put a good looking guy like me, with an old man like Kevin, well, you do the math.”

“Hey, that’s uncalled for.” Kevin shot back.

Jessica laughed at them. They made her feel good. For a few moments she forgot about Nick being so sick.

“How about grabbing a bite to eat, Jess you up for it?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, I guess I am a little hungry.” Jessica answered.

“Where do you wanna go?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t care, you’re the driver,” Jessica told Kevin.

“Awh, I hate making decisions like this. What are you hungry for? Jess, Brian?” Kevin tried to take the pressure off of himself.

“I don’t care.” Jess and Brian said. “Come-on, I want to know,” Kevin sounded irritated. “I hate deciding. Brian, you make up your mind, you always are the one that does when we’re on the road.”

“No I don’t, Howie does.” Brian answered back.

“Well, Howie isn’t in the car now, is he?” Kevin shot back sarcastically.

“Then I’ll call him.” Brian picked up his cellphone.

“You guys are both morons.” Jessica laughed as she watched Brian dial the phone.

“Damnit, he isn’t answering his phone. Must be in the shower or something.” Brian said when he shut his phone off.

“Well, we could drive around for a few hours to kill time and then we can run out of gas and starve to death, what’s it gonna be?” Kevin was pleading by now.

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Jess snickered.

Kevin shot a look at her in his rearview mirror. “Don’t make me turn this car around and head back,” he teased.

“I’m hungry for a nice juicy steak,” Brian decided outloud.

As luck would have it, they were stopped at an intersection with an Outback Steakhouse located 500 feet away. Kevin wasted no time pulling in.

“Glad that’s decided.” Kevin said as they found a parking spot. The restaurant looked crowded.

They walked into the restaurant and were seated right away. There was a mixture of age groups in the restaurant. The older ones didn’t seem to notice Kevin and Brian, but the younger ones....

“Um, hi, could I get your autographs?” a girl who appeared to be around fourteen stood at the table holding onto a napkin and a pen.

Kevin and Brian looked at each other. Brian took the girl’s napkin and pen and signed his name quickly. Kevin did the same after Brian. As the girl was leaving, they saw a few more kids heading over to the table. “Man, this could go on all through dinner, Kev. Ya know we shouldn’t of signed her stuff.” Brian sighed.

Just as the girls were getting closer to their table, they were cut off by the manager of the restaurant. They could hear him tell the girls that they needed to sit down and leave us alone. The girls turned away and went back to their seats.

“Sorry about that,” the manager came over to their table and apologized for the intrusion.

“Thanks.” Kevin and Brian said together.

Their waitress came and took their orders. Brian told her that it was to be on one check and that Kevin was getting it. Kevin smiled at Brian with a look that said “I’ll get even with you later.” They spent the time waiting talking like Australians making jokes in an accent. Jessica forgot about how junior high school acting these guys can get to be.

“Eh, look over there, that lady, the one with the blue hair, it’s me mum.” Brian said in an Aussie accent.

Jessica rolled her eyes while she laughed at Brian. “You guys are too retarded.”

“Why thank ye mate.” Brian replied. When they got served their food and was part way into the meal, a man appeared and took several quick photos of the group.

“Hey, we’re eating, do you mind?” Kevin was visibly angry.

The photographer left the area quickly when the manager escorted him to the door.

“I hate when that happens, I know that we are going to be photographed, but not while we’re eating, for crying out loud.” Kevin was still peeved about the paparazzi.

When the meal was finished and they were leaving the restaurant, there was a group of photographers across the parking lot. Cameras simultaneously flashed. Kevin, Brian and Jess focused on getting to the car and getting out of there.