Pt. 1

Nick winced as he pulled his shirt over his head. He was trying to see why his side hurt so much when AJ walked in and gasped, "Holy Shit Nicky, where did you get that bruise?" "What bruise?" Nick asked, trying to see, without much success. AJ looked at him in surprise, "Nick you have a bruise on your side the size of a melon...how can you not know where you got it?" Nick laughed, "I really don't Bone...I don't remember doing anything to myself." AJ shrugged and moved on to a new topic and the bruise was quickly forgotten.

A couple of days later

"Yo Frack, you dieting or something?" Brian asked, noticing how skinny Nick seemed to be getting. "Hmmmm?" Nick responded, he'd only been half listening to what Brian was saying. Brian sighed, "Your clothes are practically hanging off you...what you doing, dieting or something?" Nick laughed, "No! I just haven't had much of an appetite lately." Brian laughed, "You're kidding!" Nick stuck his tongue out at him, "Ha, ha...we gonna shoot some hoops or what?" Laughing the two headed outside.

A week later

Kevin looked with concern at Nick, who looked pale and tired. "Hey little man," he said quietly, "Are you going to be okay to go on? You don't look so good." "Yeah," Nick answered, "I'm just a little worn out...I've been sleeping horribly. I'll be fine." The concert went fine until "Let's Have a Party." Nick, as usual, collapsed onto the stage after the song ended. It was a long moment before his bandmates realized that Nick wasn't kidding. All four of them rushed over, and the music stopped as soon as Tim, the music director, realized something was wrong. Kevin reached Nick first, "Shit, he's unconscious, CALL AN AMBULANCE!!"

PART 2

BJ sat by Nick's hospital bed, holding her brother's hand in hers. Nick's eyes were closed and BJ was shocked at how worn out he looked--there were dark circles under his eyes and his face was drawn. A month ago, the last time BJ had seen him, he had looked fine. She had flown in to surprise Nick at the concert but she was the one who had gotten the surprise when he collapsed on stage. Nick was just beginning to stir when Brian, Kevin, AJ, and Howie all entered the room. "Hey buddy, how you feeling?" AJ spoke first. Nick opened his eyes and looked at his band mates, "I...I'm really sorry guys." "Stop it Nicky, you didn't know this was going to happen..." Kevin interrupted. Nick groaned, "I can just see the papers tomorrow, mom is going to flip." BJ laughed, causing Nick to look at her in surprise because he had not registered yet that she was there, "I already called mom--I figured it was better she hear it from me than read it in the papers." Howie, Brian, and AJ kept Nick company while BJ and Kevin went to talk to the doctor. "Well," he said, "Your brother seems to be doing okay right now but I'd like to keep him here at least overnight so we can run some more tests.

"What's the matter with him?" BJ asked the doctor. He sighed, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face, "Well, I don't want to jump the gun on my diagnosis but I am concerned based on the symptoms that Nick described: loss of appetite, weight loss, unexplained bruising, extreme tiredness, and difficulty sleeping. I'd rather not say until we have more test results back. BJ looked teary eyed at the doctor, he was making it sound like there might be something really wrong with Nick. Kevin, who had been through the doctor routine many times over the years with his father and with Brian, could tell that the doctor wasn't telling them something but he was not about to alarm BJ.

Kevin went back into Nick's room and BJ was about to follow when the doctor took her arm, "Listen, I think it would be a good idea if your parents got here as soon as possible. Can you arrange that or would you like me to call them?" BJ just looked at him in shock, "I'll call them," she finally said. When she entered Nick's room her brother was sleeping, the other guys draped tiredly over various pieces of furniture. Seeing her brother lying in the hospital bed was all of a sudden too much for BJ and she burst into sobs, causing Brian to run over to her and envelop her in a brotherly bear hug, "Shhhh, Beej," he said against her hair, "I'm sure Nick'll be fine." BJ continued sobbing in Brian's arms while inside her she knew somehow that Brian was wrong...

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