At the hospital the guys sat nervously in the waiting room.
"Damnit! I hate waiting!" AJ complained.
Howie looked up from his crossword puzzle. "AJ, maybe it would help if you sat down, and stopped pacing."
"Maybe," he grumbled sitting down.
Brian glanced around the room. "What on earth could be taking so long?"
"It's only been 15 minutes," Kevin reminded him.
"It feels like 15 hours," Brian replied.
Finally, Nick's doctor joined them. "Hello, I'm Dr.Bot. You can see Nick now."
The group saw a pale Nick lying in a small bed.
"What's going on?" AJ demanded.
Dr.Bot sat down. "After running some tests we discovered that Mr.Carter has mono."
"Mono!" AJ repeated. "The kissing disease?"
The doctor nodded.
"Will he be all right?" Brian asked.
"Yes, in time, but he must rest. It's of great importance to his recovery."
"I don't have time to rest. I'm on tour," Nick stated.
"If you continue to tour the disease could damage your spleen. The damage would stay with you for life."
Howie paced about. "How long will this last?"
"Anywhere from 2 - 6 weeks," Dr.Bot replied.
"6 weeks!" Kevin heavily sighed. "There's no way he could tour?"
"No, sir. It isn't healthy. He shouldn't even be singing, there's too much swelling in his throat. And his body couldn't handle the strenuous dance routines."
Nick sat up. "This is stupid!"
The doctor cleared his throat. "Sir, you had better rest. You have a rather high fever. An outburst will only make you worse."
"A fever?" questioned Brian.
"Yes, that's what caused him to dehydrate, which led to his collaspe."
"Guess, we'll have to travel as four," Howie muttered.
The doctor shrugged. "Gentlman,
I'm sorry, but this is for his own well-being."