Just wanted to let you now, that this story is written by Anita and her e-mail address is cheertg@aol.com please feel free to send her feedback :)
Thanks,
Mare
___________________________
People stood all around outside in the back yard. It was a party, a birthday part for a guy everyone knew. He was Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. A band played loud and everyone was having a great time. No one could have ever guessed how the night would end.

Brian turned to his younger friend Nick. "Yo Nick, if you could have one last wish, what would it be?"

Nick gave his friend a weird look. "Awww man rok, you always come up with the wierdest things, but yeah ok if I could have one last wish.... it would be to get laid tonight!" and with that Nick grabbed a bottle of beer and ran out to the party in his backyard.

Brian shook his head with a sad smile. Trust Nick to pick something stupid like that so he wouldn't have to actually think of a meaningful answer. Brian took a drink from the cooler and looked around. He felt a sudden shiver like something was bound to happen. He shook it off deciding that he was just being weird. Soon he went towards his friends and joked around with them.

"Dude you should have seen that chick I mean she was way hott." AJ was currently telling the guys about some random girl.

"AJ, everything walking around with two legs and breasts is hot to you." Kevin told him with a smile.

"Eeeewwww no way I mean have you seen those seriously fat men walking around with boobs. No thanks not interested here." He made a face and they all laughed.

They all continued to joke around and have fun.

A loud boom of sudden thunder made some of the party guest scream. Nick sighed frustrated. Yeah it would figure that it would rain on his party just when things were getting good.

"Ok everyone inside we can finish the party in there and wait the rain out" He called out to all the people. After about 10 minutes everyone and everything had been taken inside. People turned the radio on loud and began to dance.

"Yeah man lets get this party started!" AJ yelled jumping off the couch. People took AJ's lead and began to get wild. Nick smiled, up this was how it should be everyone having fun, he thought. Everyone was cool for a while until there was a little jerk. Cries of panic rose into the air.

"Alright everyone calm down it was just a small earthquake its over now." Nick called out trying to calm his guests. He turned on the tv as a person was announcing.

"Yes Jack an earthquake just hit and the scientist believe it was at 4 on the scale. There have also been some warnings about other earthquakes that could hit the town again."

People at the party began to run around in a panic all wanting to return home.

"OK EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN!" Brian shouted trying to get the people settled.

"We all just have to be calm and pray running around isn't going to help, someone could get hurt that way."

One by one the guests settle around the room. The clouds had come in making the room dark and eerie. The wind even began to howl. Brian looked over at Nick who was staring off into space a terrified look was in his eyes. He silently began to pray and soon the others all joined in. They were in the middle of a paryer when the floor began to rumble again screams rose into the air once again. Brian waited until the earthquake was over but this one was a long one.

Things began to fall all over the room.

"Everyone get covered." Kevin yelled suddenly becoming the rational voice in the room. People ran to get under tables and anything that might be able to protect them. Brian looked across the room at Nick.

"Come on man we have to get covered!" He yelled over the noise. Nick jumped to his feet and started towards Brian. Brians eyes widdened in terror as a bookshelf tilted. In slow motion he saw Nicks look of terror and the bookself pin his best friend to the floor. The earthquake stopped and Brian triend to run to his friend.

Things lay strewn all over making it hard for Brian to get to Nick. He climbed over things that had fallen off shelfs. Brian was terrified, he had no idea how bad Nick was hurt. Finally he reached his younger brother.

"Nick please bro are you alright!"

Nick turned his pain filled eyes to Brian. "I can barely breath, I....I feel as everything in my chest is crushing."

Brians eyes filled upwith tears. "Nick come on bro, you are gonna be ok, everything is going to be ok we are gonna get you out of this." He tried to lift the shelf off Nick but it was too heavy. He sat by Nick and looked down at his friend and tried not to cry.

Memories of when he had first met Nick floated through his mind. He had thought that the little blond kid was annoying and sometimes he just wanted to strangle him. He remembered a trip onetime in which Nick had to share a room with AJ and AJ had done everything possible to scare Nick in which he succeeded. Late during the night there had been a knock at Brians door and a little Nick stood with tears making his blue eyes shine. Brian had let Nick spend the night in his room and did everyything to comfort him. No Nick couldn't die, Brian was not going to let that happen.

Nick looked at Brian. "Earlier you asked me if I had one last wish what would it be....well I wish i could see my family and the rest of the guys before I die...." Brian became alarmed as Nicks voice trailed off and his eyes shut. He could not tell if his friend was still alive. Brians head fell back and he let out a scream of agony.

Earthquake



No this couldn't be happening none of this was supposed to happen Brian though as he looked around the ruined house, then down at his friend Nick who lay smashed under a heavy bookshelf. Earlier he had thought his friend was dead but he realized that Nick had only passed out from the pain.

Screams of pain rang in his ears he guessed that some of the party guests had been hurt. Yes that was how the evening had started out, a birthday party for Nick. Nick who had just turned 23. The party had started off great but then an earthquake had hit. The first one wasn't very bad and no damage was done, but the second one had been the one to cause his friend to be trapped.

"Brian are you alright?" His older cousin Kevin called out trying to make his way to where Brian was kneeling.

"I'm fine Kevin, but Nick isn't. A huge bookcase fell on him and he is pinned down. He is not doing good he has passed out."

Kevin scrambled over so stuff and made his way to Brians side. He knelt next to him and looked down at Nick.

"Shit man this isn't looking very good. Nick, bro, can you hear me?" He asked the youngest member of the band patting his cheek trying to wake him up. There was no response to the older band member.

Kevin sighed and looked at Brian. He tried not to look panicked as he spoke in a calm tone.

"The other guys are doing alright, I'll go get them and mabe all four of us can get the bookshelf off of him, if not there are other guys here that can help us. We will save Nick from his prison."

With that Kevin got up and went to get the guys. Along the way he looked around checking on other people. One of their friends Ben, had a huge gash on his arm and another friend Tina was trying her best to clean it up. He got to the guys and told them the problem. Jerry, Max, and Tom were with the guys and they went to help also.

Kevin heard a stragled cry and turned toward the kitchen. A young girl, a friend of Howie, named Brittney was kneeling next to a body crying. Kevin went to her to see if the person also needed help. As he got closer he began to grow an uneasy feeling. On the floor lying in a puddle of blood lay her boyfriend Steven. Kevin knelt down and checked Steven then turned to Brittney.

She was dirty from all the dust but tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Hey are you ok?" He knew it was a stupid thing to ask but he didn't know what else to say.

"He's dead Kevin, Steven is dead." Sobs raked her body and Kevin hugged her trying to calm her down. A couple of her friends came to her so he got up and went to Nick.

Together the guys worked to get Nick free. It was hard work but about an hour later they were able to get the case off of him. The whole time Nick never opened his eyes. As carefully as they could, the guys worked on getting Nick onto a couch without hurting him. Kevin looked at his little brother and begged him to open his eyes so he could tell them what they needed to do for them.

"Dear God, it's me Brian. As you may know my best friend Nick got hurt in the earthquake that happened a while ago. Please God, he is my little brother and I love him, make him well."

Tears were now spilling from all of the guys eyes. It was so painful for them to watch their friend and not being able to really help him.

"All we can do now guys is wait for a miricle and just pray to God that Nicky wakes up." Kevin said to his younger brothers. It was hurting all of them deeply. One of their family members was hurt and all they could do was sit back and wait.

It seemed as hours went by. Brian refused to leave Nicks side but the others went around to try and help injured people. As bad as it all was there were only two huge deals. One being that Steven was dead and the other that Nick was seriously hurt.

They then started to get everything cleaned up and kept the tv on, which luckily hadn't been broken, to get updates on what was going on. It seemed that not just Nicks house but the whole city seemed to be pretty bad. The newsreporter told them not to be calling 911, that as soon as possible a poliece car should check up on the house.

Brian grew angry. "I can't believe it! We can't call anyone for help. By then it might be too late for NIck!"

"Brian you can't think negative like that. Nick is gonna be ok. Help will get here." Kevin tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

Brian nodded but at that moment he couldn't believe in Kevin. He wasn't going to do anything until Nick was awake and ok. He refused to leave Nicks side. He took Nicks hand, closed his eyes and prayed. The only one Brian had faith in was God and he knew God wouldn't let him down. He never did.

Kevin sat back and watched his cousin. He closed his eyes thinking of the party and how happy everyone was. He was so scared of how bad NIcks condition could be. He wished that he was at home asleep next to his wife and that when he woke up that all of this would be just a bad dream. A very bad dream.

Kevin sat up suddenly with a jerk his green eyes wide. He cocked his head to the side wondering if he was imagining things.

Brian looked over at his older cousin wondering what was going on. Then he heard it. It was a poliece car. He jumped up and ran to the window and looked outside. The squad car was a house down.

"OMG Kevin, I think everything is going to be ok. I think that Nick is going to make it!." Tears of joy ran down his face.

He took a step towards Kevin and suddenly his eyes widdened with horror. There was a rumble and once again the earth began to shake.

There was a loud crack and the ceiling began to crumble. Panick swept through Brian as he realized what was going on. An Aftershock was hitting the city. Brian met Kevins eyes which were filled with terror.

Aftershock



Brians heart raced when he felt the ground shaking again. He realized what was going on. The city was being hit with an aftershock. He stumbled and fell foreward in front of Kevin who reached down and helped him up. The heard the crack and realized that the ceiling was gonna fall in. Both Brian and Kevin threw themselfs ontop of Nick to try to protect him.

Screams of terror echoed through the house and soon Brian and Kevin were joined by AJ and Howie. All they wanted to do was protect their friend and make sure he didn't get hurt anyworse. They waited for the ceiling to fall but it didn't. Just a huge crack formed on it and pieces of it fell off and landed on them. Once it was over they sat up and dusted themselves off.

"When will this horrible nightmare ever end?" Howie sighed.

Nobody had an answer for him. They were all scared and wishing that it was over.

"Brian?" Brian jumped in shock. Was he hearing things? He looked down at Nick whose eyes were fluttering.

"Nick man are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"Brian whats going on?" Nicks voice was only a little above a whisper. "I feel so much pain."

"Nick everything is going to be ok. There was an earthquake and a bookshelf landed on you but are going to be ok. The guys and I won't let anything happen to you. We are all going to get through this."

Nick gave him a weak smile. All of the other guys looked down on him worried. AJ got up and moved to the door clearing things aside to make room for the emergancy people. He went outside just as two poliece men pulled up into the cracked driveway.

"How bad is it in there?" One officer asked.

AJ shrugged. "Our friend Nick is really hurt and one of our other friends is dead."

The officers pushed their way in and moans of pain met their ears once again. The officers wore confident expressions on their faces but deep down they felt helpless seeing so much agony before their eyes.

AJ led them to where Nick lay. As gently as they could, they lifted Nick up and carried him out to the car. Nick passed out once again from the pain. The officers went back inside to see if any other people needed to be taken to the hospitle. Luckily the others only had tiny scrapes and cuts, not serious injury

All of the guys went to the hospitle to support Nick. The ouside world was a disatster. Brian stared out the window shocked to see a place they loved be destoryed. The hospitle was a mad house but Nick seemed pretty bad so the doctor agreed to see him right away.

"A bookshelf feel on him and kept him pinned for a while. We got him out as soon as we could with out hurting him." Kevin told the doctor.

Brian waited with the others outside Time seemed to crawl by before Kevin came back out. Brian felt his heart leap to his throat when he saw Kevins face. The guys all jumped up and faced their older friend.

"Nick borke several ribs. One punctured his left lung and it is bleeding. They don't think he will last until morning."

Brian felt his stomach turn violently. He threw up in a near by trashcan and sat up crying once he was finished. All of the guys were also crying. How could they accept that their youngest friend was dying?

Kevin tried to calm him down but Brian couldn't stop crying. He was losing his best friend, his little brother. He picked up a chair and threw it across the room. A nurse ran in starlted. Brian was in a daze and didn't realize what he was doing. The nurse had to sedate him to calm him down.

All through the night, the guys took turns visiting Nick. Around midnight when Brian was calmer he went to NIcks room and was surprised to find a young woman with him.

"Are you a nurse?" Brian asked cooly.

The woman turned around. She had startling violet eyes and long blond hair. She was very beautiful maybe 23.

"No, I am not a nurse. My name is Edwina."

"Well this is a private room. If you are fan you have no right to be here so please leave. Nick is dying and we would like to spend his finals hours with him not having to deal with some phsyco fan."

Edwina turned to Nick and placed her hand over his ribs and kissed his forhead. She got up with out saying anything and walked out the door. Brian looked and Nick and sat down. He felt guilty for being so harsh so he went to the door to see if he could stop Edwina and apologize.

He looked down the hall and was shocked that he didn't see her. He turned and went back into Nicks room stopping short. Above Nicks bed Edwina floated. She was bathed in a bright light and huge white feather wings flapped around Nick.

Brian heard singing and knew he was hearing the heavenly choir. He stood still watching Edwina singing above Nick. Tears fell from his eyes. After a few moments Edwina disapeared and the room grew dark. Brian ran to Nicks bedside.

"Everything will be alright." Brian turned and saw Edwina with out wings standing by the door. She smiled at Brian and left.

Brian walked back out to the waiting room. He didn't tell the others anything. Early the next morning the doctors came into the waiting room.

"It should be soon."

They all got up and went to Nicks room prepared to say goodbye. As they walked in they all came to a dead stop. Nick was sitting up in bed eating his breakfast slowly. Brian looked over and saw Edwina sitting by the bed. It didn't seem like anyone but Brian and Nick knew she was there.

The doctors were amazed and check Nick. Only 2 ribs were cracked and there was no bleeding in his lung. They declared a miricle.

Brian went outside for some air.

"God has given Nick another chance to live Brian, he was not finished here on earth. You are a good friend."

Edwina stood before Brian and he smiled. She touched his cheek and warmth filled him.

Months had gone by and Nick was better. They guys sometimes joked about Nick wanting a rest so he went and got his ribs cracked.

"Nick if you wanted break you could have just asked for one." Kevin said smiling down at Nick.

"Kevin you are a slave drive. You wouldn't listen. This was my only choice." Nick said laughing.

Brian stood back smiling watching his friends joke together. Nick had changed after he got out of the hospitle. He had been touched by an angel.