Aaron could hear his mother crying. He had slid into the furthest corner of his closet, sitting on the floor in the dark, stuffy air hung around him like a cloak, his knees drawn up to his chest. Tears slid down his cheeks and Aaron let them fall, not caring.

The words that were spoken by his father scared Aaron and he was thinking his ears were betraying him but when his mother started crying, Aaron was certain that the words he heard were correct.

Nick was dying.

Silently praying he had heard wrong, he rocked back and forth in the darkness. Aaron wiped the tears away angrily from his eyes. This had to be one of Nick’s practical jokes gone bad, he decided. There was no way that his brother could leave him.

All the undeniable pieces of the puzzle were fitting together though, Aaron thought. Nick had always made it a point to check in with him on a daily basis and that suddenly stopped ever since that Christmas vacation in Aspen. The phone calls that were not returned and now Brian being at Nick’s house. None of this seemed normal for Nick.

Aaron was jerked from his thoughts when his cell phone chirped on the bed. His first thoughts were to just leave it ringing but he wondered if maybe this time it was Nick returning his call. Bolting out of the closet, he tripped on the carpet, falling next to the bed, knocking the wind out of him.

Gasping, he grabbed the silver device. Panting, he managed to choke out, “Aaron.” His words were met with silence on the other end of the line.

Pressing his ear into the receiver, he searched for some type of noise. Not hearing anything, he tried again. “Hello?”

He was just about to give up when he heard the sound of someone breathing on the other side of the line. His face knotted into a frown.

“Hey! I don’t like people messin’ with my cell phone! Beej if that’s you hang up now or I’m gonna tell mom!” Aaron spat into the receiver. Satisfied that it was his sister, he poised his finger over the off button when he heard a small voice.

“AC?”

He put the phone back up to his ear. The voice spoke again.

“AC?”

It was Nick! Aaron’s heart started beating heavily in his chest. Tears were starting to well up in his reddened eyes.

“Is this Nick?” he croaked.

“How ya doin’ buddy?”

Aaron frowned. He was certain it was Nick talking to him, but it didn’t sound like him. He couldn’t put a finger on what it was, but something seemed different. Once again pushing his insecurities aside, Aaron answered. “I’m okay I guess.”

“Brian said you called.”

Aaron tried to listen to the limited conversation as well as checking for any background noises. He could have sworn he heard some beeping in the background. “Where are you?”

“Home in Tampa.”

“You sound tired.”

Nick gave out a slight laugh. There wasn’t any emotion behind it and it sounded flat. “Yeah I guess so.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Brian said you were sleeping when I called.”

“I probably was.”

“I heard Brian and Kevin talking and saying you were sick, are you?”

Nick froze for a moment, unsure of how to answer that question. He quickly recovered. “Yeah I’m not feeling too good.”

“What’s wrong?” Aaron challenged, his hand tightly gripping the phone.

“So have you been keeping busy?”

“Nick, I asked you a question.”

Nick took in a shaky breath. “Let’s skip talking about me, I’m boring. How’s school going?”

Aaron could sense the sadness in his brother’s voice. Something was wrong. “Nick, why won’t you answer me?”

He closed his eyes as the nausea was starting to build, trying to will it away. “Don’t worry about me.”

“M-m-mom was c-crying,” Aaron sobbed. “I’m scared.”

Nick’s heart sank as he listened to his brother whimpering on the other end of the line. He wanted to reach out to him and somehow tell him everything would be okay and that there was no reason to cry. All Nick could manage to choke out was a raspy, “Oh god.”

Aaron continued through his sniffles. “D-do you have it? Are you gonna die?”

The blood ran cold in Nick’s veins. At first his expression grew dark when he realized that his father revealed the secret he had faught so hard to keep but at the same time, he felt some relief, it was finally out. He opened his mouth to speak only to have the nausea rear it’s ugly head. Sitting up in bed as quickly as he could, Nick dropped the receiver and leaned over the side of the bed, wretching as another bout of dry heaves overtook his body.

Aaron could only helplessly listen to what was unfolding in the background and cry. It was bad enough that Nick seemed to be choking as he was heaving, gasping for air in between the attacks but he thought he also heard his brother whimper and moan as if he were in severe pain. He could hear what he thought was Kevin’s voice and then the phone being picked up.

“Nick will call you back later.”

The call was abruptly disconnected. No further explaination from Nick’s side leaving him to wonder what was going on.

Kevin placed a comforting hand on Nick’s back. This was a scene he had done when he was younger and his father had been sick, now he was doing this for his little brother.

Between the heaves, Nick cried out, “It hurts.”

Tears glistened in Kevin’s eyes. He rubbed the young man’s back in a circular motion. He was assuming that his stomach muscles were tender from the heaving marathon he had been enduring for the past few days.

Worn out from the heaving jag, Nick pulled his face from the basket and literally dragged it across the mattress to the pillow. His face was coated in a thin layer of sweat, his hair plastered to his head making the thin patches on his scalp more evident. Kevin had to tear his eyes away from Nick for a moment to gather his emotions. The sight of the boy brought back painful memories and he was scared that this was happening all over again.

Clearing his throat has he stood up and drawing the covers ontop of Nick, Kevin announced that he was going to get a cool cloth and that he would be right back.

Nick laid under the blankets shivering, his eyes growing heavier with each blink. He suddenly remembered that he had been on the phone with Aaron and reached out in his lethargic state towards the phone. He needed to call Aaron back and let him know he was okay.

“Here, this should make you feel a bit....” Kevin stopped talking when he found Nick sleeping, the phone in his outstretched hand. He gently took the phone out of the pale grip and set it back on the nightstand. Kevin then lightly picked up Nick’s arm and tucked it under the layer of blankets. Stepping back, he kept his eyes on the sleeping form, not caring about the tears that were running down his cheeks.

Memories of a carefree teen etched in his mind were starting to haunt him rather than comfort him. Tiredly, Kevin rubbed his forehead. The last thing he did after he turned on the small light ontop of the bedstand was make sure that the monitor was on.

“I love you Nick,” Kevin whispered as he slowly closed the bedroom door.

Bob Carter flung the bedroom door, nearly knocking Aaron over. He steadied his son by the shoulders. “Whoa, what are you doing standing out in the dark?” As he waited for an answer, he saw the tears on the young boys face. “Aaron?”

Aaron didn’t reply at first, he looked around his father into the bedroom.

“Why is mom packing?”

Bob shifted his stance and leaned against the door frame, trying to come up with a clever explanation. “She just needs to clear her head.” Bob immediately regretted the flimsy explaination when he saw the hurt in Aaron’s eyes.

“I know about Nick, I heard you telling Mom.” Bob shifted his stance and leaned against the door frame, trying to come up with a clever explanation. “She just needs to clear her head.” Bob immediately regretted the flimsy explaination when he saw the hurt in Aaron’s eyes.

“I know about Nick, I heard you telling Mom.”

Tears pooled in the older man’s eyes as he looked down at his son. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Can I go with her to see Nick?”

Bob shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”

“Dad, I have to see Nick, you don’t understand. I need to see my brother and it’s going to be with or without your permission, so please, let me go with her.”

Bob Carter looked down at the miniture Nick that stood before him. Aaron was like Nick in so many ways - his looks, his personality and even more so his stubborness. He sighed when he realized that Aaron was set on carrying out his words - going with or without his father’s permission.

Gesturing with a nod of his head towards the boy’s bedroom, Bob grunted. “Go ahead and pack, I’ll make the flight arrangements.”