Brian watched in silence how Nick was whisked away into the waiting ambulance. He could do nothing but stare, blinking his tears away, as the men closed the doors and then drove away quickly from the scene. Even though he was very tense over what the outcome would be he found himself relaxing for the first in a very long time.
"How are you holding up buddy?" AJ asked, placing an arm around his older friends shoulder. He too had been standing in silence, witnessing as the personel had worked on their mutual friend.
"Ok I guess," Brian shrugged, not wanting to talk about the emotions that dwelled up inside of him like a storm.
"Sure." AJ didnīt look like he believed him but was wise enough not to press on. "Who could have thought that he was this sick?"
"Mmmm." There was not much to be said and he had to bite back the tears that were threatening to come, mainly from exhaustion over the past 24 hours, but also from the despair that he felt inside him. "Do you think heīll make it?" His voice shook as he uttered the last sentence.
"Yeah." AJ squeezed his shoulder a bit tighter. "Donīt worry..Nick is a fighter. Iīm sure heīll come out of this in no time." Even though he tried his best to take lightly upon the situation Brian could still see that his eyes were clouded with fear.
"I hope youīre right about this.." Brian said a bit hesitant just to be cut off by AJ.
"I am..come on now we need to find Johnny and Lou and then get a cab down to New York Memorial to join the others." The younger man was taking charge of the situation which was rare since he, together with Nick, often acted less mature in a situation like this. But now the roles were reversed.
"Ok I need to make a call to Nick's parents down in Tampa so they donīt wait for him at the airport and so they can get a connecting flight over here too."
"Sounds good, Iīll follow you since I donīt have much to do anyway besides Iīve called mom and she said that she will keep in touch and if we want her too she will come up here asp."
"Good..my parents need to get informed too, and Kev's and Howie's.." Brian rose a hand to his forehead like it was all getting too much for him. It had been a wild 24 hours!
It had all happened at such a fast pace. From the heated conversation with the managemnet Nickīs health had detoriated quickly and everything was going downhill. Heīd started to have breathing difficulties and for a moment the guys were sure that he would choke to death from coughing so much. They had asked the flight personel to ask on the speakers if there were any doctors aboard and for once luck was on their side. A Norwegian Peditrician named Sten Bjork was going to a medical convention in Florida and after Nick was being helped to the stewardess loungue the doctor preformed a quick examination only to come back with the verdict;
Kidneyfailure.
There were different reactions to the news but at first neither of the men had thought it was so serious. But when the doctor had told them that Nick's kidneys as well as other organs in his body were starting to shut down and this could have a deadly outcome if not getting treated they realized that their friend was really going through the wringer.
The doctor had told them that they had little time to spare and heīd asked the flight personel to go down in New York since the teen needed instant medical treatment. At first they hadnīt been that willing since it would cause them a delay. The doctor wouldnīt accept a no and when he told them that it could be a matter of life and death help came from a totally unexpected area.
Mr. Lou Pearlman of all people came to their rescue when he threatened to sue them if they neglected taking down the plane and refused to give Nick the treatment that was needed. He also said that the record company would cover all the expenses that came with it. The guys watched in surprise when Lou pulled his strings to several important connections and for the first time for what seemed like years the manager showed some kind of humanity, but they also discovered something else that scared them. How powerful their head manager could be when he wanted to.
The pilot wasted no time in going down to the airport when they got a call from someone high up in the board. As soon they got the clearance they landed in Newark instead of Miami International and an ambulance had waited on the runway so that Nick would be quickly put in the ambulance.
So far all of this hadnīt caused a riot. Mainly beacuse no one knew that the famous pop group would be landing in New York but also that it was still early morning and the people hadnīt woke up yet. This led to that neither Brian nor AJ were attacked and could walk pretty undisturbed inside the airport.
"Isnīt anybody answering?" AJ asked when Brian had stood there, waiting for someone to pick up the phone on the other line. Heīd called to Nick's parents but none of them were home or answering their cell phones. This gave him the conclusion that they were probably on their way to the airport to pick up their son. Shaking his head he waited a few signals more and was just about to hang up when he heard a woman say in broken english, "Carterīs residence".
"Jane?" Brian felt confused.
There was a small chuckle, "No mister..Mr. and Mrs. Carter is not at home. Iīm their housekeeper, can I take your message please."
"Oh..itīs me Brian..Brian Littrell. Do you know where they are? Have they already gone to the airport."
"Mr Brian? Nickolas friend..oh I see..Noo they are not at the airport. They have gone to Los Angeles with young Aaron and the other children."
"Los Angeles?" Brian felt his chin drop. "Why? They were supposed to go and pick up Nick!"
"Iīm sorry I donīt know Mr Littrell. They left hastily yesterday and said that they would be back tomorrow or the day after. They didnīt mention anything about Nickolas." The woman on the other end sounded a bit uncomfortable. "But I can tell them to call you if they call in."
"Yes! Do so!" Brian was irritated. What was it with Nick's parents? Didnīt they care more about their oldest son? His thoughts about Nick's mom and dad hadnīt been high to start with but to hear something like this made him even more mad. AJ, who noticed his friend getting redder in the face by the minute leaned over, whispering, "What is it?" Shaking his head, not caring to give away and explanation Brian said in the phone. "Do you know if anyone will come and meet up with Nick?"
"No..Iīm sorry Mr. Littrell..They donīt mention these kinds of things to me. Iīm just their maid. But you can maybe try Nickolas' uncle John. He is the one that used to be a stand in for the Carters when they are away. You know him?
"Mmm..Yes I do..Ok..thanks for the tip."
"That was so little, do you have his Uncle's phone number?" The Hispanic maid asked.
"Yeah I think I have it around here somewhere." He patted his pocket. "Well, tell Bob and Jane to call me on this phone as soon as they can. He gave away the phone number to Johnny's cell phone since his own was out of batteries and hadnīt had time to charge it. "Or you can let them call New York Memorial hospital beacuse itīs there they can find their son." Brian was doing his best to stay calm since inside he was more than a little furious.
"I will do that. Take care Mr. Littrell." The maid said, to his surprise not asking any further questions over why Nick was at a hospital. He figured that she thought it was none of her business. Hanging up he noticed that AJ was almost on his hair.
"What did they say? Are they coming?"
Brian went silent for a while shaking his head, "Uh huh."
"What?" AJ looked confused, "but they were on their way to pick him up at the airport..right?"
Not answering Brian gave away a deep sigh which had the younger man frowning, "What? They ainīt coming?"
"They are in LA with Aaron!" Brian felt like the air was popping out of him suddenly. The exhaustion from the tour combined with his worries over Nick's situation made him feel so tired, like his strength suddenly had vanished.
"LA? What the hell are you saying? Werenīt they supposed to come and pick him up?"
"Yeah.."Tiredly Brian ran his hand over his face, "I thought so too but their maid told me that they had to go down to LA to do something with Aaron and she said that his Uncle..you know John.." AJ noddded. "Was going to pick Nick up. She wanted me to call him." "What a fucking mess." AJ whined. "I canīt believe it..they donīt care more for their son then this!"
"Well you know how it can be.." Brian found himself trying to find excuses. "I guess they thought that the business with Aaron was more important or something..anyway I need to find John's phone number." Opening his wallet he started to search through some papers, "I think Nick gave it to me at some time..."
John, who was Nick's uncle had during the past years been like his second parent. He was the one that traveled with them more often than Nick's actual parents, at least nowdays. Brian knew that his friend both liked and looked up to the man and he was greatful that the teen had him to take care of him when his parents couldnīt. At some times Nick also spent time there when his parents were out of town or busy with something else.
Luckily he found the number and could call Nick's uncle. The maid had been right. He was the one in charge and he was on his way to the airport to pick up his sister's kid. The conversation was short and John promised to get a hold of Nick's parents as soon as possible. After that was ended Johnny and Lou had arranged a cab and they all went up to New York Memorial.
It was a big hospital but since Nick was considered a high profile case they were quickly whisked to the ICU where both Kevin and Howie were waiting. Their tired and exhausted expressions combined with a deep frown had them thinking that something terrible had happend with their friend and they couldnīt breath out before Kevin told that Nick was on kidney dialysis and that he was already doing much better with the breathing and all. But still he wasnīt out of the woods.
There was lots and lots of waiting.
The day that all of the men had looked forward so much, to meet up with their families, friends and girlfriends, was something of a disaster. Instead they were stuck in a small waiting room, praying that their friend's life would be saved and that Nick would be all right again.
As the day passed on there was little, almost no informatíon about Nick's condition. Doctors and nurses were rushing in and out of his room and the guys werenīt allowed to go in there yet. His condition was considered much too critical. The waiting was long much too long....
************************************************************************************************************
"Are you the friends of Mr. Nickolas Carter?" A dark man's voice boomed waking them all up from their drowsiness.
"Yes?" Kevin sat up straighter in his seat. "Is something wrong?"
The doctor smiled towards them, "No you can relax. Iīm the one that took care of your friend when he was admitted. My name is Doctor Finnley." He shook each and everyones hand, "Howver I have some questions that I would like to ask you." Gesturing with his hand towards another room he said, "Can you gentlemen please follow me into my office?"
With their breath stuck in their throat the men followed. Not a word was said between them but any on looker could see that they were very nervous over what the news would be. Johnny and Lou were nowhere in sight since they were away taking care of the business surrounding it all.
Nick's parents had called and they had been very upset. Johnny had been the one talking to them which was good since Brian didnīt know if he could hold back the anger he felt for those two. At first they had been a bit reluctant to go to NY before they knew anything more about Nick's condition, but then, to each and everyones surprise, the black manager had made them change their minds which had them booking the next flight to NY. Johnny hadnīt said anything about it but Brian as well as the rest of the guys suspected that money had a part to play whether they were going to their kid or not. It wouldnīt surprise them if Johnny had agreed to pay their flight so they could see their son.
Once in the office the doctor presented them to chairs leaning against his desk for support. AJ was the first one that couldnīt wait and he blurted out in a way that only he could do, "Why are we here? Is something so wrong with Kaos that you canīt tell it up front?" Kevin shot him an eye of dislike which the young man refused to take notice of.
"No..No..itīs nothing like that. Mr. Carter is doing much better than we expected and as was told you before he went on dialysis and is responding very good to the treatment. We also managed to clear up his lungs and have the fever under control."
"Does that mean that he will make it?" Brian didnīt dare to hope but he had to know.
"Oh yes..we look positive at his progression..however he hasnīt been here for long and it's still too early to tell if he will make it out without any further complications."
"You mean that this can affect his whole life in the future?" There was a deep frown on Kevins forehead.
"If weīre unlucky..yes." The doctor held up a hand to stop the rest of the men from talking, "however as I said earlier..things are looking better and better for now and Mr. Carter is stable. I wonīt lie to you. It was a close call and you can were lucky that he received the treatment when he did since the kidneys were less and less starting to function." Looking at each and everyone of the men he continued, "This lead me up to the point of asking. What on earth's name has been done to this boy?"
Startled over the frank question that was asked they could do nothing but stare. What did the doctor exactly say? "What do you mean?" Howie blinked several times.
"For a start he is suffering from severe exhaustion as well as malnutrition, which has me thinking that either he canīt have been eating much lately or if he has he has thrown it up. " Looking at the pale men he continued, "Does anyone of you know anything about this?"
They all shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not knowing whether or not they would say anything about the "treatment" Nick had been exposed to from the management. It wasnīt that they didnīt trust the doctor, No it was more that they didnīt know if they were prepared to go through this whole deal again. Not so soon. Kevin was the only one that felt it fit to explain the situation, "Iīm sorry doctor but weīve just come off a very strenuous tour that has taken a toll on all of us both physically and mentally. Nick has been sick most of the time and I know for a fact that he has been eating very little..due to not feeling well of course."
"Yes I can tell he has but there is something that holds my concern and that is that I suspect that he has been eating or consuming something to keep his weight down."
"Wha..what makes you thi..think so?" Howie stuttered.
"Oh Iīve seen cases like this before..they are not as uncommon as you might think. Iīve seen teens, mostly young girls but also some boys, come in malnourished after experimenting with not eating or taking diet pills, so I know what signs to look for. Unfortunately what people donīt know when they eat those diet pills and supplements such as laxatives is that the body, the whole system, gets damaged and that there is a risk, like Mr. Carter to go into kidney failure."
The men listened in silence.
"Did something happen to Mr. Carter when he was on this tour? Was he in an accident or something like that?"
"No..why?"
The doctor was scribbling something on a pad, "Iīm trying to detect if there can be any other problems with his kidneys."
"Wait," Brian suddenly remembered when Nick was knicked in his back, "There were a situation, some girls were all over him, attacking him." He could see the doctor raise an eyebrow and felt it was time to explain why there were getting into all this, "You know we are in a group, The Backstreet Boys..ever heard of them?"
The doctor nodded but made no sign in treating them any differently then he would have done to his other non profile patients. "Yes go on.."
"Anyway there was this time when Nick was caught in the crowd and he was really knicked in his back. "
The doctor raised an eyebrow again, "Donīt you have security?"
"Yes." Kevin decided to help his cousin out, "but Nick was hit anyway in the back. He didnīt mention anything about the bruise at first and then he got really sick and started to pee blood."
"He was peeing blood?" Doctor Finnley wrote something down, "When was this?"
The men thought for a while. All days were pretty much the same and living such a hectic life with schedules to follow all the time it was hard to remember when any event had occured. Life was being to stressful. Howie, who usually remembered things like that was the one to give away the correct date.
"I see.." The doctor was biting on his pencil.."What did you then do? Take him to a hospital I pressume?"
Suddenly none of the guys felt it was useful to keep on playing the game of hiding stuff. It wouldnīt benefit Nick nor them and they stared to spill their beans. Soon the doctor heard about everything from Nick's overeating and throwing up to all of his sicknesses and that they suspected that their manager had spiked the health drink with laxative and subscribed dieting pills to him. The doctor listened but his expression was getting more and more worried. His face was red. Once they had ended the story about the latest hospital visit and how sick Nick had been on the plane the doctor stood up quickly.
"You do realize that I have to report this to my superiors don't you? This is negligent of the boy's health on the highest level and I canīt just ignore all of this. I will be filing a record."
Upon mentioning this the men stared at each other. They had all mixed feelings about the situation at hand. A part of them didnīt want this to be exposed in public but at the same time it was no way that they could go hiding this forever. This could only mean one thing;
The battle with the management had begun.
