With a sudden jerk, Nick sat up in bed. The nightmare he had was so strange and surreal that he was actually happy to wake up, noticing that it had been nothing but a dream. To his relief he only remembered small pieces of the dream and he shook his head to clear his thoughts. Squinting, he looked around in the dusky room, just to notice that the tv was blaring on MTV and that he had fallen asleep with his clothes on, flat on his stomach. This position was something he disliked since it often left him feeling confused and sweaty.
Running his hand through his hair he noticed that it came away all wet and his clothes were stuck to his body like a second skin. "Damn air conditioner," Nick mumbled when he noticed that the fan was not on. It was very warm in Italy even if it was spring, and the hotel room Lou had choosen wasnīt one of the best either, at least not for the boys. Rubbing the back of his hand over his eyes he tried to get his bearings. The red digitals on the travelclock read 2:45 and glancing over at the other side of the room he noticed that AJīs bed was still untouched. The young man was no doubt out clubbing.
Sighing, he thought that his friend would be in for one hell of a fight since both Lou and Johnny had specifically said that NO ONE was allowed to leave the hotel since they all needed to be fit to keep up with tomorrows schedule. The day would be busy with interviews and tv shows as well as two concerts in two days. After that grueling work they would go to Rome and there they would end the tour and then go back to the states. Nick couldnīt wait until he was able to set his feet on American soil again. Not that he didnīt like touring, but spending almost three months on the road was more than even he could bare. Especially since he had been feeling like shit on and off the whole time.
The feeling like shit part was something that seemed to stick with him lately since his head was ready to explode again. No matter what heīd tried he couldnīt shake the migraine and for a moment he wished that he had just downed the whole bottle of tylenol. Maybe then he would have gotten some relief.
Sticking his hand in his pocket he found that the rest of the pills were safely wrapped up into the toiletpaper. Smiling, he thought that he had been pretty clever to "steal" them from Kevin since now he could continue with his "cure" without his older brother questioning his actions.
A growl in his stomach made him aware that he hadnīt eaten anything the whole day. It was not a feeling of hunger that made his gut ache, no it was more an undescriptive feeling that left him weak and queasy. A dull ache that radiated towards the back. Maybe it had been stupid of him to eat those diet pills again? What if they were the one to cause him such discomfort? Quickly he dismissed his thinking. The diet pills couldnīt be worse than anything else he had stuffed in his mouth, besides what harm could those small white pills do anyway?
Pushing the thoughts away he felt his bladder screaming for relief and got up to go to the bathroom. Instantly the room started to spin 360 degrees and he had to sit down or he would have fallen flat on his face. "Whoaaa," Nick studied himself against his bedtable. He closed his eyes shut, bending down with his head like he had been taught to do when he felt dizzy dancing. Slowly the faint feeling passed and he was able to sit up straight again. What a headrush!
Groaning, he made another attempt to stand and this time it was successful. With steps that felt like he had lead in his feet, he padded over to the bathroom and did his business. Once again his back and bladder felt like he would rupture. Coldsweat broke out on his forehead as he forced out the drop of urine. "Man that hurts," Nick whispered, flushing the toilet. Now he was almost certain that he had caught some bladder infection and if things didn’t lighten up the next day he intended to talk to someone about his embarrassing problems. Hopefully Brian wouldnīt be too grossed out. AJ was out of the question since he would probably say that he had the clap.
Steadying himself he gathered strength to go back to bed again when a loud signal was heard in the room. It was the phone and at first he tried to ignore it. Knowing from past experience it was probably AJ who called to ask him to cover for Lou in the morning and right now he was in no shape nor form to deal with a wasted Bone. Swallowing hard he willed the nausea to go down again, it did little to his condition but somehow he didnīt have to worship the porcelin god. At least not yet.
He desperately hoped that the caller would take a hint and hang up, but when no such thing happened and the ringing continued, he walked with hunch steps over to the phone. "Yeah?" The tone was irritated.
Excpecting to hear his friend’s voice on the other side he was met with one big surprise when his girlfriend was on the other line, "Nick? Nicky is that you?"
His hair rose on his arms when she called him Nicky, but he was much too surprised to say something about it. "Manda," he croaked out as he did his best to steady is voice which was just as shaky as his body and vision. Sitting down hard on the bed he continued, "Has something happend? Why are you calling this late?"
"No, I just wanted to talk to you," she said in that shrill tone that only Manda could manage. Suddenly her tone changed and it became cold, "I didnīt know that I needed to have permission to call my own boyfriend?"
Upon hearing these words he wanted to sink into the ground or better yet hang up. She was in a battle mood and this was NOT something he felt up to. Especially since he was doing his best to even sit up straight. "I have never.." he started when she cut him off.
"You said that I could call you at any time and any place and when Iīm doing this you are mean to me. Donīt you love me anymore?" She sounded hurt.
"Yes I.." He opened his mouth to say how much he loved and missed her when she cut him off again.
"Or maybe you are too busy to talk."
She was constantly changing her mood and tone and he knew where this conversation was going. Down the drain. Any other time he would have asked her why she kept doing this to him, but right now he felt so tired and lousy that all he wanted to do was crawl into a ball, trying to will himself to sleep. "No I said I was asleep didnīt I?" He could have bit his tongue since the words came out much too harsh than he intended to.
"God, there’s no need to sound so pissed," she sounded even more upset than before, "But maybe Iīm really disturbing you."
"What do you mean?" he groaned, rubbing his temples furiously with the free hand that was not holding the phone. He was doing his best to fend off the headache that was threatening to split his skull in half, and if he felt bad before it was nothing against what he felt now when Manda was emotionally making him feel vulnerable.
"Maybe Iīm calling at a bad time." She was in a real fighting mood. "Maybe youīre not alone." When the last words were uttered he knew what the phone call was all about. She had called to check up on him.
"No Manda," he let out a deep sigh, "I donīt have anyone with me..I was sleeping."
Still she wasnīt satisfied with the answer, "Really? You sure donīt sound like I woke you up."
"I was in the bathroom," Nick groaned, "Iīm not feeling too well. My stomach is a bit upset."
"Yeah right!" She let out an annoyed laugh.
He wanted to moan. When Manda was in this mood no matter what he said to her it was never right. She had a habit of turning everything to her own advantage making him look like the bad guy. He recognized the signs and knew where it was going. "Listen honey," he tried, knowing that she would probably sneer at him, " Canīt we talk about this in the morning? Itīs really late, I have a headache and I need to get some sleep." Biting his lip he waited for the big explosion.
And it came.
"Is she good looking?" Manda held a nasty tone not listening to anything he had been saying.
"Who?" His mind was too foggy to be thinking clear.
"That girl you’re sleeping with. Is she another blonde or what?"
Nick sighed again. "There’s no one here. No girl." He felt very tired and was also starting to get impatient. The bed was calling his name all the time and he had to lay down or he couldnīt count for the consequences besides he wanted some shut eye before AJ would come in stumbling, probably drunk off his ass. "Listen Iīm calling you tomorrow. I gotta get up early."
But Manda wasnīt listening at all. "No Nick," she sneered, "there’s no need to do that."
"Why?" He knew the answer before she said anything.
"Because if youīre cheating on me itīs over."
He couldnīt help but moan, "Iīm NOT cheating on you. Listen I..." She cut him off again.
"I donīt believe you. Whatīs her name? Amy or Annie or.."
This time it was his turn to interrupt the conversation, "What?" Things were really getting out of hand. "I said that there was no girl. You gotta trust me."
"Like I would believe you. You want me to think that youīre traveling all over the world, meeting tons of good looking girls every day and NOT dating or sleeping with any of them?" she snorted with lots of accusation in her voice. "I bet youīre having a new one each night."
NOOOOOO!!! Nick wanted to scream. He had no strength what so ever to keep on fighting with her since no matter what he said or did when she was in this mood he was being a bastard. He felt so desperate that he wanted to cry and on top of that, his stomach was doing violent sommersaults. Nausea welled up inside of him making his eyes water and filling his mouth with that salty tingling feeling that had him wishing that he was anywhere but talking in the phone. He swallowed down a burp, not wanting to gross her out. "Listen Honey.." he started, hoping that his stomach would be in shape long enough to tell her what he had on his mind. But Manda had other ideas.
"Donīt honey me," she sneered.
"Ok Manda then," he added with the speed of light just to hear her grunt on the other line. Now he was breathing hard through his nose too. "I have a bad migraine and I gotta go..." He was doing his best not to throw down the phone and rush towards the bathroom since his stomach was making threats to escape through his mouth all the time. He prayed desperately that she was listening to him since the seconds were passing much too quickly. By now he was standing up incase he had to leave the room in a hurry.
"Ok," she said very calmly and closing his eyes he could feel the tension drain off him momentarily, making him relax. Hopefully this would settle his stomach too. Swallowing hard he did his best to stall the incident that he knew was coming up sooner or later. Just when he was about to hang up he heard, "Say hello to Amy too,"
That was enough to send his stomach into overdrive. Throwing the phone on the bed he ran towards the small bathroom, covering his mouth with one hand and the rest trying to steady against the furniture since dizziness was threatening to overwhelm him. In the background he could hear Manda yelling "BASTARD" as loud as she could, but there was no turning back.
Fortunately he got his head above the bowl in time and painfully spilled the little he had eaten the past day, which was not much at all. Spitting bile, he felt as sick as could be and through tearfilled eyes he wished that someone was there for him. He almost hoped that AJ could be there for him, helping him out even if he felt very miserable.
It was like his prayers had been answered since there was suddenly a well known voice behind him, "Dude are you ok?" It was AJ coming back from clubbing.
