Brian didn’t keep his gaze off of Nick the entire show. He constantly watched the teen from the corner of his eyes. Although Pearlman had given Nick his permission to stay seated and do the entire concert from the stool that had been situated in the center of the stage, Nick had tried on several occasions to slip off and join his bandmates in the choreographed dance steps until Kevin or Howie or even Brian rushed up and ushered Nick back to his chair.

Several times Nick protested weakly and sometimes after a song, Nick would say something to the crowd that his brothers ‘were making a big deal over nothing with the flu.’

Although Nick had kept on insisting over and over again that he was suffering from the flu, Brian’s suspecisions was that it was anything but the flu. It was becoming more evident that something was horribly wrong with his baby brother yet he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong with Nick.

To the fan’s eyes, Nick might look a little ‘under the weather’ but to Brian’s eyes, something was definately off. How Lou Pearlman could ignore it was beyond comprehension, Brian decided as he caught Nick gulping down his fifth bottle of water.

As the band cued the music to the final song, Nick slid gingerly off the stool to stand next to Brian. A wave of dizziness suddenly swept over him and he took a faltering step backwards; AJ was quick to place a hand on Nick’s back.

With the crook of a finger, AJ lowered his mic away from his mouth. “Are you gonna be alright Kaos?”

Nick nodded slightly, instantly regretting the movement. Closing his eyes he mumbled, “Yeah.” Mentally he screamed, “not here...not now.....don’t faint.”

Their usual encore was cut short when after one bow, Nick staggered off stage, Brian close in tow. Just as the young man reached the side of the stage, his legs gave out sending him crashing to the hard wooden floor beneath him.

”SHIT!” Brian yelped, his voice amplified by the microphone that was still on.

Security quickly swarmed over Nick, pushing Brian aside as they scooped up their young charge carrying him off to the green room, a worried Kevin rushing alongside.

The crowd of young fans watched in shock after hearing Brian swear and the blur of activity that was happening at the side of the stage with the bodyguards and the other members of the band. The sounds from the audience went from screams of adoration to buzzes of questions and theories as to what had happened and to whom.

“Jesus Lou didn’t we tell you that Nick wasn’t fit to go onstage tonight?” Kevin snapped when he caught sight of the manager, keeping his pace with the security as they carried the unconscious blonde to the green room.

“I’m sure Carter’s fine,” Pearlman replied flatly.

”FINE? FINE? YOU CALL PASSING OUT FINE? Jesus, I don’t understand you.....you’re a fucking piece of work.”

“That’s enough from you Richardson,” Pearlman threatened in a low growl.

”Why don’t you go fuck yourself Lou,” Kevin spat, slamming the green room door in the obese manager’s face.

”RICHARDSON! OPEN THIS DOOR!”

“Back off fatty,” AJ rasped, pushing the manager aside.

“What did you say to me? Do you realize who you’re talking to?” Pearlman demanded.

Ignoring the manager’s questions, AJ knocked on the door and a member of security allowed him, Howie and Brian to enter. As the guard tried to close the door, Pearlman wedged his foot in.

“Sorry sir, but you’re not allowed in here,” the man apologized.

“Open this door now!” Pearlman barked. “I own you! Open this door immediately!”

“Sir, don’t make me shut this door on your foot because I can and I will.”

Despite the commotion that was occurring with the security guard and the door, Kevin had taken charge of the situation, directing the other body guards to wet down towels with cool water and bring them to him. He elevated Nick’s feet and kept his head low as he laid a fresh wet towel across the young man’s forehead.

“God.....Nicky’s so white....I’ve never seen Kaos look this shitty,” AJ rasped as he watched Kevin fuss.

“There’s something definately not good here,” Howie added.

“What do you mean?”

“Well beside his coloring, look at him.”

Brian, AJ and Kevin looked at Nick’s face, puzzled where Howie was heading with his comment.

Nick’s eyes suddenly fluttered open, directing Howie’s concerns momentarily away. As Nick looked around the room, he sighed, closing his eyes.

“Tell me this didn’t happen on stage,” he muttered.

“No, it was offstage,” Kevin informed.

Nick sighed with relief.

“Barely,” AJ added. Nick groaned.

“How are you feeling?”

Nick thought for a moment as he did a mental inventory. He felt the ever-constant headache was still there with more intensity than before and his stomach was nauseated. Licking his lips, he replied, “Like road kill.”

“Don’t worry Nick, as soon as you say you’re ready, we’ll have security get us to the van and get us back to the hotel,” Kevin stated. “Is there anything I can get you?”

“Water please, I’m thirsty,” Nick mumbled.

Brian shook his head in disbelief. He wondered how Nick could possibly be thirsty after all the water bottles he drank onstage. As he stared down at Nick laying on the couch; brushing the sweat from his forehead with a towel, he noticed something about his brother that he hadn’t noticed before.

No sweat! His hair was bone dry.

Granted he had been sitting on a stool the entire show, that could account for Nick not being sweaty, but then there was the stage lights - the lights that can dry your throat out and the heat from the crowd. Something was really wrong, Brian decided.

Biting his bottom lip, he tapped his cousin on the shoulder, getting his attention. “Kev, something’s really off with Nick.”

“Duh Brian, Kaos did a swan dive after the show, of course he’s off,” AJ muttered.

“No, it’s something other than that....he isn’t sweating.”

“I noticed that too,” Howie softly added.

Four pairs of eyes looked at Nick, realizing that what Brian had just mentioned was true. Nick was bone dry. For a guy that litterally sweated buckets of water at any given time, he was completely dry.

“Nick, do you feel up to going back to the hotel?” Kevin questioned. “I’d like to have a qualified doctor look at you when we get back.”

Nick’s eyes widened when Kevin mentioned that he wanted to have a doctor check him over. He hated doctors with a passion and didn’t want to be touched again. “I’ll be fine Kev. Let’s just get back so we can get ready to go home.”

Kevin placed a supportive hand on Nick’s back as he helped him to a sitting position. “Just take it slow, stop if you get dizzy.”

“I-I’m fine.....I just want to go and lay in my own bed at my own home,” Nick mumbled.

“I know Nick, we all do,” Brian sympathized.

Despite Nick’s protests, Kevin called for a doctor as soon as they arrived back to the hotel. He asked the front desk who they would recommend and the woman replied without hesitation, Doctor Hernand Grost. She offered to place the call for Kevin and he thanked her but not before adding that the fees were to be placed on Lou Pearlman’s room charges since he was their manager.

“Would you just lay down? You’re making this harder on yourself getting all worked up, just relax,” Kevin soothed as he placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder, guiding him back down onto the bed.

“This is so stupid Kevin, you know that we’re gonna get in trouble when Lou finds out.”

“Nick, trust me, Pearlman has more to worry about right now than this doctor coming to take a look at you.”

“I’m gonna so get my ass chewed out... I know I will....I just know it,” he sputtered as Kevin fussed with the blankets, drawing them closer to his chest.

“Sh-h-h-h, quit worrying so much,” Kevin responded in his soft Kentucky accent. A sharp knock on the door took Kevin’s attention momentarily away from Nick. “Good, he must be here. Sit tight.”

Nick rolled his eyes beneath closed lids. “Yeah, like I could escape.”

An older man wearing a dark blue sport shirt and khaki dress slacks followed Kevin into the room. He promptly set his black medical bag on the bedstand as he crouched next to Nick’s bedside. The man’s facial expression was etched with concern.

“Has he had some history of kidney problems?” he asked in a thick accent.

Kevin’s eye brows furrowed. “Um, yes I guess so, but you haven’t even looked at him yet, how can you tell something is wrong with his kidneys? I mean, he was told he has a urinary tract infection by another doctor.”

The doctor didn’t pause as he promptly took out some of his medical equipment from the bag. “I can tell because of the edema, his skin coloring and his eyes.”

Kevin looked at Nick trying to see if he could discover what the doctor saw. All he could see was the typical Nick Carter when he was sick with the flu none of the skin color or edema..... “Where do you see edema, or what is that anyway?”

“This is how I can see the edema,” the doctor stated as he pressed his fingers into Nick’s forearm, leaving definate indentations where his fingers had been when they were removed. “His body is filling up with fluids..... this is a very sick young man. Why has he not been taken to a hospital?”

“Hospital?” Nick croaked. “I don’t want to go to a hospital, I’m okay.”

The doctor shook his head. “You are far from okay,” he stated as he placed the stethoscope on Nick’s chest.

Kevin waited as the doctor listened to Nick’s heart before asking anymore questions. He jumped in quickly when the earpiece was removed. “So what are you thinking is wrong with Nick? The flu?”

“It would be nice if it were that simple.....are you experiencing any back pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea....”

“Constantly,” Nick admitted, his face getting a red tinge to his cheeks from the embarrassment.

“Trouble urinating? Passing blood?”

“Yes,” he replied quietly.

“Excessive thirst? How often have you passed blood?”

“I’m thirsty all the time I suppose, but the blood thing it’s never really gone away.”

“Jesus Nick,” AJ rasped from the corner of the room.

The doctor quickly reached for the phone and Nick was just as quick to place his hand ontop of the doctors. “Don’t.....please, I just want to go home to Florida, I can get this taken care of over there.”

“I don’t think your kidneys will wait that long young man,” the physician said in a low tone as his eyes locked onto Nick’s.

“What are you saying doctor?” Kevin questioned, panic edging in his normally calm voice.

“What I’m trying to tell you is that his kidneys are on their way to failing him. It’s just a matter of time before they give out and he needs to be admitted to a hospital before they do in fact shut down.”

“That’s enough for me Nick,” Kevin replied as he reached over and took Nick’s hand from the doctor’s arm. “Make the arrangements.”

“B-but...but we’re suppose to go home tomorrow,” Nick protested.

“Fuck that Nicky....we can wait for as long as it takes for you to get well enough to go home,” AJ commented.

“We’re not going anywhere until you’re ready,” Brian agreed.

“It wouldn’t be right to do anything but that,” Howie said.

Silence hung in the room as the doctor dialed the number to the front desk. Only Kevin spoke and understood German so he was the only one that was able to understand what the doctor said once he was connected to the hospital he worked with. With a grim face, the doctor hung up the phone.

“The ambulance will be here shortly.”

”NOOOO....!” Nick yelled as his eyes looked wildly around the room.

“Nick, calm down, everything is gonna be okay,” Brian soothed.

“No, I’m okay I’m really alright, let’s just go home, okay? I want to go home..” Nick protested as he tried to flip the covers off his body.

The doctor ignored Nick’s pleas as he proceeded to get some more medical history. When the words ‘weight gain or weight loss’ came up, Kevin’s eyes locked onto Nick’s and he could see the look in his young brother’s eyes about the secret he had been sworn to about Lou Pearlman and the diet pills.

“Yes, he had tried to lose some weight, by the orders of management and not in a very good way, I’m afraid---”

“Kevin....don’t.....please!”

“What the hell?” AJ questioned. “Pearlman is a fucking jackass!”

The doctor looked at Nick’s face quickly before directing his attention to Kevin. “What kind of a diet was he put on?”

“Kevin,” Nick whined.

“He put him on some kind of diet pill,” Kevin replied as he fished into his front shirt pocket pulling out the pills that he had taken from Nick. “Here, this is what he gave him. Do you know what those are?”

The doctor took the pills from Kevin’s hand, examining them. Dr. Grost shook his head in disgust. “Anything that is prescribed is not good, especially for a young man this age that is clearly not obese.”

“He made him use laxatives,” Brian piped up.

“LAXATIVES!” Kevin echoed.

“Kaos what the hell did you do this to yourself?” AJ questioned. “There’s nothing wrong with you!”

“Because I was told to or I would be fired. You’re always calling me a fat ass so I know he was telling me the truth that I was too fat,” he quietly admitted.

“Awww Nick, is that why you would over eat so much and then try to throw it up?” Brian asked, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Because of this young man, you may lose the use of your kidney functions and be on dialysis for the rest of your life or until you can get a transplant,” the doctor gruffly warned.

“It can’t be that bad, I’m sure it’s just a stupid kidney infection,” Nick dismissed the doctor’s worries.

“Bullshit!” Kevin interrupted Nick’s thoughts. “It’s because of Lou that your life is in jeapordy. I’ll be talking to him when we get you settled at the hospital.”

“Kev, please....I’m okay, just take me home to Tampa,” Nick begged.