Nick Carter isn’t a wuss.

The sentence sounded easy enough, Nick decided as he repeated it mentally over and over again. He gritted his teeth each time a lab tech came in to draw blood from him every hour on the hour, telling himself that very same phrase over and over again.

Nick Carter isn’t a wuss.

The longer he laid in the hospital, Nick was having a harder time convincing himself he was anything but. The medical personnel that bustled into his room speaking only German - sometimes thickly accented English, poking and prodding him every which way. It took everything Nick had in himself to keep from crying out when they would tap on his stomach or God forbid, his back!

No one ever really told him of his condition. Their looks alone was enough to scare him out of ever getting another bladder infection again. That had to be what caused him to get here in the first place, wasn’t it? Nick shook his head as he tried to clear out his foggy brain trying remember why he was sent to the hospital.

A young nurse breezed into the room carrying fresh linens.

“Ma’am, could I have some water or something to drink......I’m really thristy,” Nick asked.

The young woman uttered something back to him in German and left the room.

“I hope that meant she’s getting me something,” Nick mumbled to himself as he stared at the IV bag hanging on a pole beside his bed. He kept blinking his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep from falling asleep, but soon the battle was lost.

A familiar scent of cheap cologne wafted into Nick’s nose, practically interrupting his much needed rest. Instead of opening his eyes to address the visitor that he figured would be Lou Pearlman, Nick opted to fake sleep praying that the man would give up and leave his room.

The creaking of a chair as Pearlman sat down indicated to Nick that the manager wasn’t going to leave. The next sound literally made Nick’s heart skip a beat.

“Johnny..... you need to let Richardson know that Carter will be leaving the hospital today after I talk to him and that they all need to get their things around to leave on the early flight.....it was cheaper.......they will be leaving because if Carter wants to play sick he can do it in the states or he will have to figure out how they can get money to buy their own damn tickets.”

’Play sick....was he really that bad or not...why was he here in the first place?’ Nick wondered as he kept his eyes closed. His acting skills paid off for him once again as he let out a soft moan and rolled his head back and forth as he slowly opened his eyes once he was certain that Pearlman had ended his phone call.

“Well boy, I was wondering when you’d wake up, you must have been asleep for a long time,” Pearlman grunted.

Faking a yawn, Nick shrugged his shoulders.

“Well let’s pull those tubes from you and get out of this place so we can get ready to fly back to the states,” Lou encouraged.

Nick’s eyes widened. “P-pull the tubes?”

“Yeah, just yank the IV out and get dressed.”

“I think I’ve got more on me than an IV....”

“Those heart things can be taken off, it’s nothing...”

Nick’s face reddened. “I’ve got something on m-my, um, you know...”

Pearlman raised an eyebrow in question and then burst out in a belly laugh when Nick gestured toward his lower region.

“Oh you got a thing attached to your dick? Just pull it off...”

Nick’s eyes widened again and he began shaking his head furiously.

“If you want to stay here, that’s your own damn business but you have to find out how to get your ass back home if you don’t leave the hospital today. Do you think you can afford your own flight?”

“No sir,” Nick squeaked.

“Well then start pulling and I’ll get your clothes from the closet,” Pearlman offered.

“Don’t you think we should wait and talk to the doctor before I just get up and go?”

“I’ve already taken care of that,” the manager lied. “Hurry up and get yourself ready.”

Lifting the covers away from his body, Nick looked down at the catheter. He had never had one of those things attached to him before so he was understandably scared of how it would feel when he pulled it off. Would it hurt or would it make a loud popping noise? The latter thought made Nick smile despite himself. Taking a deep breath in, he grabbed onto the flesh colored tube and pulled.

”SON OF A BITCH! he yelled when it felt like electrical currents raced through his body. To make matters worse, the action of pulling the catheter spilled some urine onto the bedding. He looked at the reddish tinged urine that had baptized his sheet with dismay.

“Sh-h-h-h, don’t wake up the entire hospital wing,” Pearlman admonished.

“It’s red!” Nick whispered harshly.

“Well it would be wouldn’t you think since you just pulled something out of your body, now get the IV out and get dressed!”

“I don’t want to,” Nick whimpered.

Pearlman reached for the tubing. “You’re such a baby.....a fat, six foot baby!”

Nick narrowed his eyes at the manager as he pulled his arm from the fat man’s reach. “I am not a baby!”

His attempts in moving away from the manager proved futile and he quickly let out a yelp in pain when the IV was jerked from his hand.

”SHIT WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!”

“Watch your tone with me Carter! Not a word about any of this to anyone do I make myself clear?”

“If it’s okay for me to leave why do I have to keep quiet about this?”

Pearlman pasted a smile on his face. “No, not about the leaving the hospital, I mean about me pulling your IV and you taking out your catheter, that’s all.....they kinda frown upon patient’s taking their own things out around here but we’re just in a hurry and I hate to waste anymore time in here.”

“Oh.”

“Just get dressed, hurry up,” Pearlman ordered as he stood next to the bed.

Nick clutched the covers up to his chest. “I’m not gonna get dressed with you standing there staring at me and watching,”

Pearlman let out a loud sigh as he turned away. “Hurry up then.”

He quickly removed the hospital gown and slipped the hooded sweatshirt over his head. “Shit....my hand is bleeding all over the place.”

Without missing a beat, Pearlman reached over and grabbed a tissue and handed it to the young blonde.

“Thanks.”

“Hurry up boy.”

Nick stared at the manager until Pearlman remembered and quickly turned his back to him once again. Gingerly picking up a leg, he pulled his socks on, one at a time. The next challenge was getting the cotton briefs on over his especially tender private area. He shook his head as he tearfully pulled the material up mentally cursing Pearlman as he finished his task.

“Are you done yet?” the manager snapped.

Grunting as he pulled his body to a sitting position, Nick huffed a quick “in a sec” as he continued to pull his sweatpants on.

Turning around to look at his young charge, Pearlman’s mouth dropped slightly open as he took in Nick’s pale, sweaty features. He quickly dismissed his shock and offered the young man his sneakers. “Slip these on and we can get going.”

Nick slowly tied his shoes as Pearlman kept pacing from the door back to the bed. He could sense that the manager was anxious about something but didn’t want to press him knowing that his mood could explode at any given moment.

“Okay, c’mon kid, we have a plane to catch,” Pearlman coaxed as he grabbed Nick’s upper arm.

The young man slowly raised himself from the bed and walked toward the door with slow, shuffling steps. Pearlman was practically dragging a painful Nick along with his quick strides. Nick blanched when Pearlman opened the door to the stairwell.

“Can’t we take the elevators?”

“There’s no time, you’ll have to do the stairs,” the manager ordered quietly.

The musty smelling stairwell seemed dark and uninviting to Nick and he took a hesitant step through the doorway. Although he trusted Pearlman, he reluctantly followed the fat man down the dark steps. After the third landing, Nick found himself short of breath and started coughing. Upon hearing the coughs, Pearlman stopped and turned around finding the young blonde grasping the stair rail with one hand; the other covering his mouth as he coughed.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, a hint of concern edged in his voice.

“Yeah,” Nick wheezed, catching his breath before he started coughing again.

“Is it too dusty in here?” Pearlman hoped, knowing that Nick had allergy induced asthma - among other lists of ailments.

“Something....... like...... that....... I....... guess,” he struggled to answer.

Moving back up the stairs toward Nick, Lou couldn’t help but look at the ashen color of the young man’s face. Immediately he started to question his decision of taking Nick away from professional medical care.

“Do you want me to get someone?”

Barely squelching another coughing bout, Nick shook his head negatively. “I’ll be okay, just gimme a minute.”

There was doubt in the manager’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

As much as Nick wanted to say no, the fear of being labeled a ‘wuss’ or a ‘girl’ popped into his head. “No, I’ll be fine.”

Listening to the young man’s labored breath, Pearlman started patting his suitcoat pockets and shirt pocket, hoping for some small miracle that he had one of Nick’s inhalers stashed inside.

Slowly Nick stood up again. “Let’s go, I’m getting cold.”

“Okay but let me know when you need to stop again, we have a few more flights to go down, unless you want to just go out this door and get on an elevator....”

Nick coughed. “Elevator please.”

Pulling the heavy steel door open, Pearlman gestured with an outstreatched arm. “Elevator it is.” As Nick passed through the open door, Pearlman clamped a hand on his shoulder. He was shocked to find it extremely warm. “Ah Nick? Did they say you were still running a temp?”

“I dunno.....to be honest with you, I don’t even remember or know why I’m here in the first place.”

As Lou started to open his mouth to tell Nick why he was taken to the hospital, Nick cut him off.

“I think it was for something stupid....the bladder infection....you know, German doctors go a little crazy about stuff, right?”

The dinging of the elevator announced that it had arrived and as the doors slid open, Nick took a faltering step toward the entry. Pearlman was quick to offer a helping hand, keeping him from falling over.

“Whoa, easy there......”

After they got on the elevator, Nick leaned his body against the wall; his eyes closed. Pearlman couldn’t help but notice this gesture and his heart sank in his chest.

“Nick, I think this is a bad idea, maybe I should take you back to your room.”

Keeping his eyes closed, Nick waved the manager off. “No, I’ll be fine, I’m just a little tired.” If the truth were told, Nick wasn’t feeling any better, he was more scared about being stranded in a German hospital with no money and no way to get home to Florida.

“This is just plain nonsense, I’m taking you back to your room!”

Nick’s eyes widened at the manager’s threat.

”NO! I’ll be fine! Just take me back to the hotel, I’ll be fine after I go to sleep.”

Pearlman narrowed his eyes at the feverish looking teen. “Are you sure about this?”

The elevator reached the lobby floor and the doors slid open. Nick quickly stepped off.

“Postive.”