...."Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be arriving at Tampa in a few moments, temperature is a muggy eighty-six degrees with a chance of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. For those of you that will be continuing to Miami, your departure gate is...."

"Sir, we will be landing in a few minutes, you need to put your seat up," the flight attendant said in a gentle voice to Brian as she lightly touched him on the shoulder.

Easing his seat back into an upright position, Brian ran a hand through his hair. He was shocked to discover that he had fallen asleep during the short hour and a half long flight. Sleep wasn't something that had come easily to the Kentuckian lately. His new son's idea of awake time and night time seemed to be off the charts and lately Brian found himself camped in front of the television set in the wee hours of the morning watching too many infomercials than he cared to. But that was part of being a parent - countless sleepless nights. The other reason for his lack of sleep lately was the deteriorating health of his best friend.

Nick had assured Brian less than a week ago that he was doing fine and to go home and be with his new family. They had all wanted to believe that the transplant was going to be Nick's ticket to better health but Kevin's unexpected phone call a few short hours ago changed that belief. This wasn't suppose to be happening! There was no mistaking the frightening tone in his cousin's voice. It was pure fear.

Upon arrival at the airport, Brian hitched his carryon over his left shoulder and made his way quietly through the terminal to the car rental counter. He had been to this airport far too many times in the past year, Brian decided as he handed his credit card and Georgia Drivers License to the man behind the Enterprise Car Rental counter.

"I'm sorry, but we were unable to get the car you requested.....sir? Sir?"

Brian shook the fog from his brain. "Huh? I'm sorry what did you say?"

"I said we were unable to get the vehicle you requested--"

Brian waved the explanation off. "It's okay, I don't care what you give me."

"It won't be very fuel-friendly," the man continued his apology.

"I won't be driving much," Brian replied as he scrawled his name on the rental agreement.

The young man handed the keys, Brian's credit card and license back. "It's in slot 15A. Thank you and enjoy your stay."

Managing a slight smile, he nodded before he walked toward the Enterprise exit. His head filled with thoughts and unanswered questions, he didn't realize where he had stepped until the shrill sound of a horn shook him back into reality.

"WATCH WHERE THE FUCK YOU'RE WALKING ASSHOLE!" an irratated man shouted through his open window as he swerved by, taking time to make sure he made eye contact and gave the "defensive driving symbol."

Slack jawed, Brian simply watched the dark green Chevy Impala roar out of the parking lot. After looking right and then left before he crossed the road, he glanced down at the car key in his hand. 15A

As he neared 15A Brian realized the rental agent wasn't kidding when he said that the vehicle wasn't fuel friendly. A Dodge Ram king cab truck was sitting in lot 15A - a bright red one at that.

Red.......Brian hated that color!

"Figures," he muttered as he hit the automatic door lock button on the key ring.

"......I just can't go in and see my baby like this...not right now, anyway..."

AJ flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette angrily as he recalled Jane Carter's words spoken a few short hours ago. The woman was a piece of work in his opinion. This may be the last time Nick may be alive and the woman had lame excuses each time the offer was made to take her down to get prepped to go into the sterile environment. How cold could his mother be? The rest of them had gone in and taken their alotted ten minutes with their young brother. Why couldn't she? It wasn't like she had to sit there and make small talk with him. She was told that Nick would be able to sense her presence and that was all that mattered.

"Cold hearted bitch," he muttered as he squashed the cigarette out in the ash tray. He squinted as he tried to view the clock through the long glass wall. It was already 2:15 p.m. Instead of lighting another smoke, AJ decided to head back to the private waiting room. Brian should be arriving anytime soon. At least Brian would ease some of the tension that was hanging in the air with Nick's mom there.

He made his way back to the bank of elevators across from the cafeteria when he nearly collided with Nick's brother.

"Jeeze....sorry there, man."

Aaron simply nodded and jammed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

AJ immediately read the body language and took a closer look at the young blonde. He could see that he had been crying and looked upset. "Where's the rest of your family?"

Aaron shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"I know your mom was in LA, but I thought you were with your dad....."

The elevator arrived and Aaron slipped through the open doors quickly pressing the button for the eighth floor.

AJ waited a few moments for a reply. "So?"

Aaron sighed. "So I just found out and grabbed a flight out," he replied in a shaky voice, quickly wiping a tear from his eye that was threatening to fall.

The older man shook his head. This family was so fucked up. "So where were you when you found out?"

"Doesn't matter," the blonde snapped.

The tattooed rebel wasn't going to let the subject drop. "Who told you?"

"Howie."

AJ's eyes widened. That was one thing that Nick had made clear to the guys while he was lucid: Please don't say anything to AC. Why would D go behind Nick's back and disobey his wishes? Then again, why would Nick not want his brother with him when he was dying? Granted the younger version of Nick was having a difficult time with his brother's cancer but still, he had to face realities in life and not be shielded from them. "Howie?" he echoed.

"It doesn't matter, I'm here."

Before he could respond, the doors slid open and Aaron quickly slipped out.

"The waiting room is this way....."

Ignoring AJ, Aaron walked up to the nurses station.

Knowing that he would be turned away, AJ stood back waiting. It wasn't until the young teen's voice started to rise before AJ took action.

"C'mon AC, lets go back to the waiting room, okay?"

"I-I don't know understand why they won't let me go see him," Aaron sulked as he threw a glare back at the nurses station.

"Because Nick has things that has to be done at certain times of the day and I know that this was one of those times right now," AJ explained patiently.

"Then why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because you wouldn't let me." The two had barely crested the entrance to the waiting room when Aaron halted his steps.

"What is she doing here?" the young teen demanded as he glared at Jane sitting with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Aaron Charles Carter, that is no way for you to talk to me like that!" Jane hissed.

"Whatever," he retorted as he stomped over toward the opposite side of the waiting room and sat down heavily onto the padded chair.

Kevin looked up from the book he had been reading, one eyebrow arched in question. "Hey Aaron."

Aaron bit his bottom lip. "Hey."

"Who told you about this?" Howie questioned softly. AJ immediately threw a dark look when he caught the teen in a lie.

"Doesn't matter."

"Kid I'm getting sick of that answer," AJ spat. "I'm getting sick of you lying to me too!"

Jane Carter jumped up. "Don't you talk to my son like that!"

"What difference does it make?" Aaron spat defiantly. "I'm here alright, just deal with it."

"Did your father come with you?" Howie asked, trying to get rid of the tension that filled the room.

Aaron shook his head. "Nope."

"You came alone?" Jane questioned.

"I was lucky that I even found out about this to begin with. No doubt you didn't say anything to dad anyway," Aaron spat.

"Kevin called me and he called your father," Jane defended. "If Bob isn't here thats his fault."

There was a long silence in the room once again. This time, Aaron decided to break the tension. "So has anyone been allowed in to see Nick yet?"

"Yeah, we have," AJ filled in. "They only let you in for ten minutes at a time with a break in between each of us."

"I hope they come back soon to let me know when I can go in and see him," Aaron said quietly.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Jane replied.

Aaron scowled at his mother. "Why?"

"I think something like this would be a bad thing for you to see right now. I mean Nick really isn't Nick and it would upset you---"

"How do you know what would upset me ma? I have already seen Nick and what he looks like right now really doesn't matter. Thats what you're getting at, right? How bad he looks being sick..."

"You're not being fair!" Jane cried. "I just want to protect you, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Protect me....proctect me from what?"

"Honestly, Nick would appreciate Aaron being there. He wouldn't be able to talk to him but I think he just knows when we're there and that is what really counts," Howie stated.

Aaron directed his attention to his mother. "Did you say anything to Nick when you saw him?"

Jane shook her head, casting her eyes toward the floor.

"She hasn't been in to see him," AJ replied.

The young man shook his head slowly as he came to a conclusion. "Why the hell did you even bother to come? You know Nick doesn't want you here..."

"Aaron!" Kevin cried out as he gently laid the book down and stood up.

Aaron ignored the older man. "Seriously....all you and dad ever cared about was appearances....is that why you're here? Afraid you'd get bad PR if you didn't come?"

Kevin placed a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "Thats enough."

Kevin wanted to jump in and join Aaron as he verbally attacked Jane. He knew what the young man was saying was true but his upbringing prevented him from trashing the older woman. Thoughts of a young Nick popped into his memories of when they first started touring and the countless times he found Nick either laying by himself in his bunk or alone in the hotel room, crying himself to sleep. His parents never seemed concerned about the young man's well being and it was always up to Kevin to pick up the pieces when his parents had let him down or when the unpleasant process of being a young developing teen hit the blonde hard.

Glancing at his wrist, Howie quietly announced that Nick should be allowed a visitor pretty soon. That seemed to satisfy Aaron for the time being as the young man sat back down in his seat.

With a sigh, Brian made his way across the hospital parking lot. This was the last place he had expected to be twenty-four hours ago. Nervousness and fear had his stomach in a tight vice. This wasn't suppose to be this way, Brian thought as he entered the building. Nick should be relaxing and enjoying life. The familiar 'hospital smell' immediately assualted his nostrils making Brian suddenly feel nauseated. Ajusting the bill of his Atlanta Braves baseball cap after he pressed the elevator button, Brian kept his eyes to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. It wasn't that he hated people or was anti-social, he just didn't want to have to address any questions if someone came up to him. At this point he honestly had no clue how Nick was doing.

Once the elevator arrived to the eighth floor, he quickly exited and headed directly to the nurses station. He only had to wait a few moments until one of the nurses acknowledged him.

"Hi, I'm here to see Nick Carter."

The woman smiled and then turned to pull a chart from the revolving circular steel charting unit. The only identification was labeled on the side of the mauve colored binder: ICU 16. She flipped the book open and quickly shuffled through a few pages before she looked up. "I'm sorry, he can't have anyone go in right now. You can go down and join the rest of his visitors in the waiting room down the hall," she said as she gestured with a finger toward the room.

"Oh..okay, thanks." A wave of panic swept over Brian as he walked toward the waiting room. Suddenly he wanted to turn around and ask about Nick's condition because the nurse turned him away from visiting but he was too scared of what she would tell him. If there was something he needed to know, he decided that she would have told him. She had Nick's chart so she would now that he was the patient advocate.

Brian hadn't made it to the waiting room before AJ walked out - no doubt headed down for a smoke. His expression was a mixture of fatigue and anger. Brian could understand the fatigue but the anger he couldn't quite place.

"Jay....D and Kev still in there?"

The angry look that AJ held in his expression softened when he met Brian's gaze. "Oh hey when did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago.....I stopped at the nurses desk and they said Nick can't have any visitors..."

"Yeah, they kinda put the kabash on that when they need to do tests and shit," AJ explained. "We've been in to see him though so when he gets the green light for visitors you'll be the first, well after Airhead..."

Brian let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Nick's familys here?"

AJ shook his head. "Only Jane and Aaron. None of the other Carters have shown up yet."

'So there's the reason why he looks so angry,' Brian decided mentally. "Oh, well maybe they got caught up getting a flight in or something."

"Yeah probably something like that......," AJ observed and then flashed a cheesy smile before continuing, "I was heading down for another smoke, care to join me?"

Brian grinned. "Nah, I'm cutting back. I think I'll just go in and talk to Kev and Howie while you're gone. Thanks anyway." As he turned to walk into the waiting room, he head AJ wish him good luck. Brian smiled despite the casual warning from his band brother as he entered the quiet room. He didn't have to wait to be acknowledge when he walked into the room.

"Brian!" Aaron cried out as he jumped up to greet him. He quickly wrapped the Kentuckian in a tight bear hug.

"Did you have a good flight?" Howie asked as he stood up.

"As good as could be expected," Brian replied.

Kevin patted his cousin lightly on the back. "Hows the family doing?"

"Fine....really good." Brian looked over in the direction where Jane Carter sat. The woman seemed preoccupied with the fingernails on her left hand, not even bothering to look up. "Hi Jane."

Jane Carter flinched, as if she were startled by Brian's voice. "Hello....I didn't hear you come in."

Aaron rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth closed when he saw the warning glare directed towards him by Kevin.

Thankfully for most of Nick's family, a nurse appeared in the door.

"Nick can have visitors again. I can take someone down to get gowned up."

As much as Aaron wanted to go in and see his brother first, he decided that Brian should go. He knew that his mother would cause too much of a hassle right now and he clearly wasn't in the mood to start another battle with the woman. "Bri, you go ahead and go in before me. I'll wait until after you come back."

"Are you sure?"

Aaron stole a glance over at his mother before he replied. "Yeah, I have some things I have to take care of first."

Brian followed the nurse down the hall to the scrub room to get gowned up. He had been through this routine several times before and he was finished and waiting for the nurse before she came back down the hall from the women's locker room to escort him into Nick's room.

"Wow you're pretty fast," she said with a wink.

Brian smiled, although the nurse could only see the smile in his eyes since he already had the surgical mask over his nose and mouth. "All those years of doing costume changes between sets really helps."

As she started off toward the ICU room, she recited the rules of the isolation policy and Nick's situation. "You are only allowed to be in his room for ten minutes and then I will be back to tell you when its time to leave. After you leave we have to wait for fifteen minutes before another visitor can be allowed in. He has been in a light coma for the past twenty-four hours."

Brian's footsteps slowed. "He's been in what?"

"A light coma," the nurse replied.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm sorry I thought you've been told."

Brian shook head head as he faught to regain his composure. "No, no one has said anything to me."

The woman sighed. "It's quite normal for this to happen. How can I explain this for you better...I guess you could say it is the brain's way of getting the rest of the system to heal properly."

"But comas aren't good as far as I can remember."

"Sometimes they aren't and sometimes they are. Lets just hope in his case that it is a good thing. I said light coma so that means he is basically in a deep sleep right now and hopefully will be waking up soon. Are you ready to go see him?"

Brian swallowed hard. "Yes."

The nurse held the door open, allowing Brian to pass. "Hit the blue button on the wall with your elbow after I close the door."

As he waited for the outer door to close, Brian looked through the glass window. The room was painted in soft green colors and the bedspread was in pastel flowers. A soft light was situated on both sides of the bed, machines were lined up on one side, IV poles hold various medications on the other.

Brian suddenly realized he must have been standing and staring for a few minutes before he decided to hit the blue button with his elbow, opening the door. He waited for a moment after the door mechanically opened, surprised how quiet his room seemed. He quietly made his way to Nick's bedside, quietly sitting down in the forest green vinyl seat beside the bed.

Brian let unchecked tears fall as he looked at his baby brother. True to the nurse's words, Nick didn't stir but laid silently in the sickbed. His face was still full, bloated from all the medications he was having pumped into his system. Pulling an edge of the blankets and sheet, Brian reached underneath to hold his best friend's hand. He instantly felt the warmth of Nick's skin and decided that was a good. Brian noticed that the rhythm of the heart montior slightly quicken when he touched Nick's hand.

"I came as soon as I could.......Aaron's here too.......you gotta hang on Nick.....I-I don't know what I would do without you..." he sobbed. He couldn't push aside the feelings of selfishness in begging his baby brother to hang on.

But deep down Brian knew he had every right to beg. He was convinced this was the only way he could keep Nick alive.