It was well after two o'clock in the morning and Brian found himself catching a late flight from Atlanta to Tampa. After talking to his cousin and learning the condition his best friend was in, Brian immediately talked to his wife and she quickly told him to make flight arrangements and that she and Bailey would be fine.

Brian couldn't help but smile to himself as he thought about Leighanne's unselfish nature. She was so good to him. Once again he had felt torn between his family and his band brother and once again, Leighanne had told him that he was needed in Tampa; she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Sir?"

Brian didn't realize he had been daydreaming until the flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir, we're getting ready to land...you need to fasten your seat belt."

Brian looked up and grinned as he fastened the belt as instructed. "Ooops, sorry ma'am."

After they landed, Brian slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed the small stream of night time flyers off the craft. The shuttle from the terminal to the main area of the airport seemed to take forever to Brian as he sleepily leaned against the window, running a hand through his hair. Once inside the main building, Brian immediately went over to the Enterprize Car Rental counter, placing a visa credit card and his car rental ID on the green laminated counter top. The woman behing the counter quickly keyed the numbers in and handed Brian the keys to rental after all the formalities were completed.

Several minutes later, Brian was in the parking lot of Tampa General Hospital. He would be arriving there unannounced. Kevin had insisted that there wasn't anything that Brian could be doing for Nick by coming to Tampa but Brian ignored his cousin's request to stay at home with his wife and new baby. There was no way he could stay from Nick after he was finally updated with the latest condition.

Brian made his way through the virtually empty parking lot to the front entrance. He decided to go to the floor that Nick was usually on, hoping that the nurses station could tell him exactly where Nick was. He got off on the eighth floor and walked down the dimly lit hall toward the nurses station.

"Excuse me, could you tell me if Nick Carter's room is on this floor?"

The young woman's face flashed a hint of recognition when she looked up from her paperwork at Brian. "I'm sorry but Nick isn't on this floor, he's on the fourth floor.....he just got moved tonight."

"The fourth floor?"

The nurse pulled out the keyboard to her computer and typed in Nick's name. "Yup, he's in room 428."

Brian managed a slight grin, thanking the nurse as he turned to get back on the elevator. Once inside the elevator, he read the sign that listed the floor numbers and their specialities. He noted that the fourth floor had a wing for NEURO ICU and CARDIO ICU. His heart skipped a beat when he noted the wings. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to clear the bad thoughts from his head. 'Don't jump the gun......there's a good reason why he's on this floor,' Brian coached himself as the elevator stopped.

Walking at a fast pace he suddenly realized that these were two seperate wings of the hospital and he didn't know if room 428 would be in the cardio unit or the neuro unit. "Shit, why didn't I ask that nurse what wing he would be in," Brian muttered outloud. Just as he was preparing to turn and go back to ask the nurse on the eighth floor he bumped into an orderly.

"Gosh, I'm sorry," Brian said as he steadied the woman, grabbing her so she wouldn't fall over.

"My fault, I wasn't watching where I was walking.....I don't expect too many people around at this hour."

"You wouldn't happen to know wing room 428 would be in would you?"

"That room is in the neuro unit. It's an isolation room," the elderly woman replied. "Take this hall and turn left."

Brian thanked the woman and hurried off in the direction she pointed toward, all the while his mind was running through the scenerios, wondering why Nick would be in a neurology isolation unit. Pushing through the heavy double doors he encountered a busy nurses station. He knew from all the prior visits to see Nick that they wouldn't just let him pass by without identifying himself so he stopped and waited patiently for someone to acknowledge him.

A dark man dressed in teal colored scrubs looked up from a chart ."You're here to see Nick, right?"

Brian nodded.

"He's in 428 but you don't have to worry about isolation precautions tonight," the man said as he motioned to Nick's room with his pen.

Brian said thanks as he turned to walk toward the dimly lit room. It was a smaller room than the ones he had been in to visit Nick previously but then again he hadn't visited Nick when he had been laying in an isolation room. He wasn't surprised to find Nick sleeping quietly as he approached the sick bed.

His heart lept to his throat as he looked down at his young brother's pale, bloated face. There was a slight hint of blonde fuzz where his hair once was, no doubt it was trying to make a come back from the chemotherapy drugs he had been on for some time. His heart ached for Nick when Kevin told him that Nick would soon be in for more chemo. This time would be the highest levels he had ever received.

The male nurse that had pointed out Nick's room to Brian had came into the room, penlight in hand. Brian watched as the nurse busied himself with some of the IV bags that were hanging on a pole next to the bed, writing down information on a slip of paper and then sticking a syringe into a port on one of the IV lines.

"I take it you just came into town tonight?" the nurse whispered to Brian.

"Yeah........why is Nick in neuro?"

The nurse motioned with his hand to follow him out of the room. Brian quietly followed the man.

"I don't like whispering about the patient in front of the patient," the nurse said once they crossed the threshold out of the room. "Nick's in our unit because they will be starting the heavy chemo and his doctor has ordered him to be placed in a drug induced coma so neuro has to monitor him during the coma."

Brian's eyes widened in shock. "Kevin didn't tell me they were doing that."

"It will be so much easier for Nick. I guess he really has a rough time with the normal chemotherapy meds." The nurse studied Brian's expression for a moment before adding, "do you have any questions?"

"H-h...." Brian had to stop and clear his throat, he felt like he had been blindsided by the nurse's information. "How long will he be on the heavy chemo?"

"He will be on the chemo for seven days so the doctor is planning on him in the drug induced coma for eight days."

Brian paled as the information sunk in.

The nurse lightly placed a hand on Brian's forearm. "Would you like to sit down? You don't look so good."

Brian swallowed as he shook his head. "No.....no I'm fine, just a little shocked over all of this I guess."

The nurse eyed him suspeciously. "You sure?"

"Yeah...I'm fine," Brian insisted. "I'll just go back into Nick's room and sit down....I'm okay....seriously."

"Alright, but just come out if you need anything, we're just outside the door."

Brian walked slowly back into the room, sitting down softly in the chair by Nick's bed. The quiet in the room was only interrupted by the whirling noise of the IV machine and the soft snore as Nick slept. Before he realized it, Brian fell asleep in the chair, waking up by someone stroking the hair on his head.

He jerked away from the touch when he realized he had laid his head down on the bed. Sitting up, he rubbed a hand across his face.

"Mornin'," Nick croaked in a hoarse whisper.

"I'm sorry," Brian quickly apologized. "Please tell me you just woke up."

Nick laughed softly. "I wish I could but I think I've been awake ever since the nurse came in for morning vitals at six."

"Aww crap."

"Why are you here?"

"After I talked to you yesterday......I think it was yesterday.....anyway, after I talked to you, I called Kev and he spilled the beans and that's why I caught the first flight I could."

Nick frowned. "Leigh just had the baby you should be home with her!"

"I know but--"

"But I'm glad you're here," Nick smiled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Nicky."

Nick opened his arms. "C'mere and give me a hug."

At first Brian was hesitant to approach Nick's open, frail looking arms but quickly dismissed his fears and wrapped his brother into a warm embrace. He was shocked at not only how weak NicNick opened his arms. "C'mere and give me a hug!" k's hug was but also the fact that he felt fragile - skin and bones fragile. He was conscientious not to squeeze him too tight for fear he would crack a rib or worse break a bone. As he pulled from his brotherly embrace, Brian quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes with a thumb.

"Please don't cry....you'll get me all mushy too," Nick teased with a slight wink.

"I'm just so happy to see you," Brian quickly lied.

Nick grinned. "You are such a shitty liar Bri!"

Brian forced a look of shock on his face. "I seriously am happy to see you!"

"I know you are but I also know that you're afraid you're gonna break something on me when you hugged me."

"When did you get ESP?"

Nick adjusted the blankets. "I guess ever since I got this sick. You get to spend a lot of time reading people's body language I suppose..." This was the first time that Nick suddenly realized that his surroundings weren't familiar to him. "When the heck did they move me?"

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "I guess sometime last night, why?"

"Must be they took me to another isolation room," Nick decided outloud.

"Yeah something like that I guess."

A woman entered the room carrying a large IV bag in her hands. "Hi Nick, my name is Melissa, I'm your day nurse."

Nick smiled. "Hi Melissa, you must be new....I don't think I've never seen you before."

"I've been in neuro for four years so I don't think that would qualify as new," Melissa replied.

Nick's eyes narrowed. "Neuro?"

"Yep, Neuro ICU."

The nurse could tell that her patient seemed to be confused but she assumed it was because of the various IV bags she began hanging on the pole. "This is Mesna and it will be on for at least a 72 hour drip and the smaller bag is your anti nausea med which we will still hang even though you'll be in a medically induced coma---"

"I'll be in a what?" Nick squeaked.

The nurse continued to thread the IV lines into his main port line. "Dr. Andersen should be in here in a few minutes to talk to you about your case. I just saw her down the hall." Before Nick could ask the nurse another question, another nurse stood in the door.

"Mel, I need help with 433."

Melissa quickly left the room, leaving Nick sit in stunned silence.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Nick questioned.

"The nurse needed help with another patient," Brian replied.

"No.......what does she mean about a coma? What the fuck is that about?"

"Nick I know as much about this as you evidentally do...why don't we both wait until Dr. Andersen comes in to see you?" Brian didn't add anything more to the conversation when he could clearly tell that Nick was adgitated.

"I thought I would be told about everything she was doing! I can't believe that she would order something without telling me!" Nick fumed.

"Whoa...whoa.....are you sure she didn't tell you?"

"Huh?"

Brian shook his head. "I'm sorry to say but according to Kevin you seem to forget more than what you remember lately."

Nick opened his mouth to object but closed it.

"I know it's sad, but it's true...."

Nick grimaced. "Yeah I guess you're right."

"Just wait until Dr. Andersen comes in to see you."

Brian was relieved when Dr. Susan Andersen entered the room, saving him from Nick's interrogation. He immediately stood up from his seat, offering the doctor his hand to shake.

"Good morning Nickolas and Brian," Dr. Andersen said cheerfully as she took Brian's hand.

Instead of offering pleasantries back to the doctor, Nick folded his arms across his chest defiantly.

"Nickolas.....is something wrong this morning?"

"I would say so......what the heck is all this about neuro icu? Is this where they do the bone marrow thing?"

Dr. Andersen sat down softly on the edge of Nick's bed. "No....this is where you will be monitored while you receive your chemotherapy."

"Monitored? I thought they did that stuff in oncology?" Nick shot back.

"Well normally they do but since we're giving you the Cyclophosphamide and we know how you respond to normal levels of chemotherapy I felt it would be best to place you in a drug induced coma for the duration of the chemo so you wouldn't suffer from the severe bouts of nausea and vomiting I am suspecting you will encounter."

Nick pointed to the large IV bag hanging on the pole. "Isn't this the chemo stuff right here?"

Dr. Andersen looked up at the bag. "No that would be the Mesna med. That is to counter act the side effects from the Cyclophosphamide, we have normal saline to keep you hydrated and then there is Vancocin antibiotic."

Brian watched as Nick listened to the doctor, his eyes blinking several times as he digested the information. Knowing Nick, the rapid eye blinking combined with the arms folded across his chest meant only one thing.

He was about to blow! And he didn't have to wait long for it to happen.

"I want to know why you decided I needed to be in a drug induced coma!"

"Nickolas! Calm down....I'm only doing whats best for you!"

"No fucking way are you gonna do that to me!" Nick spat.

Brian's eyes grew wide at Nick's choice of words in front of the doctor and immediately raised his hands to quiet his brother down. "Nick!"

"Don't tell me to quiet down Brian. I don't want to be put in a coma!"

"So you want to be sick for the next seven days?" Dr. Andersen asked.

"It's not like it hasn't happened to me the last time I got chemo," Nick replied.

"Ah but this is very different from the other chemo treatments you've gotten.

"Cancel it!" Nick snapped.

"What? Cancel it?"

"You can't be serious Nick," Brian soothed.

"I've never been more serious...no way in hell am I gonna let someone put me in some fucking coma!"

"Nicky.....you already agreed to do the bone marrow transplant, don't back out of this now that would be so stupid."

"I agree with Brian," Dr. Andersen stated. "You didn't go through these tests for nothing."

"And Aaron too," Brian reminded.

Nick's heart dropped at the mention of Aaron's name. "Don't.....don't bring my brother into this!"

"Nick, please," Brian pleaded tearfully.

"Can you guys leave? I need to think about some stuff," Nick said quietly.

"We'll be right outside.....I need to talk things over with Dr. Andersen," Brian stated as he and the doctor made their way out of the room.

As they left the room, Dr. Andersen quietly pulled the door closed. "He is so complicated. I only want whats best for Nickolas," she sighed.

"We all do....I wish he wasn't so stubborn," Brian agreed.

"It would be so hard on Nick with this chemotherapy that I truely believe it would be in his best interest for the medicated coma."

"Do you want me to try and persuade him to change his mind?"

"I hope someone can because this is Nick's last chance at survival," Dr. Andersen said softly.

Brian paled at the words. "Kevin said it was getting bad but I never thought it was this bad."

"Anything you can say that will make Nick change his mind and realize we are working with him and not against him would help him."

"I'll do anything I can," Brian replied. He grinned as he placed a hand on the door. "Wish me luck."

"Please talk to the nurses and let them know what happens. I would like to start the chemo at ten this morning."

"I will."

"Thank you Brian."

"For what? I haven't done anything yet."

"You will, you are such a good friend to Nick."

Brian smiled and entered Nick's room. His smiled faded when he heard Nick softly sobbing. "Aww buddy...."

"I'm scared," Nick admitted.

"I know and I'm scared too....why didn't you tell the doctor?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders in reply. "Seems like she already has her mind made up."

"No she doesn't why would you say that?"

"The drug induced coma for starters..."

"Nicky she wants to do that to make it easier on you, that's all. Is that why you're scared? Because of the coma thing?"

Nick nodded. "Yes.....I'm scared that I won't wake up from it."

Brian wrapped his arms around his best friend and hugged him. "I don't think she would do something that risky to you. She knows what she's doing."

"But there is always that chance....have I ever done things right in my entire life?"

Brian thought for a moment and pulled away from the hug to look his brother in the eyes. "To be honest, no Nick, I can safely say you've never done things the easy way or the right way."

"Exactly...so this is why I'm scared."

"But you'll still do the bone marrow thing though, right? You're not scared about that."

"Worried would be the right words. Scared would be for Aaron and the pain he has to go through for me but he's already said he would have his leg cut off without anesthesia if it would save my life so I guess I can't argue with AC about the transplant."

"Is there anyway I can talk you back into the drug induced coma?"

Nick shook his head. "Never......"

"But you'll get really sick from this chemo if you do it."

"Will you be around when I go through it?"

"Of course you know I will," Brian replied.

"Then I plan on going through the crap without being snowed....I've done it a few times before, I'm sure I can do this again."

"So you'll still do the chemo?"

Nick sighed in defeat. "Yes I'll do the chemo but not the coma drugs."

Brian hugged Nick. "I will take the deal....be right back, I have to let the nurses know so the doctor can get this started."

"And get me moved back up to oncology," Nick called out as Brian hurried toward the door.

"Yup."

It was less than an hour later that Nick found himself back in the familiar settings of the oncology unit at Tampa General Hospital. This was the one thing he truely felt comfortable with. At least if he did start to feel sick he would be in familiar hands.

"Howdy Nick... I heard you like us so much you requested to be back on good old eight."

Nick felt relief wash over him as he opened his eyes to see his favorite nurse, Cyndi enter the room with an IV bag. "Yeah I love the torture more on eight than any other floor."

"Well I'm sure you'll be changing that tune in a week or so," Cyndi replied as she hung the bag on the pole.

Nick eyed the bag containing the clear fluid suspiciously. "So thats the high chemo drug Dr. Andersen has been freaking out about?"

"Yeah I guess if it was called Cyclophosphamide, then that would be the beast."

Nick continued to watch Cyndi as she threaded the line into the medivac. "Exactly how bad is this chemo drug?"

Cyndi continued to work, not taking her eyes off the line as she stuck the needle from the new med into his port. "Depends."

"I mean compared to the other chemo drugs I got in the past."

Cyndi checked her watch before answering. Brian entered the room just as she closed the cover on the medivac. "Hi Brian...how have you been?"

Brian smiled. "Pretty good."

"Cyndi don't change the subject," Nick pressed. "How bad is this med?"

"Well compared to what you got in the past, I think this one can kick your ass," she paused and looked apologetically at Brian. He nodded as if to say no offense taken. "I've had some of my patients get a little sicker on this than from the other meds but everyone is different so I don't know how you'll be."

Nick took that as a good sign. He was going to prove to Dr. Andersen that he could take anything she had to deal without a problem. 'Drug induced coma my ass,' he mentally sneered. "I'm not worried."

Cyndi raised an eyebrow looking at Nick. "Were you?"

"Not in the least," he lied.

This time Brian raised an eyebrow as he studied Nick's over confidence. Nick shot him a quick look and Brian knew that it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut.

"Okay Nick, has Dr. Andersen discussed the side effects of all of your medications and what to expect from them?"

"Other than she thinks I'm gonna have a puke fest, nope."

"Tactful choice of words there Nicky," Brian chastized.

"Thanks."

"Alright, the Mesna you need to drink lots of flitered bottled water like the one I just set up on your table. You need to drink as much during the times you are awake as much as possible. The Mesna will be your best friend for at least the next 72 hours or so. This is the med that will help calm down some of the side effects of the Cyclophosphamide which is an inflamed bladder which is really painful and can lead to hemmoragic cystis.....okay enough with the medical jargon in laymans terms worse side effect is you will get fluid retention and I mean fluid retention. You will start feeling like the Michelin man by tomorrow afternoon."

"Great," Nick muttered.

"The Cyclophosphamide side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss...."

Nick rubbed the fuzz on the top of his head. "Okay now that is gonna suck, I was just finally starting to grow hair again."

"I know it sucks Nick," Cyndi sympathized. "but I know some of my patients that had better hair grow in when it finally came back."

"I'm wondering if this was a bad idea turning down the coma," Nick wondered outloud.

"Just holler if you start feeling uncomfortable, you know the drill," Cyndi stated as she strategically placed an emisis basin on the bed stand.

Nick looked at the basin and then at Brian. "You know you don't have to stick around when I start puking."

"Nick I promised I'd stay with you and I meant it."

"Thanks.....hey how about showing me those pictures of your son before I fall asleep...I'd really like to see him."

Brian felt his shirt pocket and suddenly realized he needed to go out to his car. "I left them in my back pack. I'll run out and get them and I need to check in with Leigh and see how they're doing. You take rest while I'm gone, okay?"

Nick grinned. "Take your time, I'm not going anywhere soon."