After a few hours had passed with Dr. Simon telling him that his baby brother had suffered a stroke, Kevin once again found himself waiting for the doctor. Instead of meeting with the doctor alone to find out the results of Nick's MRI, Kevin decided it would be better to face the results with the rest of the guys. They were all anxious to find out news - good or bad on Nick's condition.

After Kevin had told the guys about Nick, no one really said anything....but then again, that was the way they had always handled things in the past. AJ was the worst; excusing himself periodically to go out for a cigarette or to make a phone call.

"Mr. Richardson?"

Kevin jerked at the sound of his name being called. He looked up at the door, finding Dr. Simon standing with a metal chart in his hands.

"Would you follow me please? I'd like to discuss the results of Nick's MRI with you."

Kevin shook his head. "No, you can come in and talk to all of us."

The older man let out a tired sigh as he made his way into the room. He took a seat next to Kevin, opening the chart.

"His MRI results show that he suffered small bleeding on his brain. It was on his Cerebellum."

"And that means what?" AJ rasped. "Layman terms."

Kevin shot a disapproving look toward the tattooed rebel.

"I'm sorry doctor," Howie apologized.

"Please continue," Brian added.

"I believe that the blood vessel weakened from when hit his head. No doubt the trauma and bruising from the blow took a few days for the bleeding to start so this, in fact, was a new bleed."

"So that's good?" Kevin asked.

Dr. Simon nodded his head slightly in agreement. "It could be."

"Will he be okay then?" AJ wondered outloud. It was the question the rest of the men were afraid to ask.

"It all depends on Nick," the doctor replied.

"Earlier you said it was a stroke," Kevin said. "What I've heard about strokes is that people are left with some type of problems---"

"Disabilities?" Dr. Simon spoke Kevin's fear outloud.

Kevin swallowed nervously. "Yeah."

"The area that bled was in the back of his head," Dr. Simon said while holding his palm toward the area that was affected. "This area controls balance, speech, vision, decision making, perception and orientation to things around self...."

"So you're saying that Nick has all of this wrong with him?" AJ rasped as tears filled his eyes.

"Absolutely not!" Dr. Simon replied. "These are things that could be effected with Nick. We won't know until he is awake and can be properly acessed."

"Awake?" the four men said in unison.

"He had to have sedation for the MRI.....clausterphobia."

Brian nodded his understanding. He knew all too well how Nick was scared to death of being kept in small spaces. They had played a game of hide and seek back when Nick was a young teenager. The game took a turn for the worse when they discovered Nick had chose to hide in a small, dark room. Not being familiar with the backstage of a concert venue, Nick evidently had mistaken it for a small office and when he closed the door he had bumped the lock on the knob. When he realized his mistake, he panicked and was hyperventilating when Kevin heard the young man's frantic pounding on the locked door.

"I didn't know the kid was clausterphobic," AJ said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah....remember back that one time when he had that panick attack at that venue a few years ago?" Brian reminded.

The older man stood up. "Are there any questions?" He paused for a moment, looking at the faces of each of the men sitting in front of him. He realized they had questions - it was the same with any family that had been told their loved one had suffered a stroke. This was not his arena to discuss. He was always the one that delivered the initial diagnosis. "His case has been turned over to Dr. Ethan Kingsford, head of our neurology department."

"Why aren't you following through?" AJ questioned.

"I'm the Chief of staff for the emergency department. Nick will be in good hands with our neurologist."

Howie cleared his throat. "Can we see Nick?"

"I don't see why you couldn't," Dr. Simon said before glancing down at the chart. "He's on the fourth floor, room 431."

Kevin offered his hand to the doctor. "Thank you, Dr. Simon."

The four men entered the Neurology Unit, uncertain of how they would find Nick. Even the word neurology had Kevin a little bit unnerved. This meant that Nick's health was serious.

That, Kevin was sure of.

Upon entering Nick's room, they found a nurse standing by the bedside, attending to one of several IV bags that hung on a pole next to the bed. The woman eyed the four men warily and then turned her attention back to the IV line.

"He should be waking up soon," she said softly as she moved over toward the sink, disposing a syringe in the red sharps container on the wall.

"Are you planning on calling his parents and letting them know what's going on?" Brian quietly asked his cousin as he stared at all the equipment at the head of the bed.

Kevin ran a hand across his face in a tired gesture. "I know I have to but I really don't need all the drama right now."

"Well you know you have to let them know," Howie pressed.

"As if they would even bother to come down here," AJ scowled.

"You don't know....they may suprise you," Brian stated.

"Only if a hundred bucks was waved in front of them," the rebel spat.

"Don't talk like that," Howie admonished.

AJ folded his arms across his chest. "Do you seriously think those people give a rats ass about their kids? I've seen more love showered on their dogs than their kids for chrissake."

"You realize we're in Nicky's room and he may possibly hear what you're saying," Brian pointed out.

"I'm sure if he is listening, he is probably agreeing," AJ defended.

I'm not sure if it was the guys yelling or just that I had no clue as to where I was, that I woke up with the worst headache of my life.

"Jay tone it down a little," I mumbled as I try to put a hand over my eyes.

"He's awake!" Brian cried out.

Not a good thing for someone that has a migraine!

"Turn the lights off and leave me alone," I grunted.

Okay.....no one seems to want to turn the lights off for some reason. I managed to open my eyes to see why AJ and Brian were talking when I told them to shut up. As soon as I opened my eyes I had wished I had kept them closed. I moaned from the pain.

"Are you hurting Nicky? Do you want me to get your nurse?"

Nurse??

"Nurse?" I vocalized my confusion.

"Do you know where you are Nick?" Kevin asked me in that slow, drawn out Southern drawl.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're back home," Brian filled me in. "Well, not really home....but we made it back to the states."

"Kevin asked Nick if he knows where he is dumbass," AJ growled at Brian.

"I don't want to play 20 questions," I mumbled. I tried to roll over to physically tell them to leave me alone. I had a migraine for crying out loud!

It wasn't until I tried to roll over did I realize that I could possibly be in trouble.

I couldn't roll over!

"Where am I?" I asked, noticing that my voice wasn't as loud as I wanted it to be.

"You're at the University of Miami hospital," Kevin replied. "You had a stroke."

Did he just say I had a stroke? Isn't that the thing that old people have? Maybe I didn't hear him right.

"Huh?"

"I said you're at the University of Miami hospital," Kevin repeated slowly.

I squinted to look up at Kevin. "The other thing."

"You had a stroke?"

When those words came out of Kevin's mouth it hit me like a slap in the face.

You had a stroke.

"Am I gonna be okay?" I whimpered, ignoring the tears that started to run down my face.

It was then that I remembered Nellie Struder. She was that sweet little old lady that lived in the nursing home that my parents worked at. There were some days that they took me down there to help out. Nellie was a fiesty woman that had a stroke and it left her right side paralyzed and in a wheelchair.

She had a stroke too!

"I-I can still walk, right?"

"What did you say Nicky?"

"I-I'm not gonna be like Nellie am I?"

"Who is Nellie?"

I felt scared and alone all of a sudden. My head hurt and I couldn't roll over.

"Where's my mom?"

"Kevin is going to call your parents in a few minutes," Howie said to me.

That didn't help. I wanted her here now!

"I'll let them know you want them here when I call them," Kevin said as he patted me on the shoulder.

"I want her now," I moaned.

God, it hurts so bad.....every breath I take, everytime I lick my lips. This was the worst headache I've ever had! I could feel the tears pour down my face and I didn't care that I was crying in front of the guys. I wanted my mom. She would take care of me.

"Nick, I'm going to give you something for the pain."

"Mom?"

"I'm Bethany, your nurse. You'll feel a cool rush in your arm in a moment."

True to her words I felt something cold run up my arm and the next thing I knew was complete and total darkness and peace.