I woke up and found myself in a hospital bed.....wait a minute, hospital? What the heck happened? Why was I laying in a hospital?

"Hey Nick, how are you feeling?"

I stared at Kevin for a moment before I answered his question. I did a quiet inventory. As far as I could tell I didn't feel like I had been banged up but I had one hell of a headache. They don't put you in the hospital for headaches, right?

"Fine I guess?"

Kevin raised one of those caterpillars for an eyebrow he had - God DO NOT ever tell him that - I made the mistake of joking around and saying that to him once and I swear my life pretty much was gonna cease to end by the time he got done lecturing to me about manners and tact.

"Well I have a headache," I admitted.

He stared at me for a moment before he replied. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Then why did you ask?"

O-o-okay... Judging by the look on the old man's face, I tapped a raw nerve because he sat there and did the running his hand through his hair thing.

"I asked you Nick because I've been worried about you."

"Why? I mean it's just a headache." I figured it was a safe assumption. Why else would I be in the hospital?

"A headache Nick? Do you know where you are?"

I sighed. "That’s a dumb question."

Kevin shook his head. "Let me elaborate, I realize you know you're in the hospital...."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Kaos....I knew you were awake, I can hear your mouth running from down by the nurse's station," AJ announced when he entered the room with Howie and Brian.

Whew....thank God the guys came back to save me from Kevin.

Brian grabbed the chair from the corner of the room and carried it over and sat beside my bed. "Still no Bob and Jane?"

"For a headache? Why would my parents come all this way for a headache?"

"Nick you're not here for a headache," Howie answered my question, concern was clear in his eyes.

"We just talked about this before you got your shot a few hours ago.....you don't know why you're here, do you?"

"Yes I do Bri...."

"I was trying to see if Nick knew why he was here before you guys came back," Kevin said when I didn't answer Brian's question as quickly as he wanted.

"This is so stupid," I mumbled.

"Lift up your index finger on your right hand," Kevin asked in a soft-but-serious voice.

Hold up my finger?

“Excuse me?”

“Hold up any finger on your right hand.”

“I said excuse me because that is like one of the dumbest things I’ve heard you ask.” It was after I said that, Kevin’s request hit me. “I can’t…shit I can’t….” Just like that, it all came back to me why I was laying in the hospital in the first place. I put my left hand over my face to hide the tears.

Kevin wrapped his arms around me as he whispered, “We’re going to take care of you.”

I didn’t want to be taken care of! I wanted to be okay!

“Nicky….my baby!”

Kevin pulled away when my Mom’s voice cut into the room.

“Oh Nicky baby…”

My mom was walking into the room; my dad directly behind her. Both of them looked worried. Instead of feeling relieved to see them, I felt worse and the tears started all over again. My mom was quick to wrap her arms around me and I closed my eyes, feeling safe and secure.

“Oh Nick, your dad and I have been so worried.”

I immediately felt bad about having my parents worry about me.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized into my mom’s shoulder.

My mom pulled away from me. “You’re sorry? Why are you apologizing to us?”

I wiped the tears off my face with my left hand. “I just don’t like to have you guys worry…I mean I do that enough as it is when I’m gone from home I guess.”

“We worry about all you kids,” my dad corrected me.

“I’m going out for a smoke,” AJ announced with a disgusted look on his face.

“I’ll join you,” Brian said.

This totally had me confused. Since when did Brian start smoking? Brian had to have seen the look on my face because he suddenly offered an explanation. “I’m joining AJ to give you and your folks some privacy.”

Yeah, it was always about family and privacy with Brian. Kevin and Howie on the other hand, didn’t seem to want to move. Brian smacked Howie on the arm and gave him the look setting D into motion.

“I’ll join you.”

Mom watched my three friends leave the room before she looked back at me. “Do all of your friends smoke Nicky?”

“No.”

“They probably thought the room was too crowded,” Kevin added with a sigh.

“Why didn’t you go with them, then?”

There it was….I could see the look on my mother’s face. She and Kevin already had a love/hate history established and neither one hid the fact of their dislikes to me from probably the first month after I started touring with the guys. The amazing part of this was that the jabs were coming quicker and quicker each time Kevin and my mom met each other.

“Because I was expecting Nick’s doctor to be coming back in for his evening rounds and I wanted to be here when he came by.”

“I don’t think that would be necessary Kevin,” my mom said to him in her sweetest voice.

“I doubt that would be a problem Jane,” my dad scowled.

“Keep your nose out of this, Robert.”

God here we go again…..I always hoped that when I was away working that my parents found some way to be civil to each other and possibly get along but all hopes for that flew out the window when I heard my mother’s icy reply back to my dad with his given name.

“Don’t tell me to stay out of this, he’s my son too.”

“I’m not disputing that, you just need to butt out of this!”

“If you people want to argue, do it someplace else and not in front of your kid, especially while he is laying in a goddamn hospital.”

Great, not only did Kevin talk down to my parents, he swore at them. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone and take the fight someplace else.

“Can you guys just go?”

There I said it.

“Nick’s right, maybe you and Jane should just go book a hotel room and iron things out before you come back,” Kevin said.

“I want all of you guys to go.”

I know I musta hurt my mom’s feelings but I wished for a second I coulda taken back what I said because I know I hurt Kevin’s feelings and now I felt like shit for doing that. My mom would live, I’ve hurt her more than a few times but the look on Kevin’s face made me regret having balls for once and asking him to leave. I needed to stay strong though.

Kevin threw me a condescending look. “Are you sure?”

Now I felt scared. He wasn’t hurt, he was mad - straight up pissed! I could tell by that look he had on his face. Kevin Richardson had a face like an open book. I knew when he was angry and pissed was putting it mildly.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah I’m sure.”

He balled his hands into fists before he answered. No doubt he was thinking about punching me in the face. I think he was the reincarnation of my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Swain. I swear that woman hated me for breathing! She would look at me like I was an inconvenience for being in her classroom and let me tell you, it was me that was inconvenienced, not that woman…..

“Nick, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you,” I lied defiantly.

“Okay then, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning,” Kevin said, quickly adding, “Call me if you want to talk.”

After they left my room I suddenly started to feel like a really bad person. I had been nothing but an asshole to my parents and Kevin. I wished I could take back asking them to leave. Instead, I would have time to lay here and think about what I said.