Okay……good move Carter. You not only kicked your parents out of the room, but Kevin! He would be the one that would help me get out of this place…..if I could get up, I would walk out of here in a heartbeat.

“Hi sweetheart.”

Sweetheart? Who the hell is calling me sweetheart? I opened my eyes to see a nurse walking up to me.

“Its time for your meds,” she announced to me in a cheerful voice.

I eyed the old woman with suspicion. When I saw the needle in her hand, I immediately felt my heart go into my throat.

I hate needles!

“Um…....lets skip the meds, okay?”

“Hon, you won’t get better if you don’t get the medication your doctor prescribes for you.”

“Yeah but I really don’t like getting shots,” I admitted.

”Awww, c’mon you seem to be a tough guy.”

Okay – Yeah, I know I’m tough, but I seriously hate needles and I don’t feel like getting stabbed right now!

“Yeah I’m tough but I really don’t want to get a shot.”

She started laughing….she thought this was funny!???

“Nick, I'll be giving this to your in your IV line. No pain, see?” She picked up the clear tube that was connected to my hand.

When the heck did they put that thing in my hand??

“Hey…when did I get that?”

“When you came into the emergency room.”

Okay, now my mind was completely blank…I don’t remember being in an emergency room.

“I was in the emergency room?”

Her face got really serious when she looked at me.

“Nick, you've got a head injury and its kinda hard for you to remember things right now, that is why you need to be here and this is why you need this medication.”

Before I could object, she swabbed the IV line with rubbing alcohol and suddenly, I felt my arm start to burn as the medication seeped into my vein.

Normally a private and reserved man, Kevin Richardson didn’t wait until he cooled down before he spoke to Jane Carter; instead, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the vacant waiting room.

“You realize that your son is in serious condition because you chose to ignore the situation from the very beginning.”

“How dare you speak to me like that!”

“Did you even hear what I just said to you? Nick is in serious condition because you only heard what you wanted!”

“Don’t you dare try to place blame on me!”

“Pearlman called you and told you—“

“That he had the situation under control and not to worry,” Jane interrupted.

Kevin shook his head. “No, Pearlman called you and said that Nick got rushed by fans and then shoved to the ground and hit his head and got knocked out before the concert.”

Jane folded her arms across her chest. “Lou said he had the situation under control. Besides if he was that bad off, I'm sure he would have told me.”

“Don’t you think you should have been concerned when he said Nick was knocked unconscious?”

“I trust Lou Pearlman.”

Kevin dragged a hand across the left side of his face as he sighed in exasperation.

“I thought we should have asked more about it Jane,” Bob Carter quietly offered his opinion as he stood beside his wife.

“You always jump in at the last second to make yourself sound better, don’t you? If you can recall, you agreed with me that if Nick was in a bad way, Lou would let us know. He’s our son’s manager and we trust him,” Jane hissed.

“Well because of your trust, your son is laying in a hospital bed in ICU because Pearlman failed to get him proper medical care.”

“You were with him, if he was that bad off, you could have taken him to get cared for,” Jane spat.

“Lets not bicker about who should have taken care of Nick, lets just concentrate on helping Nicky get better,” Bob suggested.

Kevin let out a sarcastic chuckle, shaking his head negatively. “Just brush the issue under the rug?”

“No, I wasn’t suggesting that, I’m just saying that we should worry more about Nick right now and not about the past. What’s done is done, that’s all I’m trying to say.”

Looking up at the tiled ceiling, Kevin sighed. He looked back down at both of the Carter’s faces, drawing a breath in as he collected his thoughts. “The point of all of this is that we need to get with my attorney and draw up papers to get everyone out of this asinine contract with Pearlman. What happened to Nick in Spain is proof that the man doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. You should be able to see that by the amount of money Nick has gotten.”

“What Nicky makes isn’t any of your business,” Jane sniffed.

“No, I think Kevin is right,” Bob said as he gestured toward the tall Kentuckian. “We need to get with the others and discuss this.”

Kevin saw Brian walking down the hall toward Nick’s room. “We’ll talk about this later. You’ve got my cell, call me when you get settled into your hotel room.”

“Thanks Kevin for taking care of our son,” Bob Carter said as he extended his hand out to the older band member.

Kevin accepted it and reciprocated with a firm handshake. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Can you plant your ass for two seconds?” AJ rasped as he watched Kevin pace the hotel room.

Brian shot a warning glare toward the rebel. AJ ignored the look.

“You’re gonna wear a hole in the fucking carpet. What the hell is your deal man?”

Stopping, Kevin drew a breath in, paused as if to start speaking and then opened the mini fridge, pulling out a beer. The rest of the men assembled exchanged worried glances.

“You realize that’s mine,” AJ grumbled.

“I don’t have any idea how you got it in the first place!” Kevin spat as he pulled the tab on the can.

The tattooed rebel grinned as he laid back onto the bed. “I have my ways.”

“Okay, you haven’t said one word since you left Bob and Jane Carter,” Howie said quietly. “Whatever happened obviously has you worked up. Maybe if you talked about it to us, it may help.”

At first, Kevin sat down at the foot of AJ’s bed, drinking the beer.

“C’mon Kev, talk to us, maybe we can help,” Brian coaxed.

“Is it about Nick?” AJ asked, not wanting the answer if it was.

Kevin sighed. “Sort of.”

This response had AJ sit up and Brian groan.

Howie gasped. “W-what’s wrong now? I thought he was stable.”

Kevin hung his head. “No, its not about Nick’s health, it’s about how thick headed Jane Carter is.”

AJ shook his head. “Is that all? I thought it was something serious the way you’ve been acting. She just needs a good fucking and she should be fine.”

Brian’s face turned red at the comment. “You think sex is the answer to everything?”

“Well think about it, that woman is such a cold bitch she probably has a time table set for when the old man can touch her.”

“Inappropriate,” Howie scolded.

“Yeah I bet if she got it every day she’d be a happier person. Hell she don’t need Bob she could get one of those Swedish things---“

”SHUT UP!”

AJ jumped when the older man yelled at him, instead of listening to the advice and being one to always get the last word in, he quickly added with a shrug of his shoulders, “I was just saying…”

Instead of letting AJ’s defiance go, Kevin stormed over to where the young rebel sat, slamming the can of beer onto the nightstand and grabbed AJ by his tee shirt and pulled him off the bed, punching him in the stomach.

”Kevin! Let go of him!” Brian cried as he ran over to pull his cousin away from AJ.

Clutching his stomach, AJ stared up at Kevin, coughing. “What the fuck was that for?”

As AJ stared at Kevin Richardson’s angry face waiting for the answer, he saw something he had rarely seen in the older man’s eyes; anger, fear and frustration. The last was tears.

“I’m sorry,” Kevin whispered as he quickly walked into the bathroom, leaving the trio stunned and mystified as to what brought on his mood.