AJ stared out the window of the taxi toward the restaurant that was practically out in the middle of nowhere as they entered the parking lot. “Why do I have a feeling that this isn’t gonna be good?” he thought to himself in a quiet whisper.

Brian lightly hit his band brother on the shoulder while Howie leaned forward to give AJ warning glare.

“I didn’t mean for anyone to hear me,” AJ defended.

Kevin turned to look at the rebel from the front seat. “What?”

AJ pasted a phony smile on his face. “Nothing bro.”

“Well hopefully Bob’s here already,” Kevin announced as he handed the fare to the driver.

“Would you like me to wait?” the cabbie asked.

“Nah, I’d rather walk than pay out the ass while you keep your meter runing while we’re in here,” AJ spat back. “But thanks for the offer,” he quickly added when he felt Brian’s glare bore into the back of his head as he was exiting the car.

“Bone, please let Kevin do the talking while we’re in here,” Brian and Howie begged as they walked behind Kevin into the restaurant.

Kevin turned and looked at the others. “No….I really would like everyone’s input in this decision.”

“Now I know this definitely isn’t gonna be good,” AJ quietly muttered.

“Hey Nick…..I hope you got some rest while I was gone!”

I narrowed my eyes at the guy that was standing at the foot of my bed wearing navy blue hospital scrubs. It wasn’t until I saw his name tag and the department he was from that I put two and two together.

“I thought you’d be done torturing me until later on today,” I groaned.

“I did and it’s been roughly three hours since I last saw you.”

THREE HOURS?!?

“You just left like two minutes ago,” I protested.

“No Nick, it was almost three hours ago.”

“So you’re telling me I have been sleeping for three hours?”

“Your body needed the rest, it’s not a bad thing. So are you ready to work on your speech again?”

I glared at the guy. “There’s nothing wrong with the way I talk.”

“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with the way you talk.”

“Yeah you did, you said lets work on my speech.”

Trey shook his head as he smiled. “Your friends did say that you love to argue and they weren’t kidding.” He sat down in the chair that was next to the hospital bed. “Speech is tied in with your memory and we have to work on your memory.”

“My memory is fine.”

Trey leaned forward in his seat. “Is it?” he challenged.

“Yeah, it is!”

“Okay…..do you know where you are?”

I stared at Trey for a moment. Was this guy that dumb? This was an easy question.

“I’m in a hospital, dumbass.”

“Yeah, but where?”

“Duh….in a bed.” How lame is this guy?

Trey smirked at me. Smirked? What the hell……

“Where is this hospital….country, city….state…..”

I thought for a minute. I’ll admit he did have me there…..

“I dunno,” I sighed. “Places seem to run together after a while,” I admitted.

“Nick, I’m not trying to stump you…I want to work with you and help you get better. Do you remember what happened to you?”

“Car accident?”

“That was more of a question than an answer…..okay lets get started working with your memory again…..”

Tucked away in the back of the nearly empty restaurant sat Bob Carter, alone as he had promised Kevin. The older Carter flashed a nervous grin to the men as they approached the booth.

“I just ordered another drink,” he said as he gestured to his nearly finished mixed drink.

Kevin warily eyed the honey colored mixture in the glass. “Hope you didn’t have to wait long.”

AJ knew exactly where Kevin was heading as he clued in to the older man’s field of vision. Kevin was hoping that Bob would be lucid.

“For you guys, nah…..I didn’t wait too long,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “I’ve been here for about an hour but that was only by choice. I can’t stand to be with Jane longer than I have to in the mood that bitch is in.”

Fishing a cigarette out of his front pocket, AJ chuckled as he totally related to what Bob Carter was implying.

“Does Jane know that we were meeting you?” Howie asked.

The older man tossed the remainder of his drink back as the waitress approached the table. “Nope. I told her that I was going out for some air. Hey honey, these boys probably want to order too.”

Brian winced when Bob used causal terms with a complete stranger. To him that was rude and embarrassing. He was beginning to see why Nick would be embarrassed when he was out in public with his father when he was younger.

“C’mon fellas, I’m sure Bethia doesn’t have all day…..order something or I’ll order for you!”

After a few moments of no one saying a word, Bob Carter sighed. “Get me a pitcher of beer and some glasses.”

“What kind?”

“Something wet and cold dear,” he winked. “So Boner do you have any smokes I can bum from you?”

“It’s Bone,” AJ growled as he tossed a smoke toward the older Carter.

“Yeah, I knew that.”

Kevin only shook his head and then leaned forward in the booth. “So did you get a chance to think about what we were talking about back in the hospital?”

Bob lit the cigarette as he listened to the older Kentuckian. “How much Pearlman has screwed you over?”

“Not just me but all of us, your son included.”

“That man has taken us for a ride that I doubt will ever end as long as he is in charge,” Howie added.

“Nick could have died from the way Lou has treated him,” Brian stated, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Now that is what I have been wondering about….I mean when I did finally talk to you Kevin, you said that Nick was staying in Miami—“

“I had called you when we were in London, left several messages with Jane,” Kevin interrupted.

“That was the first I had heard Nick was this bad off was when you were throwing him on a plane to come home to see his family doctor,” Bob defended. “That damn Jane never lets me in on what’s going on with the boys.”

“That’s beside the point,” Brian interrupted the older man’s thoughts. “We’re here now and we should be talking about what is going on now not last week.”

“Since Nick is a minor, we need your consent to work with us on getting papers drawn up from the attorneys in getting our contract voided with Pearlman,” Kevin added.

“I’m screwed since we have to involve Jane with this,” Bob grumbled. “She is legally on his contracts with me.”

Kevin dragged a hand over his face in a tired gesture. “There has to be some way around this. I know that she won’t budge an inch and Nick is in no shape to fight for himself unless he filed for emancipation.”

Howie snapped his fingers. “That would have to be the only way. We’ll just have to set up a meeting with the attorneys and get something set in motion, Bob we would need your attorney to set up a time with ours.”

“So this could be done without involving Jane?” Bob wondered.

“It’s possible, but we would have to get with the attorneys,” Kevin answered.

Bob Carter pulled his cell phone from his waistband. “Would tomorrow be too soon?”

Understanding the older man’s thoughts, Kevin Richardson flipped open his cell as he shook his head. “The sooner the better.”