Nick had to leave Brian for a few days while the group had to kick off the beginning of a welcome back tour in Orlando. He hired a male home health nurse to look after Brian. He would be returning home in a few days and felt that his choice was a good one
"There you go, Littrell, I knew you'd want to see this, all your friends onstage," Mark, the male nurse stated as he positioned the wheel chair directly in front of the television screen.
Brian knew that Nick had left explicit instructions that he was not to watch the live televised concert for the Backstreet Boys and Mark went ahead and put him in front of the television set knowing full well that he would not be able to look away. Brian sat, staring at the screen, watching them onstage, feeling hurt.
Mark laughed sarcastically. "Bet you never dreamed you'd be in this predicament three months ago, eh, Littrell?"
Mark left the room and came back in with a box of pizza and a 2liter of Coke. Sitting down in view of Brian, he started to eat his meal. "Bet you haven't had something good like this to eat in weeks," Mark commented, mouth full of pizza.
Brian could only stare back at him. Mark had not fed him since he was left in charge seven hours ago. Brian was starving and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
"Oh, hey, I just realized I forgot to give you your meds today," Mark slapped himself lightly on the side of the head, pretending to be concerned by his lack of care. "Oh well, it would only serve to make you get well and be more comfortable, no big deal I suppose, right, Littrell?" Mark paused for Brian to answer. He laughed when there wasn't any response. "Yeah, I thought so."
Mark got up and started turning lights off. "God, I feel pretty damn tired, watching you makes me tired. I'm going to bed, don't stay up too late," Mark laughed as he turned the TV and the lights out. Brian sat in the livingroom, still strapped in his chair, in silence.
Brian awoke in the morning in the same place he was left at the night before. He heard Mark in the kitchen rummaging through the cupboards. "God you'd think for someone being a celeb that these cupboards would hold better food!"
Mark walked out into the living room eating a bowl of cereal. "Hey, I see you're up all ready!" Mark laughed. He stood there for a moment sizing up Brian. "I suppose since your little backdoor buddy will be showing up in about four hours that I should clean you up. You are starting to smell," he stated with disgusted tone in his voice.
Brian just stared ahead. He knew he could turn his head again since he had missed a day and a half worth of medications, but didn't want to let on with Mark for fear he would drug him up.
Mark left the room and returned with a basin of water, shaving cream and razors. "I prefer electric razor on my face, but hell, you ain't going nowhere and I need the practice."
Mark roughly started to shave Brian's face, nicking him several times and laughing as he went along. Mercifully, Mark was interrupted when the phone rang.
"Carter's. Yeah, oh yeah he's doing okay. Not a problem I will see you then." Mark hung the phone up and sighed loudly.
Returning to Brian, he wiped the shaving cream off his face roughly. "That was your little gay friend. He's not coming home for another four hours. You are really a fucking inconvenience, Littrell. I guess we should wash you up so I got that out of the way."
Startled, Brian heard water running in the bathroom. What is he doing? Nick never runs the shower, he just uses a basin of water
Brian's worse fears were confirmed when Mark came back into the room and jerked his wheel chair out of the room into the bathroom.
Mark roughly stripped the clothing off of Brian and then tossed him into the scalding hot water. Brian wanted to cry out in pain from the water hitting his skin, but could only manage to blink away the tears.
The nurse laughed as he held the shower head down on Brian's face. He seemed amused as Brian gasped for air, sputtering, trying to avoid the water beating on his face.
Mark purposely squirted a heavy amount of liquid soap on Brian's body, hitting his face with it. Finally, after what seemed forever to Brian, Mark got tired of the game he was playing and pulled his body roughly out of the tub and partially toweled him dry.
The clothing Mark dressed Brian in was tight and restrictive. Brian couldn't protest his discomfort.
"There you go, Littrell, bet you feel much better now," Mark sneered as he shoved him back into the wheel chair.
Mark pushed Brian into the bedroom. Stomping his foot on the pedals of the wheel chair, he forced it to spring Brian forward and flung him towards him. Mark caught him before he fell to the ground and threw him roughly onto the bed.
"There you go, Littrell. You won't be a thorn in my side for the rest of the afternoon. Oh and by the way, don't mention me missing your meds today, it will be our little secret. I see they're sedatives, thats pretty good shit too," Mark laughed.
Brian was laying in an ackward positon on the bed. Mark didn't bother straightening his body like Nick lovingly did. Brian ached for Nick to return to take him out of this hell.
"Have a fun day, Littrell," Mark sneered as he turned away and closed the bedroom door behind him.
Brian was jolted awake when he heard the bedroom door bang open. Instead of seeing Nick enter the room, he saw Mark, who appeared to be staggering.
"Wow Littrell, what the hell kind of meds did they give you? This is good shit," Mark's speech was slow and calculated. He was holding a vial of the medication in his hand. One vial dropped and fell to the floor, rolling underneath the bed.
Oh my god, he took two doses! Brian thought to himself as he watched Mark hang on the door, swaying back and forth, his eyelids obviously getting heavier.
Without saying another word, Mark dropped to the floor. Brian could do nothing for him but lay in his bed and pray that Nick would be returning soon.
"Honey, I'm home!" Nick laughed as he entered the kitchen door through the garage. He tossed his overnight bag down onto the floor and scooped up the mail that was laying on the counter. He suddenly noticed the quietness in the house and felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle.
"Mark? Brian? Anyone?" Nick set the mail down and started out for the bedroom, hoping to find Brian asleep in his bed.
Nick pushed up against the bedroom door and was shocked to discover that there was some resistance at his attempts at opening the door. He pushed it harder and managed to produce an opening large enough for him to squeeze through
"What the heck is going on in here---" Nick's voice dropped off when he saw a body laying on the floor. "Oh my god, Brian?"
Nick knelt down next to the body and discovered it was Mark, the male nurse. He immediately could see that Mark was acting the way Brian has been. He looked up and saw Brian laying across his bed, uncovered and his body in an ackward position.
"Brian!" Nick rushed over towards the bed and was relieved to see Brian looking at him. Nick immediately set about straightening Brian into a more comfortable position.
"What the hell happened here?" Nick commented as he covered Brian up.
"m-m-m-m-m-m," Brian managed to make a noise. It wasn't what he had planned on saying, but it was pretty damn close, he thought.
Nick's head jerked back up looking at Brian's face.
"Brian? Take it slow, okay, try it again," Nick could barely contain the excitement of hearing Brian try to speak.
"m-m-m-m-m," Brian started out again. Distressed, he stopped and shook his head no. God, he wanted to tell Nick that Mark stole his meds and took them and that was why he was laying on the floor.
Nick picked up the phone on the nightstand and dialed 9-1-1. He reported that there had been an accident and an ambulance was needed immediately.
Nick patted Brian on the shoulder. Looking at his face, Nick could see that he had not been cared for in his absence. His face was scratched up from the rough shaving Mark forced upon him and his hair was matted, greasy looking.
"He didn't take care of you, did he?" Nick asked quietly.
Brian's eyes filled with tears. He slowly shook his head no.
"I'm sorry Brian," Nick sadly replied. "I'm so, so, sorry."
Nick had a difficult time trying to fill in the gaps for the ambulance personnel when they came to take Mark away to the hospital. He held out the empty vials of medications prescribed for Brian that Mark had possibly injected into himself.
The paramedic thanked Nick for his help and he and the police office advised Nick that someone would possibly be contacting him again in a few days.
Nick once again turned his thoughts back on Brian. Grabbing five pillows, Nick returned to the bedroom to prop Brian up better, into a slight sitting position.
There appeared to be a smile on Brian's face, it was slight, but nonetheless, it was a smile.
"Are you feeling better? I see you're smiling!" Nick commented happily.
Brian managed to nod "yes."
"Okay, that's good to hear, buddy. Let me get you started back on the schedule with your meds and then we can get you fed and cleaned up, okay?" Nick turned and left the room to get the medications before Brian had a chance to try and vocalize his disagreement.
Do something, dammit! You have to stop this from happening! Tell him no, it's just a simple word....no! Come on, Brian, you can do it! Brian was coaching himself into trying to tell Nick not to give him the medication.
Nick returned into the room, latex gloves on, vial of the med in one hand, syringe in the other. "I feel like George Clooney!" Nick laughed.
Brian tried to form the words in his mouth, he was shaking his head no over and over but Nick seemed to be too preoccupied with clensing the area where he was to stick the needle. Just as Nick placed the barrel of the syringe next to Brian's skin, it happened.
"NO."
The needle was pulled back. Nick's head jerked up, his eyes met Brian's deep, clear blue eyes.
Brian licked his lips. "NO."
"No? You don't like the shots?" Nick asked.
Brian shook his head "no." God, I have to get this through to Nick, these shots are making me worse, not better! "NO."
After setting the vial and the syringe down on the nightstand, Nick removed the latex gloves.
"No what? No you don't want the med?" Nick asked, desperately trying to figure out what Brian was trying to communicate.
Brian sighed a heavy sigh of relief. My God, Carter finally figured it out! Brian shook his head "yes" vigorously. "NO."
"I guess if you are refusing the meds, I have no choice but to honor your request. Brian, are you up to eating something a little more solid this morning, I mean, since you're talking a little bit and swallowing, I could make you some scrambled eggs, how does that sound?" Nick asked as he scooped the medication and the syringe off of the nightstand.
Brian wanted to shout out "LIKE HEAVEN" but was only able to shake his head "yes." He didn't seem to care that Nick would be cooking it, meaning there would be an occasional stray eggshell here and there, god, anything but liquid protein drinks would taste good to him.
"Okay then, I'll start cooking and after that, I will get you cleaned up, I'm sure he didn't do anything for you when I was gone," Nick turned and left the bedroom, but before he left, he turned the television set on and placed the remote control in Brian's hand, just in case he could try to work the buttons.
"Be back in a few," Nick smiled.
Brian grinned slightly back at his best friend. He was happy to have Nick home!
Brian and Nick sat together on the back balcony, looking down at the man-made pond, watching the ducks swimming.
Brian was still limited to his communications to just yes and no answers and nodding his head, but he was slowly coming around. Nick was happy with his progress, but still hadn't associated the medications being stopped with Brian's improvement.
Setting down the Orlando Sentinal, Nick glanced over at Brian, sitting in his wheel chair. "So what do you think we should do today?"
Brian looked at Nick. There were a million and one things he would love to do. Before he could answer, the doorbell chimed.
"Hold that thought, be right back," Nick excused himself to answer the door.
I would just love to go out for a ride in the car, just to get out of this stupid chair and feel free, but I don't know how to tell Nick that, Brian thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when Nick appeared back out on the balcony, his face drained of color. He was followed by two uniformed Florida State Troopers.
Brian's heart sank. He immediately sensed that something terrible had happened. Nick didn't utter a word just reached for the cordless phone and punched in a telephone number.
Nick's voice was tense when he spoke. "Kev, this is Nick. I need you to come out to my house right now. I don't have time to explain."
Nick clicked the phone off and set it back down on the table.
Brian looked up at Nick, his eyebrows furrowed. Something had happened to someone, why wasn't Nick telling him what had happened? Was it Howie or AJ, it wasn't Kevin because Nick called him. Then Brian thought about Nick's own family. Could something have happened to Aaron or to one of his sisters? Brian searched Nick's face for some type of clue, but there were none.
Then he heard it.
"Mr. Carter, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law..." The officer spoke as he turned Nick away from him, clicking handcuffs on his wrists as he placed them behind his back.
They're reading Nick his rights! He's getting arrested?
Kevin burst through the door, running through Nick's living room. "NICK! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"Out here," Nick answered, his voice sounding filled with worry.
Kevin stopped short when he saw Nick standing on the balcony, his hands handcuffed behind his back.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kevin asked in a semi-calm voice.
"Mr. Carter is being taken into custody," the tall dark haired trooper replied matter-of-factly.
"I can see that, but why?" Kevin asked, glancing over quickly at Brian to make sure he was okay.
"We have reason to believe he has been tampering with medications that were being given to Mr. Littrell. He is being arrested for murder," again the officer carried a business tone in his voice.
Before Kevin could ask another question, the officer guided Nick towards the french doors to lead him out to the squad car.
"But that's insane, where the hell did you dream that idea up from? And Brian is alive!" Kevin persisted.
"The toxiology report taken from the home nurse, Mark Livingston."
Kevin was beginning to get annoyed with their vagueness in telling him what was going on.
"Who the hell is Mark Livingston?" Kevin stood between the officers and the front door, refusing to allow them to leave.
Both officers seemed to be annoyed with Kevin. "Sir, you need to move."
"I won't move until you explain yourselves," Kevin replied, planting his feet firmly down.
"You realize you can be charged with obstructing justice," the other trooper stated.
"I'm not moving," Kevin was firm in his convictions.
The trooper sighed. "Mark Livingston was the home health nurse hired by Mr. Carter to care for Brian Littrell during his absence when work called him away. Upon Mr. Carter's return from work, Mr. Livingston was found semi-conscious on Carter's bedroom floor. Mr. Livingston apparently injected himself with two vials of Brian Littrell's medications that had been prescribed for him by a Dr. Johnson. Mr. Livingston died from the overdose of medications. The autospy preformed on Mr. Livingston concluded that there was an elevated amount of Mercury in his bloodstream, which was also found in the vials of medication."
Kevin was confused. "Dr. Johnson ordered those medications to be administered. You should be looking at her ass, not at Nick," Kevin snapped back at the officers.
"We interviewed Dr. Johnson, she said that the medications had to have been tampered by Mr. Carter," the officer replied. He started to move towards the door.
"Nick, this isn't true! Aren't you going to say anything?" Kevin called out after Nick as they were leading him down the front sidewalk, barefoot.
"He's been read his rights, he's doing the smart thing and not speaking," the officer replied.
"Call my dad, he knows how to contact my attorney," Nick quietly spoke.
"I will, Nick. Don't worry, everything will be okay," Kevin called out.
Kevin stood on the front steps, watching the officer open the back door of the squad car and put his hand ontop of Nick's head and literally pushing him into the backseat of the car. Sitting in the back seat, Nick hung his head down, never looking up.
