Sitting at the kitchen table, Brian listened intently to the attorney outlining the course of action on Nick's defense at the trial.
"We have a good defense set up for Nick, with your testamony and some of his medical records, but there is one piece of evidence I would love to gather, but it would be asking too much of you," the attorney remarked.
"You can ask me to do anything in the world to help Nick, I will do it," Brian replied.
"It's really risky," the attorney continued.
Brian leaned forward, his eyes locked onto the attorney's eyes. "Tell me," he growled.
"Alright, but think this through before you decide."
Brian nodded solemly.
"I would like to catch Karen Johnson with the goods, the tainted meds. Nick was arrested on the premise that he was tampering with your medication. Now if we catch Dr. Johnson with a tampered medication, we will have caught her dead-to-rights," the attorney stated.
"Lets do it," Brian replied without hesitation.
"But Brian, you know what the risks are---"
"I don't care if I never walk again, if it helps Nick, I'm willing to do it." Brian replied, shoving the phone towards Kevin. "Call her now."
Kevin looked at his cousin, wondering why he would jeporadize his health. Brian could sense what Kevin was thinking and snapped, "Do it now, dammit!"
The attorney gave Kevin a slip of paper with Dr. Johnson's pager number on it. Kevin dialed the number and left the message.
"Now all we do is wait for her to return the page," the attorney smiled.
"What do I tell her?" Kevin asked quickly.
"The truth," Brian replied.
Kevin and the attorney stared at Brian, puzzled by his remark.
"I've been having spasms and stuff, I don't know why, but it keeps happening," Brian stated quietly.
"Brian, why didn't you say anything?" Kevin asked.
"I'm a little leary of doctors right now, okay?" Brian replied.
The phone rang and they all sat at the table staring at it. Kevin picked it up on the third ring.
"Hello......yeah, Brian is having spasms and stuff, we were wondering if there's something you could do for that.........no, um his family doctor isn't doing anything for him........yeah he is uncomfortable....okay, see you in an hour."
Kevin hung the phone up. The attorney jumped into action. "We need Brian to lay in bed. The doctor thinks you've been medicating him up to this point, so Brian should be able to speak but not very well, can you pull that off Brian?"
Brian nodded. "Like I said, anything for Nick. I will perform an Oscar winning performance."
"Okay, let's do it," the attorney said as he got up from the table with Kevin pushing Brian's wheel chair into the bedroom.
Almost to the exact time that Dr. Johnson said she would be arriving, her car pulled into the driveway.
Kevin acknowledged her arrival and the attorney went into another bedroom down the hallway. "Brian, she's here," Kevin stated.
Brian nodded. "Now remember, anything that happens to me, anything, don't go feeling guilty about it, I'm doing this for one reason only and that's to help Nick, do you understand?" Brian said as he stared at Kevin's face.
"I still feel uncomfortable about this," Kevin's voice trailed off.
Brian took in a deep breath. "We're doing this for Nick. Go let her in."
Brian could feel his heart racing when Dr. Johnson entered the bedroom.
"Hi Brian, Kevin tells me you're having some difficulties," Dr. Johnson said as she approached the bed with her black medical bag in her hand.
Brian nodded a slight nod. He was scared, but he didn't want Kevin to notice.
Kevin, standing off to the side of the room was scared too. He prayed that nothing bad was going to happen with Brian.
"Well, I have something that should help you, Brian," Dr. Johnson remarked as she rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a vial of light lavender colored fluid. She snapped on the latex gloves, arranging them around her fingers.
"So what exactly will this medication do for him?" Kevin asked.
"This should help his nervous system," Dr. Johnson replied as she swabbed Brian's thigh, prepping it for the injection.
Dr. Johnson noticed Brian's breathing becoming rapid. "Calm down Brian, it's going to be okay, it will only hurt for a minute then it will be over."
After Dr. Johnson injected Brian, he felt a little warm and dizzy but otherwise fine. Dr. Johnson handed the vial to Kevin. "Brian will need this injection every twelve hours, are you up to doing that?"
Kevin looked down at the vial that only had Brian's name on the label. "What Brian needs, I will make sure he gets."
"Be sure to call if there are any problems. It's too bad about Nick, I really haven't understood why he would do that to his friend. It's the people you least expect, you know?" Dr. Johnson remarked as she closed up her bag.
Kevin nodded, thinking of hateful things about the doctor.
"Oh, Nate is anxious to begin tour, do you think you will be auditioning anytime soon for Nick's replacement?" Dr. Johnson questioned.
"Replacement?" Kevin snapped.
"Kevin, you have to be reasonable, I realize the trial starts in two weeks, but face it, Nick is guilty," Dr. Johnson replied.
Kevin's eyes narrowed at Dr. Johnson. "Let the court decide that, okay?"
"Alright, alright, but it's just that Nate got a taste of being onstage and he's anxious. Remember to call me if Brian needs anything," Dr. Johnson said as she stood at the front door.
"Yep, I will," Kevin said as he jerked the door open.
Nick stood in the food line, waiting his turn for supper. He would have preferred to stay in his room, but after he was in jail for 48 hours, they stopped the "suicide watch" and placed him into the general population.
The meals were always served on styrofoam plates, finger foods only. White milk was served in paper cups. At first Nick had refused to eat, but his hunger finally made him give in. The meals always consisted of grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and potato chips and an apple or a pear. Breakfast was not any better. It was toast, milk and an orange.
They never had a choice of where they sat, it was always down the rows and you sat where your place came up in line. Today was a bad place in line for Nick.
Jordan, a grossly overweight inmate sat directly across from Nick. The table went up and then back down again as he took his seat. Without saying a word, Nick shoved his tray towards Jordan. He was one of the "parents" of the population. No one ever stood in his way or refused his requests. To do so would bring severe penalities from the "family."
After lunch was finished, mail call was held. Nick was excited when they called out his last name. Any letter made life a bit more bearable for him. He would read and re-read the letters he received at least fifty times.
Nick looked at the business sized envelope. It was opened, as usual. He immediately recognized the handwriting on the front and the return address as his mother's. He hurried to his cell to read his letter in private.
Sitting down on the bed, Nick pulled the letter out and ran his hand over the front of the letter as if the touch would bring his mother out from the page. He closed his eyes and smelled the paper, hoping for some scent that would bring pleasant and secure feelings. He was disappointed by the smell of stale cigarette smoke, no doubt from the office that reads the mail before it is released to the inmates.
Reading the date in the corner, Nick discovered that this letter had been written over two weeks ago.
Dear Nick,
You have been in our thoughts and prayers constantly. You along with Brian. I pray that the attorney will find the key to expose this doctor or whoever it was that did this to Brian and to you.
I hope you are doing better each day. I wish that I could come and see you, but Kevin told me that you don't wish to have me see you in that place. I will respect your wishes.
I hope you're taking care of yourself and trying to keep your spirits up. I know it's hard to do that, but Nick so many people are waiting for this to end and they love you and are counting on you.
Nick, we love you, and are waiting for you to come back to us. Rest assured that we have tried to shield the news from Aaron and the rest of the kids as best as we could, but this has unfotunately been on the media since it began. I'm so sorry.
Hugs and kisses and love,
Mom & Dad
Nick allowed the tears to come that were tearing at him, making his throat sore and tight. He wanted this to end so badly.
The door clanged shut. It would be lights out in an hour.
Kevin eyed Brian as he sat on the couch. It was one of those rare times that he managed to get out of the wheel chair.
"How are you feeling?" Kevin asked.
"Alright, just a little dizzy, but I'm okay," Brian lied. He felt odd, weak, but he didn't want to alarm Kevin. The headache he developed was getting to the point that he decided he should ask for some tylenol.
Kevin noticed Brian rubbing his forehead. "What's wrong?"
"I got a headache. Maybe some tylenol would help it," Brian replied.
As Kevin was starting to get up from his chair, Brian let out a cry. Kevin whipped his head towards Brian, looking at his face. Kevin was horrified to see Brian's eyes roll back and his body become ridgid. Then the convulsions began.
"SHIT! BRIAN! BRIAN!" Kevin yelled. His mind raced through, trying to think of what to do. He remembered something about proctecting the tongue when someone was having a seizure. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a dishcloth, and quickly twisted it as he ran back to Brian.
Blood was running from the corner of Brian's mouth, indicating that he had bitten his tongue. Kevin stuck the dishcloth into Brian's mouth.
Kevin grabbed the cordless phone and punched in 9-1-1, literally screaming into the receiver to get an amblance at the house immediately.
The seizure finally ended, leaving Brian sweatting and weak. He had no strength to talk to Kevin, he just laid on the floor.
"Sir? Sir?" The 911 operator yelled into the phone.
"Huh? Oh, shit," Kevin realized he had dropped the phone.
"I need an address, sir," the operator said in a calm voice.
"9657 Palmetto Drive Southwest," Kevin replied.
"Okay, they are enroute, how is the patient?" The woman asked, trying to calm Kevin down, she could still detect the anxiousness in his voice.
"He stopped the convulsions, he's just laying here on the floor," Kevin stated.
"Is he conscious?"
"Yes, he's not talking to me though," Kevin anxiously replied.
"It's okay, thats common, don't worry, they will be there soon."
After seeming like forever, Kevin heard the ambulance sirens. "They're here, help is here Brian," Kevin remarked, hoping to put Brian at ease.
Brian just stared at Kevin, unable to communicate. He was so scared, frightened and worried that this was going to be something permanent....
Nick stood at the window waiting to buy the cigarettes for Devon. A television set was blaring in the corner, the only time he had any link to the outside world was when he was allowed to go and use the money on his account.
As usual, CNN was on the screen. He barely paid attention to what was being said about the earthquakes in Japan killing 500. As he turned to leave he heard a name that made him stop suddenly, bumping into the guy that was standing behind him in line.
Did I hear them say Brian Littrell? Nick thought as he turned to look at the screen. His thoughts were confirmed when a still picture of Brian was on the television with his name underneath it.
Nick leaned back into the window to hear the report.
"Come on man, it's my turn bitch!" The inmate started a shoving match with Nick. The shoving ensued into a fist fight. Suddenly it wound up being a free for all, fists were swinging right and left.
As Nick was being pulled off the inmate that started the fight, he managed to throw in one more punch for the hell of it, he figured they would be putting him in solitary confinement because of the fight, so he guessed he would have nothing to lose.
"There ya go, bad boy!" The guard snickered as he shoved Nick into a room that was pitch black.
With the total darkness in the room, Nick had to feel around the room for the sink, toilet and the bed. Crawling on his hands and knees, he ran into the bed.
"Shit! SHIT....SHIT...SHIT," Nick yelled out in the darkness. He realized that because of the fight he had absolutely no idea why Brian was on CNN. He put his head in his hands. "I'll never get out of here! He probably died and it's my fault." Nick sobbed.
