"Donor Information"

Nick Carter sat in the same uncomfortable chair he'd occupied for days beside his younger brother's now empty hospital bed. He glanced down at the sheet of paper in his hands and then over to the couch where his sisters Angel and Leslie were sleeping soundly, curled up lovingly in each others arms. He smiled at the site of them before rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands and reading over the words on the paper once more.

There was a list of information about blood type, height, weight, liver function and a variety of other hospital terms that he only vaguely understood from the two weeks Aaron had spent in the ICU, but the words that caught his eye and stung his heart the most were the ones he couldn't stop going back to... "19-year old female."

Nick knew how much Aaron had dreaded the idea that someone else would have to die for him to receive his new liver... now here they were, faced with the realization that not only had someone else had to die for his little brother to live, but that it had been a 19-year-old girl. Only a year younger than Aaron... her entire life ahead of her. He couldn't help but wonder how she'd died... what her family had gone through to make such an amazing and unselfish decision. He shuddered at the thoughts and pushed them back into the depths of his mind. He only knew that he was grateful to them.

He stared down at the empty bed beside him and struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. He hated to admit that he'd began thinking the worst when it had come to Aaron's condition and the possibilities of him ever getting out of the hospital. Staring down at the paper again, he now felt ashamed that he had ever prayed so hard for his brother's miracle. Thankful, no doubt... but still ashamed. He couldn't help but wonder how God could choose to answer those prayers. Then again, he'd always believed that everything in life happened for a reason and this was no exception to the rule. It just hurt him to think that someone so young had to die for any reason.

He knew it hurt Aaron too. His brother had seemed to be ready and willing to accept whatever fate God was handing him. He'd never once heard Aaron cry or whine about his condition and he'd never once heard his brother blame God. He'd been angry at first, sure, but more at himself and the things he felt he'd done in his life to deserve the position he'd been put in. But over the weeks spent in the hospital Nick had watched silently as anger turned into acceptance and acceptance into peace.

He'd sat beside Aaron as he'd planned out his funeral. He'd hated doing it and at first had encouraged Aaron to stop, insisting that he would be okay and that it wasn't necessary, even when he wasn't so sure of that himself. Aaron hadn't backed down though and before long he'd had Nick at his side, begrudgingly making arrangements and carrying on long conversations about how things should go if, or when his time ran out. It had pained Nick greatly to sit by and watch... moreso to help, but he knew Aaron needed it. He smiled as he recalled one small conversation they'd had a few days earlier...

"Hey Nick," Aaron called from his bed across the room where he was sitting up and eagerly jotting down notes in what Nick had come to know as his "funeral plan" journal.

"Yeah Air?" Nick questioned glancing over at him and rolling his eyes slightly when he saw him flipping through songs on his Ipod and taking down more notes.

"I'm just thinking about songs I should play at my funeral... know any good ones?"

Nick sighed and stood from his seat on the couch, walking over and plopping himself down on the bed beside him. "Let's see what you have so far," he suggested, stealing the notebook from his brother's lap and flipping through the sheets of paper. He paused momentarily and couldn't help but chuckle when he came across one of Aaron's song ideas.

"'Only the Good Die Young' bro?" Nick questioned, raising his eyebrows in a scowl. He could only imagine the looks on his sister's faces, not to mention their mother's face, if he ever dreamed of suggesting they play that song at Aaron's funeral. Written in his funeral journal or not!

"Yeah man! How awesome would that be!?" Aaron looked at him with his own eyebrows raised and slapped him on the back of the head when he only rolled his eyes, "don't be such a damned fuddy-duddy Nick!"

"Uh huh Aaron... "Come out Virginia, don't make me wait, you Catholic girls start much too late" Nick crooned as he took his brother into a headlock and gave him a gentle noogie. "I can just see the looks on the faces in the crowd."

"Ohh... it'll be a big crowd too!" Aaron mused hopefully, "And now that you mention it... you're SO gonna be the one singing the song!"

Nick scoffed and gave him a noogie a little harder, "I never mentioned it dude... and I'm SOOO not!"

He couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the conversation. The only person he had ever known that could make planning a funeral entertaining was his beloved 'Airhead.' He stared down at the paper once more, silently thanking God that he didn't have to think about it now. At least not right now. He thanked God that he wasn't going to have to find out if he'd ever really stand up at Aaron's funeral and sing that song. Although, in his heart he knew he would have done it, jeers, laughter, beatings from his female family members and all.

Aaron's nurse poked her head into the room and he nodded and motioned her inside. "He's out of surgery," she stated as she went about changing the sheets on his bed and preparing things for what Nick could only imagine would be his brother's return to his room. He held his breath as he waited for her to give him the rest of the information he knew she carried... "Everything went great and you should be able to see him soon."

He smiled and stood, walking quietly over to wake up his sisters and tell them the good news. As had been the case the entire day, and as Nick was certain, to the befuddlement of all of the nurses and doctors in the hospital they sat together quietly in the corner, calm and reserved, just as they had done when they heard a liver had been found, and prayed. It had been Aaron's one request... no huge celebrations, no partying, no hoopla. He had asked them long before they'd ever known he'd get a liver to respect his wish to just live in the moment and say quiet prayers of thanksgiving and of comfort for himself... and for the family of the donor.

Whoever that 19-year-old female may be.