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Chapter 23

 

 

We were taken by helicopter to an air field, where an ambulance had been summoned to take us straight to the nearest hospital. It was a bumpy ride at times as the ambulance sped towards the hospital along the pot-holed roads, but we made it in one piece and sighed with relief at finally being back in civilization.

Myself, AJ and Brian were immediately treated for dehydration whilst Howie was whisked away from us into another area of the hospital where they could assess his condition and the damage to his leg more thoroughly. I hoped we’d been found in time to save his leg, but it was out of our hands now.

It had to have been adrenaline keeping me going all that time in the jungle, because now that we were finally safe, I felt absolutely exhausted. I could’ve slept for a week. But I also felt the biggest sense of relief you could possibly imagine. We had survived against all odds.

I wondered if news had got out that we’d been found. Brian had used a pay phone at the hospital to call his wife and let her know we were safe. He’d gone against the nurse to do so, having been told to lie down and rest whilst the drip in his arm fed his body with all the nutrients he was missing. He’d dragged the drip stand with him to make that call and myself and AJ did exactly the same once was Brian was done.

All we had left to do was wait for news on Howie.

 

~*~

 

After two days in hospital for dehydration and exhaustion, me, AJ and Brian were allowed to leave. We stayed in a hotel close by so that we could be there for Howie until he was well enough to be transferred to a hospital back home, and also as support for Leigh, who had made the long journey to Peru to be right by her husband’s side. The medical team had managed to get his temperature down with a cocktail of drugs, but it wasn’t looking good for his leg which had sustained a lot of trauma.

I felt guilty. Maybe if I’d left his leg alone everything would be alright. But then again, if we’d left his leg the way it was, he would surely have been dead by now. It was a hard situation to be in.

“How you feeling?” I asked as I walked up to his bedside. He looked a hell of a lot better than he had when we’d been found.

“Much better than when I arrived here. Thanks Nick. Thanks for everything, if it wasn’t for you, I’d most probably be dead” he replied as he lay there propped up in the hospital bed.

“I just hope I didn’t damage your leg beyond repair” I looked down at the pattern in the floor tiles.

“Don’t feel guilty. I’d be dead if you hadn’t cut away the infection, the doctors told me I was lucky” he explained. Typical D, always wanting to make everyone else feel good.

After four days in hospital, he was well enough to be transferred to a hospital back home where he could receive the very best possible treatment for his leg.

News of our rescue had made the news headlines all over the world, in fact, there had been a bit of a media frenzy, with all sorts of wild stories flying around, but until now our current whereabouts was still unknown to the media. I was grateful for that. The last thing any of us wanted was to have to re-live our ordeal through their prying questions. But I knew it was something we’d have to do eventually. With fame came consequences, and one of those consequences was loss of privacy where big news was concerned. They were only doing their job, I could understand that.

We all flew back with Howie and checked into a hotel near the hospital. Brian’s wife joined us, as did some of our management team. It was then that the media found out where we were and descended upon us. They were outside the hotel and the hospital. Some even posing as hospital staff to try and get in and get their exclusive photos of Howie, whom they knew was in there.

“We’re gonna have to give them something” our manager advised us and we decided a press conference would be the best option. Get them all in one place where we could answer their questions about the ordeal in a controlled environment.

Management had informed the New Kids’ families as soon as we’d been found. Their bodies had not been able to be recovered, and that’s as much as we were told. I shuddered at the thought of what that meant. Even though I’d tried to block the exits to the plane, it was inevitable that animals were going to find their way in to feast on the rotting corpses of Donnie, Joey, Jon and Danny. I knew we’d all want to talk to their families at some point, but for now, we knew they’d want private time to grieve their loss.

The press conference was hell. We were used to the limelight, but having to answer questions about what had happened to our former rivals was just something we weren’t equipped to handle. I think we all broke down and cried as we spoke of the crash and the aftermath of it. But we didn’t go into all the grisly details. That would’ve been too much.

 

~*~

 

After several months, Howie’s leg was as good as it was going to get. He’d had numerous amounts of surgery to re-build it and would have some pretty nasty looking scars for the rest of his life, but he’d kept his leg. That was enough for Howie.

Even though it’s now six months since we got out of there, I still wake in the night due to vivid nightmares. I keep seeing Jordan’s bot fly infested corpse, half eaten by animals, asking me why I didn’t save him. I wake up in a cold sweat and shaking. I dream of being trapped in that plane and not being able to get out. I dream of giant spiders trapping us in their webs, of venomous snakes squeezing the life out of us and every other nasty experience you can think of. But every time I wake, I thank god it’s just a dream and that I really am safe.

I can honestly say it’s an experience I’ll ever never forget for as long as I live, but it’s also made me realise not to take things for granted. It’s taught me that life is short and we have to make the most of the time we have here on earth.

I now have a new appreciation for life and the Backstreet Boys have gone from strength to strength because of the life experiences we’ve shared. We even managed to get to the top of the charts again with a song which had previously been unreleased, the appropriately titled ‘Lift Me Up‘!

 

THE END

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

I know, cheesy ending, but I do like a happy ending!  Thanks everyone who took the time to read and review, I really appreciate it :)