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Chapter 4

"Is he going to be alright?" Brian asked jumping from his seat when he saw the doctor come into the private waiting room.

"He's alive," the doctor answered, "I'm Dr. Rivera. I'm going to tell you that Nick is very lucky. The mix of drugs and alcohol in his system was pretty high. That explains why he collapsed. His body couldn't handle it so it shut down. We ran some tests and your friend was very lucky that the drugs didn't have a stronger effect, it could have caused him to slip into a comma or have even killed him."

"Shit," AJ whispered.

"Is he going to be alright?" Howie asked.

"He'll be fine as long as you get him off of the drugs and away of the alcohol. In this case, I suggest constant supervision. Rehab is another suggestion but the person has to be willing to enter it or it's not going to help and Nick doesn't seem to realize what he did to himself. Or at least what can happen to him if he doesn't stop. Honestly, I think he's lucky to have gotten this far."

"His girlfriend was living with him up until this morning. She was always with him," AJ commented, "I don't think him having a baby sitter is going to help."

"I don't think that Kerry was strong enough to take on Nick like that," Kevin told AJ, "He is a pretty big guy after all. One of us might be able to keep him home. I think that we are all the hope that he has right now."

"Can we talk to him?" Brian asked.

"Yes," the doctor answered, I'll take you there right now. But I do want to keep him here another few nights just to make sure that everything is out of his system."

"Alright thank you," Brian replied. The doctor led them to Nicks room. Once they had arrived a feeling of uneasyness overcame them. They weren't really sure what they were going to do about Nick. Helping him required his part and no one was sure that he was ready to do that just yet. It was probably going to take something more serious to make him change his mind. Though this was definately a serious problem.

The doctor left them before they had entered the room. He must have senced the uneasyness in the atmosphere around the guys or just thought that they might want to talk to Nick alone. No one made any moves to go into his room, nor did they say anything.

"Rok we should go in and talk to him," AJ said breaking the silence.

"Yeah I know," he answered.

"So what are we waiting for?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if you guys aren't going in, I am," AJ said to them, "besides maybe he needs to talk to someone that knows where he's coming from."

"Yeah that's a good idea," Howie said, "AJ you go in and talk to him and I guess the rest of us will take turns going in there and saying something to Nick. Maybe then we might reach him."

"It's going to take a hell of a lot more than us to reach him," AJ said before dissapearing into Nicks room.

"What did he mean by that?" Howie asked.

"I have no idea, but I think he knows what he's talking about," Kevin replied.

"Nick," AJ said as he shut the door behind him.

"Look I don't want to talk to anyone right now," Nick said as he turned away from AJ and then closed his eyes as if he thought that he would be able to escape into his own little world.

"I don't care if you don't want to talk to anyone right now," AJ snapped but then quickly regained his composure, "We're all worried about you. The doctor said that this over dose could have killed you, man. You can't do that any more. I mean I understand where you're coming from, it's like that was your only way to escape the pain, Kerry leaving and all. But like me, you have to realize that what you're doing is wrong and it can kill you and none of us want that for you."

"When can I leave this place?" Nick asked ignoring what AJ had told him.

"In a few days, the doctor wants you to stay here until everything is out of your system then they are going to let you go home, in someones care," AJ explained.

"Hold up, I don't need a fucking baby sitter," Nick shouted turning to AJ with anger written plainly across his face.

"Yeah well, you showed us what you're going to do if we leave you alone so there is no way that any of us are going to leave you alone, at least not until we're sure that you've gotten the help that you need and trust me, I am not that easy to get rid of and I'm sure that you'll figure that out very soon," AJ warned.

"I don't need you around or anyone for that matter! I can take care of myself. Can't you see that AJ!?" Nick yelled.

"No you can't Nick. I mean if taking care of yourself is over dosing and ending up in a fucking hospital is taking care of yourself then you're doing a damn good job, but here's a bit of reality for you Nick, it's not. And if you keep this up your going to fuck yourself up so badly that we aren't going to able help you at all. Right now you have a chance and I want to take that chance to help you help yourself."

"Oh come on, you got yourself into this shit too so don't tell me about how you want to help me. Because you know what? It's all bullshit and you know it," Nick said with his voice filled with anger.

"You want to know what the difference between me and you is Nick?" AJ asked looking at Nick with such an anger in his eyes that even the dark sun glasses that he was wearing couldn't hide it, "I was man enough to say that I had a problem. I was man enough to say that I fucked up and that I needed help. That and I didn't let it get this far, I didn't nearly kill myself! Now Nick, you have the choice of making this easy for both of us and working with me or working against me and putting us both through hell, it's up to you."

"Whatever," Nick said and turned away from AJ again.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," AJ said as he left the room.