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Behind the Lime Light - Chapter 15

It was hot, much hotter then he ever felt before.

Waking up from a restless sleep Nick discovered that he was drowned in his own sweat and the sheets were clinging next to his body. The heat was making it hard to breath and the pounding in his head made it impossible to think. Groaning in discomfort he did his best to clear out the cobwebs that occupied his mind and trying to adjust to the small light that shone from a lamp on the desk nearby. It hurt his eyes as well as his head and mentally he debated whether or not he had the strength to get up and turn it off.

His head felt as big as a basketball and every move he made sent several twinges radiating from his skull, down his spine all the way to his feet. It was pure hell that was what it was.

"Brian?" He called out, stunned over how weak his voice was, only to be met with silence. "Bri?" This time it was a bit louder, hoping, praying that his friend would hear him since if there was one thing he disliked it was being alone, especially when he felt as sick as he did right now. It proved to be all in vain. Either he was all alone in the hotel room or his buddy had fallen asleep on him. Hoping for the latter he slowly started to realize that no one was there for him and this made him feel a bit scared.

What would he do if he needed help? Who would now help him when he had to go to the bathroom? The way he was feeling right now pretty much everything that had to do with him doing something on his own was out of the question. It hurt too much.

In the dimmest of the fever he tried to remember why Brian had left him so sudden when it dawned upon him. Hadnīt he mentioned that they were supposed to go to some dinner party? Everything was nothing but one big blur and as he strained his head to think he winced from the pain he felt. It was unlike anything he had experienced before and as if things were not bad enough chills were starting to wrack his body again.

"Oh God."

Another twinge of pain shot through his skull, making him feel nauseous in the process. When heīd made sure that nothing worse would happen he sat up slowly in the bed. Squinting he tried to see what the time was but was too sick to even read out the numbers on the travelers clock. His neck hurt something devious and as he was doing another attempt to read the numbers he tried to figure out what heīd done to make his neck so stiff. "Most be the plane ride," he debated when his eyes could finally focus on the digits.

9:04 pm.

Too weak to sit up he fell back to the stack of pillows. All he could do was to settle down, moaning and feeling sorry for himself. He hopes that someone would hear him and come to comfort him was out of the window and right now he did all he could to stay conscious since the fever made him want to get back to sleep again. It wouldnīt have been such a bad idea if it wasnīt for the fact that his head hurt so much that all he could do was whimper and hoping, praying, that the pain would let up so he would at least be ok to get a few hours shut eye.

This whole afternoon had been one big blur and even if it had only been hours since he was starting to feel this bad it felt like an eternity. Whatever flu bug he seemed to have caught seemed to make a fast progress, making him feel worse by the minute. He had a vague memory of Brian helping him but that could also be a fiction out of his own imagination or he could have dreamed it, The foul taste in his mouth told him that his stomach had revolted to whatever bug heÂīd caught and the dryness in his throat made him wish for something to drink. Water.

Glancing to his side he noticed a tall glass with liquid in it standing there on the small bed table. Reaching out with shaking hands he tried to take it only to discover that he was too weak to do such a simple task and instead slumped back on the bed again. Out of frustration but also from feeling so sick tears started to form in his eyes and he did nothing to blink them away. Instead he let them fall and the more he cried the more sorry he felt for himself. More sorry than heÂīd ever been feeling in the past.

"I wanīt my mom," he mumbled in between his sobs. Not caring that he was sixteen and acting like a baby.

Being hundreds of miles away from home made him long for his mother's secure embrace and the more he thought about home and his family the more homesick he got. Memories of his parents taking care of him when the flu struck him in the past flashed up in front of his eyes. He longed for that home cooked chicken soup and for the comfort that his family provided. The more he thought about it the worse he felt... He had never been the one to show emotions like this to strangers and besides his family and the guys he rarely cried in the open. Tonight however he was too weak and sick to care if anyone saw or heard him.

A sudden noise caught his attention and he looked at the direction to which it had come from. Maybe it was the guys, maybe they had decided to go back to be with him. When no one entered the room he sighed heavily. The fever was doing a number on his brain and as the pounding in his head kept increasing all the time, how that could be possible, it got tougher to think straight. Knowing that he must be running a pretty high fever he recognized that tingling strange sensation in his body. It was almost like he had a hard time laying still when in reality he knew he didnīt even have the strength to lift his arm. There were also the sensation of walking on a cloud and during one of his strange thoughts he was wondering if this was how it was to be high. High on a cloud.

Smiling despite his pain he decided that he was acting silly. Another sign that he was being pretty sick since whenever he had a fever he would start thinking all these ridiculous thoughts like wondering how many flowers it was on the wall pattern or how many times he sang this or that song. That was if he wasnÂīt busy trying to hold on so the bed wouldnīt tip forward since dizziness was something that plagued him from time to time and it felt like he was rocking in a boat.

Nick liked boats and since his family lived by the ocean they were often going out with them. It was only one dark cloud on the sky which was, he was prone to motion sickness of all kinds and therefore often found himself suffering from that ordeal. Aaron had even told about this on an interview and Nick had about died when he read it. It was way too embarrassing to be printed out in words. But no matter how lousy he felt he still loved the water. In a strange way it had a comforting sensation and whenever the seasickness gave away the water would lull him to sleep.

The thought of being able to sleep without getting disturbed from the thunderstorms inside his skull was something that he could only dare to dream of today... Heīd been dosing in and out ever since he got to lay down in the hotel room, yet it had only been a restless sleep when he had dreamed strange feverish dreams that either woke him up being cold or sweaty or nauseous. At that moment his stomach decided to do a somersault and he bent quickly for the trash can. Dry heaves wracked his body as it was trying to get rid off whatever had been bothering him all day, But he was empty from the last bouts and all he could do was heave and gag and spit while it felt like his head was going to explode.

"I canīt take this any more," he sobbed once the worst was over. He had to get some help. Someone. Somewhere. With that mission in his mind he sat up. Dizziness washed over him like a bucket of cold water and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"I canÂīt do this," he cried in desperation as he realized that this was too hard of a task to achieve. There was no way he would be able to get up and get down to the lobby and ask for someone to help him. Instead he opted for another solution and laid down on the bed again. Curling up into a ball he cried freely, hoping that someone would hear his misery and come to his rescue. But no one came and soon Nick fell into another restless slumber.

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The dinner was taking longer then they expected. Not only was it a three course meal they were also supposed to entertain the executives. Normally that was something they did on a drop of a dime but today it wouldnīt go as smooth as it normally did.

Johnny had told the business men that Nick and Kevin were both suffering from a nasty case of food poisoning and he hoped that they would still get a picture of what the boys sounded like.

"Letīs do Quit playing games," AJ whispered to Brian as they entered the stage. With a nod Brian took the lead and the sweet tones of the Backstreet boys, at least 3/5 of them, could be heard in the ballroom. After they were done singing acapella the crowd cheered and wanted a repeat so they sang "As long as you love me." This time it was AJ taking the lead since Nick was a no show. Even more applause and this time there was also a satisfied smile on their manager's lips. They had done pretty good even if they were a few men short.

"Well done boys," Johnny greeted them as they sat down at the table again, waiting for the desert to come. Both Howie and AJ seemed engrossed in talking to the high up executives while Brian was mostly checking his watch, trying to figure out how much longer he had to stay here before he could go back to the hotel room. Johnny had made sure that none of them could leave beforehand and excuses like "Iīm tired!" wouldnīt cut it.

Brians thoughts kept wandering off to how Nick and Kevin were doing and no matter how he tried he couldnÂīt seem to enjoy the dinner at all. Sticking his hand in his pocket he found his cell phone, just waiting for him to pick it up and give his friends a call to make sure that they were doing alright

Leaning over to Howie who was engrossed in a conversation with one of the executives for a top leading record label he whispered, "D I have to go the bathroom..be right back." With that he stood up to leave the room, hoping that he wouldnÂīt make too much noise pulling the chair back.

Ok. Just make it quick. Itīs soon time for desert." Howie whispered back as he continued to talk about what music groups that were hitting the Canadian market and which one to invest in if he had the money. Brian couldnīt help but grin. Howard was such a businessman and he wouldnīt be too surprised if the Latino would invest in the stock market if they would make it in the future.

"Where youÂīre going Rok?"

Annoyed that AJ had picked up that he was leaving he whispered red in his face. "To the bathroom." There was no way he wanted the whole world to know that he was leaving the room.

"Cool..hold on I come with you," AJ said with a grin on his lips. "I have to drain the lizard too." The rebel was talking with a loud and clear voice, not concerned that people were looking at his direction. "Iīve been dying to piss all night."

"CanÂīt you keep it silent," Brian muttered as he strolled out of the room, AJ hanging behind him like a tail.

"Iīm embarrassing you Rok?" The younger man grinned obviously very content that he managed to get his friend to blush.

"No. The only one you embarrass is yourself."

As soon as they were out of sight to the others Brian stated. "I donÂīt have to go to the bathroom."

"Oh." AJ looked confused. "Then why were you going out then?"

"Iīm going to call Nick." A brief moment of silence.

"You think that itīs a smart thing to do?" AJ didnīt sound too thrilled. Surprised over his friends words he mumbled, "Yeah..why wouldnīt it?"

"You're just gonna wake him up and everything and then you find out that he is still feeling like shit and that will make you feel bad cause you canīt leave the place and then.." AJ was talking fast.

"Stop it!" Brian said with a firm tone. "I donīt know if you figured it out Jay but I do care about Kaos and.."

He was cut short.

"Yeah and so do I and therefore itīs best not to call since there is not much we can do about the situation anyways."

Brian sighed. Despite what people thought AJ had a habit of being practical. " Wouldnīt you want someone to call to you if you were laying there in the hotel room feeling like crap?"

"Probably but that is not the point..If you hear that Nicky is sick as a dog, which chances are that he is, then you would want to go there and like I said I donīt think that Johnny would be too happy about it. Sometimes its better not knowing anything you know."

"Brian shook his head. "Man I swear sometimes you can be so stupid!" Closing his cell he muttered, "What do you want me to do then? Call the reception and ask them to check on him?"

AJ thought for a moment. "We gotta find something better than that but first I really gotta take that leak. Why donīt you come with me and we can figure something out."

Brian frowned but followed his friend into the men's room. The teen went into a stall, shutting the door behind him. "Man what a relief," he groaned when the sound of swirling water could be heard in the washroom.

"Gross Jay!" Brian scrunched up his nose. "Iīm leaving."

"God B I swear you can be so anal sometimes. No wonder that you and Kev are cousins." AJ muttered through the stall.

"Maybe but I canīt stand here all night waiting for you to make up your mind what we should do about all of this."

There were a sound of the toilet flushing and his friend walked out zipping up his fly. Walking over to the washbasin AJ said, "I think I have a clue what we can do about the situation." Turning on the water he took his time as he washed his hands like he was waiting for Brian to grow impatient.

"Ok what?"

"You sure you wanna hear what I have to say?" AJ teased.

"Yes!" Brian grew more and more irritated by the second. "You know if you donīt wanna hear it I can.."Grinning the younger man looked like he was enjoying his older friend squirming like a worm on a hook.


"Spill it!" There were threats in Brian's tone.

"Ok..Ok." AJ held up his hands in defense. "I was just thinking that.." He talked slowly.

"Ajjjeeeeeee!" Brian whined impatiently. Patience had never been a strong side for him and today he was being more upset than normally.

"Call Kev!"

Brian didnīt believe his ears. Had Bone gone totally insane. "Call Kev? Are you for real? Didnīt you say that he was drunk and had passed out?"

"Yeah but B someone isnīt drunk forever you know." AJ wiped his hands with a paper towel. "You ready to go back? Dessert is waiting."

Ignoring that last comment Brian continue, "How can I call him when you said he passed out? I mean isnīt that the reason why he is not here tonight?" The tone was annoyed beyond belief.

The rebel grinned widely. "Wake him up then. Donīt make such a big deal about it!"

"I canīt." Brian's tone rose a knot. "besides even if I would be able to do that he would still be too drunk and not be able to go and see how Nick is feeling."

"B!" AJ sighed heavily. "I think you really underestimate your cousin. Ok Richardson can get drunk that I have to admit but he rarely suffers from hangovers." He added with a mumble, "That lucky son of a bitch."

Brian looked at him with disgust. Acting like he hadnīt seen the glare AJ went on. " You know Kev is usually a good drinker and I have seen him do his obligations like nothing had happened even after a hefty amount of alcohol the night before.."

"Thatīs different. Those times he was drunk the night before and wasnīt suppose to work." Brian chipped in. "Tonight he is drunk out of his senses, at least according to you."

AJ shrugged. "Doesnīt matter. Kev recovers fast." He wasnīt about to give up his idea. "Besides what do you have to loose? At least if you call him and he goes over to see Nick you have someone there for the kid. Otherwise you will have to wait until we come back and," he nodded towards the door, "judging by how much those executive seemed to like our music Iīm sure that there will be a repeat performance."

Brian groaned. Bone was right. There was not much for him to loose. Picking up his cellphone he opened the lid. "Ok Iīll do it then. Iīm calling him."

"Good." AJ opened the door to the men's room. "Let me know how it goes. Ok? Iīm heading back to the dinner. They are soon serving dessert. And I heard it was chocolate cake and icecream." His mouth was watering.

Before Brian had a chance to react he was out of the door. Picking up a a piece of paper from his pants pocket with the phone number to the hotel on it, he dialed the number and after speaking to the receptionist he was finally connected. The signals were coming through loud and clear but no one was on the other line picking it up. Biting his fingernails, a nasty habit that he had done his best to kick, he waited for Kevin to answer.

And waited And waited.

"Please Kev," he begged loudly. "Please pick up the phone." But his prayers was not being heard. Just when he was about to hang up he heard a male voice coming through. "Kevin?" Hope lit in his eyes.

"No." the voice said. "You have been connected down to the reception and unfortunately there is no answer to Mr. Richardson's room. Can I take a message?"

Brian groaned. What was he going to do now? AJīs plan had so carelessly been flushed down the drain. "No thatÂīs okay," he started only to change his mind seconds later. "Yes as a matter of fact there is one thing you can do. I would appreciate it if you could go up to Mr. Richardson's room and leave a message for me that I want him to go and look after Nick." Brian could hear the confusion in the other mans voice.

"You want me to leave a message on his door?"

"No..knock on it until you get him to open. Kevin is in there. Drunk." Ooops he knew that he had said a bit too much when there were a cough on the other line. The reception clerk however found his situation fast.

"Iīll do that Mr.?"

Littrell and please tell him to give me a call as soon as he have spoken to Nick." With that they said good-bye to each other and Brian hung up. Closing his eyes he was mentally convinced that he had done the right thing. Hoping that AJ was right, that Kevin would be fit for doing such a task he walked back into the ballroom, to eat and join the others.