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Downtime - Chapter 10
It was dark, pitch dark and Nick was laying in something that looked like a coffin. The walls closing in on him, made it hard to breath. There was no air and it felt like he would suffocate. It was like the coffin was sucking up all oxygen and he panted as there was a strange feeling in his chest and stomach. Suddenly he could feel the coffin getting moved and the rocking made him feel carsick. Next thing he knew there were lots of people surrounding him and someone opened the lid of the coffin so he could breath.


Looking up he noticed that he was in a big and bright room and he noticed that he was in a church. People were dressed in black and they cried. He recognized it as a funeral and as more clues fell into place it dawned on him.


It was his funeral!


They were all there; His mom, his dad, sisters and Aaron. Brian, Kevin, AJ and Howie were standing by his side carrying red roses. His friends and relatives and several fans had come to say a last goodbye too. He tried to move to show them that he was not dead. That it was a mistake, his hands were strapped to the sides of the coffin and no matter how he tried he couldn’t get up.


He tried to talk but it was like his voice wouldn’t co-operate. ”Mom," he tried to yell,”Mom, I’m here. I’m not dead. I’m alive. It’s all a mistake!" No matter how hard he tried to get her attention she would still stare at him with an empty look in her eyes. It was like she was seeing through him and she didn’t seem to recognize him at all.

He tried to blink with his eyes and when he did this a soft female voice, belonging to Brian’s mom uttered, I saw it. He is alive!"


' Thank God,' Nick thought, 'now they can rescue me.' As he thought they were going to take away his straps and help him up he heard his own mother say, " No! That is NOT Nickolas. That is a ghost. Our Nicky is dead." With that she raised a long black wooden pole and placed it on his stomach. Turning to his father she said, " Bob, take the hammer and let’s stick the pole right through his stomach, but hurry up we have a plane to catch."


" NOOOO,NOOOO MOOOOM!!" Nick yelled as he felt the pole being hammered through his stomach, " I’m not dead, I’m aaaaliiiiveeee."


”She cannot hear you," a hoarse voice whispered in his ear. ”She never listens to you." An evil laughter was heard,”You’re such a failure Nicky, a failure"


" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" He screamed as the pain from the pole became unbearable, ripping through his whole stomach.


And with that he woke up!


Drenched in sweat, T-shirt plastered on his back he opened his eyes, staring into the dark room. Where did all the people go? His mom and dad? As he glanced around in the room, feeling the sweat stung his eyes it slowly dawned on him that it was a nightmare. There was no funeral and he was very much alive. His hurting stomach was a testament to that. It had all been so real. The pain in his stomach had him lifting his T-shirt a bit confused. Did he have a pole though his body? Relieved that there was no mark of such an incident he decided that his brain was playing tricks on him.


As he felt on his stomach he noticed that it was very painful and he winced at the pressure the slightest touch caused. Shaking his head he tried to clear his vision. It was still dark outside and he estimated the time to be early dawn. Brian was snoring soundly on the other bed and he was afraid that he would wake his friend up.


Another piercing pain was felt in the stomach and he moaned quietly as he wrapped his arms around his midsection. The pain was almost as bad as yesterday when he was playing B'ball. A strange full feeling filled his stomach and it also had him a bit bloated and queasy. His first instinct was, ' Great Carter, now you gone and done it again. Catching another bug, but then who would expect something else being Downtime and all.'


Crawling into a ball, he tried to find some comfort as he waited for the worst attack to pass. It was coming in waves and instinct he drew up his knees towards his stomach. The pain subsided somewhat when he did that and it was replaced with a feeling that he could do with a bathroom visit. With a groan he tried to sit up, but as he did so the white hot pain was at him again, gripping his intestines. He sank back on the bed again. Tears in his eyes.


" Shit! It hurts," he mumbled as he rolled back and forth on the bed. A stirring from the other side told him that Brian was about to wake up and he bit his lip to keep from moaning out loud. When the pain was too bad he thought about waking up his friend but then decided against it since it would only mean that Brian’s mom and dad would wake up and he didn’t want to cause any more trouble then he already had done.

Pressing his hands to his stomach he tried to get some comfort. He groaned from relief when he could feel the pain lessen after a while. Maybe this was the end of it. He hoped so since it would not be a fun way to spend Thanksgiving feeling like this. Especially not since the day had a full schedule and he had to endure both a church service as well as a family dinner. It was out of the question to tell the Littrell`s that he was feeling sick. They had been so nice to him and he didn’t want to ruin their day. Besides this was a problem that was too embarrassing to talk about and he felt stupid telling them he had a stomach ache. It was better to keep those things to him and hope that it got better instead of worse.


With that in mind he closed his eyes, waiting for the attack to go away. Willing to get better, like he had done so many times when he was on the road. The mental willpower was strong!


He must have fallen asleep because he woke up by Brian’s desperate voice, " Crap, what time is it? We’re late!!" He could hear Brian rushing around in his room, looking for clothes to wear and before he knew it he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Nick come on. Get up, we’re late. We have to eat breakfast and then go to church."

Nick groaned inwardly. There it was again. Church. This was not his idea of spending Thanks giving. Usually that holiday in his own household meant that his grandma and grandpa came down from New York to spend time with them and after sleeping in late they usually went out with the boat or something like that. And after that it was dinnertime with lots of turkey.

The mere thought of food made his stomach go into spin and he had to hold back a moan from not worrying Brian any further. It didn’t help much since his friend peered down at him, a frown etched on his forehead.

"You ok?"

"Yeah." He cleared his voice a little. "Why wouldn’t I be?"

"I don’t know." Brian shrugged. "You just looked a little peaked, that’s all."

"It’s nothing." Nick did his best to smile back at him. "I’ll guess I’m not used to getting up this early. Usually we sleep in on Thanks giving."

"Oh Ok." Brian looked like he didn’t believe him, but didn’t press any further either. "Well you gotta hurry since mom has probably made breakfast already and she doesn’t like it when we’re late downstairs."

"'k." With that Nick sat up in bed, carefully, not wanting to disturb the pain in his stomach. To his relief he noticed that it was nothing but a dull ache and he was sure that he could handle it.

***********************************************************************

”Nick. Is it sure that you don’t want to have another piece of the omelette," Jackie asked as they were sitting at the breakfast table. She placed another slice on both of her own son’s plates.


" No thank you Mrs Littrell" Nick mumbled politely." I’m full."

“Jackie it is,” the older woman said with a frown and then she smiled back at him. “That’s ok just let me know if there is something more you want.”

Nick nodded and then to his utter embarrassment he burped. It was not a big one but it left him blushing. “Sorry,” he mumbled while covering his mouth. His stomach had been acting up again even though it was nothing like the pain he had experienced last night. No this was more like a bloated feeling. Chewing over and over he dreaded to swallow his food down. The omelette seemed stuck in his throat and taking a gulp of milk he hoped to wash the nasty feeling down. When that didn’t help he rubbed his stomach under the table, careful not to let anyone see what discomfort he was going through. His stomach felt tender to the touch and it reminded him more and more of upcoming stomach flu. He prayed that it was not the case.


" Mom, this is great," Brian murmured as he scarfed down his food with great appetite

”Yes it is," Brian’s dad, agreed and then passed the breadbasket towards Nicks side,”Here. You should try them son. These are really good. Mom made them" He looked lovingly at his wife.


Not wanting to turn the roll down that Jackie had made Nick accepted one, despite his stomachs wild protests. Taking a bite he did his best to shut his nostrils from the smell of food and he swallowed hard when the nausea made itself present again. His stomach growled loudly and it was not from hunger. Instead it was a warning sign that he better go to the bathroom before he left for church. With that in mind he put his roll down and was about to leave to go to the bathroom when Mr Littrell looked at this watch.

“We´re getting late,” he boomed. “You have to hurry up boys since we can’t be late for the sermon. Especially not when my son,” he smiled towards Brian, “is going to sing.” With a bit of envy Nick could see how proud Harald was over his son and he desperately wished that he once in a while could spot the same look in his own parent’s eyes. His thoughts were interrupted when Brian asked him.

“Where you heading?”

“What? Uh?” Nick blinked several times then he said, “Eh..Never mind it can wait.” . There were no way that he had anytime for a break before they left and he decided that he might as well go when they arrived at church. After all he had plenty of time for privacy there and church had never been high on Nick’s list. Sermons and services of all kinds bored him to death.


Noticing Nick’s strange behaviour Jackie made a mental note to keep an extra eye on their guest. The teen was pale, much too pale from liking. He was also very quiet this morning and not the boy that used to giggle and joke around with her Brian all the time. ”Did you sleep well, Nick?" she asked, mainly to make small talk but also to judge if anything could be wrong. When all that she got back was a small nod, she knew that something was not right. Her mother instinct kicked in as she noticed that Nick’s hand trailed down at his stomach every so often and if she hadn’t been so busy with the Thanksgivings preparations she would have asked him about it. Now it would have to wait until after the dinner.


" Hey Frack," Brian said as they were riding the car on their way to church. He nudged Nick at his side," Dude you sure are quiet today." Is something wrong?"


”Nah, just feeling a bit low you know. That’s all," Nick lied while looking out through the window. The small town had really come to life this chilly Thanksgivings morning. He watched as families passed by, no doubt on their way to church.


”Is it your parents?" Brian pressed on.


Nick shook his head, ”Nah, it’s the winter. I don’t like that time of year. I’m more of a summer person, you know. Likes beaches and stuff." He knew that it was a lame excuse but it was all he could think of at this moment.


”Yeah I know," Brian chuckled. “You and water,” He turned to his parents. “Nick here is more fish than a human.”

“Is that right?” Mr Littrell chuckled from the driver seat.

“Eh..sort off.” Nick blushed. “I like going out with the boat.”

“You have a big boat?” Harry asked.

“Nah not really. But its ok for us I’ll guess.” Nick didn’t feel very talkative this morning.

Noticing this Brian cut in, “It will be fun going over to Kevin’s. Now you get to meet my crazy relatives."


"Yeah very fun," Harry muttered as he sat on the other side of Brian. Leaning over to Nick he whispered,”A good advice is to pretend that you’re listening when you’re thinking of something else." He grinned.


”It’s called spacing out and Nick is a champ in that,” Brian laughed as he ruffled the blond on his hair.


”I’m not." Nick giggled, for the first time since he woke up.


“Really,” Harry said. ”Your good at anything else?". Before Nick had a chance to open his mouth Brian answered, " Yeah drawing and..”

“Drawing?” Jackie asked. “You’re good at that?”

“A little.” Nick felt his cheeks go red.

“But what he really is a master pro is in..” .." Brian’s eyes gleamed towards the teen and without words Nick knew what would come. He tried desperately to cover his friend’s mouth to stop him from saying anything embarrassing.


”What Brian? What?" Harry urged his brother, suddenly showing much interest. Just like Brian he liked to tease, not a bad sort of tease just to get the other person a little annoyed.


"Brian!" Nick yelled out, fearing for what would come next.

But Brian just held Nick at his side and then blurted out “Burping!” Turning to the teen grinned like a cat that caught the bird. “What did you think I would say?” he teased.

This had Nick blushing as red as a fire truck and Harry laughed at his expression. After Brian had told a couple of stories about Nick making a fool of himself after drinking too much soda at a photo shoot and infront of a reporter Jackie was the one to cut it short.

" HARRY, BRIAN, That is not the way we talk, in this family.

"But mom," Brian objected, "You should have heard him. His real pro!"

"I don’t care," Jackie went on. "For now on you be good to each other and stop teasing all the time. Brian you’re a grown up and should act like one too." After her speech she gave them a good lecture about good manners.

Nick watched in silence but he couldn’t help to feel satisfied. Brian’s mom and dad were such great parents and there were times when he wished he could trade them with his own. It was so much love in this family, not like his own where everybody all the time was thinking about fame and money. At one time it hadn’t been like that. Way back before all this entertaining business talk had started they had been a real family. A family that cared for each other and were tight together. A family that he desperately longed for.

It was Harold that broke the situation when he said, “Today its Thanksgiving. A day when we are suppose to be grateful for what we have and that we have each other. Let’s leave it to that.” This had Brian and Harry quieting down,. Nick sat in silence wishing desperately that he was somewhere else. Usually that was not such a big deal, but today, feeling a bit under the weather and with his parents and family thousands of miles away, it bothered him. <


When they were about to park the car Brian turned to Nick, whispering, " Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you. He gave Nick a short squeeze on the arm, " Hey man, you forgive me?"


Not being able to stay upset for too long, especially not at Brian, Nick nodded,”yeah I’m cool."


"Ok good," Brian’s face lit up,”Hey it’s going to be all right. Trust me," he said as he put his arm around Nick’s shoulder.


Nick hoped that Brian was right. That everything was going to be fine.