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Downtime - Chapter 21

”You’re not bullshitting me are you?”

“No AJ. I told you. He was a goner.” Brian stated loud and clear and for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day he’d spilled the news to someone. It was past lunch time and after getting home to eat, change clothes and take a quick nap, he called up AJ to tell him about what was going on with Nick. The rebel, who spent Thanksgiving at home with his mom and girlfriend, became shocked when he heard the news Brian brought along. Kevin had taken on the task to call Howie and Johnny as well as Lou had been informed of the ailment their youngest member had encountered.

“He’s always been a goner.” AJ laughed. “Nothing new there.”

“Jay can’t you be serious?” Brian felt annoyed. “His heart stopped and we were so close to loosing him and all you can do is joke about it.”

“I’m sorry.” There was genuine regret in his friend’s tone. “Was it that bad?”

“Yes!”

Brief pause. “You’re telling the truth, ain’t you B’rok?”

“Yes! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” The older boy sighed. The pressure and the stress the last twenty four hours had put on him was starting to catch up on him and the emotional and mental stress he felt send him nearly to the verge of exhaustion.

“So he was close to dying?” The words were slowly starting to sink in for his friend. “Was Kev there too? “

“Ye..I mean no. Not when he almost died. It was only me in there ..Ok the nurse too..But you get my point.”

“Uh huh. But he is getting better..Right?” Brian could hear on his friend’s voice that it bothered AJ more than he would admit. He and Nick had always had a strange relationship. They often fought but at the same time they were as close as brothers only can be.

“Yeah.”

“It won’t be long until he comes home..right?” Once again AJ was trying to make sure that everything was all right with their mutual friend.

“Oh I don’t know.” At once Brian felt tired, running his hand through his hair in a tired gesture he mumbled, “God I hope so.”

¨ “Me too.”

There was an uncomfortable silence when Brian decided to spill what had been on his mind all day, ever since that strange incident last night. “Do you think that a person that is close to you can feel when you don’t want them to leave and therefore survive?” Brian knew that it sounded stupid but he just had to know. Had he been imagining things or could there be a truth in it too?

“I don’t know Bri.” Aj sighed, “Besides don’t you know that kind of stuff? I mean you’re the one that has faith and all that.”

“Yeah but still..Do you think he heard me?”

“Like when he was unconscious you mean?”

“Something like that. Yes.” Brian spit out his nail. “So what do you think then Jay?” He was urging for an answer.

“I don’t know.” AJ talked slowly. “I’ve read about something similar in a magazine once and I think it was a TV show on discovery channel once. But that time it was a guy and his girlfriend.” He laughed nervously. “You’re not his girlfriend are you?”

“No!” The Kentuckian snapped. “Be serious will ya.”

“I am serious.”

“AJeeeee” Brian sighed. Maybe this wasn’t a good time bringing up such a topic. He had to blame himself for doing it but in a weird sense he just had to know what was up with the experience he had yesterday. He had felt Nick, that he knew and even if he thought it was far fetched it was like he had something to do with his friend coming back to earth.

His friend must have felt that this was really important to him since he said, “Listen Bri…I know that you’re wondering about all that but I’m not the best person to ask. I don’t know much about stuff like that. If you wanna talk to someone that might know ask Kevin or even better Howie. He’s a catholic and I’m sure he has encountered or heard about people that have been through stuff like that.”

“Ok.” AJ was right. They should just drop it.

Another pause of silence.

“So is Jane there raising all hell now?”

“No.”

“No?” Brian could just sense the confusion his friend felt. He could picture his eyes shoot up in that same way he always did when something surprised him. “Why not? It’s not like her to stay calm in a situation like this!”

“She’s in Germany with Aaron and the rest of the family.”

“Yeah I know that.” AJ acted impatiently. “But I mean what she did when she came down.”

“She hasn’t and it all happened yesterday so I guess she didn’t have time to do so…yet.” Brian said, waiting for a reaction to happen.

”You mean that she hasn’t been to Nick yet?” AJ was yelling so loud that Brian had to hold the lure away from his ear.

“Take it easy,” he snapped back. “There is no need for shouting like that.”

“Sorry.” The rebel calmed down. “I’m just surprised, no more shocked actually, that she hasn’t gone to see her son yet. Or that Bob has.” He drew back his breath, “So when are they scheduled to come then?” The older boy chewed nervously on his nails. When there was no immediate response AJ’s voice rose a knot “Brian! They are coming, aren’t they?”

A deep sigh. “I really don’t know.” That was the truth. That wasn’t an easy question to answer since he’d overheard his mom and dad talking on the phone with each other and the words Jane and Bob Carter had been mentioned. Apparently they were having a hard time getting tickets to a regular flight and none of them wanted to pay the price that it cost to fly overseas in a more expensive way. He knew that his mother had told them to talk to Johnny or Lou and maybe they could help them out by giving them a loan or something. But Jane had refrained for doing such thing and as it looked right now it seemed like Nick would stay parentless until he was feeling better and ready to go back to Florida again.

“This is fucking insane.”

The words that followed about AJ’s thoughts of the issue didn’t leave much for the imagination. He called Nick’s parents everything bad he could make up and for once Brian let him cuss out his anger. When he thought it was enough he said, “Ok Jay I agree with you. They are making a mistake but what should they do? If they can’t get their hands on any tickets to come to Nick…” He was instantly interrupted.

“Can’t get there hands on any tickets? That is a fucking lie.” The younger man acted really upset. “They are just too cheap to get the tickets and if they have little money they could ask Johnny or Lou for financial help.” He snorted. “I’m sure that they have done that many times before.”

Brian didn’t know what to say. Even if he’d overheard his mom and dad talking it felt like he was bringing up Nick’s private life. He didn’t think that the Carters would act like that if they didn’t have good enough reasons and deep inside he hoped that they would get into their senses and that they would come to see their son. “Calm down,” he said when AJ had ranted about how little the Carters cared about their son and that they couldn’t be so stupid to let him down once again. “I’m sure they have their reasons for not being here yet and anyways it only happened yesterday.”

“ Nick has never done anything bad and now he’s so sick that we can laugh ourself lucky that he isn’t buried ten feet under ground. So they better not stand him up this time. Not now when he needs them.” The Kentuckian sighed. AJ was right. He couldn’t have said it better himself. “I’ll talk to mom to see if she has heard anything from Jane. Maybe they are on their way as we speak.”

“Bah” AJ snorted with disgust. “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Well one can never be too sure.” Brian refused to think dark thoughts about Nick’s family, even if he had his doubts about stuff he’d seen and heard of, mainly because he knew how much his friend loved and cared for them. In his opinion the one thing that they could have done better would be to spend more time with their kids and stop being such stage parents. If there was one thing his own folks had taught him it was that money and fame wasn’t everything. There were so many more important aspects in life such as; love and friendship and caring for each other, that was more valuable.

He expected AJ to say something snide back when the rebel surprised him. “Yeah..Maybe you’re right. But in any case I hope that Nicky gets better and that there won’t be any complications. Did the doctor say when he would be able to go home?”

“No.” Brian shook his head. “He just woke up this morning so I’m sure that they want to see how he’s doing first before they tell us anything. Besides he’s still running a pretty high fever and there’s some pretty strong medication getting pumped into his system.”

“Ok..Sounds to me like he isn’t exactly out of the woods yet.”

Brian nodded, “Could be.” At that very moment his eyes caught the digitals on his watch. “OH shit I’ve gotta get going. Kev is going to come and pick me up.” To his dismay he found that he was in a real hurry and they had already talked long enough.

“’k.” AJ said. “Well tell Kaos that I’ll be calling him.”

“.I’ll do that. See you later.”

“Ok later.” Brian was about to hang up when he suddenly heard his friend yell back, “B wait!”

“What?”

“Can you tell him something?” AJ´s voice sounded at once strangled.

“Sure…what do you want me to say to him?”

“Eh..uh,”

AJ was dragging the words along and Brian waited impatiently for an answer. “Ajeee come on..Spill it out. I don’t have all day.”

“Just tell Kaos to get better and that I..That I..love him, man.” Now the words were out and Brian smiled at them. This was so much like the Alexander that he knew. The one that could be a hardass at times but still had a caring heart.

“Ok I’ll do that.” A honking sound outside caught his attention. “I gotta go now. See ya.” Before his friend had a chance to say something back he hung up. Shit he was really late. Kevin had come to pick him up and together they would go back to the hospital to see Nick.

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

It had been a quiet visit since Nick had been asleep most of the time and the only times he was awake he wasn’t lucid enough to know what was going on. Jackie had spent the better part of the day just sitting by his side and now hours later she felt stiff in her joints. Both Brian and Kevin had been in for a short visit but they had left when it appeared that all Nick was doing was sleeping. They had told that they would be back later on though.

Rubbing her hands over her neck she decided that a short break would do her good. Since Nick was still listed in critical condition a nurse took over the task and after she’d made sure that everything was all right with her guest she walked outside to get a breath of fresh air. After the short bathroom break she decided that she had to call Jane to hear if they had got their hands on any tickets and if they were on their way to see their son.

She didn’t have to wait long before a young boy appeared on the other line. It was Nick’s brother Aaron and the boy sounded just as much as an airhead as she’d come to know her young charge to be. “Hey Aaron;” she smiled.

“Hi.” The tone was a bit hesitating like he didn’t know who he was talking to. She decided that it had to be that it was in the middle of the night over in Europe or that they were in an airport.

“It’s me Jackie, Brian’s mom,” she explained to the eight year old.

“Oh hi!” The voice changed immediately and she could almost hear the smile that broke out on the younger boys face. “How’s everything? Are you guys celebrating Thanksgiving?”

The words startled her but she had no chance to ask what he meant when Aaron went on, “I was going to call Nick and tell him happy Thanksgiving since I really miss him but mom told me that you guys were asleep and all so I couldn’t do that now. Besides we’ve been having a party but it’s not so much fun since Nick isn’t here with us you know.” He was talking fast like he was afraid that someone would come and interrupt his conversation.

Jackie felt confused. What did Aaron mean? Didn’t he know about his older brother’s whereabouts? She frowned and debated whether or not she should ask him what he was talking about when she decided that it had to be a reason for Aaron not knowing what was going on. “Aaron,” she said, “Can I speak to Jane please?”

The boy got sullen all at once. “No that isn’t possible. They went to some kind of party or something that they had to tend to with the management. They said it was really important and right now it’s only that stupid nanny , Jill, that mom hired that is here and she is looking after us.”

The words hit Jackie like a storm! Were Jane and Bob at a party when their own son was battling for his life? It couldn’t be possible. The otherwise so calm Jackie Littrell was on the verge of exploding and she was doing her best to stay calm. “Do you know when they will be back?”

“No, but mom said that they wouldn’t be too long since they had to take care of something.” The young boy drew back his breath. “Mom and dad sounded really upset and I don’t think that mom wanted to go since she was crying but then Lou called her up and talked to her and she changed her mind.”

Jackie bit her lip. This was starting to become more and more complex. Just like the life she’d expected Nick to have. A complexed life full of weird situations that was hard to grip. Why Jane and Bob had chosen a party before coming to see their own son was beyond her imagination.

Aaron was the one to cut the silence. “You want her to call you when she gets back?”

“Yes please. That would be fine.” The realisation that the Carters were not coming to see their son slowly sank in and she felt so devastated over the news. Nick had talked over and over again about his family. He had been in a fever haze but still they were the only ones that were on his mind and now they were letting him down. She had to blink away a few tears that appeared in the corner of her eye and as she was about to hung up on Aaron she mentally decided that she had to know if they had any intention of travelling back to the states anytime soon. “Aaron do you know if your parents have talked about going home early?”

The boy sounded puzzled. “No why?” When she didn’t answer at first he became suspicious instead. “Why are you asking that? Did something happen?”

To that question Jackie didn’t know what to answer. She couldn’t say that his older brother, Nick, who he loved and cherished so much, was so sick that they, had almost lost him. She couldn’t say either that his parents had made their choice and went to a party instead of getting tickets and flying back home. It was all too surreal for her and she hoped, she prayed, that they had good reasons for this kind of behaviour.

“No Aaron nothing did happen.” She forced a smile on her lips as well as making her tone seem light. “Just tell your mom and dad that I’ve called and that I want them to phone me as soon as they get back. Ok?”

“Sure.” The childish boy was back again. “So can I speak to Nick now?”

“Nick?” Jane felt confused.

“Yeah you know it’s been a while since I talked to him and I really wanna tell him how great it is to perform and such things and yesterday we had this party for me and it was really cool since the balloons and fireworks and all for me. You know to celebrate that everything is going so great.” He laughed like a really happy kid and at that moment Jackie felt that she didn’t want to spoil his happiness. She suspected that there had been very little of that in the past. Mostly hard work and touring and even if she knew that Aaron loved doing that she was still concerned what would happen to him in the long run. She’d seen with her own eyes what the music industry was capable of doing and she didn’t like an ounce the way Brian and the rest of the boys were getting treated. Especially not by Pearlman and his gang. Johnny was so much better, he was more reasonable but the rest she didn’t give two cents for. There were times when she had wanted Brian to pull out of the business just because she was scared of what would happened in the future but every time her son had assured her that he was doing the right thing and that he loved performing. That was enough to let him continue.

“Are you listening to what I said?” The younger boy cut through her mind again.

“Huh? What? Oh I’m sorry!” The exhaustion was starting to get the better of her and she was having a hard time coping. “I must have thought about something else…what was it you said?”

“I asked if I could talk to Nick.”

Jackie swallowed hard. “I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment.” She was looking desperately for some excuse to come up with.

“Why not?” Young Aaron was like a copy of Nick, being just as curious.

“Because he and ..and Brian went to the ..the gym!” She knew that the explanation sounded weird but she hoped that Aaron didn’t have much sense to question her. And she was right.

“OH lucky dog! I wish I could go with Brian to the gym too.” Aaron had a dreamy voice.

Jackie couldn’t help but chuckle despite the misery that was going on. She knew that both Nick and Aaron loved Brian like their older brother and to the youngest her son had become like an idol for him. Whenever Aaron met him he would be on his lap or ride a piggy back. It was hilarious to see the way the three youngsters acted when they were at their best. “Yes well I’ll tell him that I’ve talked to you and hopefully he will be able to call you back soon.” Deep inside she knew that it was not good in keeping the truth within but at the same time if Aaron’s parents acted like it was not such a big deal then why would she be the one to spill the news and upset the poor boy even more.

“Ok do that.” Aaron said like he was in some kind of hurry. “Jill is coming so I gotta go.” With that he hung up before she had a chance to react and she was left sitting there with the phone in her hand. Everything she heard was hard to grip but what caught in her heart was the way the Carters acted. With that on her mind she picked up the phone to talk to her husband since he often had good ideas while dealing with difficult things. This was such a situation.