As he climbed into his car, his stomach rumbled with hunger. He had not eaten breakfast that morning out of nerves, and now that the appointment was over, he was famished. He considered stopping for a late lunch on his way out of town, but opted against it. He wanted to make it back to Orlando before the nausea started and also knew that whatever he ate would only come back up again later.
He made it back to the Clandestine in record time and even managed to beat the nausea. Still, though he felt fine at the moment, he decided to retreat to his room rather than tracking down the others, not wanting to take any chances of getting sick while they were around.
He made it up to the suite without being spotted, hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob, and went inside, immediately unstrapping the brace from his leg and pulling off his jeans. He left both in a heap on the floor and climbed into his bed, which a maid had already been by to change.
Slipping between the freshly laundered sheets in just his t-shirt and boxers, he let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes, hoping he could sleep through the queasiness that he knew would rear its ugly head sooner or later.
***
Nick was awakened by muffled screams and crashes. Sitting up in confusion, he realized the sounds were seeping through the thin wall behind him, from the adjacent suite... AJ’s room.
“What the fuck is he doing in there?” he muttered out loud. He tried to lie back down, but now he could not sleep. Grunting, he rolled over onto his stomach, reached up, and slapped his palm against the wall as hard as he could, several times. Maybe that would get the point across. He waited, listening for a moment, then hit the wall again. Suddenly, the sounds stopped, and the room felt into silence. With a sigh, Nick rolled back over and slid down into the little cocoon he had created beneath the covers, anxious to return to the dreamless escape AJ had abducted him from.
No such luck. No sooner had he gotten comfortable and let his eyes fall shut then they flew open again at the sound of loud knocking on his door. “Go away,” he murmured groggily, burying his head in his pillow and willing his visitor to leave. But the knocker was persistent and kept beating on the door.
Groaning, he rolled out of bed. As soon as he stood up, pain ripped through his left shin, and his stomach was gripped with nausea. “Shit.” Gritting his teeth and holding his stomach, he shuffled across the floor, not bothering to put on his pants. He flung open the door to find, as expect, AJ standing in the hall. But it was not just AJ – Brian, Kevin, and Howie were right behind him.
“He emerges!” cried AJ melodramatically.
“What do you want?” Nick muttered flatly.
“What do you want? You were the one beating on the wall.”
“Only to get the noise to stop. What the fuck were you doing in there?”
“Watching ‘Godzilla.’ AMC’s having a cheesy old Asian horror movie marathon!” AJ announced gleefully. In a terrible Japanese accent, he pointed down the hall and screamed, “Godzilla! Godzilla!”
“Shh, AJ, we’re in a hotel!” Kevin hissed, but Brian laughed and started imitating the way the dubbed voices didn’t match up with the people’s mouths in the movie.
Nick just stood there, his mouth pressed into an expressionless line. “Well, could you maybe keep it down in there? Some people are trying to sleep.”
“It’s the middle of the afternoon; why the hell are you sleeping?” asked AJ.
“I don’t feel good, okay?” Nick snapped. “Now leave me the fuck alone.”
“You don’t have to talk to us that way - we get the point, Nick,” Brian said irritably, while AJ just flashed Nick his middle finger behind Brian’s back.
“Sorry,” Nick mumbled unapologetically. “I’m going back to bed; please don’t bug me anymore.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” scoffed AJ, rolling his eyes.
And then he left, the others following without a backwards glance. Only Howie stopped and said quickly, “Hope you feel better soon, Nicky,” then continued on back to AJ’s room.
Nick shook his head, turned, and went back into his own room, shutting and bolting the door behind him. He climbed back into bed and listened, half-expecting AJ to crank up the volume on his TV again just to piss him off. But, straining his eyes, all he could hear were muffled voices coming from behind the paper thin wall. He started to bury his head in his pillow once more and go to sleep, but when he heard one of those voices say his name, he perked up in interest. Knowing he shouldn’t be trying to eavesdrop, yet too curious not to, he sat up and leaned against the wall, pressing one ear up to it.
He could just barely make out what they saying, but it seemed to go something like this...
“What the hell is going on with him?”
“I dunno... but he looked like crap. Is he sick?”
“Again? He was just sick like two week ago!”
“You know, maybe this is just some scam to get out of doing the album. Maybe he wants out of the group and just doesn’t want to tell us.”
“AJ, Nick wouldn’t do that.” That was Brian. Nick smiled a little, grateful to his best friend for jumping to his defense. “No, I think there’s something more than that going on.”
“But what?”
If only you knew, Nick thought, slowly sliding back down onto the bed. He had heard enough. They were suspicious, and he knew that this was the end of the road. He was going to have to come clean with them, and soon, or they would find out themselves. This week. He had to tell them the truth.
Tomorrow, Nick thought with a yawn, nausea still panging his stomach. He curled up on his side in the fetal position, one arm gently massaging his tender stomach, and closed his eyes, willing sleep to overtake him.
***
