The Total Request Live studio in Times Square erupted into wild cheers and screams and random squeals of “Bsb rules!” and “I love you, Nick!”
Pasting a smile on his face, which had been brightened by makeup, Nick followed the rest of his group mates into the study, touching the excited fans’ hands on the way. The five men were seated on stools next to Carson Daly, whom MTV had recruited to host the show that day, a rare occurrence these days.
“Welcome back to the show, guys,” Carson said as the audience died down, shaking the Boys’ hands. They mumbled their thanks, and Carson continued, addressing the viewers, “The Backstreet Boys are here today to make an important announcement, which they’ve kept top secret. Not even we here at MTV know what it is yet, but they called last week asking to say it first here on TRL. The last time they did this was, of course, a couple years ago when AJ checked into rehab for depression and alcoholism. AJ, how are things going with you now?”
AJ cleared his throat, but when he spoke, his voice was still raspy. “I’m doing okay, Carson, thanks. Actually, what we want to talk about today has to do with Nick.”
He paused, and Nick saw him look to Kevin for help. Kevin, their fearless leader, took over with only a slight hesitation. Also clearing his throat, he continued, “Uh, as y’all might have noticed, Nick’s leg is in a brace.” He motioned to Nick’s left leg, which stuck out awkwardly in front of him, stiffened by the immobilizor brace. “Nick fractured his shin bone back in... what, mid March?”
“Yeah, March,” Nick echoed hollowly.
“March, yeah... so a little over two months ago... anyway, he, uh... he went to the doctor, and they found that he... that he...” Kevin trailed off, his voice beginning to choke up. As he looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose, Howie continued, surprisingly calm and controlled.
“They found that the fracture was caused by a small hole in bone, and, uh... th-the hole was caused by a... a disease called Ewing’s Sarcoma. It’s... um...” Howie swallowed. “It’s a form of cancer.”
Nick could hear an ensemble of gasps from the audience, which was all teenagers, most of them female. The tears started instantly, girls hugging each other and wiping their eyes, tears leaving black trails of mascara down their cheeks. He found he could not look at them; turning away, he fixed his gaze on the floor of the studio, afraid to look up for fear he would lose it himself.
Fans were crying... hell, Kevin was almost crying, and Brian probably was too, if Nick knew him as well as he thought he did. Howie seemed to be holding it together, and AJ... well, who knew. Nick wouldn’t look over at him to find out... for the thought of seeing AJ cry... well, hell, AJ almost never cried. The last time Nick had seen him in tears was when he told them he needed help for his alcoholism. He never wanted to see that again.
The studio was filled with a torturous silence, which was finally interrupted by Carson’s quiet words, “I’m so sorry, guys... Nick...”
You gotta be tough, Nick told himself. For the guys... and most of all, for the fans... He looked up, swallowing hard, blinking away the mist from his stinging eyes. “It’s gonna be okay,” he said, trying to strengthen his shaking voice. “I’m... I’m on c-chemotherapy now, and I’m... I’m doing great, so... yeah... I’m gonna beat this thing.” He pasted a smile on his face, knowing it didn’t look genuine, yet not caring.
Carson smiled too, though his smile looked just as fake. Beneath it was a grave, concerned expression. “Well, we here at MTV will be praying for you, and I know all your fans will be, too.” The crying girls in the audience nodded vigorously.
“Thanks, guys,” murmured Nick, wishing they could get out of there now.
“So, um... if you don’t mind my asking, what does this do to the future of Bsb?” Carson pried, ruining the moment.
Kevin didn’t look quite composed yet, so Howie answered this one as well. “Well, we thought about putting the next album on hold, but Nicky’s been a real trooper... he’s adamant that we don’t go on another hiatus because we’ve been out of the scene for so long, so... we’re gonna try to keep working on the album, and we’re looking at a release date sometime this year still, hopefully in the fall.”
Carson nodded. “Well, that’s great, guys, we’ll be looking forward to it. Anything else you’d like to say?”
“No, I guess that’s about it,” Howie replied, looking to the others for confirmation. Nick nodded; Brian, AJ, and Kevin did not respond.
“Okay. Well, again, I’m so sorry to hear this bad news, but thank you for announcing it here on MTV first.”
Howie nodded. “No problem. We wanted to get it out, let the fans know before the rumors start spreading.”
“Yes, you guys have always been great about being honest with your fans. Well, thanks for coming to the studio today, guys. Sorry it had to be on such bad terms. Hopefully you’ll be back this fall when your album is released, and Nick will be in good health.”
Forcing another smile, Nick gave a short nod, hoping the same thing. He would gladly tolerate another two-hour MTV special full of psychotic fans, prying and/or stupid questions, and cheesy trivia games that made him look like a total moron if only he could have his health back.
“Well, again, thanks to the Backstreet Boys, and good luck to Nick. Now, falling back to number two, here’s Justin Timberlake with ‘Rock Your Body’...”
Oddly enough, there was no screaming, no cheering, as the video came on, and the Backstreet Boys walked out.
And that was that.
***
