Nick had barely drifted off to sleep when a loud noise from behind him suddenly jarred him from his dreams.

"Shit! Fuck! Ouuuuuch!"

He shot his head around in a hurry to see his sister Leslie standing in the doorway of the hospital room, carrying a bag of McDonalds food and cursing like a sailor.

"Shhhhh! Leslie!" He hissed at her pointing towards the sleeping figure passed out in the bed beside him, "you're gonna wake him up!"

She rubbed her knee and cringed as he stood and walked over towards where she stood.

"Sorry," she hissed back at him, thrusting the bag of food into his arms before hobbling pitifully over to the chair beside the bed, "I banged my damn knee on the door frame."

"Do you have to use that kind of language all the time?" He asked shooting her a dirty look as he opened the bag and pulled out a container of french fries. She stuck out her tongue at him and went back to inspecting the damage she'd done to her knee. "Where's Angel by the way? She left like two hours ago to get this stuff for us and well... she never came back."

Leslie rolled her eyes at him.

"You seriously think that sending Angel Charisma Carter out into the streets of Florida in the hopes that she will actually go to a McDonalds and pick up food for her ailing brother is a good idea?"

Nick chuckled slightly and shook his head. "I see your point."

"She called me about 30 minutes ago from Britton Cinema's to say she couldn't get your food because she... get this... met a guy in the hospital parking lot and was taking him out to a movie! The hospital parking lot Nick! Is there anywhere that girl can't, er, won't find a man?"

Nick shook his head again and collapsed onto the small couch in the corner of the room.

"You tired?" She asked eyeing him curiously as she stuffed a couple of her own fries into her mouth. "You look tired."

He nodded. It had been a long few weeks for sure. He'd left the hospital only four times in past 14 days, twice to go to meetings for the Backstreet Boys, the other two times to shower at home and sleep in his own bed. Other than those times he'd felt it necessary to stay by his brother's side.

He'd been shocked when Aaron had called him that Friday afternoon just two short weeks before. He'd been sick... really, really sick and a friend had called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Nick had shrugged it off, imagining in his young and still often childish mind that there was no way it could really be anything serious. He'd arrived at the hospital thirty minutes after Aaron, having not really hurried to get there, to find that he'd been rushed to ICU and was in critical condition.

Even thinking of the words "critical condition" made him wince. The nurse had walked him through the halls to a small room marked "Intensive Care Waiting Area" and she'd left him there with the assurance that she would be back in a few minutes to let him know when he could see his brother. He'd remained there, alone in that room for three hours before anyone had come back to tell him what was going on. He'd never been more terrified in his life, spending those hours pacing back and forth, crying, and praying to God that Aaron would be okay.

Finally the nurse had returned, apologizing profusely for keeping him waiting. The diagnosis -- "Acute Liver Failure." Aaron, it seemed had been sick for about a week, suffering from weakness, exhaustion and nausea. Like just about anyone else would have done he chalked it up to a virus or the flu and took over the counter medicines in the hopes whatever it was would go away. It didn't go away though... it only got worse.

That morning when he'd woken up confused and disoriented his best friend and roomate had called an ambulance.

Nick shuddered as he remembered seeing his brother for the first time that day. He couldn't believe it was the same Aaron he'd seen only a few short weeks before, so full of life and energy, playing jokes and having fun. This wasn't Aaron at all. He was lying in his ICU bed motionless, the doctors having put him in an induced coma. His body was a yellowish tint and his legs and arms were covered in small bruises. His face was pale and his eyes looked hollow. His abdomen was swollen as well, giving the illusion that he weighed a good 20 pounds more than Nick knew he did.

That was the day Nick began his vigil. He'd never wanted to leave Aaron's side at all, but circumstances beyond his control had forced him to go those four times.

He took another french fry from the bag in his hand and fought back the tears that threatened to fall as he glanced over at the bed across the room. Leslie was there beside their brother now, holding his hand and fighting back her own tears as she gently caressed his sweaty cheeks.

He remembered the moment the doctor had told them his only hope for survival would be a liver transplant. The look on Aaron's face had broken his heart into a million pieces and he wasn't sure he would ever be able to put it back together. That look of fear and terror, of sadness and misery had an impact on Nick that he knew would stick with him for the rest of his days. He'd asked Aaron later why he was so afraid and he'd responded with a shrug of his shoulders, turning away and pretending he was tired enough to sleep. Nick knew better though. He'd continued to question Aaron over the course of the following days and had finally managed to get his young brother to open up to him. Aaron, it turned out, didn't want to think about a transplant at all... he knew in his heart that in order for him to get a new liver, someone else had to die. He'd told Nick repeatedly that he couldn't pray for that or ask for it because it just felt wrong. He could't ask for someone else to die in order for him to live. He'd told Nick that if it was God's will he would be eternally grateful... but that he would never beg for something he wasn't worthy of.

Nick wiped at the tears furiously as he tried to hide them from his sister. He hated all of this. Hated watching his brother... his only brother... going through this mess. There was nothing at all about this that was fair. Aaron had done nothing at all to deserve this kind of life.

Nick looked up again as the door of Aaron's hospital room opened and his doctor stepped quietly in. He took note of the young man sleeping soundly in the bed and smiled.

"We've got a liver."