~ Chapter Seventy Nine ~
Kevin slowly made his way up to the podium, stopping to shake hands with the presenter. "Hey, y'all..." He said into the microphone finally. "As most of you know, I'm Brian's cousin, Kevin Richardson, and as most of you know, Brian passed away in October. Ever since he started playing here in Seattle, he's been very involved with Children's Hospital, and not just the fundraising, celebrity appearance side of it, he was right there in the middle of it; he knew a lot of the kids there by name..." Kevin paused and stared pensively at the ceiling for a moment. "As any of you who ever met Brian know, there isn't really anything I can say that could even begin to convey the kind of person that Brian was. We have an interview that Brian did with Mariners announce Charlie Chasez before Game Four of the World Series in October. That was the last game Brian ever played, and he passed away five days later. I watched it yesterday, and I think we're gonna let Brian say all this in his own words."
The room darkened as the video began rolling on the screen behind the podium, Brian's smiling but tired looking face appearing against a navy cloth backdrop.
~*~
"We're here today with Mariner second baseman Brian Littrell." Charlie's voice said off camera. "Nice of you to join us, Brian, you're looking good."
"Thank you; glad to be here, Chuck!" Brian chirped cheerfully, giving the camera, and Charlie, a big smile.
"You're up against the Dodgers again today, but before we discuss the Series, let's turn back the clock a little. You were diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor back in August."
"Well, it became public knowledge in August." Brian corrected, still smiling. "I was actually diagnosed in January of this year."
"Now, in spite of this, you chose to just keep on playing." Charlie, staying true to his reporter form, ignored the correction.
"If I can still play, then I want to play." Brian lifted his shoulders, shrugging slightly. "If it comes to a time when I'm not helping the team, then I'll take myself out of the lineup."
"Is it getting harder for you to play?"
Brian rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm not gonna lie, some days are worse than others. It hasn't really been that big of a deal so far."
"You were diagnosed in January..." Charlie repeated the corrected information, as if he had said it first. "How much more time did the doctors give you?"
"Let's just say, according to their estimate, I'm on borrowed time right now." Brian didn't elaborate anymore than that.
"Do you think when the news first broke that it helped or hindered the team?"
Brian bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "It didn't go over real well at first. I hadn't told anyone, even my family yet, and then to have it just suddenly appear in the paper and on ESPN, it could have been handled a lot differently." He held up one hand towards Charlie. "I'm not, you know, blaming the media, I'm just saying that... if I had it to do over again, I would have said something when I first found out, 'cause the way it all happened... I ended up hurting a lot of people, and I totally did not intend to do that."
"One would think that people would understand the situation."
"You'd be surprised." Brian pressed his lips together. "Dying's a big one. People kind of flip out over that."
"So you don't think the team was spurred on by the situation, and they weren't 'winning it for Brian'?"
Brian laughed. "No, no, I don't think they did. The dynamic of the team didn't really change afterwards. I know people are looking for reasons as to why we had the year that we did, and the only explanation they're gonna come up with is we had a couple guys having career years, we added a couple really good young players in spring training, and I think as a team, we've executed very well. It's been a great run so far."
"Of course, the addition of AJ McLean in the bullpen and Nick Carter in right field. You and Nick are good friends..." Charlie left the sentence hanging.
"I would say Nick is my best friend." Brian's smile grew wider. "As cheesy as that may sound. We haven't known each that long, but we really hit it off. I have a great deal of respect for Nick, he's only twenty, and he's had to deal with some pretty tough stuff, and... I'm kind of amazed that he turned out to be the person that he did. I wish that I'd get to know him better. Nick is probably the only person who hasn't questioned why I didn't say anything about all this back in January. I know it's had to crossed his mind, but he hasn't brought it up, and I appreciate that. It's nice to have an ally somewhere." Brian gave the camera a slightly sheepish glance, as if he knew he was getting too corny. "There you go - something about Nick Carter you're not going to ever see on the field."
"But, he's not a bad outfielder either." Charlie pointed out dryly.
Brian laughed again. "I have a strong feeling that Nick's gonna be knocking some socks off in the near future."
"What's your favorite moment of the season so far? Do you have one? Can you pick just one?"
"Oh, wow..." Brian leaned back in his chair to think, shaking his head slightly. "You're right, there's no way I could ever pick just one... I would have to say I've loved every minute of it since Spring Training on. AJ and his ghosts in the bullpen all the way to winning the LCS. And ultimately, I'd like to top it off with a World Series win in two more games here, but more importantly than all that, I want to be able to look back and say that I made a difference in someone's life. 'Cause that's what it's really all about. If I made a difference in someone's life, then it's all been worth it."
~*~
The lights came back up, as the entire room sat in silence. Even AJ was quiet for once, still staring up at the screen behind the podium.
"Where's he going? Is he okay?" Felicia gestured towards the doorway. Stacy turned just in time to see Nick disappear. She hadn't even realized he had left.
Stacy sighed. "I'll be right back." She pushed her chair back and started after him, making a mental note NEVER to wear heels again, no matter what Felicia told her. Felicia was solely to blame if Stacy ended up breaking her ankle.
"Nick, are you okay?" She caught up with him halfway down the hallway outside the banquet room, catching a hold of his elbow.
"Don't." He pulled his arm back, before leaning against the wall. The hallway wasn't crowded, but it was still far from deserted, staff and reporters hurrying back and forth.
"Are you going to be okay, or do you want to leave?" She was worried now. The video must have hit him fairly hard.
Nick chewed on his lower lip for a moment; his hands balled up and shoved into the pockets of his black dress pants. "I want to leave." He said finally.
"Okay." She patted his arm, in spite of his pulling away earlier. "I'm going to get my stuff, I'll be right back. Okay? Wait here."
"What's going on?" AJ demanded when she arrived back at the table to grab her bag. The room had more or less come back to life, and he had to speak up to be heard over the din of conversation in the background.
"I'm taking Nick home." Stacy caught herself before she toppled to the floor. What she wouldn't give right now for a pair of flat shoes.
"Bummer." AJ commented as she headed for the door again. "I'll cover for you!" He added.
"Don't run off on me like that." Nick's voice was climbing with every word.
"Sorry." She hadn't ran off, but then again, he was flipping out, so she just let it slide. "Come on, let's go."
"You drive." He announced when the car appeared, climbing in the passenger side and shutting the door firmly.
That was weird enough in itself. Stacy could count the number of times she had driven with Nick in the car on one hand. He always drove. She slipped her shoes off and threw them in the back seat. Driving was another thing added to the list of things she couldn't do while in heels.
Things were fairly quiet for most of the ride. Stacy concentrated on the road, and Nick remained curled up against the side of the door, his arm pulled up over his face. They were less than ten minutes from home when he started crying.
