The tension was thick in the air as everyone gaped at Nick standing in the doorway. The hopes that they had misunderstood what Nick uttered was quickly dashed when he repeated, “Who’s this?”

Kevin wrapped an arm around Aaron, guiding him towards the older Carter. “Nicky, this is Aaron.”

Nick’s response was a mere shrug of his shoulders and a slight nod.

Aaron’s heart sank at his brothers reaction, his disappointment quickly turned into hope as thoughts of Nick the prankster popped into his head. This has to he a practical joke!

“Ha, Nick good one! You had me going there!”

Knowing what Aaron was thinking, Brian quickly took Nick by the arm. “C’mon Nick lets go walk out and check to see if the mail came.”

“It’s Sunday…”

Kevin and Brian simultaneously shot AJ a dark look.

“Yeah Nick, go with Brian and I’ll see about getting dinner started,” Kevin added.

Tears started pooling in the young boys eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

“I guess Jane didn’t tell you much of anything that has been going on with your brother the past three years,” AJ rasped.

“How about you go out and help Brian get the mail,” Kevin glared.

AJ folded his arms across his chest as he leaned back into the chair. “Nope, I’m sitting tight.”

“Then go and ask Brian to take Nick to the store to get milk or something……please!”

Once AJ left the room, the Kentuckian took a seat at the kitchen table, gesturing to Aaron to sit down. Taking a deep breath, Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose as he gathered his thoughts.

“Okay, Nick was in the adult foster care home and to us, he wasn’t getting better. We saw improvement when we came to visit him and take him places once your folks gave approval for us to take on overnight stays and things. Basically, Nick seemed a twenty-five year old man left with an eight year old mentality. Sun Valley was telling us this would be the best your brother could ever be. He would need twenty four hour care for the rest of his life.”

Aaron’s cell rang, interrupting Kevin. Pulling the device from his pants pocket, the young man glanced to see who was calling and quickly silenced the phone.

“Go on, please.”

“Nick was having what we were calling flash backs and each time what we called ‘the old Nick’ stayed with us for longer periods of time. The last episode caused your brother to have a nervous breakdown which was triggered when he realized he couldn’t read. Something as simple as reading a menu in a restaurant caused him to go into shock. I guess you’d say his worlds collided.”

This time it was AJ entering the kitchen that interrupted Kevin.

“Dickhead didn’t want to go to the grocer, but I convinced him it was in their best interest.” AJ noted Kevin’s puzzled expression. “Dickhead as in your cousin.”

“I knew who you were talking about,” Kevin replied with disgust.

“And then?” Aaron questioned.

“Oh, well then your brother was admitted to the psychiatric wing of the hospital---”

“That guy was a quack!” AJ muttered.

“GO OUT FOR A CIGARETTE OR SOMETHING!” Kevin Richardson shouted.

“Please AJ, stop interrupting Kevin!” Aaron begged. “I want to know what’s wrong with Nick.”

With a scowl on pasted on his face, AJ sunk into a chair.

“The doctor prescribed an assortment of anti anxiety meds, anti depressants and a few others. Basically Nick was on seven new medications along with the other meds he had been taking most of his life. The meds your brother was on caused a number of things, weight gain was one of them.”

“I-I have to admit, I was shocked to see how big Nick had gotten when I saw him,” Aaron agreed.

“In the best interest of your brother, I took him off all the stuff he has been on for the past two years or so but in doing so I think I’ve compromised his progress.”

“Stop blaming yourself Kev,” AJ interjected. “Nicky will come around.”

“What do you mean compromised his progress?” the teenager wondered.

“Nick was starting to act more like his old self except for he was in a medicated fog most of the day or at least when he was awake. Ever since he‘s been coming off the medication I think he‘s starting to slip.”

Aaron shook his head. “Mom said Nick was fine, he was just recovering from being in the hospital. That bitch---”

“Don’t talk about your mother like that,” Kevin interrupted.

“Fucking bitch is anything but a mother!”

“I agree with Aaron, that woman is a---”

Kevin shot a dark look at the tattooed rebel.  “DON”T YOU DARE!” he shouted.

“What?”

“I know what you were thinking about saying and don’t go there!”

“Like you’re a saint when it comes to talking about Jane Carter.”

Kevin turned a shade of crimson. “Just drop it please.”

“Has Jane come to see my brother lately?”

Kevin instantly winced when Aaron addressed his mom by her given name instead of calling her mom.

“No, I think your mother last saw your brother when he was in the hospital the first time before he went into the adult care home,” Kevin recalled.

“Jane is a piece of work,” AJ rasped.

Aaron nodded his head in agreement. “I hate to say it, but Bone’s right.”

Kevin sighed as he tried to shift the focus from Jane’s inadequacies as a parent. “Does that explain why Nick didn’t recognize you when he saw you today?”

“I guess so…..so what we’re looking at is do we put Nick back on the meds or just let him slip away?”

The reality of the seventeen year olds thoughts hit Kevin as if he had been slapped in the face.

“I honestly don’t know what to do….”

“Probably put Nick back on the meds,” AJ replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Lets face it, Nick didn’t really seem to care what the medication was doing to him; doubtful that he knew what was happening to him as far as weight, sluggishness and all that bullshit. I think keeping him on the meds is the best thing we can do for him, don’t you agree kid?”

“Probably….I guess so. I mean I just saw Nick for three minutes before Brian took him out of the room.”

“Kevin has the authority to do that, Jane did sign off on your brother, didn’t she Kev?” AJ asked.

The eldest band member drew a hand over his face in a defeated gesture. “Something like that…”