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“You can get dressed now, Mr. Carter.” Nurse Polak said as she turned around and walked towards the door, but before she walked out, she turned her head towards Nick who was struggling to get his shirt on. “We will have the X-rayresults in about 20 minutes. Dr. Peterson will then discuss the results with you.”
By that time, Nick finally had his shirt on, and he nodded politely. Those minutes were going to take forever. He sighed and raked a hand through his blonde hair. He knew he’d better get back to the waiting room where the other guys were probably biting their nails. But he didn’t want to be around them just now. On the way over to the hospital, he felt their sympathy, but their concerns too. Those made him feel guilty, even though he had told them he’d try not to.
They were just about to start touring again, and now he was the one screwing that up, even though he had no control of his illness at this point. Life just wasn’t fair, he thought. When a nurse opened the door to find him in there, she gently asked him to leave, she needed the room for another patient. She closed the door again, so Nick would have at least one more quiet moment for himself.

After making sure he didn’t leave his pants unzipped or anything, he opened the door and headed for the waiting room, where he found the others doing anything to distract themselves. Kevin was writing something, probably some lyrics. Howie was flipping through a science magazine and his other two friends were discussing politics, but everyone immediately stopped with what they were doing when they saw him enter the room.

“And?”
“Nothing yet, Frick. They’ll have the results in about 15 minutes.”
Everyone just nodded and Nick sat down next to Brian, staring at the wall. Brian knew that look, his friends just wanted to be left alone for a moment, so he continued his discussion with A.J. while glancing at his youngest friend every now and then, making sure he was alright.

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Peterson entered the room. Nick looked at him, but he couldn’t tell if things were bad or not, the doc had a undenominational look on his face. “Mr. Carter?”
Nick nodded, then got up and shook the hand Dr. Peterson was offering him.
“Will you please follow me to my office?”
“We can talk here, if you don’t mind, Dr...”
“Peterson. Are you sure you don’t want to..”
Nick interrupted him, feeling his nerves were getting the better of him. “In here’s fine..”
Dr. Peterson gestured for Nick to take a seat, and followed his example. He cleared his throat when he noticed the five men were looking at him, eager to find out what the test results were.
“Mr. Carter, I’m sorry to tell you this. The cancer has spread.”

Nick's eyes went wide as he heard the words drip from the doctor's lips, his body going rigid in his seat.
"Wha-what?" The youth breathed, his voice barely audible. "It couldn't have...it can't...I-I...how?"
"Your cancer has indeed spread Mr. Carter. I'm sorry." Dr Peterson pulled out a large x-ray, pointing to various areas. "As you can see, there's an extensive amount of spreading not only around your lungs but in them as well." Brian made a small sound as though someone had kicked him, causing all the air to rush from his being as he gasped for breath.
"Shit," AJ was muttering, clutching his sunglasses so tightly in his hand they had begun to crack. "Shit, shit, shit."
"How did it spread so quickly?" Howie asked softly, his brown eyes shining with unshed tears.
"I see in my records," Dr. Peterson sighed, "That Mr. Carter was given a diagnosis two months ago. Due to the fact that he failed to start any type of treatments, the cancer spread. Mr. Carter, you were informed that this could happen. Why did you chose a path of such negligence?"

"I don't know." Nick mumbled, his eyes falling to his hands in his lap. "I was scared."
"While your fears are understandable, you do realized that you have just lessened your chances to beat this disease." Nick's head shot up at the statement, his blue eyes wide.
"Does that mean I have no chance?"
"No but you do have a much bigger fight to wage." The doctor let out a long sigh as his pager went off, bringing it out of his pocket and gazing at it with a tired smile. "Duty calls. Mr. Carter, I'd like to further discuss your options and if possible, begin some of the treatments today. Would you be able to meet me later this afternoon, say, around 4pm?" Nick simply nodded, his eyes on the floor as he tried to stifle the suffocating feeling building up inside of him.
"Very well. My office is on this floor, room 415. I'll see you all later." Silence hovered over the five men as they watched the doctor leave, none of them daring to speak, too wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"Um," Kevin began after a moment as he cleared his throat. "Nicky-"
"I can't." Was all the blonde said before jumping to his feet and running out of the waiting room. He took the stairs down, taking two at a time, his heart pounding as he ran out of the hospital. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed his keys, jogging over to his car and jumping in. His hands shook as he turned on the engine, his thoughts racing as he tried to stay in control. Run away. He had to run away. Stomping on the gas, he flew down the highway, his car becoming a black blur as he drove faster and faster, not paying attention to where he was heading. But he was there before he knew it, swerving into a parking space and scrambling out of the car. Throwing open the doors, his eyes darted around the room, finding the building completely deserted. He was only four steps in before he fell to his knees, his throat closing up on him as the tears began to fall. "Why?" He whispered, his voice echoing and bouncing off the walls of the church. "God, why?" His body shook as he cried, and he wrapped his arms around himself, rocking slowly back and forth as he tried to comprehend the gravity of his situation. "I'm not that strong." Nick sobbed, his vision blurred by tears as he gazed at the painted windows and the alter before him. "I'm not that strong. I don't know what to do." He continued to cry, his thoughts plauged with his friends futures, his family and the idea that he may never get a chance to see what was to become of them all.

“Erm guys? We should go find him.” A.J. struggled with words, while he looked at his eldest friend, who was staring at the ceiling. “Kev?” But he didn’t reply, nor did the others. A.J. then grabbed Brian by the sholders and shook him gently, which caused his friend to lift his head and stare at him with a distant look on his face. “Rok, we need to go find Nicky.” In response, Brian nodded slightly, but made no effort to get up.
“You’re right, Jay.. but he could be anywhere right now.” Howie said as he blinked the tears away. “I know, but we can’t just sit here and wait for him to show up, cause he probably won’t.” A.J. responded and again tried to get Kevin’s attention, but he didn’t succeed in doing so the first time he said his name. “KEV!”
That got a response from him, he looked at the younger friend who had yelled him to get his ass back on this earth and pay attention to whatever it was that he said. A.J. continued, “We need to go find him buddy.” Kevin cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that was stuck in it. Finally, he managed to whisper some words as he avoided their stares. “I-I can’t drive.”
Howie got up, walked over to him and placed his hand Kevin’s shoulder. “Me and Jay will drive. You join me and Brian can join Alex. Alright?” Kevin nodded his head as he slowly got up out of his seat and walked towards the door. Finally Brian realised what had been said and got on his feet as well. The four men dragged themselves towards the parking lot, each one with their own thoughts and fears.