“What the hell man? Whadya want?” Vinnie slurred, still half asleep.
“Shit man, I saw her again. She was getting her mail.” Marcus grinned.
“Good for you.”
“You’ll say that when you see her. I asked her out.” Marcus flopped onto the cluttered and torn couch.
“And?”
“Well, she still seems a little shy or something, but believe me, I will have her.” Marcus kicked his feet up, smiling confidently.
Brian sat quietly in the small room waiting for his speech therapist to come in and start the session. This had been an ongoing process that he had started in the hospital and was slowly regaining his strength in his speech and motor skills.
“Hey Brian, you ready to have another go at it today?” Carol, his speech therapist questioned.
“Hi Carol, as ready as I can be, I guess,” Brian replied. “Do you know how much longer this is going to be going on with me?”
Carol laughed softly and then asked in a mock hurt tone of voice, “Are you getting tired of me already?”
Brian smiled a lop sided grin. “No, it’s not that I’m getting tired of you, I’m getting tired of all of this!” He watched as Carol shook her head and started writing down things in his chart.
“Okay, are you ready to start?”
“As ready as I can be, I guess,” Brian replied, the lack of enthusasiam evident in his voice.
As Sammy watched the jeep pull away, she couldn’t shake the feelings of deja vu about that guy that had the seizure in the store. She knew she had seen him some place before, but she just couldn’t place him at all and it was bothering her.
Going back into the store, she went to straighten the clothes that the man had taken down with him when he had his seizure. Her friend Chris approached her and knelt down to help her with the clothing.
“Chris, that was so weird this morning with the guy and the seizure. I could have sworn I’ve seen him before,” she stated as she grabbed a handful of jeans.
“Probably a regular customer.”
“No, and that’s the weird thing about it, he actually made it a point to deny that I had seen him before. I remember faces and this one I remember and it’s bugging me that I can’t place it!”
As Sammy started folding some sweaters, a thought came to her. “Hey, do you remember that big thing that was going on a few months ago with that one guy from a band and that one girl?”
“Got me,” Chris replied.
“No! Christina! Listen to me! It was that boy band group, god, and that one girl! Remember now? He just died like a week or two ago!”
“Yeah and so? You telling me he came back to life to the mall or something?”
“Don’t you get it? He died but I’m betting he didn’t die!” Sammy stated quickly. “Yeah, that’s it, they faked his death or something! There was a psycho guy that was after both of them and he hurt that Nick with some stuff in his water and it ruined his voice. Oh my god, that guy! His voice was really weird sounding! It was him! It had to be him!”
“I think you’ve completely lost it Sammy,” Chris replied as she walked away from her co-worker, nearly knocking over a customer in the process.
“Hey AJ!” Todd, AJ’s personal body guard rushed up. “Hey, AJ!”
“Yeah Todd, what now?” AJ sighed.
“You’d never believe the gossip I heard at the mall this morning,” Todd began his story, taking a seat across from AJ.
AJ sipped his coffee, barely looking up from the paper he was reading.
Not paying attention to AJ’s lack of focus on the conversation, Todd continued. “There were these two girls talking and they pretty much said that Nick was at the American Eagle and had a seizure in the store!”
AJ lowered the paper and stared at Todd, not saying a word.
“And get this, they said this guy’s voice was raspy sounding like it had been injured and shit and there was this girl that was with him. They said he had his death faked!”
“Todd, that is the sickest joke you could ever possibly play on me,” AJ replied, his voice choked with emotion. “Get out of here, NOW!”
I woke up suddenly, thinking I was laying on the floor at the mall. I remembered going down. As I gathered my bearings, I soon realized I was laying on the couch in the apartment that Lizz and I had rented.
Suddenly, I remembered that I had gotten one of those rotten seizures. “Oh shit,” I moaned.
“Nick?” Lizz questioned as she came into my view. “Are you okay? You’re not going to---”
“I’m fine,” I replied quickly.
“God, you scared the hell out of me at the mall,” Lizz reprimanded.
“Sorry.”
“Do you feel up to your therapy session today?”
Therapy. Great, like I wanted to go there today. I still felt pretty tired and weak. “Yeah I better go to it, I guess.”
Lizz being the sweetheart that she was, helped me out to the jeep and drove the short distance to the hospital. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the session at all and the only thing that made me want to go was the possibility of seeing a glimpse of Brian or one of the guys. God, if I said that outloud, someone would have mistaken me for a love sick BSB fanatic or something.
After signing in, “Jack Carpenter” and his “driver friend Katie” sat out in the lobby, waiting for my name to be called. I was so not used to waiting in a lobby for anyone or anything. This was something I would have to learn to like while I was incognito.
“So, um, Jack, this seizure took you by suprise this morning, didn’t it? Gosh, it’s been months since you had one.”
I shifted nervously in my chair. I knew where this was heading and I wanted to avoid the confrontation at all costs.
“I guess.”
“Jack?” A nurse stated as she held a chart in her hands.
“Right here,” I sprung out of my seat quickly, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Jack, I’m going down to the cafeteria to grab some coffee while you have your session. Meet me down there when you’re done, okay?” Lizz directed.
I smiled back at her, trying my best to give her a heart melting grin.
“Yeah, right, I’m picking the conversation up when we meet again,” Lizz tossed back.
Crap, I would be in for it in less than two hours from now.
As the doors opened on the basement level, Lizz exited the elevator quickly. She was semi-clausterphobic and hated any place small - sort of like Brian, she smiled to herself. Putting her head down, she set off towards the cafeteria. She knew the hospital like the back of her hand and was able to navigate the halls easily.
Rounding the corner, she bumped into someone.
“Ohmygod, I’m so sorry,” Lizz excused herself quickly and then looked up into the face of the person she bumped into. Her heart leapt into her throat.
Marcus.
“Hey hotstuff, fancy meeting you here,” Marcus grinned.
“Oh, hi,” Lizz replied nervously. “I was getting some blood drawn, what brings you here?”
“Me? Oh, I’m making sure a sick friend is okay,” Marcus lied.
Lizz fidgeted nervously while Marcus leered at her. “Want to go get some coffee?” he asked with a tight smirk on his face.
“No, s-s-sorry, I really need to get moving,” Lizz stammered.
In a suprise move, Marcus reached out and grabbed Lizz’s arm. “Hold on hotstuff, what’s your hurry? I just want to have coffee with a pretty girl.”
Lizz jerked her arm away from his grasp. She knew she was risking pissing him off, but she wanted to break free of his hold.
“I said I need to go,” Lizz growled.
Everything happened suddenly, catching Lizz completely offguard. Marcus pushed her through a swinging door, that led to a dark, musty smelling room. He pinned her body to the wall and started rubbing his face against hers, the strong smell of sweat was almost overpowering. The stubble on his cheeks scratched her skin.
“Please!” Lizz cried out. “Oh god, no!”
A touch on her shoulder snapped Lizz out of her trance.
“Are you okay?”
Lizz turned and was face to face with Brian.
I jumped about a mile when I felt the gentle touch on my shoulder. When I turned around, my shock doubled. “Brian!” I gasped.
He blinked. “Are you okay? You were dreaming or something and you cried out.”
I nodded numbly. I didn’t miss the look that had passed through his face. A look that showed that I had caught him off guard. I had said his name as if I knew him, not as a fan and he immediately picked up on that. My mind immediately went back to that little nightmare and I shuddered. This was the second one already. Yeah, I was prone to nightmares, but sheesh. I looked around the cafeteria to reassure myself that Marcus was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t.
“Are you sure?” Brian gazed at me with those blue eyes of his. For a moment, all I could do was stare right back into them. They were so full of loss and sadness that my heart ached. Like a window to his soul. And here he was, all concerned about me. Go figure, that was Brian for ya.
“A little better now, thanks. How are you doing?” I said softly.
Brian’s eyes widened a little bit. “You...you...” He stammered.
“Look like Claire Daines? Yeah I have been told that before.” I said quickly. Okay honestly I have been told that although I don’t see it. Although with this short blond cut, maybe I looked more like her now.
“I guess.” He said reluctantly.
“Are you in a hurry? You want to sit with me for awhile?” I asked, my voice hesitant.
He raised an eyebrow. “Sure, my friend isn’t due to pick me up for another few minutes and he will no doubt be late.” He pulled up a chair across from me and sat down slowly. He never took his eyes off me and I could tell he was studying me closely.
I wasn’t sure whether or not to tell him who I was. On one hand, was that playing with fire? On the other hand, I was a bit of a pyromaniac if you want to use the same metaphor. Besides, did he know already? He seemed suspicious, but I wasn’t sure.
“That must have been a rough nightmare, you were pretty upset.” Brian commented.
“Yeah, a repeating one to boot.” I agreed. I thought back to the few times I had fallen asleep in his room and woken up from a nightmare so maybe he was remembering that too.
“How are you really doing, Brian?” I asked gently.
Again, I got that perplexed look. Like he wanted to guess that it could be me, but didn’t want to risk it and wasn’t sure of himself enough to find a way to hint at it.
“Well, I am sure you know much of what has gone on seeing as how it’s been in the news and everything. I miss him more than words can say. We have been pretty much together for almost 10 years and now suddenly he isn’t. I feel lost.” He stopped, his voice choking. He bowed forward, trying to compose himself.
My heart ached for him so bad. I hated to see him hurt. “He misses you too hun.” I whispered.
Brian’s head shot up like a rubberband. “Lizz?” He whispered, almost afraid to believe it.
I nodded, my eyes filling with tears.
“Oh no, don’t cry. Hey, shhhhhh.” He soothed, putting his hand on mine.
“It’s okay, people might think I was just a hormonal fan or something.” I laughed a little through my tears. He did too which made me feel better.
He shook his head, looking me over again. I can’t believe how different you look.”
“Me neither.” I chuckled.
Brian looked around. “Is he here?”
“Yup, in his speech therapy. I think he was hoping to run into you and I am sure he will at some point, but you know how risky this is? We’ve got to not make a habit of this, but somehow we should find a way to sneak one of you to see the other one.” I said, keeping my voice low.
Brian’s eyes lit up and I couldn’t help but grin. “How is he coping with all this?”
My smile dropped. “Okay, except he had a seizure this morning. I found his pills and he has been skipping. I let him down and let you down. I should have been staying on top of his ass better than that.”
Brian shook his head. “Don’t blame yourself. Do know why he skipped?”
I shrugged holding back a sigh. “I didn’t get a chance to ask him. I brought it up in the waiting room, but he got called in before he could answer. Believe me, I intend on finding out why and I’ll get him back on track. Besides he knows I will skip mine if he does.”
“No Lizz. We don’t need both of you sick. Please take care of yourself and he needs to too.” Brian pleaded. He saw the effectiveness in Nick and I’s ongoing plan to skip whenever the other did, but he didn’t like it at all.
“I will and so will he. Crap, AJ’s coming. I guess this is it...” I said reluctantly.
Brian nodded. “You take care and stay strong. And for Nick too. Remember what I said, you guys can pull each other through anything, this included. You’re both in my prayers.” He whispered, squeezing my hand.
I desperately willed the tears that had formed in my eyes not to fall. “Thank you. And you are also. Believe me, we draw strength knowing you are here and being strong.”
“Hey bud, you ready to go?” AJ smacked his hand lightly on Brian’s shoulder. He tossed me a curious look. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I whispered back. He looked like shit. His eyes were red and he looked like he hadn’t been sleeping all that well. I felt a pang of guilt, but there was nothing I could do. The man couldn’t keep a secret worth anything and letting anyone else in on this was too big a risk. I hated it, but I wasn’t going to go up against Kevin on this one.
“What’s going on?” AJ looked skeptically from Brian to me, noticing the high levels of emotion.
“Oh, her brother is in the hospital and we were just talking for a few minutes.” He shifted his gaze to me. “What did you say his name was again?”
“Oh, uh, Jack.” I stammered.
Brian scrawled a short note on the napkin and shoved it at me. He stood up and I did with him. “Thank you. He’s a big fan and I am sure an autograph would really cheer him up.” I said, my voice threatening to get all shaky.
“Anything to help.” Brian nodded with a wink. On impulse I leaned over and gave him a hug. He seemed surprised at first, but returned the tight squeeze. It shouldn’t have looked weird cause fans always wanted a hug.
They both went on their way. A last reassuring smile from Brian and a tired one from AJ and they were gone. Okay, not gonna cry. I glanced at my watch and decided I could head back to where Nick was. When I got there he was already sitting in the waiting room. He still looked exhausted, but not as bad as before. I smiled, knowing how to cheer him up. The napkin was in my pocket and I hadn’t read it.
“Hey hun, how are ya?” I asked softly.
“Beat.”
“I have something that might make you feel a little better. If I let you have it, will you promise me something?” I said quietly. The waiting room was nearly empty. Just one elderly woman and her husband, but still.
“What?” He gave me an unsure look.
“That when we get home, we can talk about this med issue?” Geez, that sounded weird. When we get home...
“Like I was going to get out of that anyway. Go on, what’s going to cheer me up?” Nick urged.
I dug the napkin out of my pocket and handed it to him. The smile that appeared on his face melted my heart.
