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Nick was excited as he was getting dressed to go
and spend a few hours away from the hospital. He was happy
when Dr. Gaynor told him he could go. There were so many
things that Nick wanted to do, wanted to see. He completely
forgot about his limitations at the moment.



Jess was trying to think of places that Nick would
want to go to. Everything she thought of would be
impossible since he was in a wheelchair and she didn’t have
the physical strength to help him. She was beginning to
wonder if this was such a good idea after all. She was
afraid that after this trip he would become even more
depressed. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open
to Nick’s room.



“I’m ready to go.” Nick was sitting in his chair,
dressed. The smile on his face was something that Jess
hadn’t seen in weeks.



“Do you know where you want to go?” Jess asked.


“I don’t care where I go, I just want to get the
hell away from this place. I am so sick of it.” Nick
replied.



“Okay, I guess I’ll have to lead the way since you
won’t know where you’re going.” Jess turned and opened the
door for Nick.


As they were in the elevator, Jess kept thinking
about all of the obsticals that Nick would encounter and
wondered if he was up to it. The first hurdle would be him
getting into her car that was parked out front. Jess hoped
that there wouldn’t be a crowd outside watching the comings
and goings at the hospital. She didn’t know how Nick will
be getting himself into a car.



“I parked the Cherokee out front.” Jess told Nick
as they got off the elevator and walked through the lobby.



So far so good. Jess was thinking to herself. She
was silently praying that things would go okay.



The warm Florida air felt good on his face. Nick
took a deep breath in. The fresh air felt like nothing he
had ever experienced before in his life. He never thought
he would appreciate it, but after weeks of breathing the
stale hospital air, this was like a new awakening. He
wheeled the chair over to Jess’s vehicle and quickly
surveyed the situation. It was higher than what he was used
to moving himself in and out of. The hospital model was a
bit lower. Nick knew that he would have to really use his
upper body to successfully get in.


Jess scanned the area and was upset to see a flock
of photographers standing on the lawn. One of them had seen
Nick and was using a telephoto lense and was taking pictures
already. She hoped that Nick didn’t see the guy.



“Okay, I’m gonna try this.” Nick said quietly.
His desperation to leave was overcoming his fear of falling
flat on his back.



“Is there anything I can do to help?” Jess
offered.



“NO.” Nick snapped back at her.



Jess took a step back but was still behind Nick as
if she would be able to protect him from hurting himself.
She watched as Nick successfully pulled himself out of the
chair and slid into the passenger seat. As he was adjusting
himself and buckeling in, she folded his chair and put it
into the backseat.


Nick could feel the sweat on his forehead. He was
happy that he accomplished his mission on getting into the
car without looking foolish. As he turned to watch Jess get
into the car, he noticed the paparazzi on the front lawn.



“Damn them bastards. Why can’t they leave me
alone?” Nick said outloud. “Jess, will you be able to
outrun these jerks?”



“I dunno, I will give it my best shot, Nick.”
Jess sighed.



As she sped away, she looked in the rearview
mirror to see if any cars had followed them out of the
parking lot. She was relieved to see that it appeared that
they were alone as far as fans go.



Nick settled back into his seat and looked out the
window as Jess steered the car onto the highway. For the
first time in weeks, Nick felt free. He was anxious to be
released from the hospital permanently. He was tired of
tests, theraphy, drugs, the whole thing. He stopped taking
his prozac this morning because he was feeling better. Nick
didn’t like taking stuff and this pill seemed to him to be
something that clouded his thoughts. He didn’t want to take
a pill that would make him happy.



“I bet cha you’re hungry for McDonald’s, am I
right?” Jess was trying to think of stuff that Nick would
like to do.


“God, that does sound good.” Nick replied.


Jess took the next exit that showed a billboard of
McDonald’s. She knew that was something she could get
without having to leave the car. As they pulled into the
parking lot, she asked Nick what he wanted.



“My usual. I would eat the paper right now, this
is gonna be better than that crap I get at the hospital.”
Nick said.



A cheerful voice greeted Jess as she stopped at
the speaker to order. Nick liked going to McDonald’s when
Jess was driving. He liked going to McDonald’s when he was
driving. No one ever suspects Nick Carter ordering food at
a drive thru.



“Do you wanna eat in the parking lot?” Jess
asked.


“Hey, anything is fine with me.” Nick replied.



“What do you want to do after we eat?” Jess
asked.



“Do you have your cell phone on ya?” Nick asked.



“Yes, why, do you want to use it?” Jess asked
Nick as she handed the girl in the drive thru the money for
their order.



Nick nodded. Jess handed the drinks one at a time
to Nick and then the bag with the food. After she pulled
into a parking spot in the shade, she pulled the cell phone
out of her purse.



Nick took the phone and placed it on the
dashboard. “I’ll make a call after we’re done eating.”



As they were eating, Jess noticed that Nick kept
rubbing his left thigh.



“Is something bothering you?” she asked.



“No, I’m okay, why?” Nick replied.


Jess decided to drop it. “Nothing, I guess I’m
not use to seeing you verticle.” Jess tried to make a small
joke with Nick. He looked out the corner of his eye at her.



Nick laughed and then stopped laughing abruptly.
That was their way of saying to each other “funny, not.”



For a second, Jess thought that they had been
discovered by some fans. She saw a car full of teens park a
car and get out. One of the girls looked over at the car
and pointed discreetly. Jess heard the other girl say no
way and they walked into the restaurant.



“Wow, that was a close one. I guess no one would
expect you to be out and about right now. Must be MTV
hasn’t gotten wind of this.” Jess sighed. She glanced over
at Nick and saw that he was rubbing his leg again. “Nick,
what is wrong?”



“Huh?”



“Nickolas Carter, I know you better than that,
something is wrong.” Jess demanded an answer from him.



“I’m feeling something like pin pricks in this
thigh. It’s real dull, but it’s there and it doesn’t really
hurt or anything, it just bugs me.” Nick replied quietly.



“How long has this been going on?” Jess asked.



“A day or so. It’s been on and off, nothing
constant. It just gets annoying that’s all.” Nick looked
out the window as he spoke. He reached for the cell phone
and started dialing.

“Hey, how ya doin? I was wondering if me and Jess
could come up and see you. No, I’m out for a few hours.
McDonald’s. Yeah. Okay, just a sec.” Nick handed the
phone over to Jess. “Talk.”



“Hello?” Jess wasn’t sure who Nick had called.



“Hey.” the voice had a slight southern drawl.



“Brian?” Jess asked.



“How are things going?” Brian asked Jess.


“Okay. So what am I doing?” Jess asked Brian
while she looked at Nick.



“I guess you’re coming over to my place.” Brian
replied.



“Nick, you know you will have to go back to the
hospital soon.” Jess said.



“Screw that, I’m out, I don’t ever want to go
back.” Nick replied.



“Maybe it would be a good idea to come over. We’ll
see you in a few.” Jess closed the cover on the cell phone
and put it back on the dashboard. She was thinking to
herself that if Nick gave her any problems about going back
Brian would be there to back her up. Maybe Kev or Howie
would be there too.



The drive over to the apartment took over twenty
minutes. They hit every possible light on the street. As
Jess pulled into a parking space, she looked at the steps
leading to the front door of the condo that Brian lived in.
Nick was looking at the steps at the same time.



“I guess we forgot about those.” Jess said
quietly.



“There’s gotta be any easy way to do this.” Nick
tried to figure a plan out.



“Nick, I’m gonna have to call Brian and ask for
help. We will have to take you in backwards up the steps
and I can’t do that very well, I’m sure of that.” Jess
apologized.



Brian and Kevin came out the door after Jess
called. Kevin walked up to Nick’s side of the car.



“Hey, glad to see you out and about, buddy.”
Kevin smiled as he patted Nick on the shoulder.


Jess got out of the car and walked around to get
Nick’s chair out of the backseat. Kevin reached in and
pulled the chair out of the backseat before Jess could. He
opened it and then Jess took it and positioned it for Nick
by the side of the car. No one said anything as they
watched Nick scooch himself from the car to the wheelchair.
Everyone looked uncomfortable about it.



Kevin took ahold of the handles on the wheelchair
once Nick got to the first step. He turned it so Nick was
facing backwards and started pulling him up the six steps.
Once they got inside the condo, there was another five
carpeted steps Kevin had to pull him up.



Nick felt a little embarrassed about having to be
helped. No one said a word while this was going on. They
all felt the pain that Nick had to be feeling deep inside.



“Nick, we just made some pizza, do you guys want a
slice?” Brian asked.



“Oh, no thanks, we just ate.” Jess replied.



“I’ll take one.” Nick said.



Jess looked at him. “You just ate a quarter
pounder, supersize fries and a supersize coke and you’re
still hungry?”



“Yes.” Nick smiled. Eating was one of his
favorite hobbies. Nick always had a ravenous appetite.
Jess was hoping that he would learn to curb it since he
wouldn’t be as active as he was, but for right now it was
good to see him eat since he had lost about twenty pounds
since the accident.



“Jess, you want some coke or ice tea or
something?” Kevin asked as he gave Nick his slice of pizza.



“Anything is fine.” Jess answered.



Kevin looked at her and raised his eyebrows. He
looked at her and waited for another answer.


“Whatever you are getting yourself will be okay
with me.” Jess answered again.



“Okay.” Kevin said with a smile and returned with
a beer.



“I guess I should rephrase that. I’ll have a
soda.” Jess said.



Kevin again looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
He waited for another answer.



“Just get me any damn pop, dammit.” Jess laughed.



The guys laughed. Jess was always an easy target
to tease. As they visited for about an hour, Jess noticed
that Nick was rubbing his leg even more than before. He was
doing it slowly and appeared to be trying to hide doing it.



As Nick and Jess were getting ready to leave, Jess
looked over at Nick and into his eyes. They looked teary to
her. His face looked like he was in pain.



“Nicky, are you okay?” Brian noticed Nick was
having problems at the same time Jess was.



“No.” Nick’s answer was barely audible.


“What’s wrong?” Jess asked. “Is it your leg
again?”



Nick nodded. He hurt so much he didn’t want to
speak.



“We’ll try to get you back to the hospital as soon
as I can.” Jess was worried.



“How about I take you guys back, you can leave
your car here and one of us will take it to your house or
something later.” Kevin offered.



“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Brian
agreed. “I’ll go along too.”



“Let’s go down to the garage then.” Kevin said as
he pushed Nick through the kitchen over to the stairs that
would take them to the garage.


The ride down the stairs to the garage made Nick a
little nervous. Instead of being pulled backwards up the
stairs, they were pushing him one step at a time forward and
Nick almost felt like he could fall out of the chair. He
was in a lot of pain so that didn’t help his disposition
either.



Kevin’s car was a large luxury car. It reminded
Jess of something that someone would drive in a funeral
procession. Kev also had a truck. He was the oldest in the
group and probably looked more at practicality rather than
good looks and attention grabbers like Nick’s Prowler.



The drive back to the hospital seemed to go slow
to Nick. He was breathing shallow and hard. Jess could
tell he was in a lot of pain. His face was flushed and
sweaty. Finally, Nick couldn’t stand the pain anymore, he
let out a scream that was almost blood curdling.



Jess could see the worry in Kevin’s face as he
stomped on the gas to get the car going faster. Brian and
Jess were sitting in the backseat.



Brian took Jessica’s hand to try to calm her down.
As they approached the hospital, Kevin said,”Where do we go?
Which way?”


He was upset and he talked loud and fast.



“Calm down, just pull up to the front.” Brian was
calmer. Nick was quiet and kept gulping air and moaning.



Kevin stopped the car in front of the hospital.
Jess and Brian flew out of the backseat as Kevin popped the
trunk open. Brian grabbed the wheelchair and pulled it
hastily over to the passenger door. Kevin flung the door
open and Brian grabbed Nick under the arms and slid him to
the chair. He hastily put Nick’s feet on the stands and
then he pushed the chair into the hospital. Kevin didn’t
follow Jess and Brian. He was going to go park the car, but
changed his mind and slipped off his ignition key and gave
it to the valet parking boy and quickly got his receipt.



Kevin ran in and caught the elevator before the
doors closed.



“Brian, you take Nick to his room and I’ll stop at
the nurses station and let them know that something is
wrong.” Jess tried to take a handle on the situation.


Nick was grabbing his legs and moaning. No one
knew what was wrong and what Nick was feeling. Nick wasn’t
talking to anyone. His eyes were closed and he was rocking
his body back in forth.



As they got into Nick’s room, a nurse rushed in
right behind them. She didn’t waste anytime putting a blood
pressure cuff on Nick’s right arm and starting the machine.



“Nick, where does it hurt?” The nurse asked.



“My legs,OH GOD.” Nick yelled when the pain
sharply rose again.


“Can you describe it?” the nurse questioned
again.



Nick had his eyes closed and his head was tilted
back. First he shook his head no. “It just goddamn hurts.
Knife stabbing, hot. It just hurts. Awwwwwww.”



Kev, Brian and Jess looked at each other. Was
this something good or was this a bad thing. How long would
this last?



The nurse left the room.



“Nick, do you want to lay down? Maybe if you
stretch out it may help your legs.” Kevin offered.



Nick nodded. It sounded like a good idea, he was
willing to try to do anything to take the pain away.



Kevin pushed the chair over to the bed. “Let me
move you.”



Nick normally didn’t want anyone to touch him, he
wanted to be independent, but was glad that Kevin offered to
put him into the bed. It hurt so much that he didn’t think
he would be able to move himself.



Kevin picked his friend up under the arms and
placed him into the bed. Nick moaned while he was being
moved.


The nurse came back into the room with an IV pole
and a syringe.



“Oh god, not another IV.” Nick cried out.



“I’m not hooking you up to it yet, Dr. Gaynor told
me to wait until he checks you out. I do have some morph
for the pain,” the nurse said as she lowered Nick’s
waistband on his blue jeans. She exposed his hip and
swabbed it with rubbing alcohol. Nick flinched as she
injected the morphine into his body.



Suddenly, Nick felt warm. The pain was slowly
going away. He also felt very, very sleepy. He tried to
fight the sleepiness but finally drifted off.



“There, that should help him rest,” the nurse
stated as she saw Nick go to sleep. Without skipping a
beat, she picked up his left hand and strapped a band on his
upper arm and looked for a vein on the top of his hand. She
prepped it and started up an IV.



“I thought you told Nick you were waiting for Dr.
Gaynor before you did another IV?” Jess asked her.



“Yes, I did, but that was only because I knew that
the patient would be out once he got the morphine and I
could tell he was agitated about the IV and distressed and I
decided to wait until he was out before I set this up. It
would be so much easier and I knew he would be resistant.”



“What is he getting?” Jess asked.



“Dr. Gaynor wanted him to get more steroid for his
spine. The pain was an indicator that the nerves are
starting to respond again and IV steroids work more quickly
than when they’re injected.


“So you’re saying that there is still a chance
that Nick could walk again?” Brian was excited.



“Can’t say, but things are looking better today
than what they did yesterday.” The nurse responded as she
was leaving the room.



Brian and Jess hugged. They both felt as if their
prayers had been answered. Jess hugged Kevin. “I hope that
this pain is temporary and that Nick will be able to use his
legs again. I can’t bear to see him in agony. It hurts me
to see him this way.” Jess said outloud.