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Against All Odds - Chapter Ten


Dr. Jonas waited quietly outside the heavy door, waiting for AJ to acknowledge her. After
a few moments without a reply, she slipped the key into the door and let herself in, finding
AJ laying in bed, his tear stained eyes open and staring at the ceiling.



“Alex?”



The doctor again waited for a response, but was met only with silence. With her hand, she
tightened her grip on the newspapers that were folded underneath her arm. The rustling
of the paper finally got AJ to look away from the ceiling and towards her, but only for a
moment.



“Alex, I brought some newpapers for you---”



“I don’t feel like reading,” AJ interrupted, his voice lacked all emotion.



“It’s about your accident and the plane crash,” the doctor continued.



AJ glanced at the papers that she sat down on the bedstand. He didn’t want to look at
them, this would only confirm her story, and he was hoping that this was some sort of sick,
bizzaire dream that he would wake up from.



“I don’t feel like reading,” AJ repeated.



“You are going to have to face this sooner or later, Alex,” Dr. Jonas stated quietly.



Sighing loudly, AJ squeezed his eyes shut, allowing the tears that had threatened to fall,
slip down his cheeks. He felt the doctor’s hand on his shoulder and he quickly shrugged it
off. “Just leave me alone.”



“I will be back later,” Dr. Jonas replied as she turned to leave the room.



AJ laid in the bed, staring at the pile of papers for awhile, debating on looking at them. He
threw the covers off him, and walked over to the sink and mirror. He stared at the
relection, still shocked at seeing his face bare, no moustache or goatee. Turning the faucet
on, he cupped the cold water in his hands, splashing it on his face.



As he sat back onto the bed, he stared at the folded papers. He agonized over whether or
not he wanted to look at them. Sighing, he decided he needed to pick up the pieces of his
life and try to get better and face reality.



The first paper he picked up had the words written in bold letters: BACKSTREET’S A.J.
McLEAN IN COMA



It went from bad to worse when the next paper declared that he was brain injured and
that his hopes for a full recovery were nil. There were pictures of the group as well as
pictures of himself. The dates on the papers were within the first week of the accident.



The next paper had a picture of plane wreckage strewn about in the Atlantic Ocean. The
date on the paper was May 8, 2002. The headlines: CRASH TAKES FIVE LIVES



Below the caption were individual head and shoulder pictures of Nick, Brian, Howie, Kevin
and his mother. The tears filling his eyes blurred his vision, falling in large drops onto the
newspaper. AJ laid down onto the bed, curling up into a ball as he wept.