Chapter 29
When Nick left
the hospital later that day, he had traded in his crutches for the dreaded
chemo pump. As he made his way out to
his car, the switch almost seemed worthwhile, for it felt extremely nice not to
have to haul himself around on crutches.
According to Dr. Kingsbury, the fracture was healed, and he could put weight
on the leg again. This was easier said
than done though, for his leg was weak from six weeks of not using it, and he
still had to wear the brace for another week.
His gait resembled that of a crippled robot as he painfully limped
through the parking lot and prayed no one was watching.
As he climbed
into his car, his stomach rumbled with hunger.
He had not eaten breakfast that morning out of nerves, and now that the
appointment was over, he was famished.
He considered stopping for a late lunch on his way out of town, but
opted against it. He wanted to make it
back to Orlando before the nausea started and also knew that whatever he ate
would only come back up again later.
He made it back
to the Clandestine in record time and even managed to beat the nausea. Still, though he felt fine at the moment, he
decided to retreat to his room rather than tracking down the others, not
wanting to take any chances of getting sick while they were around. He made it up to the suite without being
spotted, hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob, and went inside,
immediately unstrapping the brace from his leg and pulling off his jeans. He left both in a heap on the floor and
climbed into his bed, which a maid had already been by to change. Slipping between the freshly laundered sheets
in just his t-shirt and boxers, he let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes,
hoping he could sleep through the queasiness that he knew would rear its ugly
head sooner or later.
***
Nick was awakened
by muffled screams and crashes. Sitting
up in confusion, he realized the sounds were seeping through the thin wall
behind him, from the adjacent suite… AJ’s room.
“What the fuck is
he doing in there?” he muttered out loud.
He tried to lie back down, but now he could not sleep. Grunting, he rolled over onto his stomach,
reached up, and slapped his palm against the wall as hard as he could, several
times. Maybe that would get the point
across. He waited, listening for a
moment, then hit the wall again.
Suddenly, the sounds stopped, and the room felt into silence. With a sigh, Nick rolled back over and slid
down into the little cocoon he had created beneath the covers, anxious to
return to the dreamless escape AJ had abducted him from.
No such
luck. No sooner had he gotten
comfortable and let his eyes fall shut then they flew open again at the sound
of loud knocking on his door. “Go away,”
he murmured groggily, burying his head in his pillow and willing his visitor to
leave. But the knocker was persistent
and kept beating on the door.
Groaning, he
rolled out of bed. As soon as he stood
up, pain ripped through his left shin, and his stomach was gripped with
nausea. “Shit.” Gritting his teeth and holding his stomach,
he shuffled across the floor, not bothering to put on his pants. He flung open the door to find, as expect, AJ
standing in the hall. But it was not
just AJ – Brian, Kevin, and Howie were right behind him.
“He emerges!”
cried AJ melodramatically.
“What do you
want?” Nick muttered flatly.
“What do you
want? You were the one beating on the
wall.”
“Only to get the
noise to stop. What the fuck were you
doing in there?”
“Watching
‘Godzilla.’ AMC’s having a cheesy old
Asian horror movie marathon!” AJ announced gleefully. In a terrible Japanese accent, he pointed
down the hall and screamed, “Godzilla!
Godzilla!”
“Shh, AJ, we’re
in a hotel!” Kevin hissed, but Brian laughed and started imitating the way the
dubbed voices didn’t match up with the people’s mouths in the movie.
Nick just stood
there, his mouth pressed into an expressionless line. “Well, could you maybe keep it down in
there? Some people are trying to sleep.”
“It’s the middle
of the afternoon; why the hell are you sleeping?” asked AJ.
“I don’t feel
good, okay?” Nick snapped. “Now leave me
the fuck alone.”
“You don’t have
to talk to us that way - we get the point, Nick,” Brian said irritably, while
AJ just flashed Nick his middle finger behind Brian’s back.
“Sorry,” Nick
mumbled unapologetically. “I’m going
back to bed; please don’t bug me anymore.”
“Yes, Your
Majesty,” scoffed AJ, rolling his eyes.
And then he left,
the others following without a backwards glance. Only Howie stopped and said quickly, “Hope
you feel better soon, Nicky,” then continued on back to AJ’s room.
Nick shook his
head, turned, and went back into his own room, shutting and bolting the door
behind him. He climbed back into bed and
listened, half-expecting AJ to crank up the volume on his TV again just to piss
him off. But, straining his eyes, all he
could hear were muffled voices coming from behind the paper thin wall. He started to bury his head in his pillow
once more and go to sleep, but when he heard one of those voices say his name,
he perked up in interest. Knowing he
shouldn’t be trying to eavesdrop, yet too curious not to, he sat up and leaned
against the wall, pressing one ear up to it.
He could just
barely make out what they saying, but it seemed to go something like this…
“What the hell is
going on with him?”
“I dunno... but
he looked like crap. Is he sick?”
“Again? He was just sick like two week ago!”
“You know, maybe
this is just some scam to get out of doing the album. Maybe he wants out of the group and just
doesn’t want to tell us.”
“AJ, Nick
wouldn’t do that.” That was Brian. Nick smiled a little, grateful to his best
friend for jumping to his defense. “No,
I think there’s something more than that going on.”
“But what?”
If only you
knew, Nick thought,
slowly sliding back down onto the bed.
He had heard enough. They were
suspicious, and he knew that this was the end of the road. He was going to have to come clean with them,
and soon, or they would find out themselves.
This week. He had to tell them
the truth.
Tomorrow, Nick thought with a yawn, nausea still
panging his stomach. He curled up on his
side in the fetal position, one arm gently massaging his tender stomach, and
closed his eyes, willing sleep to overtake him.
***