At the sound of his name, Kevin stood up abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled hoarsely and bolted,
escaping the room before anyone had a chance to stop him.
Nick looked from AJ to Howie to Brian in bewilderment. “What the…”
Brian cleared his throat.
“He hasn’t said much of anything since I told him. I, uh… I think this has something to do with
his dad.”
“Aww, crap. I’m sorry, Rok,
I shouldn’t have even brought that up,” AJ muttered, abashed. “I didn’t think he would react like that… I
mean, I thought he was over his dad…”
“He is. Or he was,” said
Brian. “But, um…” He shot Nick a sideways glance. “… now that Nick has… well… you know… I think
it’s reopening some wounds. You know
what I mean?”
AJ nodded silently.
“Nicky, maybe you should go talk to him,” suggested Howie.
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Well, I dunno… tell him… tell him you’re not going to be like his
dad. You’re going to beat this thing.”
Nick stared squarely at Howie.
“And how do you know that?”
Howie drew back. “Nick,
don’t say things like that. Of course
you’re going to beat it. You’re a
fighter; you’re not going to give up.”
“And Kevin’s dad didn’t fight?”
“That’s not what I meant!
I… oh, I dunno… I’m sorry, Nicky… forget I said anything…” Howie sighed, running his hands through his
black hair.
Nick shook his head. “It’s
okay,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry too… guess
I’m just not Mr. Optimism at the moment… I’m more in ‘glass is half empty’
mode.”
“Nick… I know it’s hard, but… you have to be optimistic,” Brian
said quietly. “You have to have
faith. This is a serious disease, but it
is beatable. This isn’t going to
be like what happened to Uncle Jerald.
He had colon cancer; it’s entirely different. You’re going to get through this.”
Nick offered his friend a tiny smile and nodded. If any one of them had enough faith to get
them all through this ordeal, it was Brian.
Nick only hoped he was right.
***
“Kevin?” Nick rapped his
knuckles impatiently against the door.
“Train, come on, open up.”
Heaving a sigh, he knocked again, louder.
After a minute, the door abruptly swung open to reveal a
disheveled Kevin, his eyes bloodshot and watery.
“Kev…” breathed Nick, his eyebrows rising in concern. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry,” croaked Kevin.
“What are you sorry for?”
Nick shrugged. “I’m sorry
you’re upset. I understand… this is
about your dad, isn’t it?”
Kevin didn’t reply, only stepped back to let Nick in the
room. Closing the door after Nick had
come in, he wordlessly walked back to the couch and took a seat, propping his
elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his hands.
“Kevin,” Nick tried again, “I know this is probably really hard
for you… after watching your dad die from cancer, I mean. But… I…”
He swallowed hard, squared his jaw, and continued firmly, “I’m not going
to die. I’m gonna be fine.”
Kevin looked up, fresh tears springing into his eyes as he gazed
at Nick. His voice a mere whisper, he
whispered, “I hope so.”
***
“It’s just a flesh wound,” mimicked Brian, AJ giggling, as the
five of them sat around Nick’s suite watching Monty Python and the Holy
Grail. Desperate to take their minds
off the obvious, they had opted to spend the night together, like old times,
and have a comedy marathon. Brian and AJ
had gone out hours before, returning with rented classics such as Monty
Python, Airplane, Vacation, and Dumb and Dumber, and a
superb assortment of junk food.
Nick sat propped up in bed, while the others took to the floor,
sitting amongst crunched in chips and popcorn kernels.
“Ugh, could you guys not do that,” he complained as Brian and AJ
catapulted cheese balls at each other, trying to catch them in their
mouths. The smell of that artificial
orange cheese powder was not helping his already-turbulent digestive system.
“Sorry,” mumbled AJ, his cheeks puffed out with cheese balls (he
and Brian had apparently decided it was a good idea to see who could fit the
most into their mouth).
“Hey, Nick,” garbled Brian, his mouth also filled, “Ya like sea
food?” Knowing exactly what was coming,
Nick tried to look away, but not before Brian had opened his mouth wide and
stuck out his tongue, exposing an orange mouth of slimy, chewed up Cheetos,
some of which were plopping to the floor in spitty blobs.
While Brian laughed like a little kid, Nick clapped his hand over
his mouth and got up as fast as he could, stumbling off to the bathroom. As he slammed the door shut behind him, he
heard AJ comment, “Jeez, Brian, that joke is so old!”
The image of half-dissolved cheese balls forever engrained in his
mind, Nick sank to his knees, his shin screaming in protest, leaned over the
toilet bowl, and retched. As he was
finishing, the door slowly opened.
Wiping his mouth off, Nick turned to see Brian hesitantly come in, his
mouth empty and cheese-free, his expression solemn.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Nick,” he said, stricken. “I… I wasn’t thinking… it’s like I almost
forgot, you know?”
Nick sighed. “It’s okay,”
he said. “I want you to forget. I want to forget. That was the whole purpose of this night,
right? Guess it worked.” Forcing a smile, he painfully climbed to his
feet.
“Are you okay?” Brian asked nervously.
“Dude, I’m fine,” Nick insisted.
“See what I mean? Now you’re
gonna feel like you can’t have fun with me anymore. Don’t be like that. It’s okay to joke around and gross me out.”
“I made you throw up,” Brian pointed out.
“I would have thrown up anyway at some point,” Nick said with a
weary smile. “It was only a matter of
time.”
Managing a small smile, Brian reluctantly nodded. “Okay,” he said. “You ready to go back in there?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Reaching
over to flush the toilet, Nick slowly followed his friend out of the bathroom
and into the main room, where he was met with concerned stares. The five men continued watching their movies
after that… but there was a lot less laughter.
***