Chapter 35
The next day, it
was back to business.
“We have some
decisions to make,” Kevin said seriously, as he, Brian, AJ, and Howie sat
crowded around Nick’s bedside. It was
not a good day for Nick, who had lain in bed all morning, weak and
nauseated. The anti-nausea medication Dr.
Kingsbury had prescribed wasn’t working, and he was miserable. But, as always, the show must go on, and they
had much to talk about.
“First of all,”
Kevin went on, “when are we going to tell management and the record company
execs about all of this?”
“And don’t forget
the fans,” added Howie. “We’re going to
have to do a press conference or something at some point. We can’t keep them in the dark about this for
too much longer, or it’ll get out on its own.
I mean, once it starts to get noticeable, it won’t be long before
someone sees Nick in public and starts the rumors going.” He cast a wary look in Nick’s direction.
Nick only rolled
his eyes. He didn’t have to look in the
mirror to know how bad he probably looked.
Although his hair loss wasn’t noticeable yet, his hair was probably limp
and matted from sleep, his skin pale, with dark circles under red-rimmed eyes
from lack of sleep.
“I know,” said
Kevin. “The question is when. How long are we going to let this go before
we tell the truth.”
“As long as
possible,” grunted Nick.
“Like you did
with us,” AJ said with a smirk. Nick did
not reply, feeling a twinge of guilt.
“Well, I think
it’s up to Nick,” Brian stated simply.
“This is his illness; let him decide what and when and how to tell
everyone.”
Nick
snorted. “Well, if I had my way, it
would be nothing, never, and no way. But
Howie’s right – everyone’s going to find out sooner or later, so I guess we
can’t wait too long.”
Kevin
nodded. “So… around when do you think we
should do this? This week? Next week?
Next month?”
“I don’t know,”
Nick sighed. He really did not want to
think about this now. “Um… I guess…
let’s wait a couple more weeks. I have
my next doctor’s appointment in two weeks; we can do it after that. Who knows, maybe I’ll be in remission by
then, and we won’t have to mention it at all.”
He grinned sheepishly, somehow knowing that wouldn’t be the case.
Kevin smiled
slightly. “I hope that’s the case,
Nick. We’ll wait a couple weeks and see
then.”
“What about the
album?” asked Howie. “Should we put
things on hold?”
“No!” Nick said
quickly. “No, I want to get this album
done.”
“But, Nick… look
at you… you don’t feel like working, do you?
Not when you’re barfing your guts out all day.” AJ looked sympathetically at Nick.
“I’m only like
this the weeks I’m on chemo, and that’s only one out of every three weeks. I’ll be fine,” Nick stated firmly, crossing
his arms over his chest in an act of stubbornness. “We’ve waited too long to quit working now.”
“Are you sure?”
questioned Kevin, arching one thick eyebrow at Nick. “Don’t feel like you have to be a trooper for
us. You’re sick, Nick, you need to take
it easy. We underst-“
“I said no, damn
it! We’re not stopping, and I don’t need
to ‘take it easy’! I’m fine! Stop acting like I’m some delicate little
pansy!”
Kevin and Howie
exchanged worried glances, but AJ only burst out laughing. “That’s the spirit, kid! You heard him, guys, we’re not putting the
album on hold, and that’s final.”
The corners of
his mouth twitching upward, Kevin hesitated only slightly, then nodded. “All right then.”
***
Later that
evening, Nick was in bed, flipping through the TV channels in boredom, when his
cell phone rang. He debated over whether
or not to answer it, then decided he probably should and hauled himself out of
bed, staggering weakly over to his backpack.
He removed the ringing cell phone from its pocket, flipped it open, and
held it up to his ear.
“Hello?” he
answered, easing himself back into bed.
“Nick! It’s Aaron,” came his younger brother’s
voice.
Nick couldn’t
help but smile, for he hadn’t talked to Aaron in weeks. He had been so distracted, he hadn’t really
thought about it, but now that he had finally heard from him, he realized he
had missed the kid. “Hey, AC! What’s going on, bro?”
“Oh, not much,
just thought I’d call and see what was up with you. I haven’t talked to you in forever! How come you never call anymore?”
“I know, I’m
sorry,” apologized Nick. “It’s just…
I’ve been busy, with the new album, you know, and… well, Mom and I had a
falling out a few weeks ago.”
He heard his
brother’s sigh on the other end of the line.
“Yeah, I know. Believe me, we all
heard all about it here. She is pissed
at you.”
“Still?”
“I think. She doesn’t talk about you anymore
though. And we’re not supposed to
either, not around her anyway.”
“Oh.” Nick frowned, a lump rising in his
throat. It was as if his own mother had
disowned him…
“Sorry,” said
Aaron. “I probably shouldn’t have told
you that…”
“It’s okay. Screw her,” muttered Nick, but despite the
anger he felt at knowing that Jane had forbidden even the mention of his name,
part of him couldn’t help but be saddened by this… after all, she was his mother. And though she had never been the best mother
to him, even during his childhood, he couldn’t help but want her there with
him. He was sick, after all. He swallowed hard, imagining her wiping his
clammy forehead with a cool, wet cloth and stroking his back as he threw up,
then tucking him back into bed and smoothing his hair, the way she had done
when he was a child and stricken with the flu.
But now she was on the other side of the country, not knowing her eldest
son was sick… probably not caring…
“Yeah,
seriously,” Aaron agreed with a sigh. “I
wish I could live with you instead.”
“Live with
me?” Inwardly, Nick groaned. What was he supposed to say to that? “Oh, Aaron, I don’t think that’s such a great
idea…”
“Why not?” the
fifteen-year-old demanded. “I haven’t
seen you in freaking forever; I miss you, Nick!
And I didn’t get to tour with you, and then you said I could come visit
after the tour, but then you never called, and I tried to call you, but you
were never home, and your cell was never turned on, and-“
“Whoa, AC,
chill!” Nick interrupted his brother’s distressed rambling. “I know I said you could visit, and I’m sorry
I haven’t called you, but I’ve been really-“
“Busy, I know,”
Aaron replied sharply. “That’s always
your excuse.”
Defiantly, Nick
cried, “Aaron! I am! The guys and I have been working our asses
off in Orlando for the past month on our next album. I do want you to come visit sometime, but now
just isn’t a good time. Wait till I’m
back home in Tampa, and then maybe you can come down.”
“Sure.” Aaron’s reply was flat and laden with
sarcasm.
“No, really, you
can come and stay with me, and we’ll do all kinds of stuff together. We can take the boat out, do some water
skiing or scuba diving or whatever you want.
Okay?”
“Whatever.”
Nick sighed and
started to rake a hand through his hair, something he always had a habit of
doing when he was stressed out by something.
But now, remembering that his hair was falling out, he retracted his
hand just in time and slammed it against the bed instead. “Fine, whatever, Aaron. You don’t have to get all pissy with me. I really can’t take this crap from you right
now.”
“Of course not,
you’re probably too busy, right?” Giving
Nick no time to answer, he went on angrily, “Well, fine, I’ll just leave you
alone then. Bye.”
“Aaron!” Nick
protested, but a click told him his brother had already hung up on him. Heaving another sigh, he shut off his own
cell phone and dropped it at his side.
“Great… now another member of my family hates me. What else can go wrong?”
***