Chapter 83
Nick tried to liven himself up as he trudged down the hall
behind his bodyguard, Joe. The flight
had left him exhausted, but now that he was here at the hotel in New York, he
was determined to at least act perky and energized for awhile, for the guys’
sake. Brian and Howie had seen him at
his worst when they had been down to Tampa a month and a half ago, and he
wanted them, and AJ and Kevin too, to know that he was better, that he was
getting back to his old self.
As they neared his suite, he realized he should have come
up with some kind of prank to play on the guys when he got there, for he had
always been a notorious practical joker.
Hm, but what? Walk in wearing one
of those frizzy red clown afros and say he had gotten himself a wig? Haha, now that could be funny… he was just
about to ask Joe if he knew 1) where to find a Wal-mart in the middle of New
York City (somehow, in all his visits there, Nick had never gone to a Wal-mart)
and 2) if August twelfth was too early for Wal-mart to start selling Halloween
stuff, when the large bodyguard stopped outside a room and slid his keycard
into the door.
“There you go, Nick,” Joe said, pushing the room to his
suite open. “You want me to carry your
bags in?”
“No, I got ‘em,” Nick replied, taking his suitcase and
carry-on duffle bag from the large man’s muscular arms. “Thanks, Joe.”
“No problem, kid.”
Joe grinned, clapping Nick on the shoulder. “I’ll be around if you need anything.”
“’Kay.” Struggling
with the weight of his suitcase (jeez, what the hell had he packed in
there? He was worse than a freaking
girl), Nick entered his suite… and received the shock of his life when a
familiar figure emerged from the bedroom.
“Kevin?” he gasped.
“Cripes, I thought you were some psycho waiting to kill me. What the hell are you doing in my suite? This is my suite, isn’t it? Wait, unless… we’re not all sharing one room
again, are we?”
As Nick babbled, he couldn’t help but notice the expression
of shock that flickered across Kevin’s face when he got a good look at
him. It had been awhile since the two
had last seen each other, and though Nick hadn’t looked good the last time, he
was sure he was even worse now, the baseball cap on his head not really hiding
the fact that he was totally bald, the white t-shirt he was wearing probably
making his complexion look even more washed out than usual, its bagginess only
accenting the weight he had lost.
But the alarmed look quickly went away, and Kevin
smiled. “Whoa, slow down, Nick,” he
said, hurrying to take Nick’s bags from him and carry them into the
bedroom. “No,” he continued when he came
back out, “we’re not all sharing, but you and I are.”
“Oh. Uh, cool.” Nick wanted to ask why, but he figured he
already knew the answer. This was
Kevin’s doing, his way of being able to keep an eye on Nick during their stay
in New York. Well, whatever, Nick wasn’t
going to complain, though he did wish he could room with Brian if they were
going to be making him share anyway.
Kevin was the kind of person who didn’t approve of jumping on hotel
beds, totally freaked out if you left drips on the bathroom floor after your
shower (even though everyone knows it’s impossible not to with the sorry excuse
for a bathmat they give you), and gave you a ten-minute lecture on organization
if you tossed your clothes on the floor instead of folding them and placing
them neatly in your suitcase (in the right color-coded section if you were
Kevin, who Nick swore was a reincarnate of Danny Tanner on “Full House”).
“Howie and AJ are in the suite across the hall from us,”
Kevin said, “and Brian, Leighanne, and Baylee are next door on this side.” He pointed to his left.
“Oh… I forgot Bri was bringing Leigh and the baby,” Nick
mumbled, vaguely remembering Brian mentioning it as a possibility when they had
spoken on Saturday. He didn’t really
mind Leighanne hanging out, and he would be glad to see his godson again, but
he also sort of resented them being there.
He had looked forward to hanging out with Brian, and now that his family
was there with him, that just wasn’t going to happen, not like it would have if
Brian had come alone.
“Yeah.” Kevin
smiled. “When was the last time you saw
Baylee? He’s gotten so big!”
“I bet,” Nick replied, returning the smile. “I think I’m gonna head over there to see him
now.”
“Come with me down to Howie and AJ’s room first. Bri’s in there, and I said I’d bring you over
when you got here.”
“Oh, okay.” Glad for
the opportunity to see all four of his brothers at once, Nick eagerly followed
Kevin out of the suite and went next door.
Kevin knocked, and the door was flung open at once by Howie, who stepped
back to let Kevin in and then seized Nick, pulling him into a bear hug.
“I love you too, Howie,” Nick laughed, awkwardly patting
his friend’s back.
“How ya doin’, Nicky?” Howie asked, pulling back and
greeting him with a wide smile.
“Good,” Nick replied, following Howie into the suite, where
he was immediately met and hugged by Brian.
“So have you been feeling better now that you’re off the
chemo?” Brian asked. “You’re looking
better than the last time I saw you.”
“Thanks,” Nick replied dryly, “and yes, I’m feeling better,
but can we talk about something else?
Where’s Leigh and that kid of yours, they in your suite?”
“Yeah, they are, and Leigh wants to see you, she’s been
thinking about you, and Baylee’s grown so-“
But someone clearing his throat loudly in the background
drowned out the rest of Brian’s sentence, and a familiar, distinctly raspy
voice called out, “Yo, Kaos, did you forget all about me or what?”
Grinning, Nick brushed past Brian, Howie, and Kevin and
found AJ perched on the arm of the couch, arms crossed, dressed in a black
shirt and baggy jeans, a black skull cap pulled over his head and a pair of
sunglasses perched on the end of his nose.
He surveyed Nick over the top of them, and Nick saw his brown eyes
momentarily darken, then brighten again as he smirked.
“Heya, Egghead,” he remarked flippantly.
“Egghead?” Nick’s
nose wrinkled. “Don’t that mean you’re
smart?”
“No,” AJ said, sliding off the end of the couch. “It means your head looks like an egg.” And before Nick could duck out of the way, AJ
sprung at him and flicked the baseball cap off his head. “See?
You look like Moby.”
“Ha ha,” Nick said sarcastically
with a roll of his eyes, smiling despite himself. Thank God for Bone, he thought
gratefully. AJ was the only one gutsy
enough to start teasing him right off the bat, and Nick loved him for it. While the others hugged him tight (but not
too tight, in case he broke) and asked him about his health, the whole time
looking at him with guarded expressions, AJ dealt with the awkward situation in
the only way he knew how – humor. And
Nick appreciated it, for at least AJ was treating him normally. The other three
hadn’t quite mastered that one yet.
“So you think I look like Moby, eh? Well, look in the mirror buddy – a few more
years down the road, and you’ll look like him too. Chemo took my hair – what’s your excuse, Mr. Receding
Hairline?” Nick shot back jokingly. AJ
had asked for that one, teasing him about his hair (or lack of it).
“Ex-cuse me?”
“Oh, don’t go all defensive on me… look here, fellas… prime
example of male pattern baldness right here…”
As the others watched in amusement, Nick grabbed the top of AJ’s skull
cap and tugged it off, glancing over his shoulder to watch the guys’ reactions
as he did so. But their smiles quickly
faded as their mouths dropped open, and their eyes grew wide.
Nick glanced back at AJ… and gasped in total shock.
AJ’s hair, which had been short and bleached blonde the
last time Nick had seen him, was gone.
All of it. His head was now as
smooth and bald as Nick’s.
“AJ!” Nick choked.
“Wh-what did you do?”
AJ grinned sheepishly up at him. “D told me he shaved your head. So I shaved mine too. We just gotta go out and get us some matching
outfits, Nickster, and we’ll be twins.”
The reality of what AJ had done sunk in then, and Nick
shook his head in amazement. “You… you
did this for me?”
AJ only grinned. AJ,
who had always taken great pride in his hair… AJ, who had dyed it every color
of the rainbow and experimented with all kinds of hairstyles… AJ, whose
precious hair had already begun to recede, it seemed… had cut it all off,
shaved his head clean… just so that Nick would not be alone. To some, hair was just hair – no big
deal. But to Nick, AJ had made a huge
sacrifice in support of him. And as he
studied AJ’s shining bald scalp, he was overcome with a sudden burst of
emotion, moved by the poignant act of camaraderie.
“Thanks, ‘J,” he whispered, the lump in his throat making
his voice hoarse. And feeling like
somewhat of a pansy, yet not caring one bit, he pulled his big brother into a
hug, the corners of his eyes prickling with tears.
***