Chapter 3

Brian pulled his baseball cap down lower and slung his arm around B.J.’s shoulders.

“Trying to hide your identity?” She asked as they got into the elevator.

“Yup,” He replied. “Which floor?”

“Sixth,”

Brian pressed the button and the doors closed.

“Did you call the guys?”

“No one was home or they weren’t answering,”

“Alright, we can try again later,”

The elevator chimed and the doors opened.

“Ladies first,” Brian said, letting B.J. out.

“Thanks,”

B.J. led the way and they were soon at Nick’s room.

She opened the door quietly to see Nick sound asleep.

“He’s still asleep,” She whispered, walking in.

Brian nodded and followed her into the room.

Brian’s crystal clear eyes clouded over as he saw Nick lying in the bed.

As they sat down, a nurse entered the room carrying an IV bag full of a clear liquid.

“Just going to take his vitals and give him some more pain medication,” She said, almost cheerfully, as she neared the bed.

As she put her fingers against his wrist for his pulse, his eyes fluttered open.

“Good afternoon, Nick,” The nurse said, “I’m just taking your vitals,”

“Ok,”

Nick looked around the room and spotted Brian.

“Hey Bri,” He whispered.

“Hey… how are you feeling?”

“My neck is throbbing but otherwise, pretty good,”

“I’ll get you some pain medication for that,” The nurse said. She left momentarily and returned with a syringe.

She lifted the arm sleeve of the hospital gown up and stuck it into his bicep.

He flinched as it entered, but then relaxed.

“That should start working in a few minutes,”

“Thanks,”

“That’s what I’m here for,”

She switched bags on the I.V. stand then left quietly.

They sat and talked for the next few hours, and soon, Kevin and AJ joined them.

About 6:00, everyone began to leave.

“Hey Nicky… I’m going to head back to your house… maybe get some dinner and feed your dogs. I’ll be back in the morning,” B.J. said.

“I’ll be back too,” Brian added.

“Ok,” Nick replied in a whisper. B.J. and Brian each gave Nick a hug before leaving together.

“You going to be ok by yourself tonight?” Brian asked as he walked B.J. her car.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,”

“Alright. But if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call,” Brian instructed.

“I won’t. Thanks Brian,” She replied, giving him a hug.

She waved goodbye to him and unlocked the Durango. Climbing in, she slid the key into the ignition and backed out of the parking space. As she pulled out onto the highway, she let her emotions take over. Tears ran down her cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably.

As she turned down Nick’s street, automobiles lined the curbs. Her eyes widened as she saw around 50 reporters standing in the street. She acted innocent as she pulled into the driveway and opened the garage. She quickly shut the garage behind her so no reporters would get in. As she stepped out of the car, she could hear pounding on the garage door. Frightened, she ran inside and made sure all the windows and doors were locked. The dogs followed behind her closely as she ran around the house.

Finally, when she was satisfied, she fed the dogs then looked for food for herself. She found a frozen macaroni and cheese dinner in the freezer and put it into the microwave.

As she settled down at the table, the phone rang. Fearing it was the hospital, she quickly answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi B.J. My name is Jody Barack. I work for the channel eight news. What happened to-“

B.J. slammed the phone down before she heard anymore. Just as she was about to walk away, the phone rang again. This time she ignored it, tending to her dinner.

As she walked into the kitchen to place her dish in the sink, she saw a pair of eyes peering in through the kitchen window. Startled, she screamed, and then grabbed the phone. She quickly dialed Brian’s number and waited impatiently for him to answer.

“Hello?”

“Brian… its B.J.”

“Hey Beej… everything ok?”

“They have the house surrounded!”

“Who?”

“Reporters. They’re everywhere. They’ve even called.”

“That’s why I told Nick to get a house in a gated neighborhood.” Brian laughed. “Look, get your suitcase or whatever, put Mikey and Willey in their kennels, and I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

[AN: Yes, I know Willey is no longer living, but… let’s pretend…]

“Ok, I’ll watch for you,”

Within a few minutes, B.J. had her duffel bag and both kennels sitting in the living room. She ran upstairs and looked out the large bay window and watched for Brian’s blue BMW.

Next Morning

B.J. awoke to the sound of little paws pitter-patting across the wooden floor. She sat up and peered around the room, momentarily forgetting where she was. As Tyk entered the room, she remembered she was at Brian’s house.

Climbing out of bed, she dug through her duffel bag and got a decent outfit out. She took a quick shower in the small bathroom adjoined to the guestroom. When she finished, she went into the dining room only to be greeted by Brian.

“Morning,” He said, peering a steaming mug.

“Good morning,”

“Want some coffee or orange juice?”

“Orange juice would be fine,”

He poured her a medium-sized glass of orange juice and slid it across the glass table.

“What time were they running that test on Nick?” Brian asked, sipping his coffee.

“8:00,”

“We have an hour then… we should probably leave pretty soon,” Brian said, checking his watch.

B.J. nodded and finished her juice. Brian put their cups into the dishwasher then slid his jacket on. B.J. pulled a sweatshirt down over her tee and slung her purse over her shoulder.

”Ready?” Brian asked, pulling his keys from his pocket.

“Yeah,”

They went outside to Brian’s BMW and got in. After a silent ride to the hospital, they went inside and up to the sixth floor.

As they walked in the room, Nick’s head turned slightly and his eyes lit up.

“Good morning, Nicky,” B.J. said.

“Morning,” He whispered loudly.

“How are you feeling?” Brian asked as he sunk into a cushioned chair beside the bed.

“How am I supposed to feel? I don’t know anymore. Upset? Angry? Scared? Sad? Sorry for myself?”

Tears burned B.J.’s eyes as she listened to her brother.

“Excuse me, but it’s time to take Nick down for a bone marrow test…” A nurse said, interrupting the dreary mood. “Is anyone coming with him?”

Brian looked at B.J. and she shook her head.

“Want me to go?” Brian asked Nick.

“Please…” He said in an almost frightened voice.

Brian nodded as the nurse wheeled in a gurney followed by two orderlies.

The nurse lay Nick’s bed down flat and removed the I.V.’s from the pole.

“On the count of three, we’re going to move you over,”

Nick clenched his teeth as they lifted him over to the gurney.

Brian pulled the blanket over Nick’s legs as they rolled him out of the room.

“Are you going to be ok?” Brian asked, before leaving B.J.

“Yeah,”

Brian nodded and followed the orderlies to the employee’s elevator. The doors slid open and they entered. After riding up in complete silence, the doors re-opened. They walked down the corridor until they reached a green door.

One of the orderlies opened the door and the other pushed the gurney in. Brian looked around the room nervously.

They moved Nick over onto a hard, metal table and pushed the gurney back into the hallway.

“You can sit here,” One of the orderlies said, showing Brian a stool besides Nick’s head.

Brian sat graciously as he watched two people decked out in scrubs enter the room.

“Hi. My name is Rita… ready to get this over with?” She asked Nick.

“I guess…”

She shut the door and dimmed the lights so the only light was a bright one that shown only on Nick’s chest. She pulled the hospital gown down and laid a blue cloth with a small hole over his chest.

“I’m going to tell you what I’m doing while I’m doing it, so it will be easier.”

“Ok,”

She dipped a cotton ball in iodine and placed it on his chest. He flinched as the cold liquid touched his warm skin. She cleaned the area showing then threw the cotton ball in the nearby trash.

“What I’m going to do is put this needle into your sternum, or chest bone. It will go into the center of the bone so I can take out some bone marrow and run tests on it.”

She pulled a long tube off of a tray and then picked up a needle.

Nick and Brian’s eyes grew wide as the saw the large needle.

Nick closed his eyes and turned his head.

Brian took Nick’s hand into his and turned his own head.

“I’m just going to give you a small shot of local anesthesia so it won’t sting so bad,”

She injected a small syringe into his chest and waited a few minutes before doing anything else.

“Can you feel this?” She asked, touching his chest.

“No…” He said, amazed.

“Good,”

She raised the large syringe to his chest. He opened his eyes in time to see the needle a centimeter from his skin.

He felt the needle penetrate the skin. He gasped from the pain.

Suddenly, he felt extreme pressure and pain as he watched part of the needle disappear under his skin. He began breathing heavy, unable to catch his breath. The doctor motioned towards the nurse. She grabbed a nearby oxygen tank and placed the mask over Nick’s mouth and nose.

“Almost done, Nick,” Rita said.

Tears ran down the side of his face as she pulled the needle out.

“I’m just going to stitch you up real quick then I’ll send you back to your room.”

After a few minutes, he had been stitched up. She taped a large gauze bandage to his chest.

“I’ll leave the gown off so it won’t irritate it.”

The orderlies came back into the room and painfully moved Nick back onto the gurney.

“I’m going to leave him on the oxygen for awhile,” Rita told Brian as they pushed him out of the room.

“Ok.”

Fresh tears ran down Nick’s face as they entered the elevator.

“You ok?” Brian asked.

Nick only shook his head.

A lump rose in Brian’s throat. For once, he couldn’t do anything to help his friend. The elevator doors soon opened and the orderlies pushed Nick back into his room.

B.J.’s eyes grew wide as she saw Nick. A new girl sat beside B.J., tears falling down her own cheeks.

They moved Nick back into his bed and fixed his I.V.’s. Nick turned over, opening to ease the pain.

Brian walked over to B.J. and the girl and ushered them out of the room.

“Hey Meggie,” Brian greeted once they were outside.

“Hi,” She said tearfully.

“What happened?” B.J. asked wide.

“They stuck a needle about the size of a quarter into the bone in the middle of his chest.” Brian said.

Meggie turned pale and sat down in a nearby chair.

“I think it scared him as much as it hurt him…” Brian said softly.

“When will they have the test results?”

“I don’t know… soon I hope,”

As if on cue, a doctor entered the area.

“Are you all with Nick Carter?”

“Yes,” Brian replied.

“We have the results to the bone marrow test. Nick has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.”

“What does that mean?” Meggie asked quietly.

“He has cancer in his lymph nodes.”

“Is there a cure?”

“There is not a cure for ANY type of cancer. But there is medicine to help it.”

“Chemotherapy?” Brian asked.

“Yes, chemotherapy. But with the type he needs, we can send him home and he only has to go to a clinic once a week for chemo.”

“When can he go home?”

“As soon as he’s feeling up to it. His neck and chest will be sore for awhile, but other than that, he should be fine until he starts chemotherapy.”

“When does he start?”

“Day after tomorrow. We need to get him started on it as soon as possible, so we can kick this disease. I’m going t o go talk to Nick and see what exactly he wants to do,”

“Thank you, doctor,” Brian said as the doctor walked away.

They waited patiently outside of Nick’s room until Dr. Torday came back out.

“He agreed to it. My friend is an excellent oncologist and has room for one more patient, so I’ll put Nick in there. I’ll call you later on with more details. See you all later,”

“I’d better get back to Nick’s house and cleanup before he comes home…” B.J. said quietly.

“I’ll stay here… and bring him home when he’s ready.”

“Ok,”

Brian gave her a sympathetic smile as she walked away.

“Can we go see him?” Meggie asked, almost as if she were afraid.

“Yeah. Come on,” Brian led her into the room, pulling the curtain away from the door.

Nick’s head turned ever so slightly as Meggie neared the bed.

“Hey,” She whispered softly.

“Hi… when did you get in?”

“Few hours ago…”

“I’m glad you’re here,” He whispered.

“Me too, Nicky.”

“Man… I’m so ready to ditch this place…”

“The doctor said you could leave whenever…are you feeling up to it?”

“Well enough to get out of here.”

“Ok… I’ll let Brian help you get dressed, and I’ll go get your discharge forms.”

“Thank you,” He replied, gratefully.

Meggie left and Brian entered the room.

He gently helped Nick sit up in bed.

“Just tell me when you need to stop,” Brian said.

Pain flashed across Nick’s face as slid his legs over the side of the bed.

“Where’s your clothes?”

“In the duffel bag over there,”

Brian retrieved the bag and dug through it. He pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a button of white shirt.

“Might be easier to wear this… so you can leave the top unbuttoned.

“Ok,”

Brian untied the wrinkled hospital gown and slid it off Nick’s torso, exposing only a pair of boxers.

He helped Nick slide his legs into the jeans and Nick was able to zip and button them.

Then he put Nick’s arms through the armholes of the shirt.

After buttoning it up, he found Nick’s shoes.

“I feel like an invalid,” Nick muttered.

“It’s not your fault, you can’t bend over to tie your shoes or anything.”

Brian tied Nick’s shoes just as Meggie returned.

“Alright, you’re a free man.”

A nurse wheeled a wheel chair into the room.

”We’ve got it from here,” Brian said, taking the chair.

As Meggie packed Nick’s belongings up, Brian helped him into the wheelchair. He put the duffel bag over his shoulder and began to push Nick out of the room. Meggie took one last look around, making sure she had everything.

***

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