Chapter
7
Kevin restlessly sat in the hallway hoping
that the meeting would end soon. He couldn’t understand why it took the
management so long to come to a decision about when to make up the missed
concert dates.
Finally Michael called the meeting adjourned and
the management members left for another meeting; leaving Kevin all alone with
his thoughts.
As his eyes drifted down the hallways he saw a
tall blonde running towards him. As the blonde whom Kevin identified as Nick
approached him out of breath, Kevin heard the faint words, "Kev, Brian is
in the cafeteria; something is wrong with him. Go help him please."
Kevin
wasted no time in breaking into a run with a tired Nick hot on his heels. Kevin
reached the cafeteria frantically looking for his younger cousin. He finally
spotted Brian’s University of Kentucky jacket and quickly made his way towards
the table.
"Bri, Bri, are you alright man? Nick said
something was wrong." Said Kevin as he touched his cousins shoulder as
Brian buried his head deeper into his arms which were on the table.
Brian slowly raised his head towards the voice and
heard Kevin let out a small gasp of surprise as he realized how sickly his
cousin looked.
"Come on Bri, we are taking to you the hotel.
I’m going to talk to Fatima and ask her to cancel practice for today since she
is in charge of dance practice."
"Why would we want to do that Kev? I’m just
fine, just a little run down. I just need to rest a few more minutes and then I
will be able to practice. Don’t cancel practice on account of me man."
said Brian weakly.
"Bri man you don’t look like you feel alright
so we are going to go to the hotel and let you get some rest. After you rest
for a while, we will decide if you will perform tonight, just don’t worry about
it." Kevin said to his weak cousin.
He then turned his head towards Nick and said, "Nick, do me a favor
and go find Howie, A.J., and Fatima and tell them our situation, I will meet
you guys on the bus."
"Ok man." said Nick as he quickly made
his way towards the exit of the cafeteria once again.
"Hey Bri you think you can walk or do you need
me to help you? You look weak, cuz." said Kevin in a concerned tone of
voice. Kevin instantly saw the flash of
anger run its course through Brian’s now gray eyes and he cautiously stepped
back out of instinct.
"Kev, does it look like I need any help? My
God, I am not 5 friggin’ years old! What don’t you just leave me the hell
alone??? Geeze!" Brian said with his weak voice as he attempted to stand
up and walk, but not accomplishing the first step because his knees turned to
jello and his body was weak.
As Brian started to fall to his knees, Kevin let
out a startled yelp and in one swift motion picked up his weak cousin in his
arms and carried him out of the cafeteria.
As Kevin made his way towards the exit of the
building towards the parking lot leading to their tour bus, Brian finally gave
in to his exhaustion and rested his head on his cousin’s strong shoulder. Kevin
quickly stopped in his tracks as he felt the heat radiate off of Brian’s
forehead. He found a bench to sit down on and pulled his very weak cousin into
his lap supporting him with one hand and the other hand resting on Brian’s
forehead.
"Yeah Brian you sure are fine, you are
running a high temperature. Why can’t you just quit being so damn stubborn all
the time?" Kevin mumbled to himself not realizing that Brian heard him.
Brian stared straight ahead allowing the tears to
well up in his eyes. He quickly blinked his eyes and mentally scolded himself
for crying for no reason. He just couldn’t understand why he felt so weak and
emotional all of a sudden.
After Kevin sat a few moments collecting his
thoughts while a weak Brian lay in his arms, he got up and again lifted Brian
into his arms and quickly walked towards the bus.
When the two arrived on the tour bus, Kevin walked
towards the bunk area carefully placing his sleeping cousin in his bunk and
covering his sleeping body with a sheet. He then quietly turned towards the
front of the bus to wait for Nick and the rest of the guys wishing they would
hurry up so they could go to the hotel.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, he finally saw
the young tall blonde followed by Howie, A.J. and Fatima walking towards the
bus. Kevin quickly rose to his feet and got off the bus meeting the group
outside.
"Kev, how is he doing?" asked Fatima
softly.
"He has a high fever and is weak. I’m not
sure if he should perform tonight. I guess we will have to make that decision
later. Hopefully after he rests at the hotel, he will get better." Kevin
said worriedly.
"You guys go ahead to the hotel, I’m
canceling practice for you boys. Go to the hotel and get some rest, you all
look like you need it. I will stay here and practice with the dancers and if
management comes back from their meeting while you guys are gone, I will
explain the situation to them." said Fatima and she gave all the boys a
hug. "Now go!" she chuckled lightly as the guys hesitated about
leaving practice early.
With that said, Fatima turned around and walked
towards the building as Jay, the bus driver, approached the bus telling the
boys to get on so they could start driving to the hotel which was about an hour
away.
The four remaining Backstreet Boys then headed
back onto the bus walking quietly to the bunk area to check on their dear
friend Brian. When they were sure that Brian hadn’t gotten any worse since he
arrived on the bus, the boys traveled to their own bunks as the humming of the
bus’s engine sang them to sleep.