Chapter 7:

 

A Medley of Inspirational Songs

 

When AJ awoke, all he saw was white.  His first thought was that he was dead, and this was Heaven.  But then, realizing he was lying down, he sat up, looked around, and realized he was in what must be a hospital room.  It was a double room, and lying in the bed next to him was none other than Howie.

 

“Howie?” AJ asked.

 

Howie looked over, his face lighting up.  “AJ, you’re awake!”

 

“Yeah… what the hell happened?”

 

“The bus crashed,” replied Howie.

 

“Oh no!  Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Howie.  “And so is Kevin.  And Brian’s got some broken ribs and stuff, but he’s going to be okay.  And you broke your ankle, but other than that, the doctor said you’re fine.”

 

“Oh good,” said AJ in relief.  Then, going over what Howie had said, he realized one member of the group had not been mentioned.  “Um… what about Nick?”

 

Howie’s face paled.  “Uh… Nick?”

 

“Yeah, Nick.  Where is he?  Is he okay?”

 

“No… AJ, he’s in a coma.  The doctors… they aren’t sure if he’s going to survive.”

 

“Oh God…” AJ whispered.  “You’re serious?”

 

Howie’s large brown eyes filled with tears, and he began to sob.

 

“C’mere, man,” AJ said, opening his arms.  Howie got up from his bed and ran across the room, into his friend’s arms.  “Let it all out, man,” AJ said soothing, rubbing Howie’s back as Howie wept on his shoulder.  “Do Brian and Kevin know yet?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve already been to see them.  They’re together in the room next door to us,” said Howie.  “We were waiting for you to wake up, and then we were going to go see Nick together.  He’s in ICU.”

 

“Okay,” said AJ.  “Hey, what about the girls?  Are they here?”

“Yeah, they’re sitting together in a waiting room somewhere,” said Howie.  “Ali was already in here for awhile, but they wouldn’t let Praline in until you were awake.  Do you want to see her?”

AJ considered this for a moment, then decided he better act like a good friend and go visit Nick first.  “Not yet,” he said.  “Let’s go see Nicky first.”

 

“Okay,” said Howie.  “I’ll be right back.”  He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a wheelchair.  “Here, get in,” he said to AJ.

 

“Hells no, I’m not getting in that thing!  Get me some crutches or something!”

 

“The doctor said no; you’re pretty banged up from the crash, and you’re not ready for crutches yet.  Now get in.”

 

Reluctantly, AJ climbed into the wheelchair.  Then he and Howie went next door and got Kevin and Brian.  Kevin was up and walking like Howie, but Brian didn’t look so good.  He, too, was in a wheelchair, and he looked even more beat up than AJ felt.  His face and arms were cut and bruised, and his chest was bandaged because of his ribs.  He grimaced in pain as Kevin and Howie helped him into another wheelchair.

 

“I’ll push Brian,” said Kevin.  “He’s my cousin.”

 

“Okay,” said Howie.  “I’ll push AJ.  He’s my best friend.”

 

And so they headed off down the hall to find Nick’s room.  They found it and went inside.  And, naturally, all four of them gasped in shock at the sight of their friend.

 

Now, of course, before we go on, we must describe this sight in detail so that the reader can form a clear picture of what her poor little Nick must look like right about now and start crying, smear her mascara, and end up looking like a total emotionally unstable freak.  So here goes:

 

Nick lay lifelessly on the bed in the center of the room.  All around him, machines beeped and blipped and hissed and whined and dinged and donged and clanged and whooshed and whistled and chirped and… well, you get the point.  Hoses and tubes and wires were snaking out of all parts of his body.  His skin was colorless (unless you used the colors “ashy”, “pasty”, “chalky”, “deathly pale”, “ghost white”, or “paper white” to describe it), and his head was bandaged, hiding his blonde hair.  His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was sleeping.  But AJ, Brian, Howie, and Kevin knew otherwise.

 

“What exactly is wrong with him?” AJ asked in a hushed voice.

 

“He has a head injury,” said Howie gravely.  “The doctors say that even if he does come out of the coma, he might have brain damage.”

 

“He might not be the same Nick we all know and love,” added Kevin.

 

“Thanks for clearing that up, Kev,” AJ said dryly.

 

“Well, come on, guys,” Brian said in a choked-sounding voice.  “They say people in comas can still hear.  So let’s talk to him, let him know we’re here for him.”

 

Howie and Kevin pushed AJ and Brian closer, and they all gathered around Nick’s bed.  Tentatively, Brian reached out, through the tangle of tubes and wires and hoses, and took Nick’s hand.

 

“Hey, Frack,” he said softly.  “It’s me, Frick.  The other guys are here too.  We just want you to know we’re here, and we love you, and we want you to wake up soon, okay?”

 

Kevin, Howie, and AJ murmured their agreement.  Then Brian continued on with the usual sappy, inspirational speech that is meant to smear even more mascara from the eyes of the readers.

 

“Nick, I’ve known you for ten years, and in those ten years, you’ve become like a little brother to me.  You’re my best friend, and so much more than that.  I love you, and I need you, Nick.  Please, don’t give up on me now.  You’ve got to fight, Nick.  You’ve got to pull through.  Please, Nick, just please wake up.  I need you; the guys need you; Nikki needs you.  How can we go on without you?”

 

“He’s right, Nick,” Howie said softly.  “You’re our baby brother, and we need you here with us.”

 

AJ threw in the mild attempt at comic relief.  “Yeah, if you’re not around, who’s going to whoop Brian’s butt at Mario Kart?”

Kevin added to this by saying, “Yeah, and who’s going to play practical jokes on us all the time?”

 

Then, of course, Brian went on to summarize, “They’re right, Nicky.  See how much we need you?”  And then, to make things even more cheesy, he closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and… you guessed it… began to sing.

 

“I need you tonight, I need you right now, I know deep within my heart, it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong or right, cause I really need you tonight…”

 

AJ continued this, singing, “I figured out, what to say to you.  Sometimes the words, they come out so wrong.  And in time I know that you will understand, that what we had is so right this time.”

 

And of course, then they all joined in to sing the chorus again.  “I need you tonight, I need you right now, I know deep within my heart, it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong or right, cause I really need you tonight…”

 

Then AJ said, “Okay, this song is really gay and not that fitting.”

 

“You’re right.  New song,” agreed Brian, opened his mouth once more, and began to sing, “I never thought that I would lose my mind, that I could control this.  Never thought that I’d be left behind, that I was stronger than you.  Girl, I know…”

 

“Uh… let’s just go to the chorus,” AJ said quickly, and they all began to sing again.

 

“Don’t wanna lose you now, Nickay, I know we can win this.  Don’t wanna lose you now, no no, or ever again…”

 

“New song.”

 

“Although we’ve come, to the end of the road, still I can’t let go…”

 

“New song.”

 

“Show me the meaning of being lonely.  Is this the feeling I need to walk with?  Tell me why, I can’t be there where you are-“

 

“Too depressing – new song.”

 

“Um…” Brian racked his brain, running through all their old songs.  “Gosh, I can’t think of anymore inspirational songs to sing.  Any ideas, guys?”

Howie gave it a try.  “You are my fire, the one desire-“

 

“GAY!  Kevin?”

 

“Hm…”  Kevin thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.  “Well… there… ain’t… no… party…”

 

“… like a Backstreet party cause a Backstreet party don’t stop,” Brian and AJ joined in before they could stop themselves.  Kevin, meanwhile, was still on, “… a… Back… street… party…

 

Howie, meanwhile, had started his own song.  “You don’t run with the crowd, you go your own way, you don’t play after dark, you light up my day.”

 

Brian stopped rapping, blinked, stared at Howie for a moment, then continued, “Got your own kind of style, that sets you apart, baby that’s why you captured my heart.”

 

“I know sometimes you feel, like you don’t fit in, and this world doesn’t know what you’ve got within.”

 

“When I look at you, I see something rare – a rose that could grow anywhere.”

 

“And there’s no one else that could compare.”

 

And then they all joined in.  “What makes you different, makes you beautiful.  What’s there inside you, shining through to me.  In your eyes I see, all the love I’ll ever need…”

 

And they went on and on and finally finished the song.  And then AJ said, “Okay, that had absolutely nothing to do with Nick or him leaving us or how much we need him or anything.”

 

“No, it didn’t,” said Brian.  “But look, it worked!”

 

And sure enough, it had.  By the miraculous power of their voices, Nick was coming out of his coma.  His baby blue eyes (yes, baby blue, not just blue, of course) slowly opened, and he looked around, his eyes lighting up with recognition when he spotted them standing around his bed.  He couldn’t say anything because of the respirator, though in some stories, this wouldn’t make a difference because the teenybopper authors don’t realize that you can’t talk when you’re on a respirator, but in this story, we’re going to be accurate and say that he couldn’t talk.

 

“Nick, you’re awake!  It’s a miracle!” cried AJ.

 

And indeed it was.  And once again, all was happy in Backstreet Land.

 

If only they knew what was to come…

 

***

 

 

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