Chapter 8:

 

Ain’t Nothin’ But a Heartache… or is it?

 

Next, we would normally describe the Boys’ difficult recovery, but that’s not very interesting, so we’ll skip the depression and frustration and painkiller addictions and get back into the good stuff.  And to do that, we must of course fast forward a year, to the first concert following the bus crash…

 

 

One year later

 

It had been a year since the traumatic tour bus crash that had nearly taken the Backstreet Boys’ lives (well, actually, only Nick’s, poor thing), but the Backstreet Boys were back (alright!) and ready to make up the many tour dates they had cancelled after the accident.  And, of course, sometime over the course of that first concert, they had to give an inspirational speech on the tragedy and how one certain song had miraculously brought Nick back from the verge of death and given them all the power to go on, and then they would sing that song, which in this case happened to be “What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)”, a song that doesn’t go along with this theme at all.  So we’ll skip that part too and move along.

 

“Now,” said Howie, after they finished “What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)”, “we’re going to sing one of our old classics and fan favorites – ‘Quit Playing Games’.”

 

Oh, before we get into that one, there’s one more very important thing we mustn’t forget to mention in this chapter – PANTS.  Naturally, PANTS was still opening for the Backstreet Boys, and the girls were still going out with the Boys.  In fact, after a year, they were all deeply in love and had absolutely perfect relationships.  Not even any love triangles had tried to tear apart their romances, probably because there were five guys and five girls, so everything worked out fine.  Now, if a single female popstar had been the opening act, there would have been trouble.  But let’s save that for another story and keep talking about PANTS.

 

During the Backstreet Boys’ year-long hiatus, PANTS had been working on their debut album, Pull Up Your PANTS, and making music videos for TRL.  And, naturally, they had great success and were always number one on TRL.  In fact, TRL loved them so much that they threw out the whole retirement policy.  Clearly, a mere sixty days on the countdown was not enough.  PANTS’ first single, “We R Hott (U Know It Boyz)” had spent a record 120 days on the countdown, and their second one, “Will U Y Me 4Eva Boy?” was holding strong at 150 days at number one and counting.  ‘N Sync (who had moved in to a house next door to the Backstreet Boys and tried to steal their girlfriends earlier that year, then realized they were gay and hooked up with O-Town instead) didn’t stand a chance.

 

Well, anyway, back to the Backstreet Boys, they were about to sing “Quit Playing Games”.  The music began, and Brian started to sing, throwing a wave and random “Hello” in there after every few words.  Then came the chorus, and of course, the Boys went “You sing!” to the audience and barely sang themselves… we know how that goes.

 

About when Nick started singing his solo, Brian began to feel a bit… peculiar.  Stabbing pains shooting up and down a person’s left arm weren’t normal, were they?  But that’s exactly what was happening to him, and they were getting increasingly worse as Nick sang on.  The pain spread to his chest, and his heart pounded rapidly in his ears.  He knew then that it was probably a bit more than heartburn.

 

Ironically, as the group reached the chorus again and sang the words “Quit playing games with my heart,” Brian keeled over, his microphone stand falling to the ground with him and crashing loudly on the stage.  The sound system screeched with feedback from the microphone, and the fans gasped at the sight of Brian twitching on the stage.

 

“Cuz!” screamed Kevin, abandoning his singing and racing over to his fallen cousin. 

 

Nick kicked over his microphone stand (he sure enjoys doing that, doesn’t he?  Such a rebel… *snort*) and ran over to Brian as well, screaming “Frick!”

 

AJ followed after Nick, screaming “Rok!”

 

And after him came Howie, screaming “Bri!”

 

And then a random fan in the audience screamed “Nibbles!” and a few people gave her strange looks.

 

But anyway, back to Brian…

 

“Are you okay, Bri?” Nick was asking tearfully, as Brian thrashed around on the stage, his eyes bulging, his hands clutching his chest.

 

Kevin whacked Nick across the back of his blonde head and then leaned back over his cousin.  “Hang on, Brian, just hang on,” he urged.  “Howie, go get help!”

 

Howie scurried across the stage, but help was already on the way.  A team of paramedics rushed onstage, carrying a stretcher with them.  “Out of the way!” they barked, shoving the four other Backstreet Boys away from Brian.  At that moment, Brian’s eyes (those crystal clear, vivid, angelic, sparking blue eyes) rolled back into his head, and he stopped twitching.

 

“NOOOOOO!” cried Kevin, his voice low and distorted.  “NOT… MY… COUUUU-SIIIIIIN!”

 

By the time he got this out, the paramedics were already shocking Brian with those paddle thingies (defibrillator, teenyboppers, defibrillator).  His body danced with electricity (and no, not the Electric Slide) after each jolt, and Nick burst into tears.

 

“P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-“

 

ZAP!

 

“P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-“

 

ZAP!

 

“P-p-p-please help him!” Nick finally choked out, as he sobbed like a little schoolgirl.

 

“We’re going everything we can, sir,” one of the paramedics replied dutifully, pressing the paddles to Brian’s chest again.

 

ZAP!

 

“Still no pulse!  We’re losing him!” one of the paramedics cried (of course).

 

“Let’s shock him again!” another exclaimed.

 

ZAP!

 

And of course, this time, they got a pulse.

 

“We’ve got a pulse!” announced one of the paramedics.

 

“Thank God!” cried Kevin.

 

“We’re not out of the woods yet, sir,” a different paramedic said grimly.  “We need to get him to the hospital – STAT!”

 

And at this command, the paramedics hauled Brian onto their stretcher and whisked him off to the ambulance and off they sped to the hospital, lights flashing, sirens wailing.

 

This was pretty bad, yes.  But there were more trials ahead.

 

If only they knew what was to come…

 

***

 

 

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