Chapter
11
Awhile later, AJ’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and quickly
turned it on.
“Hello,” he said, putting it to his ear.
“Hey, AJ, it’s Bri,” came Brian’s voice on the other line.
“Brian, hey!” AJ said, glancing first at Howie, then Nick. Nick perked up at the mention of Brian.
“I got your message,” Brian said.
“I tried to call you at home, but you weren’t there, so I tried the
cell. So what’s so important?”
“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” AJ said. “Just a minute.” He covered up the mouth piece and whispered
to Howie, “Be right back.” Howie nodded,
and AJ ducked out of the room. “Ok, I’m
back. Anyway, ya know how Nick’s been
really depressed about Mandy?”
“Yeah,” Brian said slowly.
“AJ, did something happen to Nick?”
AJ sighed. Frick and
Frack. Those two cared about each other
so much, and they knew each other so well.
Somehow, Brian knew that something had gone wrong.
“Yeah,” he said. He heard
Brian inhale sharply. “Don’t panic, he’s
okay,” AJ quickly assured Brian. “He’s
in the hospital, but he’s doing fine.
I’m here with him now.”
“What happened?” Brian asked, his voice small and worried
sounding.
“Well, last night, Nick and I went out to a bar, and he started
drinking. A lot. He got really drunk, and to make a long story
short, the alcohol reacted with the antidepressants he’s on, and he…” AJ paused and took a deep breath, quickly
deciding that as Nick’s best friend, Brian needed to know the truth. “He passed out and went into cardiac arrest.”
Brian gasped. “Oh, my God,”
he choked out, sounding as if he was trying to hold back sudden tears. “He’s okay though?”
“Yeah, yeah, they got him back,” AJ said. “He was unconscious all last night and this
morning, but he woke up just awhile ago this afternoon.”
“So, what exactly is wrong with him? Are there any complications or anything?”
Brian asked.
“Well, his doctor ran some tests on him earlier today to determine
that, and we’re still waiting on results,” AJ said. “You want me to call you back when we know?”
“Well, yeah, I guess so,” Brian said. “Unless you think I should come down there.”
“Bri, there’s no point in coming down now,” AJ said. “Wait until we know some more. If there’s nothing wrong, then there’s no
reason to come down. I’ll call you back
as soon as I find out anything, okay?”
“Well… okay,” Brian said reluctantly. “I guess I’ll let you go now then. Say hi to Frack for me.”
“Will do,” AK replied.
“Talk to ya later.”
“Okay, Aje. Thanks for telling me,” Brian said. “Bye.”
“Bye,” AJ said, and hung up.
***
