Chapter
16
“You okay, Nick?”
It was later that night, only hours after the press conference,
and the guys were back at their hotel.
Brian had come into his friend’s room to see him curled in a fetal
position on the bed, his back to the door.
Nick didn’t respond to his question.
“Hey, Nick?” Brian asked, sitting down next to Nick on the
bed. He lay his hand on Nick’s back,
which was slightly shaking. “Nick,
please talk to me,” he pleaded. It was
horrible for him to watch his friend go through so much emotional pain, like he
was going through now.
Nick slowly rolled over so that he was facing Brian. His face was puffy and red, blotched with
tear stains.
Brian’s heart ached for his friend. “Nicky, come here,” he said. He opened his arms wide, and to his relief,
Nick came to him. Brian wrapped his arms
around Nick and let him cry, letting out all his emotions. Memories of many years ago came back to
Brian, memories of times before when Nick had only been a kid, confused and
upset with the problems of adolescent life.
Brian had been there, hugging and comforting him then, just like he was
now. But this time, it was for a much
different reason. This time, Nick was
not upset over missing his family, or breaking up with his girlfriend, or being
yelled at by Kevin. This time, Nick was
upset because he was dying.
Brian pulled Nick tighter into his arms, realizing that this was a
moment he needed to cherish, for in only months, he knew, his best friend could
be gone.
***
The Boys flew home the next day.
Kevin, AJ, Howie, and Nick flew back to Florida, and Brian flew back to
his own home in Georgia. He had made
plans to stay in Georgia during the week, and fly to Florida on the weekends to
see Nick. He knew that Nick wanted his
life to be as normal as possible, and that was the main reason Brian was not
staying in Orlando for longer. He didn’t
want to suffocate Nick, and yet, he wanted to be with his friend as much as
possible, for he knew that the next few months could be the last he would ever
spend with him.
***
“Nick, please, come home. I
can’t let you stay there in Orlando all by yourself. What if you got sick?”
Nick had been back home for only a day, when his mother had
called. She had known about his
diagnosis since shortly after he had gotten it, and since then, she had called
him at least once a day. She spent most
of their conversations pleading with him to come to Los Angeles, where she and
Nick’s father lived with the rest of his family.
“Mom, I am home,” Nick said. “I don’t want to come all the way out to
LA. And I’m not all by myself here. The rest of the guys are here too, and we do
stuff together all the time. They’re
always around in case I need anything.”
“But, Nick, that’s not the point.
I’m your mother. We’re
your family. We want to see you
too,” Jane said.
“Mom-“ Nick started again, but Jane interrupted him.
“Nicky, please,” she begged, her voice taking on a more
desperate tone.
Without warning, tears filled Nick’s eyes. In the past year, he hadn’t been on the best
terms with his mother. But hearing her
now, pleading for him to come to her, calling him Nicky, he knew he
couldn’t keep any more distance between them.
She was right, she was his mother, and despite their differences,
he loved her, with all his heart. He
couldn’t stand hearing the worry and desperation that plagued her voice any
longer.
But he didn’t want to leave his friends and his real home
either. Not to mention his doctor. What if he got the call that there was a
liver for him? He would never make it
home in time all the way from L.A.
“Look, Mom,” Nick said calmly.
“I love you. I want to be with
you. But I really don’t want to go to
L.A. What if a liver would come for
me? There’s no way I could make it back
in time to have transplant surgery.”
Jane was silent for a moment.
“I didn’t think of that,” she said softly. “But you’re absolutely right.”
He could tell she was let down.
“Mom, I still want to see you guys.
Why don’t you all come back to Orlando and stay with me? I’ve got plenty of room.”
“Oh, Nicky, you mean it?” Jane asked. “We’ll be there, baby. I’ll talk to your father, and we’ll get plane
tickets as soon as we can.”
“Okay, mom,” Nick said.
Normally, just the thought of having his entire family living with him
for an undetermined amount of time would make him cringe. He loved them all, but still, sometimes they
got on his nerves. But this time, he
didn’t feel that way. He was almost
looking forward to it, to hugging his parents and seeing his little brother and
sisters again. He knew that without a
vital liver transplant, he wouldn’t get to see them ever again.
***
