Chapter
27
Nick opened his eyes to see his mother sitting at his
bedside. He looked around and realized
he was still in the hospital. And then
the pain hit him. He ached all over, and
he felt suddenly hot, then freezing.
What was wrong? The last time he
had woken up, he had felt pretty good.
Had something bad happened to him, or had he just been dreaming the time
before? He let out a soft moan in
discomfort.
This got Jane’s attention.
She looked down to see Nick’s eyes open for the first time in hours.
“Hi, baby,” she said, smiling tenderly at him.
“What’s wrong with me?” Nick asked, his voice weak.
Jane sighed. “It looks like
you might be rejecting your new liver,” she said softly.
Fear ran through Nick, covering the pain. He felt tears rise in his eyes, and he tried
desperately to blink them back, but it didn’t work. Instead, they overflowed and began to run
slowly down his cheeks.
“Oh, Nicky,” Jane said, tears filling her eyes as well. It had been a long time since she had seen
her son cry, and seeing him cry now just made her more upset. She bent over and hugged him the best he
could, while he was lying down, still attached to many monitors, hoping to
provide any comfort she could to him.
“Am I going to die?” Nick asked when Jane pulled back, his voice
barely a whisper.
“I don’t know, sweetie,” Jane said. “The doctors will do all they can to help
you.”
Nick looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with sadness and
fear. “I… I love you, Mommy,” he
whispered, calling her something he hadn’t called her since he was a little
boy.
Jane stifled back a sob. “I
love you too, Nicky,” she whispered. She
could no longer hide her tears, and they began to stream down her face once
again.
***
While Jane was in with Nick, Bob had taken the rest of his
children down to the cafeteria for some dinner.
Not hungry, Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin sat around in the waiting
room.
After awhile of just sitting there, AJ stood up and flipped on the
TV. He glanced back at the guys and
shrugged, saying, “It’s better than just sitting here.”
They nodded and watched as he flipped to MTV. It was ten till six, and an MTV news brief
had just come on.
“This is John Norris with MTV news. As we reported over the weekend, Backstreet
Boy Nick Carter, who has been suffering from a condition known as cirrhosis of
the liver, received a liver transplant late Friday night. Today, we got the report that Nick may be
rejecting his new liver. No one from the
Backstreet Boys’ management has yet confirmed this report. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nick and
his family, as well as the other Backstreet Boys, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean,
Brian Littrell, and Howie Dorough. In
other news, Justin Timberlake, from the group ‘N Sync, was-“
AJ flipped off the TV and flopped back down in his chair, putting
his chin in his hands.
Howie was looking up at the ceiling, trying to control the sudden
rush of tears that threatened him.
Brian had his head down, but the other men could tell he was
crying by the way his shoulders shook slightly.
Kevin sat with his face in his hands, trying to be strong for the
other three in the room with him. It
wasn’t working.
***
