Chapter
8
“Hey, Kristin, is Kev there?” AJ was asking a moment later. He was on the phone with Kevin’s wife,
Kristin.
“Sure, hold on,” she said.
A minute later, Kevin got on the phone.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Hey, Kevin, it’s AJ,” AJ said.
”Oh, hi, Bone,” Kevin replied. “What’s
up?”
“Well, something happened to Nick last night,” AJ said, deciding
not to beat around the bush.
“What?” Kevin asked, sounding only slightly concerned. He had no idea how serious it really was.
“He went out to a bar and got drunk,” AJ said. “He drank way too much, and the alcohol
reacted with the antidepressants he’s taking, and he’s in the hospital.”
AJ knew he was leaving some details out, but right then, he was
not in the mood for one of Kevin’s scoldings, and he had a feeling that if he
told Kevin the entire story, that’s what he would get.
“Oh, my God,” Kevin said.
“He’s okay though?”
“Well, I’m not sure,” AJ said.
“I was there last night, and his doctor said there could have been some
serious damage done, especially to his liver.”
“Oh no,” Kevin murmured, his heart sinking. AJ realized that Kevin hadn’t stopped to
wonder how AJ had known all this had happened, but not him. “Can I go to the hospital to see him this
morning?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, sure. I called
Howie, and he’s going up, and so am I,” AJ said.
“Ok,” Kevin replied.
“He’s in the ICU at Orlando General,” AJ informed Kevin.
“ICU?” Kevin gasped.
“I’m sure it’s just so they can observe him for awhile,” AJ
assured Kevin, but he knew that it was for more than that.
“I hope so,” Kevin said slowly.
“Well, I’ll head up there now then.
I’ll see you there, right?”
“Yup,” AJ replied. “See
you, Train.” They hung up, and AJ sighed
with relief. He figured once Kevin heard
the whole story, he might be in trouble, but he would cross that bridge when he
came to it. Right then, there was only
one thing left to do.
***
“Hello, you’ve reached the Littrells. We’re not home right now, so please leave a
message, and we’ll call you back as soon as we can. Thanks!”
Brian’s answering machine played over the phone, and AJ sighed.
When the beep sounded, he said, “Hey, Rok, this is AJ. Please call me back when you get this. It’s important. Talk to ya later!”
AJ knew he could never explain to Brian what had happened over his
answering machine, although that would be the easiest way out. AJ knew that Brian was not going to take
something like this well, for he was sensitive, and he cared deeply for
Nick.
He glanced up at his clock.
It was almost 10, and he knew he should get up to the hospital. He figured Brian would know to call him on
his cell phone if he didn’t pick up at home.
So, he grabbed his keys and left the house, heading straight for the
hospital and hoping that Nick was doing better.
***
