Chapter
19
Once Brian got home, he called the rest of the guys over so he could
tell them the news all together. When the Boys got to Brian's house, they were
nervous. They could tell by his tone of voice on the phone that something was
wrong.
Once they were all there, Brian sat them down in the living room. He
sat down on the loveseat beside Leighanne. She took his hand as he started to
speak.
"I have a tumor in my lung," he began bluntly. He saw the
shock appear on his friends' faces. None of them knew what to say. "It's
not small enough to be operated on, but it can be shrunken with
radiation," he continued.
"What's that mean?" Nick asked in a tiny voice.
"Well, Dr. Benson told me that radiation isn't like chemo. It's
not nearly as bad. I don't even have to stay in the hospital. But I do have to
go in every afternoon to get the treatments."
"So that means no more touring?" AJ asked.
"I'm sorry guys," Brian said hanging his head. "I really
want to keep going, but Dr. Benson said there was no way I could." He
sounded about ready to cry. Howie noticed this and came over to him.
"Don't worry, B-rok," he said, laying his hand on Brian's
back. "This isn't your fault. We can reschedule the concerts for later,
when you're better." Brian nodded, but didn't feel much better. He felt
like he was letting the group down.
"Yeah, Bri, don't worry about it," Kevin added. "It'll
be okay. I'll talk to management tomorrow morning about postponing the rest of
the concerts."
"How long are you going to be on this radiation thing?" AJ
asked.
"I don't know," Brian said. "I never really asked. I
guess how long it takes to shrink the tumor."
"What are we gonna tell the public?" Howie asked.
"I guess we need to schedule a press conference," Kevin
replied. "I'll talk to management about that too."
They talked about it for a while more, then left, so Brian could call
his parents and give them the bad news.
***
