Chapter 2

Brian drove home in a daze. As soon as he got home, he hurried to his bedroom and flopped down on his bed. There, he sobbed and sobbed. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. Everything had been so perfect in his life. He was engaged to Leighanne Wallace, his longtime girlfriend. He and the rest of the Backstreet Boys had just finished their Millennium tour and were working on songs for their next album.

But now, this had happened. Nobody else knew, he realized. They were all gone. AJ was touring as Johnny No-Name. Nick had gone to visit his brother, Aaron, on his tour. Kevin and Howie had gone to Cancun, Mexico for vacation together. Leighanne was in California working on her next movie.

The rest of Brian's family was in Kentucky. He had no one in Orlando to call, no one to turn to. He knew he needed to call everyone, but he didn't want them to all fly to Orlando just for his sake.

He thought back to the beginning of this horrible nightmare. It had started during the last few nights of their tour. He had been extremely tired, more than usual. Then, he started getting headaches and low fevers. Also, he would sweat terribly at night. At first, he just thought he was getting the flu or something, but after a few weeks of this, he realized his symptoms just seemed to be getting worse, not better. That's when he decided to see Dr. Benson, his doctor in Orlando.

Dr. Benson had looked him over and done some blood work. Then, he had sent him for an overnight stay in the hospital so they could run some more tests. Two days later, he had called Brian and asked him to come immediately down to his office. Brian had been anxious from the start, for he could tell by the doctor's tone it was serious. But he had no idea how serious.

Brian sat up and wiped his eyes. He sniffed and began to pack some clothes and CDs and things into a small suitcase. When he was finished, he got into his car and drove off to hospital.

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