Chapter
4
Brian's parents arrived that evening. They both hurried into his
hospital room and threw their arms around him. His mother clung to him as if
she was afraid to let him go.
About a half an hour later, a doctor entered the room.
"Hello, Brian," he said kindly, shaking Brian's hand.
"My name is Dr. Mauher." Brian shook his hand and introduced his
parents.
Then, Dr. Mauher sat down and began to talk about the disease and the
treatments for it. Brian found out that he would start chemo treatments the
very next day. He had heard about chemo before and the horrible side effects.
After Dr. Mauher left, Brian felt utterly depressed. His parents tried to
comfort him, but they didn't help much. He felt alone.
After awhile, he insisted that his parents go back to their hotel room.
They were both tired and stressed out. They were hesitant to leave at first,
but finally they left hesitantly, promising to come back early the next
morning.
Once they were gone, Brian decided to call everyone else. He realized
he had no idea how to reach Kevin and Howie in Cancun. He decided to try AJ. He
had AJ's cell phone number. He dialed and waited while the phone rang. Just
when he was about to hang up, someone answered. It was Denise, AJ's mother.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hi Denise," Brian said, recognizing her voice. "This is
Brian."
"Oh, hi Bri," she said. "What's up?"
"Is AJ around?" Brian asked.
"He just started his performance," she replied.
"Oh. Well, can you ask him to call me when he gets done. It's
important."
"Sure," Denise said. "Is anything wrong?"
"I just need to talk to AJ," Brian said, not wanting to tell
her yet. He would let AJ tell her.
"Well, okay. I'll have him call you as soon as he's done."
"Don't have him call me at home. Have him call me at this
number," Brian said, giving the number of his hospital room. He didn't
tell her where he was.
"Okay. I'll do that," she said. "Take care, Bri,"
she said.
"You too," Brian said, and they hung up.
***
