Chapter
9
The next night, the phone rang at about eleven. Alexa answered.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hi, can I speak to Alexa please?" the voice on the phone
asked.
"Yeah, this is she," Alexa replied. "Who's this?"
"Oh, hi Alexa. It's Nick."
"Oh, hi Nick," she said. "How come you're calling?
Where's Bri?"
"We just got back from the concert. He went to bed early. He
wasn't feeling too well." Alexa drew in a breath. "He asked me to
call you for him, since he was too tired, and he had promised he would call you
every night."
"Oh. Well, thanks Nick." She paused. "Is he okay,
Nick?" she asked. Nick could hear the worry in her voice.
"Don't worry, Lex. He's fine. It's just a cold. He'll be better
tomorrow."
"Listen, Nick, isn't there any way you guys can reschedule the
rest of the shows or something. I just don't want him to get sicker. You know
his immune system is weak because of the medication he has to take."
"He doesn't want to cancel any more shows," Nick said.
"Well, will you just make sure he takes it easy for me?"
Alexa asked. "Make sure he rests and everything."
"I will," Nick assured her.
"Okay," she said, reluctantly. "Well, I'll let you go
now. Say hi to the rest of the guys for me, and tell Brian I love him."
"Will do," said Nick. "Bye Alexa."
"See ya, Nick." With that, she hung up the phone, still
worried about Brian.
***
Brian didn't call the next night, which was a Wednesday. None of the
other boys called either. On Thursday afternoon, Alexa came back to her dorm
room after classes to find a message on her answering machine. She pressed the
play button and listened to the message.
"Hey Alexa, it's AJ. Call me at 109-7885 when you get home. It's
important."
Alexa felt icy fingers of fear squeeze her heart. She took a deep
breath and picked up the phone. Her fingers shook as she dialed the number. The
phone rang four times. Finally, someone answered.
"Hello?" came a gruff voice.
"AJ?"
"Yeah, this is AJ," AJ replied.
"Hi, AJ. It's Alexa," she said.
"Oh, Alexa!" AJ said. He sounded relieved to hear her.
"Why'd you call me?" Alexa asked, although, deep in her
heart, she already knew the answer.
"It's Brian," he said softly. "We took him to the
hospital last night after the concert. His cold has gotten a lot worse. He's
got bronchitis now." She knew that was not good, mostly because of his
immune system being so weakened. His body couldn't fight off the infection.
"How is he?" she asked, her voice trembling. She felt the
tears coming, but she fought them back, trying not to lose her composure while
she was on the phone with AJ.
"He's been asking for you," AJ replied.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"We're at St. Paul's Hospital in Indianapolis."
"Ok. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Wait, Alexa-"
"I'll see you in a few hours," she said and hung up. She
grabbed some clothes and things and stuffed them into a small suitcase. Then
she scribbled a note to Kylie, and left.
***
