Chapter
34
The
next morning, the eight of them stood in the airport in Mexico City, awaiting
their flights home. Howie, Nick, and AJ
were taking the same flight to Orlando, Florida, while Kevin was flying to his
home in Los Angeles. Brian was heading
back to Atlanta on the same flight as Elyssa, Serena, and Ashalyn.
“Flight
203, Mexico City to Los Angeles, now boarding,” came a voice over the
loudspeaker.
“That’s
me,” Kevin said, standing up.
“See
ya, cuz,” Brian said, hugging Kevin tightly.
AJ, Howie, and Nick hugged their bandmate as well.
Then
Kevin turned to the three girls. “Girls,
I had a lot of fun touring with ya’ll,” he said, hugging them each. “Take care.”
“You
too,” they chorused, returning his hugs.
“Bye,
ya’ll,” Kevin said, smiling at the group.
“See ya.”
With
that, he slung his backpack onto his back and headed towards the terminal.
The
remaining seven sat down to wait. It was
the Orlando flight that was called next.
AJ,
Howie, and Nick stood up.
Nick
hugged each of the girls first, and then Brian.
“Take care, bro,” he said to Brian.
“I’ll see ya later.”
Howie
hugged Brian too, followed by Ashalyn and Elyssa. Then he grabbed Serena and pulled her close
to him. “I’ll miss you, Rena,” he
whispered, hugging her tightly, his hand stroking her long, dark hair.
“I’ll
miss you too, Howie,” she whispered, trying desperately not to cry as she
hugged him goodbye.
As
Howie clung to his girlfriend, AJ hugged the others and then pulled Elyssa up
to his chest. “You call me as soon as
you get home, got that, babe?” he asked.
“Got
it, Aje,” she replied, hugging him tightly.
“Love you.”
“Love
you too, Lyss. Bye.”
“Ready?”
Nick asked anxiously.
“Yup,”
Howie and AJ replied. They smiled at
the other four and turned away, heading to board their plane.
“Hey,
Nick!” Ashalyn called suddenly, as he walked away.
Nick
spun around. “What?” he called back.
“Take
care of Jen for us!”
He
smiled, a little sadly. “I will, Ash,”
he replied. “I will.”
***
Jenna looked up as she heard a knock on her door of her
room in the clinic.
“Come
in!” she called hopefully.
The
door opened, and a grin spread over Jenna’s face as Nick stepped into the room.
“Nicky!”
she shrieked, leaping off of her bed.
She ran to him and hurled herself into his arms.
Overjoyed
with her display of affection, Nick hugged her tightly to his chest, never
wanting to let her go. “Oh, Jen, I
missed you so much!” he cried, frantically kissing her.
“I
missed you too!” she cried back. “When
did you land?”
“Just
a few hours ago. I went home, did some
unpacking, and came to see you,” he replied.
“Oh,
Nick, I love you so much,” she whispered, kissing him again. He kissed back, savoring the feel of her
lips on his. It had been too long since
he had held her and kissed her like that.
Once they had calmed down, Nick playfully lifted Jenna off
her feet and carried her back to her bed, setting her down atop the
covers. He perched on the bed beside her,
and wrapping an arm around her, asked, “So, how have things been? I mean, really?” They had talked many times over the phone,
but it had been weeks since Nick had actually seen her.
“Things
are getting better,” Jenna replied truthfully.
“I’m getting better.”
Nick
nodded, smiling again. “That’s great,
honey,” he said, pulling her closer to him.
“How much longer will you have to stay here?”
Jenna
shrugged. “Maybe just another week. Maybe longer.
It depends on how well I progress.”
“But
you’re over the worst of it now, aren’t you?” Nick asked hopefully.
“I
think so,” she replied. “Still, it’s
hard. I eat, but I still feel like
throwing it up most of the time. I get
so nauseous. Sometimes I do throw up,
but not on purpose. I just can’t help it. I used to make myself do it, but now it’s
become a reaction. I can’t control it.”
Nick
nodded, feeling helpless. He longed to
do more for her, but even now that he was here with her, there wasn’t much he
could do. This was Jenna’s challenge,
and she had to overcome it by the power of her own will.
***
