“I don’t want to see anyone,” Nick was
telling the doctor in front of him, “If I say they can’t come in, then they
can’t, right?”
The
doctor nodded, “But Mr. Carter your family has been waiting outside for a very
long time for you to wake up. They are very worried...”
“Yeah,
well they can worry outside,” Nick muttered folding his thin arms over his
chest, “Hey, when can I get out of here?”
“We’ll
discuss that later Mr. Carter, for right now I really want you to reconsider
letting your family in to see you.”
“We’ll
discuss it later, hold on? Just how long are you people planning to keep me
here? And what’s in this thing?” Nick fingered the IV tube coming from his left
arm. He shook the cord upsetting the bag hanging above him, its contents
sloshed.
“Your
vitamins Mr. Carter, it seems you haven’t been ingesting enough.”
Nick
rolled his eyes, “I am 20 years old, you can’t tell me how to eat anymore than
THEY can.”
“They
know what’s best for you Mr. Carter as you apparently do not.”
“What
are you babbling about, I know what’s best for me!” Nick was fuming. He
ran his hands through his stringy hair and laid back on his pillows with a
sigh. He felt drained and washed out, “What do I have to sign to get out
of here.”
“Mr.
Carter that’s out of the question right now. You couldn’t stand on your own if
you tried. We’ll just have to wait a few days until you gain your
strength back along with a few more pounds.”
Nick cringed at the word “pounds.”
“Now
do you still not want me to...”
“Let
them in and I will scream,” Nick said through barred teeth. He gripped
the rails of the bed until his knuckled gleamed white with strain.
The
doctor shook his head sadly, “Ok... but if you change your mind...”
“I
won’t!” Nick growled.
Stupid
doctor. He surveyed the sterile white room he was in. How nice they had
gotten him one all to himself. Celebrity status, no doubt. He sighed.. He
supposed he had been too hard when it came to visitors... maybe he should have
let his brothers and sisters in. After all, it was only... Bob and Jane,
he didn’t want to see. But then, he didn’t want anyone to see him like
this. God he was pitiful. He was glad there was no mirror he
could see his reflection in... He looked like shit and he knew it. But
hell what did he care anymore? His thoughts changed
dramatically from fretting over appearances to total apathy of his
situation. Didn’t he decide a few hours ago that it all was just too much
to bare? Didn’t he give up? He remembered now.. And when you give
up, who cares about your appearance? He should call the doctor back and
tell him to let them in, let them all in... he kept them out because of
appearance but if he no longer cared... but then he also didn’t care enough to
call the doctor.. Oh well. He sat in perfect silence, eyes traveling down
the white blankets of the hospital bed tracing his thin form. He then
began to play with his IV cord again. This thing was good for him
right? He tugged at it lightly, wincing at the pain of the needle being
pulled from his skin. He had to get rid of the thing, but it hurt too
much to pull it out, and what if he ruptured something in the process... he
might bleed all over the floor... He paused as he contemplated the idea.
He smiled slightly and began tugging on the cord again, wincing each time
at the pain.
He
heard a knock at his door and stopped what he was doing, dammit, didn’t he say
no visitors. The door opened slightly and a nurse slipped in, “Hello Mr.
Carter, nice to see you awake.” She ventured to his bed side and calmly began
to prep a needle.
“Hey,
I got a needle already, why do I need another one?”
“Just
taking some more blood Mr. Carter,” the nurse said dutifully taking Nick’s arm
and prepping a spot on it with alcohol.
Nick
groaned and let out a hiss as he was stuck with the needle, “Hey, how long do
you think the doctor will try keep me here?”
The
nurse frowned at Nick’s sallow appearance, “A few days at the least, but honey
you don’t look good. You may want to stay a little longer than that or at
least until we can get a good 15 to 20 pounds on you,” she giggled at that,
“That could take a month.”
A
month! Alarms went off in Nick’s head, a month of being stuck in this... this
place, this hell! Hell...no.... He thought slowly. He sat
patiently waiting for the nurse to finish up and leave, and once she did,
he began his plot to get himself out of the mess everyone important to him in
his life had gotten him into.
“He
won’t see us?” Brian asked in a small voice. He collapsed on the chair
behind him and wrung his hands together at the same time AJ began to pace, “Why
not?”
The
doctor shrugged, “He’s not ready for visitors.”
“He’ll
never be ready for us,” Kevin muttered, “but I’ll be damned if we sit out here.
Does he have total control of who goes in and out of there?”
The
doctor nodded, “Yes, I’m afraid that he does. The only people that are allowed
in are doctors and nurses.”
“You
can make an exception though, in our case... Nicky needs us, regardless if he
knows it, or admits it or not. He needs us with him,” Howie was saying
trying to get the doctor in his favor. He had a way of swaying people to his
side.
“It’s
against our rules...”
“Doctor,
Nick Carter is like my blood ok. I’ve known him since he was twelve, and
whenever he has had a problem I have been there helping him through it.
This.... that...” he pointed in the direction of Nick’s room, “is a problem,
and I have no intention of changing my perfect past now because of you standing
in my way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pay Mr. Carter a visit,”
Howard Dorough very proudly raised his chin and stepped past the doctor.
Without looking back he proceeded on to Nick’s room.
“Well,”
the doctor said, ”Well....” he was speechless.
“That’s
‘Howie’ do it,” Brian joked lightly, getting a groan from the others for the
bad joke.
“Lets
go,” Kevin said standing up to follow Howie’s bold lead, the others rallying
behind him, leaving a very stunned doctor in their dust.