Prologue
I remember it all to well. It’s still all too
vivid. That night was a living nightmare. To this very day my mind plays that
terrible phone call over and over, in my nightmares. I wake up sweating and
sobbing. Calling out desperately for my beloved Taylor. I will never forget
that beautiful woman. I won’t forget her gorgeous long red hair that shined in
the sun. I will never forget her big green eyes. The eyes that I had always
sworn I could get lost in. They said so much about her. I will never forget the
few freckles that were scattered on her face that I always teased her about.
The way that she smiled and laughed. I will never forget our days at the beach,
watching the sun go down, or the times we shared just sitting inside our home,
watching a movie. Those memories, at the time were taken completely for
granted. I know better now.
The cell phone rang over and over. Glancing
over to his digital clock, he saw that it was nearing 3:30 in the morning. A.J. mumbled several incoherent replies
before answering the call that woke him. Clearing his throat he picked up the
phone. “Hello.”
“Is this an A.J. Mclean?”
Panic took over him as he realized something
had happened, not recognizing the voice. And of course who would call his cell
phone unless something had happened.
“Uh…yeah, yes this is him…what’s going on who
is this?”
“Sir I have called to inform you that a Taylor
Michaels has been in an accident.”
“Accident, Oh my God, what kind of accident, is
she okay?”
“Sir, all I can say is that it was an
automobile accident. I am really terribly sorry, but we can’t give out any more
information out over the phone.”
“Okay, okay what hospital is she at,” A.J.
replied urgently, beginning to panic.
Once
given the information he was on a flight to Florida. The whole time on his cell
trying to get a hold of any of Taylor’s family. He tried for an hour before
giving up. Finally the plane landed and he went in search of the hospital. A.J.
ran in requesting the room number to his girlfriend’s room. Once he reached
her, his Taylor had already fell into a coma. He sat for hours holding her
hands. Praying for a miracle. Taylor died the next morning of heart failure.
All of their plans they had for their future had been shattered into a million
pieces. He refused to accept it. Living his life in denial…
It all started month’s ago. It began when I
would wake up sweating and had slight chest pains. They weren’t too severe. I
didn’t give too much thought to them. After about a week of it I decided it was
probably best to see a doctor. It wasn’t a difficult decision, easy to hide
because our tour was going to Lexington for two nights. I scheduled an
appointment and my doctor could get me in immediately. He was very concerned
and that scared me. Was something wrong with my heart again? Did I have some
sort of disease? Did another hole form in my heart? Those were the questions
that raced through my mind. I thought he would just proclaim it something small
and simple, but I was in for the surprise of a lifetime. My doctor ran several
tests and used a stethoscope to listen to my heart. He had me schedule another
appointment for the next day, he wanted to look over my results and give me the
diagnosis the next day. Needless to say I was scared to death. I tried to
convince myself that everything would be okay. Tried to tell my self that all
the test results would come out negative. I knew very well that I was lying to
myself. I was in denial. No one wakes up at night with night sweats and chest
pains, and is constantly tired. Something was wrong with me. If it was
something, I decided right then and there that I would hide it from my friends,
family, and my wife. I didn’t want everyone to worry about me. Little did I
know that, that was probably the biggest mistake of my life, hiding it from
everyone. Sure enough my doctor gave me my diagnosis. Another hole had formed
in my heart. He said it was still growing, but not rapidly. In fact it was
growing very slow. Doctor Lane also informed I could hold off surgery, but no
longer then five months. Determined to keep it from the others, I walked into
the arena with a smile on my face, inside though, I was terrified.
Nick’s POV
Wow, where do I begin? My life started going
down hill a few months back. I was constantly in fights with my parents and my
siblings. They would yell at me for not coming home from the tour when I said I
would. They had absolutely no idea. It seemed that every time I made plans with
my family something would happen to change them. Don’t get me wrong I love my
life, very much. Everything was getting to the point where everyone was falling
apart. By everyone I mean A.J., Brian, Howie, and Kevin. Slowly we were all
verging self-destruction in one way or another. When everything and everyone
started to fall apart I fell into my own depression. Thinking I had the worst
problems in the world. In reality though there were two other people going
through even worse problems then me.
There are two things I would have to say I
regret one is that I was way too wrapped up in my own problems to really help
anyone else. I asked concerned questions to all four of my friends at one point
or another, but never bothered to really dig deep enough to find out what was
going on. A.J.’s of course was quite obvious to everyone. He had lost Taylor.
Everyone decided to let him be alone. Not bug him about it; let him bring it
up. Big mistake. We had an obligation to be there for him. I also regret the
petty arguments and fights I had with them. Most of them started by me. How
selfish I was. I hate myself for some of the things I said to them. You know
what they say “don’t live in the past.” It’s hard not to when you feel so
guilty. Ya know what I mean? Blaming all four of them for all of my problems.
Why? I don’t know. It was just the easiest way to do it. Blame it on people who
had too many problems of their own to worry about mine. Now I have learned. I
have been taught a very valuable lesson. Just as A.J. says never ever take
things, in my case people, for granted.