Chapter 28

AN: Hey guys, this is the last chapter for now. Ash and I both have plans for a sequel so keep your eyes open for that, once again thanks for all the feedback and support! Please email and tell us what you thought so we can start the sequel 

It seemed to take a lifetime to arrive back at the hospital, but in reality, it was only a mere 15 minutes, due to some traffic that slowed the squad car down, despite the fact that Officer Daniels put the siren and lights on. Once again, Kevin jumped out of the vehicle before it had come to a complete halt. This time, Howie followed right behind him, not waiting for the vehicle to stop either. 

The two men ran into the hospital's ER in a frantic manner. Kevin's eyes searched the place for any sign of his cousin, but he couldn't find any. He felt his heart about ready to pound right out of his chest and he was almost afraid that he would need medical attention soon. Howie saw the panic-stricken look in his friend's eyes and placed a hand on Kevin's shoulder. 

" Calm down Kev. We'll find out where he is, " Howie answered with optimism in his voice. He knew he needed to stay strong if Kevin was gonna start panicking again. 

As Howie was slowly trying to calm Kevin down, Officer Daniels walked over to the receptionists’ desk and began to speak to her softly. After a few moments, he nodded and walked towards the two young men. 

“Come on you two, the doctor treating Brian will come up to the ICU waiting room and talk to you and your other group mates.” 

“Oh God I can’t believe it!” Howie exclaimed as he smacked himself in the head, not too lightly at all to signal his frustration. 

“What?” Kevin questioned. 

“I’m such an idiot! I totally forgot about Nick and AJ. AJ probably has no clue as to what is going on with Bri and we have no update on Nick’s condition.” 

Kevin didn't bother listening to Howie's antics any further and he took off running towards the stairs, knowing he would get up to the correct floor faster. He felt the dizziness creeping into every crevess of his body, and he knew he would need to slow down with things before he made himself sick. As soon as he saw the door for the ICU floor, he burst through it and ran down the hall. 

Seconds later, he bounded into the ICU waiting room to find A.J standing over by the window, staring outside. He hadn't even noticed Kevin was in the room. 

" A.J! " Kevin called out, desperately trying to get his bandmate's attention. Finally A.J turned around, his face filling with surprise that Kevin was back. 

" Oh God, thank God you're back! " A.J answered with a deep sigh. 

Something in A.J's dark eyes made Kevin feel uneasy. " Aje, what is it? " he immediately asked, sensing something was terrible wrong. 

" It's... " 

" Well?! " 

" It's Nick, " A.J answered reluctantly. 

Before A.J could continue, Howie and Officer Daniels burst into the room. Kevin felt the heat rising to his face. Had something horrible happened to Nick while they were gone? Why had A.J hesitated? " Damnit, A.J, what happened to Nick?! " Kevin demanded. 

" He woke up, " A.J answered, shrinking away from the harshness in his older bandmate's voice. 

“Wahoo! That is great!” Kevin exclaimed suddenly, the first smile of the day gracing his features.  

AJ looked around the room sadly, wishing they would just sense what was wrong so he wouldn’t have to explain it and go through the agony.  

“Aje? What is wrong?” 

“I can’t do it Kev!” AJ got up from his seat and yelled as the other people in the room jumped back from the sudden outburst.  

“Do what Aje? You should be happy that Nick is awake! Our baby brother is coming back to us!” 

“No, Kev it isn’t that simple,” AJ said with a deep sigh. “You just don’t understand.” 

Kevin and Howie looked on in confusion and before they could ask AJ what he had meant by his words, there was a sharp knock at the door. 

All heads turned to see an unrecognized doctor standing in the doorway. Officer Daniels nodded for the doctor to come in and he did so. A.J glared darkly at the darkly, as if expecting him to be the bearer of bad news. Howie and Kevin offered questioning glances. 

" I'm Dr. O'Mally and I'm the one who's taking care of Brian, " the doctor proceeded to say right off the bat. " I want to speak to you all about Brian's condition- " 

" Condition?! " A.J exclaimed, cutting Dr. O'Mally off in mid-sentence. Brian was at the hospital? " What do you mean his condition? Brian's here?! " 

Yes, your friend was brought in almost thirty minutes ago, " Dr. O'Mally answered. " We still have him down in the ER, but we plan on moving him up to- " 

" What the hell is wrong with him? " Kevin snapped, not caring about the BS the doctor was talking about. Kevin wanted to get straight down to the facts. 

“Sir! I ask you to please calm down!” the doctor exclaimed impatiently, his last nerve cut short. “As I was trying to say, Mr. Littrell is conscious but is in a deep state of shock from the traumatic event he endured and he is also malnourished and his heart murmur is more pronounced.” 

“Will he be ok?” 

“With time he should be. Good day gentlemen a nurse will be in to see you directly and direct you to his room.”  

Kevin growled at the short responses from the doctor. This was his cousin they were talking about damnit!  

For the second time in just a few minutes another sharp knock was heard at the door and Kevin hoped it wasn’t Dr. O’Mally yet again. The door opened quietly and in stepped a young woman in a white lab coat. 

" Are you here to take me to see my cousin? " Kevin immediately asked, he didn't want to waste any time. 

" Kev, please, calm down, " Howie answered softly, becoming extremely concerned with Kevin's behavior. 

" Damnit Howie, I won't calm down! Not until I see my cousin! " Kevin yelled at Howie, causing the Latino to back away in fear. Kevin's features softened. " Howie, I- " 

" Forget it, " Howie answered, holding his hand up and shaking his head. 

Kevin cursed under his breath. This was not what he needed at the moment. He didn't need Howie to be mad at him. He was under too much pressure to deal with that. Kevin looked back at the lady. "Are you gonna take me to see my cousin?” 

The woman gave Kevin a soft smile before answering, “Sir I wish I could but I am here to update you on Nick Carter’s condition.”  

Kevin immediately sat up in his seat, ready to hear whatever was wrong with his baby brother. AJ watched Kevin and Howie’s reaction with sadness, after they found out about what all was wrong; they would be distraught 

" W-What is his condition? " Kevin stuttered quietly, knowing whatever the nurse was about to reveal would not be good. He could tell by the look in her eyes and when he looked to A.J, his younger friend only looked away. 

" I'm sure your friend here informed you that Nick woke up for a brief period of time, " the nurse stated. Kevin and Howie nodded while A.J walked away from them, going back over to his spot by the window. He didn't want to hear this again. 

" That's a good thing, right? " Howie asked. " It's got to mean that he's going to be ok now? " 

" Yes and no to it being a good thing, " the nurse started slowly. She took a seat. " You see, after Nick woke up, were performed several tests on him. Some of the results came back...well, not as positive as we would have hoped for. " 

" What is that supposed to mean? " Kevin asked, feeling his blood boil. 

" One of the tests performed on Nick showed that there is a good chance he has brain damage, but we won't be able to tell for sure until he stays awake for a long period of time and we can perform a more extensive test. " 

" If Nicky does have brain damage, w-will it be permanent? " Howie asked reluctantly, not wanting to ask such a thing. He shouldn't have to, but he needed to know. They all needed to know. 

" It is very possible. He suffered from a very high amount of head trauma, which increases his chances of suffering from brain damage,” the nurse answered. 

" What else aren't you telling us? " Kevin asked, running a hand through his raven hair. 

" The results for a test we took earlier on came back. " 

" And? " 

" It showed that Nick has suffered from a spinal injury that we hadn't caught before. " 

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Kevin yelled, his temper taking him over the edge. “Doctors are supposed to make people better! You all failed!!” 

“Sir I’m sorry,” the nurse began to explain before Kevin pushed by her and stormed down the hall. 

“I’m sorry ma’am,” Howie began to explain as he exited the room.  

“It is alright,” the young nurse replied absently as she watched the two figures run down the hall. 

“What are we going to do now?” AJ wailed from his seat.  

" There isn't much you can do sir, " the nurse replied softly. " All you can really do is explain that to your two friends and you all need to be there for Nick. Once he becomes better, if he does, than we can try to start him on physical therapy. Though, the chances of it helping aren't very good. I'm sorry sir, but Nick is most likely going to be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. "

 

The End