| Chapter 18 Brian and Tara were packing their things, getting ready to leave for the next venue. They had decided to let Nick sleep as long as possible, so Tara had packed his things and laid out a change of clothes for him. Brian was setting their bags next to the door, when someone knocked. He looked out the peep hole, seeing Stephen and another man. "Oh crap, I forgot to cancel the doc with Stephen," he said. Tara looked at him from across the room, "Well, go ahead and let them in and tell him you're feeling better." Brian opened the door, "Hey Stephen." "Morning Brian, this is Dr. Clay," Stephen said, coming into the room. "Hi," Brian said, shaking the mans hand, "Stephen, I forgot to call you last night, but I'm really feeling much better." "Oh, well since we're already here anyway, why don't you just let him check you out?" Stephen said. Brian glanced at Tara, and she smiled at him. "I guess," he said reluctantly. "Come over here and have a seat," the doctor instructed. Brian followed the man over to the small sitting area and sat down. Stephen looked around, "Where's Nick at?" "He's still sleeping," Tara answered. "He is?" Stephen asked shocked. Tara walked over to him, "Stephen, Nick's been having some rough nights lately. We're trying to let him rest as much as possible." "His anxiety is that bad?" Stephen asked. "He has nightmares. That's why he started staying with us instead of having his own room," she answered. "Oh, well maybe Dr. Clay can take a look at him too then," Stephen said. "I don't think this is something that a doctor can help with," Tara said, staring at Stephen. Stephen caught the serious look in her eyes, and wondered what it was all about. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie was putting on his shoes when his cell rang. He reached over and grabbed it off the night stand, "Hello?" "Hey baby, good morning," Kira said. Howie smiled, "Hey, good morning to you too." "How are things going?" Kira asked. "Alright I guess," he said with a sigh. "That didn't sound alright, what's wrong?" she asked, knowing him to well. "Nick. He's started his trials or whatever Tara calls them. Kevin came in last night and said that Tracy and the others were gone and he was on his own now," he answered. "Is he ready for that?" she asked, concerned. "I'm not sure. I know Tara keeps saying that he doesn't have the control he's suppose to have yet, so I just don't know. I'm worried about it," he said. "Yeah, I am too. Surely he hasn't come this far to fail now, though," Kira said. "I hope not," Howie said. "Hey listen, the reason I called is I need to know when you guys are gonna be in Vegas," Kira asked. "Um, they moved it back to the end of the tour. Why do you need to know?" Howie asked, knowing she was up to something. "Oh, just that I was thinking that while we were there, we could, um get married," she said. Howie laughed, "You really want to get married in Vegas?" "Yeah, why not? I think it would be fun. All the guys will already be there, we can reserve a chapel and do it. We could even fly our families in if you want to, or we could just get married there, then have a big wedding later for everyone," she said. "You've really been thinking bout this haven't you?" he said, laughing. "Yeah I have. I know that everything kinda snowballed when you guys redid the album and all, but I want us to get married like we planned," she said. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I never expected them to put us out on the road this soon, or for this long," he said, "So, yeah Vegas it is then." Kira smiled, "Thank you baby." "Um are we gonna tell everyone or just surprise them?" Howie asked. "Let's tell them. I think we've all had enough surprises for a while," she answered. "Yeah, good point," he said. "OK, don't worry about a thing, by the time you guys are in Vegas I'll have everything set up," Kira said. "OK, you sure you don't want me to help?" he asked. "Nope, all you have to do is show up," she said. "Alright. Listen, we gotta be on the buses before to long, and I want to go check on Nick before we go," Howie said. "OK, I love you," Kira said. "I love you too. I'll call you tonight after the show," Howie said. "K, bye," she said. "Bye," Howie said, then hung up, grinning wider than he ever thought possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara walked into Nick's room and over to the bed. He was still fast asleep, and she hated to wake him, but if he was going to be ready in time, she had to. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him, "Nick, you need to get up." He turned his head and looked at her, "Five more minutes." Tara laughed, "No, now. Stephen is here with a doctor. Brian forgot to cancel it, and he wants the doc to take a look at you." Nick sat up a little, "Why?" "He's just worried about you. You're tired all the time, and he see's that. Just humor him OK?" she said. Nick groaned and got out of bed, "Alright, but I swear I'm not taking any more pills." Tara shook her head and laughed, "What are you saying? You're not even taking the first ones." Nick grinned, "Yeah, but he doesn't know that. I'll be out in a minute." "OK," she said, leaving the room. "So?" Stephen asked, when Tara came out of the room. "He'll be out in a minute," she answered. Brian walked over to Tara, "He OK with this?" he whispered. "He's a good actor, he'll convince them," she whispered back. Nick walked out of the room running his hand through his hair, "Hey Stephen." "Morning Nick. You don't mind if Dr. Clay takes a look at you do you?" he asked. Nick looked at him annoyed, "Do I have a choice?" "Nick, I just want to make sure....." Stephen started. Nick put his hands up, "I know, I know. Alright, if it will make you feel better, have at it." "Come on over here Nick," the doctor instructed. Nick walked over and occupied the seat that Brian had vacated a few minutes before. The doctor ran through a quick physical, checking his blood pressure, listening to his heart. Looking at his throat and ears, taking his temperature. Nick endured it, knowing that it was easier to give in to Stephen than to have him nag him for days about it. "Nick, how often do you have the nightmares?" Dr. Clay asked. Nick looked at Tara, and she smiled at him. "Um every night," he answered. "Do you recall what's in them?" the doctor asked. "I'd rather not say, they are pretty bad," Nick stated. "That's alright, you don't have to. Do you have trouble falling asleep after you've had one?" he asked. "Yeah, I usually stay awake awhile and calm down," he said. "Are you on any medication at the moment?" Dr. Clay asked. Nick sighed, "Yeah, I'm taking something for panic attacks." "Oh, what?" the doctor asked. Nick looked at Stephen, "What's that stuff called?" "Paxil," Stephen answered. "Yeah, I'm taking that," Nick said, somewhat embarrassed. "I see," the doctor said, writing down something on a note pad. He tore it off and handed it to Nick, "I want you to take this along with the Paxil. It will help counter the side affects and help you sleep better." Nick took the paper and stared at it, another pill. "Um, I really don't wanna...." he started. Stephen stood up, "Thank you doctor, we'll get that filled today," he said, staring at Nick. Nick sighed and handed Stephen the prescription. As Brian was escorting Stephen and the doctor out, the rest of the guys came in. "Hey Nick, you alright?" Howie asked, concerned. "Yeah, just tired, as usual," Nick said. "So it went alright last night?" A.J. asked. Nick looked at the floor, "I really don't wanna talk about it." "That's OK man, listen, you were right about Sarah and me. I called her last night and we talked for hours, got everything worked out," A.J. said, smiling, "Thanks." Nick smiled at him, "I'm glad. You two belong together." Brian walked back over, "I guess we all need to be getting down to the buses." "Oh hey, before we all go, I have an announcement to make," Howie said, smiling. Everyone looked at him. "Kira and I are getting married when we get to Vegas," he said. "Dude, that's great!" A.J. said. "Yeah man, we've been wondering how long you two were gonna wait," Kevin said. "Man a Vegas wedding, I didn't think you had it in ya," Nick teased. "I think it's a great idea," Tara said, smiling at Brian. "Yeah, we actually talked about doing that before we decided on the surprise party," Brian confessed. "Really?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow, "That just doesn't sound like you two." "Hey it was a thought," Brian said. "Well, we better be getting down there before Stephen sends out a search party," Kevin said. "Yeah, let me go change real quick and I'll be ready," Nick said, heading to his room. The rest of the guys left, and Tara and Brian waited on Nick before going down themselves. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin and Howie were sitting on the bus eating some snacks, while A.J. was looking out the window at the traffic. "Guys, come here," he said, waving them over to the window. Kevin and Howie walked over, peering out. "What is it?" Howie asked. "Nick's girls," A.J. said, pointing to a car passing the bus. Kevin laughed, "Well, I guess we know where they'll be tonight." "Am I the only one that gets the creeps when they look at me?" A.J. asked. Howie and Kevin both looked at him. "You get the creeps?" Kevin asked. "Yeah man, like something ain't right with them," A.J. confessed. "I haven't really noticed," Howie said, going back to his seat. "Well, you wouldn't," A.J. said, "You barely notice anything." "Gee thanks," Howie said, offended. "Well, come to think of it, I've caught a few looks from them. Kinda like bad vibes or something," Kevin said. "Exactly," A.J. said, "What do you think that is?" Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, fear of an obsessed fan?" A.J. shook his head, "No this is different. We've seen plenty of obsessed fans, this isn't like that." "Think we should have security keep an eye on them?" Howie asked. "It wouldn't hurt. Nick's to busy dealing with all this other stuff to be worried over something like this," Kevin said. "Kev, what happened last night with him anyway?" A.J. asked. "We aren't sure. They beat him up. He was unconscious when we got into his room. He woke up and started crying. Said they threatened Tara, and offered him the control he's been lacking," Kevin said. "Damn," A.J. said. "I thought their goal was to get him to turn, not to hurt him," Howie said. Kevin shook his head, "I don't think they care if they hurt him or not, just that he turns. Tara talked to me and Bri after we left his room last night. She said that they are probably going to continue to hurt him, try to wear him down physically. That way he will be so tired that at some point he will give up trying to resist them, just to get some rest." "Ain't that just dirty," A.J. said. "These are demons we're talking about here, they don't play fair," Kevin said. "Well then we don't have to play fair either," A.J. said. "What do you mean?" Howie asked. "I mean, we stay with him. Tara said they wouldn't show up as long as someone was with him right? Then we just don't leave him alone," A.J. said. "Yeah but Bone, that will only delay the inevitable," Kevin said. "So? If it gets him the rest he needs to keep resisting, who cares?" A.J. said. Kevin and Howie looked at each other and smiled. "Alex, I think you've got a good idea there," Howie said. "Yeah," Kevin said, "But we've gotta work it out so Nick and Tara don't know what we're doing. If they find out, they'll put a stop to it." "K, so how we gonna do this?" A.J. asked. Kevin and Howie thought for a few minutes, then Kevin smiled, "I've got it." Chapter 19 |