| Chapter 27 Tracy held Brian's hand as they walked down the hall to his room. Brian was nervous, but so far, he'd managed to keep himself blocked. But the real test was seeing the guys. He jumped as a door down the hall opened and A.J. walked out. For a moment he didn't notice him, but then A.J. looked down the hall, "Brian? Holy hell, you're back!" he grinned, coming over and hugging him. Brian chuckled, "Yeah, can't stay away for long ya know." A.J. pulled back and eyed him, "You Ok man? You left and didn't say anything, we thought the worst." Brian glanced at Tracy, then back at A.J., "Well, not really, but I'll live." A.J. dawned a worried expression, then glanced at Tracy, "Who's this lovely lady?" he asked, putting the smile back on his face. Brian could tell it was forced though. "This is Tracy, she's my um .... my nurse," Brian said. The worry was back, "You're nurse?" he asked, shaking her hand. Brian nodded, "J, I really need to sit down, so um ...." A.J. moved out of his way, "Oh, I'm sorry dude. Here let me carry that for ya," he said, taking Brian's bag from his shoulder. Brian glanced at Tracy, rolling his eyes, as he swiped the keycard and entered his room. A.J. trotted into his room, depositing his bag in one of the bedrooms, then came back out to the living room. Brian was sitting on the couch, and Tracy had went into the other room to put her luggage away. A.J. sat down next to him, "What's going on Rok?" Brian sighed, "It's a really long story, and I don't wanna have to repeat it four times.... so can it wait until ....?" "Gotcha," A.J. said, quickly getting up and going to the door. Leaning his head out into the hall he yelled for the other guys. Brian put his head down and shook it, trying not to laugh and throw up at the same time. Leave it to Alex to remedy the situation and get the story. Tracy sat down next to him and took his hand, squeezing it. She smiled at him when he looked up, "You're doing good," she whispered. He nodded, as the other guys came into the room, all happy to see him. Brian endured the hugs, as A.J. came over and sat down, "Rok's got something to tell us," he announced. Brian could see the glances exchanged. Worried ones, ones he remembered when he told them of his heart surgery a few years ago. He cleared his throat, "Um well, first of all, this is Tracy." Everyone greeted her. Howie gave her his infamous wink, and she grinned at him. "Um Tracy is my nurse, and she'll be staying with me for a while," Brian went on. "Nurse? What for?" Kevin asked. Brian looked down at his lap, picking at his shirt. He hated lying to them, and he wasn't that great a liar in the first place, "Well, I went for my check up before we started this tour and um, well some of the tests came back a little off. So my doc called me and wanted me to come down and have them redone. That's where I was last week. Well, the tests um came back the same ...." "What do they say?" Nick asked, fear evident in his voice. Brian stole a glance at his best friend, then lowered his head again, "One of the valves in my heart is leaking. The murmur is back, and um, my heart is swelling like last time." "Oh God," A.J. breathed. "What are they gonna do?" Kevin asked. "They put me on some medication, and they want to test me again in a month. If the medication doesn't work, I'm looking at another surgery," Brian answered, "Tracy's here to monitor me, and help me out with a few things I have to do. They wanted to keep me in the hospital, but I refused, so this was their solution." Tracy smiled at everyone as they glanced at her. "Why didn't you tell us?" Nick asked. Brian winced, you'd have to be deaf not to hear the hurt in his voice. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want anyone to worry. Especially if it turned out to be nothing," he said, looking up at Nick. "Does Aunt Jackie know?" Kevin asked. Brian shook his head, "I haven't told them. I don't want them to know unless I do have to have the surgery. You know how much they worried last time, I can't do that to them again." "So are you Ok? I mean to do the tour and all?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, as long as I take it easy," Brian said, "That's also part of Tracy's job, not to let me overdo it." Kevin smiled at Tracy, "You have your job cut out for you then." She nodded, "I'm beginning to realize that." "Can we get you anything?" Kevin asked, "Do something?" Brian shook his head, he still couldn't believe his cousin was one of the �enemy'. How did he not know this? "Um no Kev, Tracy's got everything under control. What time do we leave for JoJo's?" he asked. Kevin looked at his watch, "In about an hour." "Well, if you guys don't mind, Brian needs to rest before the interview," Tracy said, "It was a long plane ride." Howie stood up, "Of course, come on guys." Everyone got up to leave, telling Brian how good it was to have him back, but doing it with immense worry in their faces. Once they had left and shut the door, Tracy looked at him, "You did very well. You didn't falter at all." He nodded, standing up and heading to his room. "Where you going?" she asked. "To throw up," he answered, going through the door. Tracy shook her head, following him, "Poor kid," she muttered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy stood at the back of the studio, watching the interview. Brian had been quiet throughout the show, only answering questions when they were addressed to him. All part of the act of him being ill. She could tell the others were cautious around him. Not as playful as other interviews she'd seen them do. She smiled to herself, wondering what the slayers in the bunch would do if they knew that JoJo was of the blood drinking persuasion. He was very good at hiding himself, it took her a moment to realize it was him she was feeling. She doubted any slayer could pick him out though, he was that skilled. Brian propped his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. This got him a worried glace from Nick, who was sitting next to him. He smiled at the younger man. The concern on his face was touching. Brian wondered how much concern would be there if he knew the truth about what he was. " ..... wraps it up for tonight. Thanks guys for coming out," JoJo said, "And don't forget, you can get the album next week. Say goodbye guys." All the guys glanced at each other, "Goodbye guys!" they all laughed. JoJo hit a button, "We're off," he announced. The guys got up and said their goodbyes to JoJo, which took a few minutes. They never could just get up and leave with him. They had to shoot the breeze for a while. Tracy made her way over to Brian, and took his head. JoJo wondered over to them, smiling at Tracy. She smiled back, "You're very skilled," she commented. He grinned, "Thanks, you're very good yourself, most don't realize." Brian glanced at Tracy, "Is he the reason my stomach is doing flip flops?" She nodded, "Either that, or it's the pizza you ate on the plane." They chuckled. "Welcome to the club Brian. I have to admit, I couldn't feel you until just now. Very good," JoJo said. Brian glanced over at Kevin and Nick. They seemed to be engrossed in their own conversation. "Thanks, I'm learning," he said. "Well, you have a very good teacher," JoJo said, before A.J. walked over and joined them, ending that conversation completely. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie walked back into his hotel room. They had stayed an extra hour at the radio station, just playing around. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed the number. "I'm on my way up," Eli answered. Howie laughed, "Alright," he said before he hung up. A few minutes later, a knock at the door. Howie opened it up and let the older man in. "Long time no see," he said, giving him a hug. "Yeah, and look at the trouble you've gotten yourself into," Eli teased. Howie gave him an innocent look, which Eli quickly shot down. "Don't even deny it," he laughed, taking a seat on the couch. "Want something to drink?" Howie asked, walking over to the mini frig. "Naw, I'm good," Eli answered, "So, Brian's back I see. How'd that go?" Howie grabbed a drink and sat down across from his mentor, "Good, they didn't suspect a thing." Eli nodded, "Good. My sources tell me that Raven's not in the city yet, but she's expected soon." "So what do we do?" Howie asked, "We can't let her get to Brian." Eli sighed, "Her family is gathering. It's larger than we anticipated. I'm not sure we can stop her ...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nick, dear lord, will you stop fidgeting," Kevin said, annoyed. Nick stopped bouncing his leg, and sighed, "Sorry." They sat in what looked like a waiting room of a hospital, but this wasn't a hospital. It was VSA headquarters. Nick started bouncing his leg again, and Kevin looked over, about to say something, but was interrupted. "Hello Kevin, Nick, how was your trip?" A tall, middle aged man asked. Kevin stood up, "Very good Michael. How are you?" He shrugged, "Can't complain. So, Nick, you ready to get this over with?" Nick swallowed hard, "I um guess." Michael swung his arm over Nick's shoulders, blue eyes, meeting blue eyes, "Come now, this doesn't hurt near as bad as a cleansing." Nick blushed, "You heard?" "Son, who hasn't heard? It's all over the regions. A newbie just doesn't take on two century old vampires on his own and live, you've become quite a celebrity," he smiled. Nick glanced at Kevin, "Oh boy," he said sarcastically. Kevin chuckled, following the two into the back. Chapter 28 |