She was standing off to the side of the hallway talking to a doctor he had never seen before. She looked like she worked there, like she was in charge as the doctor seemed to be taking orders from her as he nodded his head to every word that left her mouth. She turned and saw him and kept talking, soon the doctor walked off after shaking her hand and she made her way over to her son.
"Honey are you ready to go? I already have the food back at the hotel." He nodded,
"Yeah, I need to go get my stuff-" She shook her head and placed her hand on his back as she ushered him off,
"I sent Josh to do that. You and Larry are riding with me. Let's go." What could he say? What could he do? He followed her as they stopped by the waiting room and picked Larry up on their way out of the hospital.
He sat in front of the television with Josh as his mother prepared something in the small kitchen. He wasn't sure what it was but it definitely woke his stomach up and gave him a real appetite for the first time since he arrived. He heard his name and tried to quickly change the channel before,
"Nick, turn back. I want to see what they are saying." He sighed,
"I don't want to hear it. Ninety-nine percent of it will be lies." She walked out and sat on the couch as she wiped her hands with a paper towel,
"Turn it back. Acting as if it doesn't exist doesn't mean it's not happening. You have to deal with things in the present." He turned back and they were sitting there watching Entertainment Tonight and he was the lead story. It must be a really slow day in entertainment for him to be the lead story. Nothing was going on, how could he be the lead story?
"We all know things aren't going smoothly in Nick Carter's personal life as he sits Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital by his daughter's bedside now there are reports that things aren't any better in his professional life as the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys is receiving criticism for leaving the tour and the overall handling of the situation." He shook his head,
"What do they mean 'the overall handling of the situation'? There is no situation, it's my life, my kid and no one-" He groaned as he heard her sigh heavily,
"Nick, when are you going to learn that it doesn't matter about whether it's someone's right to know something about you. It doesn't matter if it's your personal." He didn't want to hear it but she wasn't going to stop,
"Yeah, you should have your private life and yes, it's your business and you shouldn't have to owe anyone anything but that's the way it should be, that's not the way it is. People want to know and they feel they have a right to know that's just the way it is and you have to accept that and stop whining about it. You don't have to answer to everyone and give in and tell them everything they want to know but at least know that this is the way it is and always will be. So either make a statement or sit back and let them say whatever they want to say." A cell phone rang and she jumped up and answered it. It was for her and before she entered her room and closed the door he heard her and he knew they were talking about him. Make a statement, he could do that and he knew exactly how to do it. He pulled out his cell phone.
He couldn't sleep, he just kept flipping through the television. After dinner Josh went back to his suite that he shared with Larry and Nick was left with his mother. She was busy handling something for Aaron over the phone and he figured she had simply gone to sleep. He decided that he would make a statement but once he talked to a couple of people in his PR camp it snowballed into so much more. He wasn't going to tell his mother because she would attempt to take over. Many battles had occurred between his official management, the record label and agents and his mother. She wanted to be involved but he had to keep the separation between family and business. The door to her bedroom opened and his saw his mother still dressed in her sweats,
"What are you still doing up?" She sat down next to him on the couch,
"I was about to ask you the same thing." He shrugged and continued to change the channel,
"Couldn't sleep. Everything ok with Aaron?" She nodded,
"Yeah, the label wanted him to do his show, fly out to New York for a label event and then go to his next concert the following night." He looked over at her, his eyes narrow and piercing,
"You said no right?" She rolled her eyes,
"Of course I said no Nick." She could get a little too overzealous and even though Aaron had unbelievable success without MTV and mainstream radio she would give just about anything for Jive to promote Aaron the way Backstreet, NSYNC and Britney were delivered to the public. He thought Aaron's success was remarkable and his career should remain just as it is, Aaron was young and his fans were young. Why go to outlets other than Disney, Nickelodeon and the other markets he pretty much owned? In a couple of years, when his voice finished developing and his songs were more mature then he could switch over. In all honesty, he thought Aaron should take a couple of years off between his last kid album and his first more mature album. Maybe do TV and or movies in between but that was what he thought and his mother was all about striking while the iron was hot so that was a strategy that just wasn't going to happen.
"What were you talking to the doctor about today?" She smiled and he could tell she had an idea,
"That was Dr. Callan, he's the chief of staff for the hospital. We were talking about setting up some kind of foundation or something to help raise money for kids that need to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time." That was something nice to do. A hospital could never have enough money,
"Who's idea was that?" As if he needed to ask,
"I told him I wanted to do something and it just evolved into helping kids who have to spend a lot of time in the hopspital. The money for their surgeries, therapy and aftercare. You know, for kids who don't have insurance. Everyone isn't as fortunate as MacKenzie." He smiled,
"That's a good idea mom." Everyone wasn't as blessed as MacKenzie but he wasn't even paying for her bills and he wasn't even sure who was paying for all her needs.
Chapter 67
Reunited
Stories