The day of his doctors appointment, Nick asked if they could park a bit away from the hospital and walk. "We haven't walked for awhile. I want to see how I do." Kathy agreed and handed Nick his cane from the back seat of the truck. She walked beside him, not holding on, and keeping silent, letting him make his way to the large building. He paused at the corner and felt the post for a button to change the light. Waiting until the rush of traffic had stopped, he grabbed Kathy's hand and strolled across the street. Pausing again to get his bearings, he turned and walked in the direction of the hospital. "Ah, the stairs!" he smiled, when they arrived at the entrance. Reaching the top, his face broke into a huge grin. "I did it!" Kathy hugged him. "Yes, you did! Terrific!" They entered the hospital and let Alexa's secretary know they had arrived.

"Nicky! How's my favourite patient?" Alexa gave him a huge bear hug and stood back to look at him. "I thought AJ was your favourite patient?" Nick grinned. "Only when he is sick, otherwise it's you Carter." Nick laughed and followed her into the office. "Okay, shirts off, let's check out that manly chest wound." Nick lifted his shirt off and lay down. Alexa prodded it gently, satisfied it had healed well. "Any pain when I do this?" she asked, pushing firmly in spots around the scar. Nick shook his head no. Alexa had him sit back up and examined the scar on his cheek. "I think we could do the surgery now to fix this up. Make an appointment with the secretary when you leave, okay? The sooner the better, then it will be healed before you go on tour." "Yeah." Nick nodded. "Can't have any freaks on tour." "What?" Alexa asked, making sure she had heard him say what she thought he had said. "Oh nothing, you're right. I would want it to be healed before the tour." He smiled brightly at her and hopped off the table. "Are we all done?" Alexa put her hands on his chest. "Easy cowboy! I want you to ease back into the saddle okay? No all day practice sessions. Rest when Kathy tells you do, quit when Kathy tells you to. Got it?" Nick nodded and hurried out of the office.

Kathy fussed over last minute dusting while the crew from Much Music set up lights and video cameras. Nick had requested a VJ named Rick, telling Kathy that he had covered their career almost from the start and that he was very comfortable with him. The others arrived almost all at the same time. Rho, Alexa, Leighanne and Kristen came as well. "I'm on call." Alexa confided. "I need to keep my pager on. AJ wanted me to come." She made a face and smiled. "I can't upset my man, can I?" The producer called the group over to the interview area and arranged them on the sofa. Nick sat in a chair, just off to the side of the sofa and directly across from the interviewer. He and Kathy had picked out a pair of khaki pants and a button up, short sleeved blue shirt that matched his eyes, which happened to be covered with his Raybans. He curled up in the chair, crossing his legs Indian style and waited for the interview to begin. Rick came over and thanked the guys for picking him for the interview. "If you're uncomfortable with any questions Nick, just say so and we will pass it over. If you want anything edited just say so. We want this to be comfortable for you." Nick nodded and sat still while the crew attached his mic to his shirt.

Two nights later the same group huddled around the TV at Nick's house watching the interview for the first time.

"Hey everybody! This is Rick Campanelli from Much Music and I'll be talking with Nick Carter and the rest of theBackstreet Boys in a couple of minutes. You probably all know Nick was involved in a horrible, horrible accident in the last year and I get to talk to him about that. We'll also talk about what he and the other guys have planned for the future."

Some footage ran of the groups career and concluded with news coverage of the plane crash. Kathy gasped and clutched Nick's hand when she saw the wreckage of the plane. "Oh my God, Nick. There was nothing left of it."

"Nick, why don't we start with you telling us what you remember of the crash?"

Nick sighed and began telling the story. "I don't remember much of the crash itself. I remember there was a storm and the pilot told me to come up to the cockpit. The lightning was so close." He shuddered. "I got into the crash position when the pilot told me we were going down. I thought I had hit my head, everything went black and that was it until I woke up in the hospital."

The interview cut to Brian recounting the group finding out about Nick's plane going down and then to Kevin telling about how he went with the rescue team. "We were walking to the crash site and I found Nick's Gameboy. My heart just sank to my knees, when I saw that stupid thing. It was the first real sign we had that he was on that island. When we got to the clearing and I saw him..." Kevin covered his eyes and made a motion to stop the camera.

Brian looked at Kevin, who was trying to hold his emotions in check. "Still bothers you doesn't it?" "You didn't see him Brian, you didn't see how he looked."

"What was the first thing you thought when you woke up?"

"Well I could feel things, pain, tons of pain in every part of my body. And I think I was aware of things before I was actually awake. I could hear things and feel stuff, I just couldn't talk or move." Nick moved his arm and pulled someone into the frame. "This voice pulled me out of whatever or wherever I was." Aaron settled in beside Nick and put his arm around his shoulder. "He kept talking to me and encouraged me to wake up. It was all due to him." Aaron smiled up at his brother and added. "The first word he said was my nickname - Air." Nick went to say something and stopped, wiping a tear from his eye. "I woke up and everyone was there for me." Nick said emotionally, his voice cracking. "I found out a few days later what had happened to me."

"You actually died didn't you?"

"I died twice, I'm told. Once in the helicopter on the way to the hospital and then again at the hospital. Two arteries to my heart were torn and needed to be repaired. I was cut all over, my leg was broken, my wrist was broken." Nick shrugged. "I was a mess."

"How did you find out that you were blind?"

Nick took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around Aaron. "When I woke up, I couldn't see, but they told me there were pads on my eyes to help wash out debris from the plane crash. Once I was okay to get up, a few days later, they tested my eyes and told me I would be blind for the rest of my life." Nick could feel the tears running down his face, but didn't move to wipe them away. "I guess something got pushed into my eyes and to operate to remove it would most likely be just has damaging as leaving it in. So I'm blind." Aaron looked up and wiped Nick's eyes gently. "Don't cry, Nick."

"How are you adjusting? Must be frustrating for you?"

"Oh sure." Nick sniffled and smiled. "I went through moments were I was yelling at everyone and throwing things and screaming. I wasn't too happy with the situation, of course. It's pretty awful hearing someone tell you that you will never see again. But I learned to adjust. I realized nothing was going to change. And that I had lived, so really, being blind wasn't too bad in comparison. I had a wonderful nurse at the hospital that agreed to come home with me and help me too. She has been really helpful."

"And how's that going?"

"Kathy has been wonderful! She's got me reading braille, letters and numbers, got me out walking and exercising." The group off camera burst into laughter and Nick grinned. "Okay, well she's got me walking anyway! She's helped me with all the aspects of being blind and I feel so comfortable with most things. It's funny but it's almost becoming second nature now."

"You had a pretty major setback a few months ago..."

Some more news footage of Nick on the ambulance leaving AJ's house, girls crying at the hospital and AJ angrily refuting the claims that Nick was out of the group.

"Yes." Nick gripped Aaron's hand. "The arteries weren't repaired properly before and they seperated again. I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where I guess, I died again." Aaron started to cry too, remembering that horrible time. "I was in a coma for a little bit. I know this sounds stupid, but I saw something, somewhere, while I was out. I could see there. And I didn't hurt, there was no pain. I wanted to stay so bad."

The interview switched over to Alexa repeating the facts of Nick's coma and Aaron's collapse. "We thought we might have lost them both, at one point, but their love for each other helped them both heal." Alexa covered her face with her hands and giggled. "Dammit! I did so not want to be on air!" AJ tickled her and crowed, "My baby is a star on TV!"

"You spent a long time in the hospital, recuperating, you're better now?"

"I'm great!" Nick smiled. "I feel really good. We've been working on the album, we're finishing the mixing now and photo sessions are scheduled for next week. Then we start working on the tour."

"That's great to hear. How are you dealing with it?"

"I'm nervous, very nervous. But the fans have been wonderful with their support and everyone around tells me that I can do it. And I can be pretty determined if I want something to work out. I want this to work out."

"I'm sure I talk for all the fans when I say it's great to see you healthy, and happy, again."

"Thanks Rick. And I would like to thank all of them for their support and the kindness and patience they have shown me and the rest of the guys."

"You just did, Nick! Thanks for talking with us Nick, Aaron, and the guys, Kevin, AJ, Howie, Brian. Thanks guys. The best of luck for the future."