Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty



Nick worked very hard to practice the dance moves and keep up with the rest of the guys. It was hard, but he had to keep up with them, Nick had convinced himself that he was in perfect health despite what Dr. Parnello had told him and he was just not going to let any negative comments get him down.

Jess was not very pleased that Nick had thrown out all of his doctor’s advice to him and went ahead and signed to do the new tour. The rest of the guys did not know that Nick’s health was in jeopardy, and Jess, as much as she wanted to, could not tell any of them what was going on with Nick. She remained ever watchful of him though and she knew she was almost being too overprotective of him, but she could not help it.

She watched how Nick struggled to do dance steps that were much easier for him to do this past spring. With his being sick all summer long and the stuff that went on this fall, he had put on a little weight and it was difficult for him to do some of the moves that were physical. He forced himself to do them and Jess could see that his face was beet red and his hair was soaked with sweat. When it came time for Nick to sing his part, his voice was winded. She knew that Nick was not pleased with his performance, but she also knew that Nick was going to keep going no matter what it involved.

“Wait, wait, hold on a sec.” AJ waived his hands in the air. He was getting annoyed listening to Nick attempt singing.

“Nicky, did you need to stop here? You, well, you sound awful.” AJ looked Nick directly in the eyes.

“No, I am fine.” Nick was still huffing and puffing after they stopped.

AJ picked up a towel and threw it at Nick, which he caught as it hit him squarely in the chest. Nick wiped his face off immediately.

“Let’s go again, I don’t need to stop.” Nick protested.

AJ shrugged his shoulders and motioned to the band to start up again by gesturing with his hand doing a slight circular motion.

Nick was trying his best not to get so winded, it was something he mentally told himself he would have to work on, do something with it. He was so shocked at how quickly he was out of breath though. Maybe if I took some vallium at break, I would be more relaxed and then I could do these steps with more ease. Nick touched his front pocket where he had put his prescription bottle. He was glad that he had brought them along with him. He was desperate to try anything at this point.

Nick stopped in mid dance step which threw the entire group off. “I am ready to stop for a five minute break.” He annouced.

AJ brushed past Nick without saying a word. Jess could tell he was annoyed with Nick. Brian, Howie and Kevin also walked past Nick each making conversation, with only Brian smacking Nick in the shoulder as he walked past him.

Nick excused himself to Jess and walked towards the restrooms. He figured he could take the pills now and they would kick in by the time the break was over. When Nick got into the restroom, he pulled the vallium out of his pocket and opened the bottle and poured out a handful of the white pills but only taking two and shoving the rest of them back into the bottle. With that done, he cupped the pills in his hand and walked out towards the table that had bottles of water on them. Nick’s eyes darted right and left as he quickly slipped the pills into his mouth. He uncapped the bottle of water and took a generous drink before he capped it up again.

“Nicky, my boy, I am so glad to see you trying to make a go of this again. It’s great to have you back on the stage.” Brian said as he tried to hug Nick.

Nick’s response was spilling water on the front of his grey tee shirt. “Oh, shit. I hate when I do this.”

Brian laughed at Nick’s expense. “Take it easy there, boy, it’s typical anyway, and besides you’re so full of sweat anyway, it kind of blends in.”

“Oh, yeah.” Nick smiled sheepishly.

“Hey, Nick, don’t worry, the dancing will get easier and you know it, it’s just been awhile since you have done this. Don’t let yourself get down on this, okay?” Brian tried to encourage Nick.

“I know that Brian, the extra weight didn’t help me much either. But I will be fine.” Nick tried to think with a positive outlook.

“Thats the spirit.” Brian winked at Nick as he uncapped his water and took a huge gulp from it.

Nick was definately starting to feel relaxed. He knew this was the effect he was looking for, he figured if he was limber enough the dancing would just come more easier for him. Nick walked towards Jess. He came up from behind and encircled her waist with his hands. He bent down and kissed her gently on the side of her neck.

Jess reached back with her hand and touched the side of Nick’s face. “Hey, you must be feeling better, I see.”

“Yes I am, I could dance all night.” Nick whispered quietly to Jess.

“Good thing cause it looks like they are going to start up again.” Jess observed.

“Dammit.” Nick chuckled as he gave Jess another quick kiss and then turned and walked back to where he should be standing for the next song they were going to sing.

Jess walked to the side of the stage and down stairs to a door that led to the audiorium seats. She went a few rows back in the center aisle and sat down to watch the guys practice. She only got to see them from offstage so this was fun to watch.

Jess was suprised when she saw the change in Nick’s performance compared to what it was like before break. “This must have been what he needed, a little rest.” Jess thought to herself. Nick was performing at the same intensity that he had before the accident.

Even the guys noticed the improvement in Nick and they complimented him on the good job he was doing. Nick was happy that the pills helped him to achieved the energy he needed to continue to perform.

After a few hours of practice, they decided that they had had enough. Nick stopped by the water table and grabbed another bottle of water. He was extremely thirsty after dancing nonstop for two hours.

“Are you tired?” Jess asked Nick, she was concerned because he was so sweatty and red faced.

Nick gulped his water. He was tired, but he did not want to admit it to Jess. “Naw, this is great! This is what I have been waiting to do since June, I am pumped up for this.”

“Oh, you just look like you’re exhausted.” Jess observed.

Nick slammed his water bottle down on the table which caused a chain reaction causing six bottles to topple over. “I said I was fine, can you just leave it at that?” Nick was becoming very angry with Jess and he stormed off towards the bathrooms.

Jess watched Nick walk off. She could tell by the way he walked that he was upset with her. She decided to sit down on the couch and wait for him to come back. Jess glanced over at Brian to see if he caught Nick’s outburst. Brian was putting clothes and a towel into his duffle bag.

“Bri, I guess I will never learn my lesson not to push Nick too far, huh?” Jess sighed.

Brian smiled at Jess and shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really know what to say to Jessica, she would have to learn Nick’s moods all on her own, like the rest of them had.

Once in the bathroom, Nick still felt tense and uptight about Jessica’s remark. He needed to calm down, he could feel his blood pressure rising. As he threw his hands to his sides, he felt the prescription bottle in his right hand pocket. Nick reached into the pocket and pulled the tiny brown bottle out that had his vallium in it. His mind searched to remember how many hours ago it was that he had taken the last dose. The instructions on the bottle said one to two every 6 hours as needed. It had only been 3 hours since he had taken the other two. Nick reasoned that two more at this time would not hurt him one bit. He spilled the contents of the bottle into his hand and picked two pills out of the pile and scooped the rest back into the bottle.

Jess watched Nick come out of the bathroom. He still looked quite upset to her, but she certainly wasn’t going to bring that up with him for fear it would cause another outburst. He walked over to the water table and picked up the bottle of water he had been drinking out of. He put the vallium into his mouth and took a gulp of water to wash it down.

“What cha taking?” Jess was curious when she saw Nick put his hand to his mouth before he took a drink of water.

“Asprin, I have got a wicked headache.” Nick lied to her.

“Oh, I hope you’ll feel better soon, then.” Jess smiled at Nick.

Nick felt awful about lying to Jess now, but he managed a weak smile to her.

“I’ll be fine, and Jess, I’m really sorry for blowing up at you a little while ago.” Nick fiddled with the bottle cap as he appologized to Jessica.

“Hey, forget it, I have.” Jess said as she watched Nick play with the cap.

“See you tomorrow, Nick?” Brian said as he picked his bag up and pulled his car keys out of his pocket.

“Yeah, sure thing, at 10 again, right?” Nick was confirming the time of the rehearsal.

“Yup, 10 a.m. See you guys later.” Brian smiled and walked out the door.

Nick started to feel sleepy. “Jess, could you drive back to the house, I am feeling really tired right now.”

“Sure, honey.” Jess helped Nick pack up his clothes and towel. Nick grabbed another bottle of water before they walked out of the studio.

Once they got out into the parking lot, Jess hit the button to unlock all of the doors on the durango. Nick got into the passenger side and adjusted his seat so it leaned as far back as possible. He took his hat and put it over his face.

“Boy, you are beat, huh?” Jess said as she got into the car and looked over at Nick.

Nick just groaned, he didn’t have the energy to talk. He drifted off to sleep before Jess had even pulled out of the driveway.